Here is what I was thinking along these lines:
Prereqs:
Alignment: LN or LG
Skills: Diplomacy 10 ranks, Knowledge (history) 10 ranks
Feats: none
Special: Read and Speak Auran or Vaati, and have received the blessing of a Wind Duke such as Icosiels blessing in the Tomb of Icosiel.
HD- 1d8
Class skills: Spot, Listen, Diplomacy, Knowledge(all), Craft(all), Profession(all), Sense Motive, Decipher Script, Speak Language, Concentration, Spellcraft, Psicraft.
BAB fort ref will Special spells per day/known
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Air Domain ---
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Flight(1) +1 level of any class
3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 Disciple +1 level of any class
4th +3 +4 +1 +4 Flight(2) +1 level of any class
5th +3 +4 +1 +4 Fly at will +1 level of any class
Special Abilities:
Air Domain: The PC gains access to the special power of the air domain and can rebuke/control air creatures 3+cha times per day, and turn/destroy earth elemental creatures.
Flight 1: The PC can use the fly spell once per day at a CL equal to their Wind Duke Level.
Flight 2: This increases flight 1 use to 2x per day.
Disciple: The Wind Duke can as a full round action attempt to change the Attitude of creatures with the Air subtype, using a diplomacy check. Summoned (as per the summon monster/natures ally spell by someone else) Air creatures have an initial attitude of Hostile. Permanent Guardians or Air subtype creatures bound by spells such as Planar ally have an initial attitude of Unfriendly. If the attitude of the Air creature can be changed to 'friendly' the air creature will ignore the character and those they designate during the Diplomacy check. If the creature's attitude can be changed to 'helpfull' the Air Creature will be willing to act as described in the 'helpfull' attitude description of the diplomacy class skill in the PHB.
Fly at will: The wind duke is able to fly at will and with no time duration at a speed of 30' with perfect manueverability.
+1 Caster/Manifester level: The wind duke gains a level of spellcasting in whichever class they choose, but gain no additional special abilities of that class.
I think this captures the flavor but is right on in power level. Let me know what you think.
A more powerfull version:
Prereqs:
Alignment: LN or LG
Skills: Diplomacy 10 ranks, Knowledge (history) 10 ranks
Feats: none
Special: Read and Speak Auran or Vaati, and have received the blessing of a Wind Duke such as Icosiels blessing in the Tomb of Icosiel.
HD- 1d8
Class skills: Spot, Listen, Diplomacy, Knowledge(all), Craft(all), Profession(all), Sense Motive, Decipher Script, Speak Language, Concentration, Spellcraft, Psicraft.
BAB fort ref will Special spells per day/known
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Air Domain ---
Circle of Law
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Flight +1 level of any class
3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 Dis. of Air +1 level of any class
4th +3 +4 +1 +4 Levitate +1 level of any class
5th +3 +4 +1 +4 Word of Law +1 level of any class
Special Abilities:
Air Domain: The PC gains access to the special power of the air domain and can rebuke/control air creatures 3+cha times per day, and turn/destroy earth elemental creatures.
Circle of Law (Su): The character is under the effects of a magic circle against Chaos, at a caster level equal to 1/2 their character level.
Flight (Su): As a free action the Wind Duke can fly as per the spell for a number of minutes equal to their wind duke level. This ability can be broken down into one round increments of use. This ability cannot be curtailed by dispel magic.
Disciple(Su) The Wind Duke can as a full round action attempt to change the Attitude of creatures with the Air subtype, using a diplomacy check wwith a bonus equal to their Wind Duke level. Summoned (as per the summon monster/natures ally spell by someone else) Air creatures have an initial attitude of Hostile. Permanent Guardians or Air subtype creatures bound by spells such as Planar ally have an initial attitude of Unfriendly. If the attitude of the Air creature can be changed to 'friendly' the air creature will ignore the character and those they designate during the Diplomacy check. If the creature's attitude can be changed to 'helpfull' the Air Creature will be willing to act as described in the 'helpfull' attitude description of the diplomacy class skill in the PHB.
+1 Caster/Manifester level: The wind duke gains a level of spellcasting in whichever class they choose, but gain no additional special abilities of that class.
Levitate (Su): The character is permanently under the effects of a levitate spell at a castr level eaual to 1/2 character level.
Word of Law (Sp): Once per day the Wind Duke can use a word of law as per the spell with caster level equal to their character level and having charisma as the base modifier to the save DC if there is one.
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I'm not much of a whiz at creating new games-mechanics material, and so the advice I can give is probably limited. In this case, there's the further limitation that my knowledge of the Wind Dukes is what was presented in the "Age of Worms" adventures, and nothin' more.
So, those things in mind:
1. I don't know of many prestige classes that allow spellcasting advancement in "any" area; most are specific to arcane or divine magic. Which would the Wind Dukes lean towards? What I've read has painted them as warriors rather than priests or scholars, so I can't way one way or the other. You may want to pick one, though.
2. Again, most every prestige class that allows spellcasting progression includes some sort of casting as a prereq, whether it's a certain caster level (again, usually tied to divine or arcane casting) or the ability to cast certain spells. In this case, I'd go with spells tied to air and wind. If you want to keep the class open to a variety of characters, my suggestion would be "Ability to cast wind wall." It's available to a variety of characters at a the level where most who enter Prestige Classes are doing so. Some of which would have to multiclass to meet the skill requirements, but that's common with Prestige Classes.
3. Most people enter a Prestige Class either for flavor reasons or to get some nifty powers that aren't accessible in other ways. Right now, there's not a distinct "Wind Duke" feel to the class... but again, all I know is that they're air-based servants of law who battled the armies of chaos. The other powers--fly, levitate, protection from chaos/word of law--aren't together the sort of flashy things that by themselves would draw people in. These things can be accomplished through common spells and magic items. My suggestion would be to abilities add metamagic effects to spells with the Air descriptor.
4. Finally, I'd change the name. "Wind Dukes" were specific beings from ancient times, and the "Duke" name suggests rulership. Something like "Wind Warrior" or "Disciple of the Winds" might be more appropriate.
It's a nifty idea for a Prestige Class for campaigns like the "Age of Worms" that promimently feature the Wind Dukes. Thanks for sharing it and opening the door for constructive suggestions!
thanks for the feedback, did you think it was over or I'm assuming you thought it was underpowered??
I was trying to create a PRC that enabled one to become an air master, and didn't require any previous connection to the Air domain in any way. Also I wanted to make it deity independent, which implies that the Wind Dukes of Aqaa on my conception worshipped many different Gods.
I left it generic as far as the caster levels for the same reason, kind of like the Harper Agent or Moonstar Agent since I saw the Wind Duke PRC as unifying Characters with lots of different abilities.
The Air Domain special power is a very cool one, although not overpowered, as a 20th level character with Levels in the Wind Duke you will have permanent control of two up to 10 hd air type creatures, this won't help you too much in combat at that level but they will make very cool permanent planar ally's to help run your 'empire'
The Disciple special ability is similar. If you have a high diplomacy skill, which this is sort of made for, you are likely to be able to convince summoned Air Creatures to not attack you (starting at Hostile initial attitude), I suppose that I should probably add something to determine control of summoned elementals like opposed charisma checks or something. When you run into air elementals that have been bound or permanently summoned to the prime material plane it is likely that you will be able to convince them to serve you, the pc since their starting attitude is indifferent, and if you have a high diplomacy score changing them to helpfull should be easy.
These two abilities I think are pretty cool.
The Protection versus Chaos and Word of Law I just threw in there to pay homage to their lawful nature. On second thought these should probably be changed to casting wind wall, or gust of wind at low levels and an airwalk spell that effects multiple characters.
The fly ability is actually quite nice and being able to break your flying down into one round increments with it being accessible as a free action is just hugely usefull. Basically if managed correctly by a PC they will basically be able to fly whenever they want to over the course of a single adventure.
Levitate is there because the character can really live in the air and is also usefull if they run out of fly rounds in a session.
Ok, I have a question, Why not LE? I mean, if they can be LG, then it should follow that any lawful should be any Lawful.
I kind of imagined it as a PrC for Air elementals...