Zephyr Rider

Zephyr Riders are wizards who have abandoned the safety of towers and libraries to follow the path of the storm across open lands. Drawn to windswept plains, mountain ridges, and thunder-scarred valleys, they seek communion with the raw forces of nature. Through arcane practice and quiet patience, these mages form a supernatural bond with a wild steed—often a horse, elk, giant goat, or other swift creature touched by the restless sky.

To a Zephyr Rider, the storm is not chaos but motion: a living current of wind, thunder, and lightning that carries them across the world. Their steed becomes both companion and conduit for their magic, allowing the rider to weave spells through rushing air and rolling thunder. Lightning arcs along reins and stirrups, gusts of wind answer their commands, and the sound of hooves may echo like distant thunder across the land.

Many Zephyr Riders act as wanderers, scouts, or guardians of the wild roads between settlements. Some serve as storm-heralds, racing ahead of tempests to warn villages, while others chase storms for the thrill of mastering their power. In battle they are swift and unpredictable, striking like lightning before racing away on the wind.

To see a Zephyr Rider and their bonded steed galloping beneath a darkening sky is to witness the storm given form—speed, thunder, and freedom united in arcane harmony.

Level 3: Stormbound Steed

You perform a 1-hour ritual to bind a willing beast such as a horse, elk, camel, giant goat, or similar Large creature suitable for riding. The creature becomes your Stormbond Steed and gains the following benefits:

• The steed’s creature type becomes elemental in addition to its normal type.

• It understands Primordial and one language you speak.

• Its hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or 5 × your wizard level, whichever is higher.

• It adds your proficiency bonus to its AC and saving throws.

If your Stormbond Steed drops to 0 hit points, it disappears into swirling wind and lightning instead of dying. You may resummon it by repeating the ritual.

While mounted on your Stormbond Steed:

• Your movement speed increases by 10 feet.

• When you cast a spell that deals lightning or thunder damage, you may add your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of the spell.

When you or your steed take the Dash action, difficult terrain caused by natural environments (grass, sand, snow, mud) does not cost extra movement until the end of the turn.

Riding the Storm

While you are mounted on your Stormbond Steed:

If your steed moves 20 feet or more before you cast a spell, you gain one of the following benefits (your choice):

• The spell’s range increases by 30 feet, or

• You gain advantage on one spell attack roll, or

• Creatures that fail their save against the spell are pushed 10 feet by gusting winds.

Once per turn, when your steed moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature, you may use your reaction to force that creature to make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC.

On a failure the creature takes:

1d8 thunder damage + your Intelligence modifier and is knocked prone.

Tempest Rider

You gain the following benefits:

• You gain resistance to lightning and thunder damage.

• While mounted, you cannot be knocked prone unless you choose to be.

• Your Stormbond Steed gains evasion-like agility: when it succeeds on a Dexterity saving throw, it takes no damage instead of half.

While mounted, when you move at least 20 feet, you can cause a burst of wind to carry you. Your steed can jump up to 30 feet horizontally or 15 feet vertically without needing a running start.

Level 14: Avatar of the Open Storm

As a bonus action, you can transform for 1 minute. You can use this feature once per long rest.

While transformed:

• Your steed gains a flying speed equal to its movement speed (hover).

• Wind whirls around you in a 10-foot aura.

Enemies in the aura:

• treat the area as difficult terrain, and

• when they start their turn there they take 2d6 lightning or thunder damage (your choice).

If you move at least 30 feet toward a creature before casting a spell, you may cause lightning to erupt from your path. The creature you target with the spell takes an extra 3d10 lightning damage. Once you use this ability, you cannot do so again until the start of your next turn.