Celestial Lancer

Fighter subclass

Comments from the Writer: One of Final Fantasy’s most compelling fighters is the Dragoon, a lance-wielding knight who jumps all the way off the screen to unleash a devastating attack from on high. I wanted that anime extravagance for fighters in my game. When we chose subclasses for our massive player expansion Valda’s Spire of Secrets, this idea had to be one of them. We took a couple passes at it, but this is the most up-to-date and mechanically polished version.

Feared frontline warriors bearing lances and unique, streamlined armor, Celestial Lancers are famous for their Meteor Jump, a supernatural technique taught only to the rare few. The lancers trace their origins back to an order of dragon hunters who learned to leap above diving dragons and pin their wings with a swift, downward lance strike. This technique, combined with a suite of mystical powers drawn from the yawning sky, makes the lancers decisive warriors in the arena
of vertical combat. Though Celestial Lancers may be hampered in claustrophobic dungeons, they excel underneath the open sky, where they can leap high and come crashing down for devastating impacts.

Lance Specialty

Starting when you select this archetype at 3rd level, when you wield a lance, you do not suffer disadvantage when attacking creatures within 5 feet of you.  However, you must still wield a lance two handed when not mounted.

Meteor Jump

Also at 3rd level, you can perform a supernaturally high leap. Once on each of your turns, you can use 20 feet of your movement to perform a high jump reaching 10 feet in height. You don’t need to move 10 feet immediately before making this jump, and don’t provoke opportunity attacks while jumping or falling. You can land within 10 feet of where you began. At the end of a fall, subtract 10 feet from the distance you fell when calculating your falling damage.

The height you can jump and the distance you subtract when you fall increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown on the Meteor Jump table below.

Meteor Jump

Plunging Attack

Also at 3rd level, you can direct the momentum of gravity into your strike. Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack while falling, you can add 1d6 to the damage roll for every 10 feet you fell, up to a maximum of 5d6.

Apex Moment

Starting at 7th level, you gain the mystical ability to hang at the peak of your jump before you come plunging back down. When you use your Meteor Jump ability, you can choose to hover until the start of your next turn instead of falling immediately. When you do so, you can’t use your Meteor Jump on your next turn.

Earthshaker

Beginning at 10th level, at the end of a fall of 20 feet or higher, you can use a bonus action to strike the earth like a meteor. Each creature in contact with the ground within 10 feet of where you land must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be knocked prone. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Strength modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Celestial Aura

By 15th level, you can draw mystical power from your connection to the open sky. When you use your Second Wind feature, you and each friendly creature you choose within 10 feet of you gain temporary hit points equal to your fighter level.

Comet Strike

Starting at 18th level, you plummet wreathed in flames like a devastating meteor. When you use your Earthshaker ability, a creature that fails its saving throw takes 4d6 fire damage, or half as much on a success. Additionally, when you roll initiative and have no uses of your Earthshaker feature left, you regain one use of that feature.