Few classes are as viscerally satisfying to play as the barbarian. Barbarian rage — that carnival of crushing and screaming, grunting and cleaving that can so quickly reduce a pack of opponents into piles of so much tainted meat — provides a thrill hard to resist. Clearly, the standard barbarian taps into the spirit of Conan and the tales of Viking berserkers; the powerfully built wild man who can enter a frenzied orgy of violence at will.
Historically, not every warrior belonging to a group considered barbaric relied on his physical prowess. Some of history’s most notorious barbarians — Attila the Hun, Árpád the Magyar King and Genghis Khan, for instance — hardly reflected Schwarzenegger-esque proportions (Attila was reputed to be quite a small man, in fact). How, then, were they able to loot and pillage just as effectively as their burly Viking colleagues? The answer lies in a contemporary description of the warriors of the Mongol horde: “They were small men on the ground, but they were giants in the saddle”.
The horselord is a variant barbarian. Unless otherwise noted, a horselord advances in the same manner as a barbarian (same Hit Die, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, skill points, and so on). When a character elects to take a level of barbarian or horselord, he may not later take levels in the other class. This prevents the character from gaining the benefits of a 1st-level barbarian twice.
The horselord loses fast movement and trap sense, but gains several new abilities. The horselord does not rage, replacing that ability with a battle ecstasy he can use with the same frequency.
Battle Ecstasy: Traditional cultures from the Celts to the Sioux speak of warriors able — through special prayers, protective garments or even nakedness in battle — to become invulnerable to the weapons of the enemy. A horselord who enters battle ecstasy becomes difficult to harm. He temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Dexterity, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and damage reduction 1/—. The horselord’s damage reduction while in battle ecstasy stacks with the damage reduction he receives at higher levels (thus, a 7th-level horselord has DR 2/— while in battle ecstasy). A horselord can use any skill or feat while in battle ecstasy, but all skill checks except for Handle Animal and Ride take a -2 penalty. Battle ecstasy lasts as long as a barbarian’s rage and has the same fatiguing effect. Beginning at 17th level, the horselord is no longer fatigued after leaving a battle ecstasy. The horselord’s battle ecstasy has no greater rage or mighty rage equivalents.
Skills: A horselord takes no penalty on Ride checks for riding bareback and gains a +2 bonus when using any kind of saddle (which stacks with the normal +2 bonus on Ride checks when using a military saddle). A horselord must choose a kind of animal he knows of and has ridden as a mount at least once. He receives a +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks whenever dealing with the selected kind of animal (most horselords choose the animals their tribes routinely use).
Animal Companion: At 4th level, the horselord’s mount becomes an animal companion as per the ranger abilitiy of the same level. The horselord must own and ride the horse for at least two months before he can bond with it in this way. Treat the mount in all ways as the animal companion of a ranger of the same level as the horselord, except the horselord’s mount retains the animal type and is not considered a magical beast. If the mount is killed or otherwise lost, the horselord can find a new companion mount after 1d4 months of searching and a successful DC 15 Handle Animal check.
Improved Mounted Archery: At 6th level, the horselord gains Improved Mounted Archery as a bonus feat.
Source: Dragon Magazine #338 (Page 88)