[3.5, prestige class] Guardian of the Wild Ones

[Dragon queen]

Guardian of the Wild Ones

Guardians of the Wild Ones are the protectors of the forests. They protect all life that lives within the forest on a path of justice if there is a hunter or skinner wandering in his woods then he shall attack with no need to negotiate. Most Guardians of the Wild Ones dressed in leather and use a bow. They are stubborn and have amazing agility feats. Most people don't live to meet them. They serve Ehlonna, and Obad-Hai only. The two types are enemies;If two Guardians of the Wild Ones meet and have different religion then they shall fight to death.


Hit dice: d12

Skills: A guardian of the wild ones has the following skills as class skills: Intimidate (Cha) Survival (Wis) Swim (Str) Tumble (Dex) Ride (Dex) Knowledge (Nature) (Int) Knowledge (History) (Int)
Skills per level:+4 Int

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A guardian of the wild ones is proficient with all light armor, and all light and martial weapons.
Requirements:
Alignment: any good
Skills: Survival 8 ranks, knowledge: nature 8 ranks
Feats: Track,Dodge
Guardian of the Wild Ones
{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+2|Darkvision 120 ft. Bonus feat. Overwhelming wrath 1/day

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+3| Overwhelming wrath 2/day. Bonus feat. Wild shape ability (1/day.)

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+3|Overwhelming wrath 3/day. Bonus feat. Wild shape ability (2/day.) Call dragon[/table]
Darkvision 120 ft. (Ex.): At 1st level a guardian of the wild ones gains darkvision up to 120 ft. If the guardian of the wild ones already has darkvision from one source or another, add 120 ft. to its reach.

Bonus feats:At Each level a guardian of the wild ones gains a bonus feat from the fighter list of bonus feats.

Overwhelming wrath (Su.): Starting 1/day at 1st level, 2/day on 2nd, and 3/day at 3rd, a guardian of the wild ones can add 1d20 to an attack with a melee or ranged weapon.

Wild shape ability (Su.): At 2nd level, a guardian of the wild ones gains the ability to turn herself into any Small or Medium animal and back again once per day. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the alternate form special ability, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per guardian of the wild ones level, or until she changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. Each time you use wild shape, you regain lost hit points as if you had rested for a night.

Any gear worn or carried by the guardian of the wild ones melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. When the guardian of the wild ones reverts to her true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on her body that they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items worn in the assumed form fall off and land at the guardian of the wild one's feet.

The form chosen must be that of an animal the guardian of the wild ones is familiar with.

A guardian of the wild ones loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but she can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as her new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)

At 3rd level the guardian can assume wild shape form 2/day.

Call dragon (Su.) Once per day starting at 3rd level a guardian of the wild ones can summon a juvenile dragon of any type for 1 hour/ class levels. It serves as a servant until spell duration ends. The dragon is summoned for 1 minute and has equal power to that of the Guardian. The dragon will be randomized on the power of the guardian not hit points and it will always be juvenile.

[Gamerlord]

What classes are this meant for as an entry point?

[CTLC]

and if i were to take this, starting as a something, meeting the pre reqs all the way. and 3 levels later be done? I think I would feel a little cheated, i like the idea, but it could be better off as a longer class.

[Draken]

Prerequisites imply Ranger PrC.

That said, this prestige class can be finished as soon as level 8, which then allows a character to, once per day, for a duration of three hours summon a CR 11 Juveline Gold Dragon (or worse, a CR 30 juveline Prismatic Dragon).

Yeaaahh... No.

The wildshape, bonus feat and overwhelming wrath parts are ok, however, as is the Darkvision. Hit dice is an upgrade from the ranger's and skill points are a downgrade from the ranger. These parts look decent. Capstone needs to be reworked.

[Fortuna]

OK, I'm going to try to fill in for Temotei here.


Guardian of the Wild Ones

Guardians of the Wild Ones are the protectors of the forests. They protect all life that lives within the forest on a path of justice. If there is a hunter or skinner wandering in a Guardian's woods then they will attack without hesitation. Most Guardians of the Wild Ones dress in leather and use a bow. They are stubborn and have amazing agility. Most people don't live to meet them. They pnly ever serve Ehlonna and Obad-Hai. The two types are enemies; if two Guardians of the Wild Ones meet and have different religion then they fight to death.

Fixed up a bit.



Hit dice: d12

Skills: A guardian of the wild ones has the following skills as class skills: Intimidate ( Cha) Survival (Wis) Swim ( Str) Tumble (Dex) Ride (Dex) Knowledge: Nature (Int) Knowledge: History (Int)
Skills per level:4+int

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A guardian of the wild ones is proficient with all light armor, and all light and martial weapons.
Requirements:
Alignment: any good
Skills: Survival 8 ranks, knowledge: nature 8 ranks
Feats: Track,Dodge

Get rid of the spaces inside the brackets. Skills per level should be skill points per level, and there should be a space after the colon. Specific Knowledge skills are written Knowledge (Subject), not Knowledge: subject. Skills are always capitalized. Put a space after the comma in the Feats line. You probably meant simple and martial weapons, as opposed to giving them access to large numbers of exotic weapons. d12 is an odd choice, but alright I guess.


Guardian of the Wild Ones
{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+2|Darkvision 120 ft. Bonus feat. Overwhelming wrath 1/day

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+3| Overwhelming wrath 2/day. Bonus feat. Wild shape ability (1/day.)

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+3|Overwhelming wrath 3/day. Bonus feat. Wild shape ability (2/day.) Call dragon[/table]

You've got so many abilities squashed into a three level class that it's not funny. You may want to extend this class a little. Also, remove that last column.


Darkvision 120 ft. (Ex.): At 1st level a guardian of the wild ones gains darkvision up to 120 ft. If the guardian of the wild ones already has darkvision from one source or another, add 120 ft. to its reach.

You should have an empty line between each ability, just for easier reading. You don't need a full stop after Ex, and you should really just call it Darkvision. Don't say "one source or another", say "another source".


Bonus feats: Each level a guardian of the wild ones gains a bonus feat from the fighter list of bonus feats.

Say "At each level" instead of "Each level." Capitalize feats. So now this is Fighter but way better? That's a better hit die, better skills, and a bunch of other stuff plus a fighter's only class feature but better? Poor fighter.


Overwhelming wrath (Su.): Starting 1/day at 1st level, 2/day on 2nd, and 3/day at 3rd, a guardian of the wild ones can add 1d20 to an attack with a melee or ranged weapon.

This needs a bit of rewording, and Wrath should be capitalized. Su needs no full stop. The number of times that this can be used per day should be at the end of the ability. Also, what exactly is the d20 adding to? Damage, attack roll, what? And what other kinds of weapon are there?


Wild shape ability (Su.): At 2nd level, a guardian of the wild ones gains the ability to turn herself into any Small or Medium animal and back again once per day. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the alternate form special ability, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per guardian of the wild ones level, or until she changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. Each time you use wild shape, you regain lost hit points as if you had rested for a night.

Any gear worn or carried by the guardian of the wild ones melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. When the guardian of the wild ones reverts to her true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on her body that they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items worn in the assumed form fall off and land at the guardian of the wild one's feet.

The form chosen must be that of an animal the guardian of the wild ones is familiar with.

A guardian of the wild ones loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but she can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as her new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)

At 3rd level the guardian of the wild ones can assume wild shape form 2/day.

No full stop after Su. And the last sentence of the second paragraph should probably read guardian's instead of guardian of the wild one's. Other than that, it should be fine, barring of course usual wildshape cheese.


Call dragon (Su.) 1/day starting at 3rd level a guardian of the wild ones can summon a juvenile dragon of any type for 1 hour/ class levels. It serves as a servant until spell duration ends.

Uh... have you ever peeked at the Epic Level Handbook? Ever seen a Prismatic Dragon? You get into this class at level 6, then you get this ability at level 8. Then you summon a CR 30 juvenile Prismatic dragon and go to town. Even without epic dragons, you can still pull a *goes to check* CR 11 juvenile Gold dragon out of your backside. How long does this summoning take? And wording needs changing: 1/day should be written out as "Once per day, starting..." Oh yeah, and no full stop after Su.

EDIT: Ninja'd, although in a less verbose manner.

[Vaynor]

Yeah, if you bar the obvious epic dragon usage, the ability is still bad. True, it is pretty OP at level 8 when you can get a CR 11 dragon, but past that level it just gets even worse.

I'd remove the juvenile descriptor entirely and simply limit the dragon's HD to the character's ECL.

[Dragon queen]

The dragon ability isn't good? But its so powerful and such. I guess so though.
Spaces in the brackets, gotcha.:smallcool:
I picked a d12 because it sounded good for the character.:smallbiggrin:
Extend the class hmm? I think it might just work for 6 levels.:smallsmile:
Specify dragons you say? I guess.:smallsmile:

Classes meant for: druid and ranger. I thought about bard but they don't really go together.

Defiantly dragon call is out no matter how cool it is.:smallsigh: Fixed it now only level 9 dragons can be summoned.

[Vaynor]

No. You misunderstand, the dragon ability is cool. That's not the problem. Changing it to CR 9 dragons only makes it worse. Now, when you get to, say, level 15, the ability is completely useless. It has to scale by level not have a set power level. I'd change it to 1 min/class level, summons a dragon of HD equal to the guardian's, and requires a standard action to activate. Remove the juvenile requirement, dragon age categories are way too loose to base a class ability on them.

[Siosilvar]

The dragon ability isn't good? But its so powerful and such. I guess so though.

Being "good" isn't the problem. Being "too good" is.

[Dragon queen]

No. You misunderstand, the dragon ability is cool. That's not the problem. Changing it to CR 9 dragons only makes it worse. Now, when you get to, say, level 15, the ability is completely useless. It has to scale by level not have a set power level. I'd change it to 1 min/class level, summons a dragon of HD equal to the guardian's, and requires a standard action to activate. Remove the juvenile requirement, dragon age categories are way too loose to base a class ability on them.

I see. That would make it balanced correct?:smallconfused: I shall do such. So any age or type for one minute that matches the guardian's health?

[Vaynor]

I see. That would make it balanced correct?:smallconfused: I shall do such. So any age or type for one minute that matches the guardian's health?

No, not matching the guardian's health, the power of the dragon summoned should be proportionate to the power of the guardian. The dragon's hit dice (not hit points) should be on a scale based on the guardian's hit dice. Age is irrelevant, as hit dice is a much more easily quantifiable determination of power than age category. As stated above, age category is so varied amongst dragon types that you could get a CR 11 dragon or a CR 30 dragon with the only requirement being that it is juvenile. Also, minutes/level is much more balanced than hours/level, as at higher levels it would almost be a secondary, draconic animal companion.

[Fortuna]

Actually, you can get a juvenile as low as CR 6 [/nitpick]

[Vaynor]

Actually, you can get a juvenile as low as CR 6 [/nitpick]

Well I wasn't saying that was the lowest you could get one, I was just trying to show how huge the gap could be between juvenile dragons (also, I didn't research it at all :smalltongue:).

[Dragon queen]

No, not matching the guardian's health, the power of the dragon summoned should be proportionate to the power of the guardian. The dragon's hit dice (not hit points) should be on a scale based on the guardian's hit dice. Age is irrelevant, as hit dice is a much more easily quantifiable determination of power than age category. As stated above, age category is so varied amongst dragon types that you could get a CR 11 dragon or a CR 30 dragon with the only requirement being that it is juvenile. Also, minutes/level is much more balanced than hours/level, as at higher levels it would almost be a secondary, draconic animal companion.

Sorry, this is my first homebrew. Looks like I messed up on quite a few things. Alright power not hit points.

[Temotei]

OK, I'm going to try to fill in for Temotei here.



Fixed up a bit.




Get rid of the spaces inside the brackets. Skills per level should be skill points per level, and there should be a space after the colon. Specific Knowledge skills are written Knowledge (Subject), not Knowledge: subject. Skills are always capitalized. Put a space after the comma in the Feats line. You probably meant simple and martial weapons, as opposed to giving them access to large numbers of exotic weapons. d12 is an odd choice, but alright I guess.



You've got so many abilities squashed into a three level class that it's not funny. You may want to extend this class a little. Also, remove that last column.



You should have an empty line between each ability, just for easier reading. You don't need a full stop after Ex, and you should really just call it Darkvision. Don't say "one source or another", say "another source".



Say "At each level" instead of "Each level." Capitalize feats. So now this is Fighter but way better? That's a better hit die, better skills, and a bunch of other stuff plus a fighter's only class feature but better? Poor fighter.



This needs a bit of rewording, and Wrath should be capitalized. Su needs no full stop. The number of times that this can be used per day should be at the end of the ability. Also, what exactly is the d20 adding to? Damage, attack roll, what? And what other kinds of weapon are there?



No full stop after Su. And the last sentence of the second paragraph should probably read guardian's instead of guardian of the wild one's. Other than that, it should be fine, barring of course usual wildshape cheese.



Uh... have you ever peeked at the Epic Level Handbook? Ever seen a Prismatic Dragon? You get into this class at level 6, then you get this ability at level 8. Then you summon a CR 30 juvenile Prismatic dragon and go to town. Even without epic dragons, you can still pull a *goes to check* CR 11 juvenile Gold dragon out of your backside. How long does this summoning take? And wording needs changing: 1/day should be written out as "Once per day, starting..." Oh yeah, and no full stop after Su.

EDIT: Ninja'd, although in a less verbose manner.

Aww, man. :smallsigh: :smalltongue:

[Dragon queen]

Something wrong?:smallconfused:

[DracoDei]

They are stubborn and have amazing agility feats.them.Typo.

Fighting to the death at first sight doesn't sound like a way for two Good people to act...

I can't see many rangers NOT wanting to go into this class. A feat every level PLUS Wildshape* PLUS access to Tumble? Overwhelming Wrath is also nice, and the HD size boost doesn't hurt anything. The delay to their class abilities and spell casting is well worth it. I hear the Dodge Feat is underpowered, but you recoup that loss with the very first level you take of this PrC. Everything else is stuff that a Ranger is almost certain to have anyway.

*Although if this is limited to CLASS level (you don't seem to specify) and that doesn't stack with Ranger class levels... the HD are nothing to write home about.

[Dragon queen]

Typo.

Fighting to the death at first sight doesn't sound like a way for two Good people to act...



You know the two gods or goddess Ehlonna and Obai-han are at war, why wouldn't they attack each other? Thanks for seeing Typo.

[Fortuna]

Aww, man. :smallsigh: :smalltongue:

Hey, you can't do that all the time, and there must be something wrong with my critique. Just meta-critique!

[Dragon queen]

Be my guest.:smallsmile:

[Temotei]

Guardians of the Wild Ones are the protectors of the forests. They protect all life that lives within the forest on a path of justice if there is a hunter or skinner wandering in his woods then he shall attack with no need to negotiate. Most Guardians of the Wild Ones dressed in leather and use a bow. They are stubborn and have amazing agility feats.them. Most people don't live to meet them. They serve Ehlonna, and Obad-Hai only. The two types are enemies. If two Guardians of the Wild Ones meet and have different religion then they shall fight to death.

Don't capitalize the name of the class. Common mistake, seeing as the writers of the books seem to have a preference for avoiding the class name except at the beginning of sentences, and they tend to be one word.

"They protect all life that lives within the forest on a path of justice if there is a hunter or skinner wandering in his woods then he shall attack with no need to negotiate" is a run-on sentence. Change it. I'll give a change I would do.

"They protect all life in the forest, following a path of justice. Hunters and skinners beware, for the guardians of the wild ones will not negotiate.


Most Guardians of the Wild Ones dressed in leather and use a bow.

Should be "Most guardians of the wild ones dress in leather and use bows."


They are stubborn and have amazing agility feats.them.

This was mentioned.


Most people don't live to meet them.

Does this mean they hide out in forests a lot? It's good, if so.


They serve Ehlonna, and Obad-Hai only.

No comma.


The two types are enemies. If two Guardians of the Wild Ones meet and have different religion then they shall fight to death.

"The two types" doesn't really describe well. Either edit that or just cut it out. "...and have different religion then they shall fight to death" should be "...and are of opposed religions, they fight to the death" or "...and have different religions, they fight to the death."

That was just the introductory paragraph. :smallbiggrin: I might have some changes to it yet! :smallamused:

[Milskidasith]

A dragon of your HD or lower probably won't be all that powerful. A dragon of your CR would be very powerful. The ability is hard to balance.

I have nothing else to say. You guys are doing my job for me.

[Temotei]

A dragon of your HD or lower probably won't be all that powerful. A dragon of your CR would be very powerful. The ability is hard to balance.

I have nothing else to say. You guys are doing my job for me.

:smalleek:

:smallamused: :smallbiggrin:

The best way to balance that ability would be with a table.

[Vaynor]

A dragon of your HD or lower probably won't be all that powerful. A dragon of your CR would be very powerful. The ability is hard to balance.

I have nothing else to say. You guys are doing my job for me.

Good point, I was just using HD as an example of what he could do. I think we could be safe in saying that a dragon whose CR is equal to your ECL wouldn't be too powerful? This would give you, at level 8 (the earliest entry point) a CR 8 dragon with about 16 HD (depending on the type of dragon). Keeping in mind that this is a capstone ability that's usable once per day for 3 minutes (as it currently stands, or longer if he means total level). Maybe it lasting for an entire encounter would make more sense though, we'll see.

Like you said, this is a very difficult ability to gauge.

Also, Dragon queen, I'm not entirely certain you're fully comprehending our comments regarding the Call Dragon ability. As it is, the entry for this ability is very confusing and often outright redundant. I've taken the time to rewrite the ability based on the above and the current ability:


Call Dragon (Su): The guardian of the wild ones can call upon a dragon to aid her in the defense of nature. At level 3, once per day, the guardian of the wild ones may summon a dragon. This ability requires a standard action to activate, and the summoned dragon lasts until the end of the encounter. The summoned dragon's CR is equal to the guardian of the wild ones' level.

Not sure if that's balanced, but it seems pretty good to me.

@Temotei: A table, or perhaps just limit the dragon's HD to your own + 5. That would keep its CR roughly below your ECL, and not make it too powerful. (maybe this is just because I don't feel like making a table)

[Milskidasith]

Good point, I was just using HD as an example of what he could do. I think we could be safe in saying that a dragon whose CR is equal to your ECL wouldn't be too powerful? This would give you, at level 8 (the earliest entry point) a CR 8 dragon with about 16 HD (depending on the type of dragon). Keeping in mind that this is a capstone ability that's usable once per day for 3 minutes (as it currently stands, or longer if he means total level). Maybe it lasting for an entire encounter would make more sense though, we'll see.

Like you said, this is a very difficult ability to gauge.

Also, Dragon queen, I'm not entirely certain you're fully comprehending our comments regarding the Call Dragon ability. As it is, the entry for this ability is very confusing and often outright redundant. I've taken the time to rewrite the ability based on the above and the current ability:



Not sure if that's balanced, but it seems pretty good to me.

@Temotei: A table, or perhaps just limit the dragon's HD to your own + 5. That would keep its CR roughly below your ECL, and not make it too powerful. (maybe this is just because I don't feel like making a table)

I think HD+5 works out pretty well, but it's a very powerful ability nonetheless... it might work better in a more dragon oriented PrC (Dragon ranger? Dragoon?), and could probably be a capstone for a 10 level PrC, let alone a 3 level one.

[Vaynor]

I think HD+5 works out pretty well, but it's a very powerful ability nonetheless... it might work better in a more dragon oriented PrC (Dragon ranger? Dragoon?), and could probably be a capstone for a 10 level PrC, let alone a 3 level one.

I think perhaps removing the ability entirely and adding a different one might be better, this is much too difficult to balance and doesn't even really fit with the flavor that well.

[Milskidasith]

I think perhaps removing the ability entirely and adding a different one might be better, this is much too difficult to balance and doesn't even really fit with the flavor that well.

Yeah. I could see giving it to, say, a ranger focused on being in touch with dragons (dragoon, I suppose, though that's terribly cliche as far as names go), but this is... eh.

[Dragon queen]

:smalleek:

:smallamused: :smallbiggrin:

The best way to balance that ability would be with a table.

A table for Dragon call? intriguing...but all the tables are used for classes are they not? If there is an ability table I shall use it but I doubt there is one. And from what I am hearing Dragon call should be gotten rid of but put in with a new ability. Since I shall get rid of it any ideas? Do you think summon unicorn would work? Or maybe a stampede of wild animals?:smallconfused: