Druid flavor prestige class

[samster712]

So i've always LOVED eagles and birds of prey in general ever since I was a kid. I was thinking and I thought it would be really cool if I could find a druid prestige class that is "one with the wind and birds of prey" and feels a strong link to birds of prey. he can get improved bird animal companions (maybe eventually rocs???) and can obviously wild shape into them...and eventually I feel it would be cool if the druid was able to learn from these birds and become part bird himself...is there anything like that already? cause it would be AWESOME!!

[ffone]

You can do all this AS a druid-20.

With Natural Spell and wilding clasps for your magic items you can spend all day in bird form and be at pretty much full effectiveness.

And-or ask your DM about playing a raptoran refluffed as a human who gains the raptoran racial abilities through experience. Mechanically this will be of little benefit (since you could just WS into a flying creature) except perhaps to keep all your magic items functional (w/o wilding clasps) but fluffwise it'll fit.

[Urpriest]

Animal Lord is a (fairly weak) prestige class in Complete Adventurer that includes a Birdlord option.

[samster712]

You can do all this AS a druid-20.

With Natural Spell and wilding clasps for your magic items you can spend all day in bird form and be at pretty much full effectiveness.

And-or ask your DM about playing a raptoran refluffed as a human who gains the raptoran racial abilities through experience. Mechanically this will be of little benefit (since you could just WS into a flying creature) except perhaps to keep all your magic items functional (w/o wilding clasps) but fluffwise it'll fit.

my ultimate wish would be to transform into an anthropomorphic eagle-man...and if i was to be in bird form wouldn't it just be better to take vow of poverty and not even bother with clasps/items?

[Thespianus]

my ultimate wish would be to transform into an anthropomorphic eagle-man...and if i was to be in bird form wouldn't it just be better to take vow of poverty and not even bother with clasps/items?

Eagles have nests, and VoP won't let you own a nest. There will be trouble. ;)

But, yeah, I believe the Druid is one of the few classes that don't suffer too much from VoP. Build the character and see what you end up with. It might be filled with awesome. :smallsmile:

[Leon]

Play as a Giant Eagle Druid with the Fang Shield class substitution to gain a Humanoid form

[samster712]

Play as a Giant Eagle Druid with the Fang Shield class substitution to gain a Humanoid form

what is this??

[Serpentine]

Maybe I should keep going with my alternative Druids, with one for each animal kingdom...

Bacteria Druid :sabine:

edit: I actually meant animal phyla, but nonetheless, Bacteria Druid :sabine:

[Lyndworm]

Maybe I should keep going with my alternative Druids, with one for each animal kingdom...

Bacteria Druid :sabine:

edit: I actually meant animal phyla, but nonetheless, Bacteria Druid :sabine:
I would love to see something like this, but there are an awful lot of phyla. How are you going to balance them all against one another?

[Serpentine]

Well, either I don't :smalltongue: or more likely I base them on a very similar template and just tweak things around a bit.

[Greenish]

what is this??Giant eagle is a magical beast from MMI. Fangshield druid sub levels are in Masters of the Wild, I think.

[Urpriest]

Giant eagle is a magical beast from MMI. Fangshield druid sub levels are in Masters of the Wild, I think.

Champions of Valor actually.

[Leon]

what is this??

a Class Substitution from Champions of Valor - one of 3 (Ranger, Druid & Barb) designed for non humanoid creatures

[samster712]

how do non-humanoid races work

[Urpriest]

how do non-humanoid races work

In what sense?

[samster712]

racial traits, racial bonuses, languages, talking, etc.

[Greenish]

racial traits, racial bonuses, languages, talking, etc.Depends on the race, of course.

I'm not sure whether Fangshield requires non-humanoid type, or non-humanoid body plan, though.

[Urpriest]

racial traits, racial bonuses, languages, talking, etc.

Ok, this is a bit like being asked where babies come from. The answer is a bit expansive. Let's start with the basics: do you know how level adjustment works?

[FMArthur]

Hengeyokai are an animal hybrid race from Oriental Adventures. They can take human form (no benefits :smallconfused:), their designated animal's form (inherit its physical scores, movements, senses and skill bonus) or their hybrid form.

Sparrow Hengeyokai are pretty great, but maybe you could ask your DM to be a "hawk" in name and appearance but use Sparrow Hengeyokai stats?

Hengeyokai's level adjustment was removed in their 3.5 update, making them perfectly valid racial choices. The feat Air Heritage (Planar Handbook) increases your fly speed by 30 feet, making hybrid form's flight usable in battle (it's 10ft normally).

But... everything you want is pretty much straight Druid fluff. It's great that they made a class whose default options are exactly what you want. You don't need to give up anything for this.

[Serpentine]

Ok, this is a bit like being asked where babies come from.More like "why are babies"...

Like humanoid races, except with their own mix of numbers. Check out the back of your nearest Monster Manual for more information on creature types.

[Cog]

Sparrow Hengeyokai are pretty great, but maybe you could ask your DM to be a "hawk" in name and appearance but use Sparrow Hengeyokai stats?
I'm all for refluffing where appropriate, but it's really hard to see a hawk as Fine sized, and there is a hengeyokai option for a Small sized bird: the crane.

[Serpentine]

It's probably Diminutive, but:
http://pool.twincitiesdailyphoto.com/2007/cnc_american_kestrel_hawk.jpgand this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Hawk) is only 20cm long.
For birds of prey in general (after all, a D&D world could have different species of even mundane creatures...), there's this cutie:
http://www.jennifermarohasy.com/blog/archives/ANsparrow%20hawk.jpg

[samster712]

honestly my inspiration for this was similar to the aztec eagle warriors and so something like this:http://photopost.brownpride.com/watermark.php?file=34702

ALSO: what i meant when i asked how non-humanoid races work is that i'm pretty new to D&D, and for instance if i wanted to become a gnome in the player handbook there is a list of gnome traits, languages, and stat adjustments and level adjustments etc.

So far as i know, there is no list of stuff for a 'giant eagle'...so how would you go about creating your character?

[Veyr]

If you have access to Races of the Wild, I suggest looking at the Raptorans: they'd likely be exactly what you're looking for.

[Morph Bark]

Maybe I should keep going with my alternative Druids, with one for each animal kingdom...

Bacteria Druid :sabine:

edit: I actually meant animal phyla, but nonetheless, Bacteria Druid :sabine:

Bacteria are not animals though. :smallwink:

[Urpriest]

honestly my inspiration for this was similar to the aztec eagle warriors and so something like this:http://photopost.brownpride.com/watermark.php?file=34702

ALSO: what i meant when i asked how non-humanoid races work is that i'm pretty new to D&D, and for instance if i wanted to become a gnome in the player handbook there is a list of gnome traits, languages, and stat adjustments and level adjustments etc.

So far as i know, there is no list of stuff for a 'giant eagle'...so how would you go about creating your character?

Ok. I'm going to assume that you know how level adjustments and racial hit dice work. If you don't, I'll back up and explain them.

To get the racial stats from a monster, do the following:
Subtract 11 from its odd ability scores, and 10 from its even ones. That will give you the monster's ability bonuses and penalties.
All of its special abilities (except those derived from class levels) are racial traits, just like the gnome's spell-like abilities. Its base speed is its base speed, its natural armor is its natural armor...basically, you get all of its abilities, traits, etc. You get any bonus feats it has (at least those not derived from class levels).
You get to rechoose all of its regular feats and skill points. For its racial hit dice, any skill mentioned in its statblock counts as a class skill. Its skill points are determined by its creature type, you can find the info for each creature type in the back of the monster manual.
For languages, the entry will generally list what languages the monster commonly speaks...there really isn't a more detailed list of bonus languages you can get from that.

I think that covers pretty much everything...anything I missed?

[samster712]

Ok. I'm going to assume that you know how level adjustments and racial hit dice work. If you don't, I'll back up and explain them.

To get the racial stats from a monster, do the following:
Subtract 11 from its odd ability scores, and 10 from its even ones. That will give you the monster's ability bonuses and penalties.
All of its special abilities (except those derived from class levels) are racial traits, just like the gnome's spell-like abilities. Its base speed is its base speed, its natural armor is its natural armor...basically, you get all of its abilities, traits, etc. You get any bonus feats it has (at least those not derived from class levels).
You get to rechoose all of its regular feats and skill points. For its racial hit dice, any skill mentioned in its statblock counts as a class skill. Its skill points are determined by its creature type, you can find the info for each creature type in the back of the monster manual.
For languages, the entry will generally list what languages the monster commonly speaks...there really isn't a more detailed list of bonus languages you can get from that.

I think that covers pretty much everything...anything I missed?

so for instance how would you make a giant eagle into a race: http://www.charles-reace.com/Hobbies/DnD_Monster_DB/index.php?id=335

Also raptorans look awesome...i may go with that

[togapika]

Windlord Prestige Class Masters of the Wild

[Urpriest]

so for instance how would you make a giant eagle into a race: http://www.charles-reace.com/Hobbies/DnD_Monster_DB/index.php?id=335

Also raptorans look awesome...i may go with that

You can't play a giant eagle as a character. Their level adjustment specifies cohort-only. Do you mean as an NPC race?

[Lord.Sorasen]

honestly my inspiration for this was similar to the aztec eagle warriors and so something like this:http://photopost.brownpride.com/watermark.php?file=34702

ALSO: what i meant when i asked how non-humanoid races work is that i'm pretty new to D&D, and for instance if i wanted to become a gnome in the player handbook there is a list of gnome traits, languages, and stat adjustments and level adjustments etc.

So far as i know, there is no list of stuff for a 'giant eagle'...so how would you go about creating your character?

If your inspiration is a winged human, then..

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#wildShapeVariantAspectOfN ature

In particular, you could take flight and then fly whenever you use wildshape. The bad part is you wouldn't be able to turn into a true hawk, but you could always summon hawks to aid you or what have you with Summon Nature's Ally.

Raptoran happens to also be ideal, from races of the wild. If you're new to D&D, I'm going to say you should have caution on the giant eagle, especially if you're going to be a caster: You're going to be 6 levels behind due to racial hit dice and level adjustment. In other words, when you get level 2 spells, a human druid will already be casting 5th level spells. It's a pretty big sacrifice to make.

[Leon]

You can't play a giant eagle as a character. Their level adjustment specifies cohort-only. Do you mean as an NPC race?

If you have your GMs permission you can play as anything they let you.

[samster712]

If your inspiration is a winged human, then..

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#wildShapeVariantAspectOfN ature

In particular, you could take flight and then fly whenever you use wildshape. The bad part is you wouldn't be able to turn into a true hawk, but you could always summon hawks to aid you or what have you with Summon Nature's Ally.

Raptoran happens to also be ideal, from races of the wild. If you're new to D&D, I'm going to say you should have caution on the giant eagle, especially if you're going to be a caster: You're going to be 6 levels behind due to racial hit dice and level adjustment. In other words, when you get level 2 spells, a human druid will already be casting 5th level spells. It's a pretty big sacrifice to make.

So do raptorans get any racial stat boosts?...I'm playing 3.5 (obviously) but i found on a pathfinder website that it said "+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma" however in races of the wild it doesn't mention anything of the sort...someone mind helping me out?

[Serpentine]

The Races of the Wild section Raptoran Racial Traits include all their racial things for 3.5. I don't see any ability modifiers for them there, so I guess in 3.5 they don't have any.

[Cog]

So do raptorans get any racial stat boosts?...I'm playing 3.5 (obviously) but i found on a pathfinder website that it said "+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma" however in races of the wild it doesn't mention anything of the sort...someone mind helping me out?
Pathfinder has a different balance point for character races than 3.5, but moreover, I doubt raptorans were OGL content, and Paizo can't republish that if it is - you're probably looking at a fan conversion instead.

3.5 raptorans have no stat modifiers.