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Ripptor
2013-11-07, 01:38 PM
With the Druid being generally considered too high of a Tier (Tier 1), I thought it would be helpful to share my homebrew of a Druid who is a little more down-to-earth in his abilities. In my mind (and some of my games), a Druid who worships nature should be very physically comfortable in their own body, having relied on merely themselves to survive in the wilderness, amongst the wildlife of whatever planes they visit/inhabit.

This is a cross of the Druid with the Monk and Ranger, to lower their abilities to an acceptable level in a flavorful way. This is the Druid Ascetic, who relies on neither armor nor weapons to win, merely their own physical abilities and mental faculties (and a spell or two) to win their battles.

Inspiration: Druid Alternate Class Features, which I have used countless times to make the type of Druid that I want to play at the table.

Spontaneous Divine Casters (SRD)
Deadly Hunter (Unearthed Arcana)

Druid Ascetic

The humble servant of the divine, the Druid Ascetic wanders the vast wilderness of the planes, communing with forces both large and small, learning about the natural world and it's wonders, and ultimately, themselves.

Adventures: Druid Ascetics wander because it's what they do. They are always seeking enlightenment in the form of new experiences, and favor doing things themselves in order to understand through all of their senses, natural and otherwise.

Alignment: Druid Ascetics are almost always some form of Neutral. However, if after looking deep inside themselves they find another path that better suits their inner being, they are encouraged to do so.

Religion: Druid Ascetics commonly worship the gods of nature and balance, or simply no god at all, but the great expanse of existence itself.

Background: Those who become Druid Ascetics are often either unfulfilled in their previous surroundings, or suffered some event which expelled them from their original home. Thus they wander the worlds, exploring nature, and finding themselves in the process.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Spellbane's have the following game statistics.
Abilities: The Druid Ascetic's primary ability score, and casting ability, is Wisdom.
Alignment: Any, favoring Neutral.
Hit Die: d8
Starting Age: As Druid.
Starting Gold: As Druid.

Class Skills (4 + Int Modifier, x4 at 1st level)
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str)

Druid Ascetic & Spells per Day
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Natural Shape|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Animal Companion, Favored Enemy(1st), Nature Sense, Track, Wild Empathy|+0/+0 ft|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Woodland Stride|+0/+0 ft|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|+2|+3|+1|+3|Trackless Step|+0/+10 ft|5|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Resist Nature's Lure|+1/+10 ft|6|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Favored Enemy(2nd)|+1/+10 ft|6|4|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|+4|+5|+2|+5|Evasion|+1/+20 ft|6|4|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|+5|+5|+2|+5|Purity of Body|+1/+20 ft|7|5|4|3|2|-|-|-|-|-
8th|+6|+6|+2|+6|Swift Tracker|+2/+20 ft|7|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-|-
9th|+6|+6|+3|+6|Wholeness of Body|+2/+30 ft|7|5|5|4|3|2|-|-|-|-
10th|+7|+7|+3|+7|Favored Enemy(3rd)|+2/+30 ft|7|5|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-
11th|+8|+7|+3|+7|Improved Evasion|+2/+30 ft|7|6|5|5|4|3|2|-|-|-
12th|+9|+8|+4|+8|Supernatural Body|+3/+40 ft|7|6|5|5|4|4|3|-|-|-
13th|+9|+8|+4|+8|A Thousand Faces|+3/+40 ft|7|6|6|5|5|4|3|2|-|-
14th|+10|+9|+4|+9|Soul of Nature|+3/+40 ft|7|6|6|5|5|4|4|3|-|-
15th|+11|+9|+5|+9|Favored Enemy(4th)|+3/+50 ft|7|6|6|6|5|5|4|3|2|-
16th|+12|+10|+5|+10|Timeless Body|+4/+50 ft|7|6|6|6|5|5|4|4|3|-
17th|+12|+10|+5|+10||+4/+50 ft|7|6|6|6|6|5|5|4|3|2
18th|+13|+11|+6|+11|Mother Tongue|+4/+60 ft|7|6|6|6|6|5|5|4|4|3
19th|+14|+11|+6|+11||+4/+60 ft|7|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|4|4
20th|+15|+12|+6|+12|Favored Enemy(5th), Perfect Self|+5/+60 ft|7|6|6|6|6|6|5|5|5|5[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Druid Ascetic.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Ascetic Druids are proficient with the following weapons: club, dagger, dart, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, shortspear, sling, and spear.

Ascetic Druids are not proficient with any type of armor, and are specifically prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. (An Ascetic Druid may also wear wooden armor that has been altered by the ironwood spell so that it functions as though it were steel. See the ironwood spell description) Ascetic Druids are not proficient with any shields, and may use only wooden ones.

An Ascetic Druid who wears prohibited armor or carries a prohibited shield is unable to cast Druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.

Spells:
An Ascetic Druid casts divine spells, which are drawn from the Druid spell list. Her alignment may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time the way a cleric must.

To cast a spell, an Ascetic Druid must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Ascetic Druid’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the Ascetic Druid’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, an Ascetic Druid can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Ascetic Druid. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. She does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.

Unlike a Druid, an Ascetic Druid need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. However, an Ascetic Druid's selection of spells is limited. An Ascetic Druid begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of your choice, plus Summon Nature's Ally I. At each new Ascetic Druid level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Ascetic Druid Spells Known. Each time an Ascetic Druid gains a new spell level, she gains a bonus spell known to add to her list, which must always be the appropriate summon nature's ally spell of that spell level. (An entry of 0 on the table indicates that she knows only the summon nature's ally spell of that level.)

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered class level after that, an Ascetic Druid can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. This functions identically to the sorcerer's ability to swap out known spells, except that she may never choose to lose a summon nature's ally spell.

Druid Ascetic Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|4|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
2nd|5|2|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
3rd|5|3|0|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
4th|6|3|1|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
5th|6|4|2|0|—|—|—|—|—|—
6th|7|4|2|1|—|—|—|—|—|—
7th|7|5|3|2|0|—|—|—|—|—
8th|8|5|3|2|1|—|—|—|—|—
9th|8|5|4|3|2|0|—|—|—|—
10th|9|5|4|3|2|1|—|—|—|—
11th|9|5|5|4|3|2|0|—|—|—
12th|9|5|5|4|3|2|1|—|—|—
13th|9|5|5|4|4|3|2|0|—|—
14th|9|5|5|4|4|3|2|1|—|—
15th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|2|0|—
16th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|2|1|—
17th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|2|0
18th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|2|1
19th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|2
20th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|3[/table]

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells
An Ascetic Druid can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Bonus Languages
An Ascetic Druid’s bonus language options include Sylvan, the language of woodland creatures. This choice is in addition to the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.

An Ascetic Druid also knows Druidic, a secret language known only to Druids, which she learns upon becoming a 1st-level Ascetic Druid. Druidic is a free language; that is, she knows it in addition to her regular allotment of languages and it doesn’t take up a language slot. Ascetic Druids are forbidden to teach this language to nondruids.

Druidic has its own alphabet.

Animal Companion (Ex)
An Ascetic Druid may begin play with an animal companion. This class feature is identical to the Druid class feature of the same name.

Favored Enemy
Due to her extensive study of a chosen creature type, an Ascetic Druid gets bonuses on all interactions with creatures of her chosen type. This feature is identical to the Ranger class feature of the same name.

Natural Shape
An Ascetic Druid is extraordinarily comfortable and familiar in her own natural form. When unarmored and unencumbered in her natural form, she adds her Wisdom bonus (if any) to her AC. In addition, an Ascetic Druid gains a +1 bonus to AC at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four Ascetic Druid levels thereafter (+2 at 8th, +3 at 12th, and so on). These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when she is flat-footed.

Starting at 3rd level, an Ascetic Druid also gains an 10ft enhancement bonus to her speed. This bonus increases by 10 for every three Ascetic Druid levels thereafter (+20 at 6th, +30 at 9th, and so on).

She loses both of these bonuses when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any armor, when she carries a shield(except a buckler), when she carries a medium or heavy load, or when she is in a form outside of her own(ex. Polymorph). This does not include spells that only add natural attacks or ability score bonuses(ex. Bite of the Werewolf).

Anything feat or class feature that would grant or progress a Druid's Wild Shape ability instead progresses an Ascetic Druid's Natural Shape ability, as if she had taken additional levels of Ascetic Druid.

Nature Sense (Ex)
An Ascetic Druid gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.

Track
An Ascetic Druid gains Track as a bonus feat.

Wild Empathy (Ex)
An Ascetic Druid can improve the attitude of an animal. This class feature is identical to the Druid class feature of the same name.

Woodland Stride (Ex)
Starting at 2nd level, an Ascetic Druid may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her.

Trackless Step (Ex)
Starting at 3rd level, an Ascetic Druid leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. She may choose to leave a trail if so desired.

Resist Nature’s Lure (Ex)
Starting at 4th level, an Ascetic Druid gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like abilities of fey.

Evasion (Ex)
An Ascetic Druid of 6th level or higher can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save (such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a fireball), she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if an Ascetic Druid is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Ascetic Druid (such as one who is unconscious or paralysed) does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Purity of Body (Ex)
At 7th level, an Ascetic Druid gains immunity to all diseases except for supernatural and magical diseases.

Swift Tracker (Ex)
Beginning at 8th level, an Ascetic Druid can move at her normal speed while following tracks without taking the normal —5 penalty. She takes only a —10 penalty (instead of the normal —20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking.

Wholeness of Body (Su)
At 9th level or higher, an Ascetic Druid can heal her own wounds. She can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to twice her current class level each day, and she can spread this healing out among several uses.

Improved Evasion (Ex)
At 11th level, an Ascetic Druid's evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a dragon's breath weapon or a fireball, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless Ascetic Druid (such as one who is unconscious or paralysed) does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Supernatural Body (Su)
At 12th level, an Ascetic Druid gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.

A Thousand Faces (Su)
At 13th level, an Ascetic Druid gains the ability to change her appearance at will, as if using the disguise self spell, but only while in her normal form. This affects her body but not her possessions. It is not an illusory effect, but a minor physical alteration of the Ascetic Druid’s appearance, within the limits described for the spell.

Soul of Nature (Ex)
At 14th level, an Ascetic Druid gains spell resistance equal to her current class level + 10. In order to affect her with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the Ascetic Druid's spell resistance.

Timeless Body (Ex)
After attaining 16th level, an Ascetic Druid no longer takes ability score penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any penalties she may have already incurred, however, remain in place.

Bonuses still accrue, and the druid still dies of old age when her time is up.

Mother Tongue (Ex)
An Ascetic Druid of 18th level or higher can speak with any living creature.

Perfect Self
At 20th level, an Ascetic Druid has tuned her body with skill and quasi-magical abilities to the point that she becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider (an extraplanar creature) rather than as a humanoid for the purpose of spells and magical effects. For instance, charm person does not affect her. Additionally, the Ascetic Druid gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn't have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the Ascetic Druid can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

Nov. 7th, 2013: Posted

Feel free to share your opinions and suggestions below. After having used the same set of ACFs over and over again (and additional abilities), I felt it would be more useful to have a resource available for myself and others to use. Thanks for reading!

nonsi
2013-11-08, 11:19 AM
I can't bring myself to accept Evasion.
Mettle, yes.
Elemental Resistance, yes.
DR, yes.
.
.
.
Evasion - NO.

Morph Bark
2013-11-08, 11:27 AM
Mettle might make more sense than Evasion, especially considering that Reflex is the Druid's single weak save.

Also, one of the big reasons Druid is Tier 1 is the spells it gets. If they only would go up to level 7 in spellcasting (with adjusted progression, of course), this would surely be Tier 3. As is, probably not.

I also like how you managed to nearly fill up all the levels after taking out Wildshape. There's only two levels to fill up with actual class abilities.

Ripptor
2013-11-08, 03:53 PM
I can't bring myself to accept Evasion.
Mettle, yes.
Elemental Resistance, yes.
DR, yes.
.
.
.
Evasion - NO.

Mettle might make more sense than Evasion, especially considering that Reflex is the Druid's single weak save.

Also, one of the big reasons Druid is Tier 1 is the spells it gets. If they only would go up to level 7 in spellcasting (with adjusted progression, of course), this would surely be Tier 3. As is, probably not.

I also like how you managed to nearly fill up all the levels after taking out Wildshape. There's only two levels to fill up with actual class abilities.

Both the Ranger and Monk have it, and being at one with yourself to the point of dodging blows seems appropriate to some extent. It's presence is certainly weakened by the lower Reflex base save, but I thought that would better keep it in check. Improved Evasion does help her mitigate her low save, even on failure..

It could switch to Mettle, but the switch would be a significant power gain, I think. As for DR, she receives some DR at level 20 from Perfect Self, though it is the easiest DR to bypass. Elemental Resistance is an idea...

The spontaneous casting is a spell-casting nerf in it's own way, requiring a more specialized role. Taking away level 9 spells entirely seems like too much, however. It's basically their capstone class ability, and their spell selection is much weaker than the cleric/wizard/sorcerer lists (in my personal experience).

I do like having no dead levels, personally, so I got fairly close. Level 17 gives access to level 9 spells, so that's what makes level 17 exciting (even though all you get is SNA IX). I could push Perfect Self to level 19 to even it all out, but I don't like the idea of giving anything earlier than their original class granted it.