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Justdamohr
2007-10-06, 11:35 PM
I attempted to alter the Druid because frankly, I found it way too powerful. So I decided to emphasize more on the Druid's fighting abilities and less on its spell casting while at the same time blending them by incorporating the usage of Worthiness which is a way of gaining favor with nature. I called the class Therianthropist because I believe for the most part, the Druids of both 3.0 and 3.5 primarily seek to become one with nature by becoming a creature of nature, starting with the primitive animal form, ascending to the beast form, to the more sophisticated humanoid form (half animal/half humanoid form) of the Were to finally the pinnacle of forest/jungle creatures, Magical Beasts. With that in mind, I focused on improving their combat by emphasizing a usage of Wild Shape while in turn limiting them from using magic in that form, even with the Natural Spell Feat. Frankly I would do away with the spells all together but that would be quite radical for the class. Nevertheless, here they are. See what you think and most definitely give mechanical advice and opinions where you see fit. Thank you. :smallbiggrin:

The Therianthropist

Alignment: Any Neutral
Hit Die: 1d6

Class Skills:
Climb (Str), Concentration (Con) ,Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge(geography), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Listen (Wis) , Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex) , Spellcraft (Int) , Spot (Wis) , Survival (Wis) , and Swim (Str) .
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Therianthropists are proficient with the following weapons: battle axe, club, hand axe, great club, longbow, net, quarterstaff, sickle, shortbow, shortspear, sling, and spear. They are also proficient with all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape (see below).

Therianthropists are proficient with light and medium armor but are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. (A Therianthropist 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) Therianthropists are proficient with shields (except tower shields) but must use only wooden ones.

A Therianthropists 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.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Bite Damage|Claw Damage|Highest Spell Level

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2| Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Meditation | —|—|1

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3| Woodland Stride, Wild Empathy | —|—|1

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3| Trackless Step| —|—|2

4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4| Nature’s Embrace | 1d4|1d6|2

5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4| Wild Shape (Medium), Wild Shape (Animal)|1d4|1d6|3

6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5| Nature’s Gift|1d4|1d6|3

7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5|| 1d4|1d6|4

8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+6| Wild Shape (Large)|1d6|1d8|4

9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+6| Nature’s Gift, Threatening |1d6|1d8|5

10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+7| |1d6|1d8|5

11th|
+8/+3|
+7|
+3|
+7| Wild Shape (Tiny)|1d6|1d8|6

12th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+4|
+8| Nature’s Gift |1d8|1d10|6

13th|
+9/+4|
+8|
+4|
+8|Wild Shape (Were Type) | 1d8|1d10|7

14th|
+10/+5|
+9|
+4|
+9| Wild Shape (Huge), Fearsome, Nature’s Gift |1d8|1d10|7

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+9|
+5|
+9| |1d8|1d10|8

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10| Nature’s Gift | 1d10|1d12|8

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10| |1d10|1d12|9

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11| Nature’s Gift |1d10|1d12|9

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11| Ferocious | 1d10|1d12|9

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12| Wild Shape (Magical Beast), Nature’s Gift |1d12|1d20|9

[/table]


Spells:
Starting at 1st level, Therianthropists gain access to Primevals; the ancient forces of nature. However unlike Wizards who inherit their power via study, or sorcerers who naturally manifest abilities or even clerics who draw upon divine entities, Therianthropists attain Primevals through earning the respect of nature.

Nature is a neutral entity that possesses no obligation to neither good nor evil, it exists solely for its own purpose; thus, those who desire its power must prove they are worthy to possess it.

Therianthropist gain the respect of nature through attaining Worthiness each day during the course of battle. By defeating an opponent in combat using only the weapons they are permitted (as listed above), their own natural weapons and Wild Shapes, the latter two being attained with later progression, they attain Worthiness equivalent to their FOE'S HD + their Wisdom Score.

However, the Therianthropist must be the initiator of the combat and the only individual to fight their foe (players do this by announcing ahead of time which opponent they will be fighting to gain Worthiness from). If they are aided by anyone including their Animal Companion, or use any form of magic during combat, they do not gain Worthiness because nature only recognizes those who defeat enemies via their own natural physical abilities.

A Therianthropist may defeat as many enemies as they desire however the maximum amount of Worthiness they may attain per day is equal to their [(Level + Wis. Mod.) x Con. Mod] + Wis. Bonus Points.

They need not attain their full Worthiness to wield Primevals, however the moment a Therianthropist uses a Primeval, they can no longer attain Worthiness for the next 24 hours.

Wisdom Bonus Points

1-9:0
10-11:4
12-13:8
14-15:10
16-17:14
18-19:16
20-21:20
22-23:22
24-25:26
26-27:28
28-29:30
30-31:34
32-33:36
34-35:38
36-37:40
38-39:44
40-41:46
etc....


Therianthropist wield Primevals by expending their Worthiness. Each Primeval has a cost, to which a Therianthropist must pay in order to use.

0 Level Spells: 2 points
1st Level Spells: 4 points
2nd Level Spells: 8 points
3rd Level Spells: 10 points
4th Level Spells: 14 points
5th Level Spells: 16 points
6th Level Spells: 20 points
7th Level Spells: 22 points
8th Level Spells: 26 points
9th Level Spells: 28 points

Since Worthiness does not regenerate per day like that of Wizard or Sorceror’s spells, Worthiness that was not expended the prior day is retained and stacks with Worthiness attained the next day. However it remains that no Therianthropist can earn more Worthiness then their daily allotment.

Therianthropists do not prepare Primevals. They are spontaneously cast as they are spontaneously manifested by nature itself.

To use a Primeval a Therianthropist must make a Spellcraft Check DC equal to the Character’s Level + The DC of the spell. If they fail, they lose their invested Worthiness. If they roll a one, they suffer backlash damage in the form of the Primeval’s DC + their invested Worthiness.

However for every 5 points of Knowledge (Nature) they posses, they gain a + 1 to their Spellcraft Check.

Animal Companion
At 1st level Therianthropists gain an Animal Companion as the Druid Class ability. See page 35 of the PHB 3.5. under Druid.

Nature Sense
At 1st level Therianthropist gain + 2 to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival Checks. See page 35 of the PHB 3.5 under Druid.

Meditation
Aside from attaining Worthiness, Therianthropists must also possess the will to wield nature’s power. Every day a Therianthropist may spend hours meditating to bolster their proficiency at manifesting Primevals. For every hour committed they gain + 1 to casting Primevals for the day. HOWEVER, they must meditate away from man made cities and unnatural structures such as towers, houses, etc. and be completely surrounded by only nature; i.e. animals, trees, waterfall, plains etc.. They must have ABSOLUTE SILENCE AND CONCENTRATION. A Therianthropist cannot meditate when they are being threatened.

Wild Empathy
At 2nd level Therianthropists gain the Wild Empathy class ability. See page 35 in the PHB 3.5 under Druid.

Woodland Stride
At 2nd level Therianthropists gain the Woodland Stride class ability. See page 36 in the PHB 3.5 under Druid.

Trackless Step
At 3rd level a Therianthropist gains the Trackless Step class ability. See page 35 in the PHB 3.5 under Druid.

Nature’s Embrace
By 4th level, a Therianthropist’s commitment to nature has earned them the privilege of undergoing a transformation toward being a creature of nature. They gain a 1d4 Bite and two 1d6 Claw attacks.

If the Therianthropist already has a Bite and two Claw attacks, they both are raised by 1 hit die in damage to a maximum of 1d12 and 2d10 respectfully.

As the Therianthropist develops, their Bite and Claw attacks become stronger, inflicting more damage with time. The benefit of these weapons however is not only limited to their normal form but become useful later in their Wild Shape forms as well.

If their Wild Shape form has either a Bite or Claw attack, the damage of those attacks are equal to the Therianthropist’s Bite and Claw attacks unless stronger, to which then the Therianthropist gains the stronger of the two.

Example: at 5th level a Therianthropist has a Bite Attack of 1d4; however they decide to Wild Shape into a Wolf which has a Bite attack of 1d6. Instead of the 1d4 damage, they gain the benefits of the 1d6 damage.

Another example: a 12th level Therianthropist has a Bite attack of 1d8. They Wild Shape into a Wolf, which has a bite attack of 1d6. Instead of the 1d6 damage, the Therianthropist gains the benefits of their 1d8 damage.

Therianthropist are proficient with their Bite and Claw attacks and do not suffer –‘s when using either.

THEY DO NOT GAIN ADDITIONAL ATTACKS WITH BITE AND CLAW ATTACKS. IT SIMPLY MEANS THEY CAN USE THOSE IN SUB OF THEIR LIMITED WEAPONS. THEY USE THEIR BASE ATTACK BONUS WHEN USING EITHER THEIR CLAW OR BITE ATTACK. Example: a 4th level Therianthropist has + 3 to 1 attack. Therefore their options are as follows, 1 Claw attack at + 3 or 1 Bite attack at + 3. It doesn't work like natural weapons with typical creatures. They are still limited to an amount of attacks per round the same way as they were before, just now they have access to natural weapons should they not have any available.

Lastly, in addition to gaining attacks, Therianthropists gain the benefits of a Feral Defense which acts like the warning defenses of a snake’s rattle, or the snarl of a dog. Whenever a threatening entity or entities come within 5 ft per Therianthropist level of a Therianthropist, they may exercise their Feral Defense as a Standard Action without incurring an attack of opportunity.

The DC of the Feral Defense is equal to 10 + ˝ the Therianthropist’s Levels + their Wisdom Modifier. Those that fail suffer a -2 to attack rolls, ability checks and saving throws for rounds equal to the Therianthropist’s Wis. Modifier + 3. Those that succeed are immune to the Therianthropist’s Feral Defense for 24 hours. They can only do this once per encounter. THIS IS ALSO USEABLE WHEN A THERIANTHROPIST IS IN A WILD SHAPE FORM.

Wild Shape
At 5th level a Therianthropist gains the Wild Shape Class ability. See page 37 under the Druid. It is the same as the Druid ability with the following exceptions.

Therianthropists are limited to using Wild Shape an amount of times per day equal to their Con. Modifier. Additional Wild Shapes can be gained via the feat.

At 5th level they are limited to only ANIMAL TYPES, at 13th level they can become a WERE TYPE (though they do not suffer the effects of Lycanthropy and are not controlled by the moon) and finally at 20th level, MAGICAL BEASTS.

They cannot cast spells in ANY WILD SHAPE FORM. THE NATURAL SPELL FEAT DOES NOT APPLY!!!!!!!!!

Each form lasts equal to 1 minute per Therianthropist Level + Con. Mod..

THEY CAN ONLY WILDSHAPE ONCE PER ENCOUNTER. After which they suffer incurable FATIGUE for rounds equal to their Wis. Mod.+ their Con. Mod for both in combat and out of combat usage.


Each time a Therianthropist uses this ability they must make a Will Save equal to 10 + ˝ their Level (Rounded Down) + their Con. Modifier. Failure results in the Therianthropist being stunned for 1d4 rounds from the physical transformation. Upon a success, they are fine.

Nature’s Gift
By 6th level a Therianthropist’s natural defenses improve. Nature bestows upon them abilities found frequently amongst animals and creatures of the wild. Each time a Therianthropist earns a level where they gain a Nature’s Gift, they may select an ability from the following list. If a Therianthropist Wild Shapes into a creature that has any of these abilities, as with the Bite and Claw attacks, the player uses the highest of the two in combat. IN ORDER TO ATTAIN ANY OF THESE ABILITIES, THERIANTHROPIST MUST SACRIFICE POINTS OF THEIR CHARISMA. The more gifts they attain, the more they become Beast like in appearance. Each Gift is worth 1 point of Charisma.This is permenant and cannot be recovered via magic or healing.

Offensive Abilities
Attach
Whenever a Therianthropist makes a successful Bite attack, they may remain attached to their opponent; dealing 2 x Bite damage each round until they either release their hold on the victim or are removed with a successful Strength Check DC equal to 10 + ˝ the Therianthropist’s Level + their Strength Modifier.

Constrict
If a Therianthropist makes a successful Grapple Check, they can cause Bludgeoning damage each round equal to 1 x Claw Damage. This can also be used in conjunction with Improved Grab.

Improved Grab
Whenever a Therianthropist makes a Bite or Claw attack they may attempt a Grapple Check as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. This applies to enemies up to two sizes larger than the Therianthropist. If they succeed they may use Rend or Constrict.

Ferocity
A Therianthropist may continue to fight even when disabled or at – hit points without suffering penalties.

Pounce
If a Therianthropist leaps upon a foe during the first round of combat, they may make a full attack even if they have already taken a move action.

Rage
Once per encounter a Therianthropist may enter a Rage state where they gain + 4 to Strength and Constitution, -2 to AC for rounds equal to 3 + their Constitution Modifier. They are then fatigued for the remainder of the encounter. This also stacks with Fatigue caused by Wild Shape, so instead of it being regular fatigue, the Therianthropist is Exhausted for the remainder of the encounter.

Rend
If a Therianthropist makes two successful attacks with their Claws they may deal 2 x their Claw Damage, and also cause a wounding damage that bleeds 1d4 points of damage each round unless the victim makes a Heal Check equal to the Therianthropist’s Attack Roll or uses a potion or healing spell.

Trip
Whenever a Therianthropist makes a Bite Attack, they may attempt to Trip the opponent as a Free Action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the Therianthropist.


Defensive Abilities
Blindsight
A Therianthropist gains the ability to detect objects and creatures within 5ft per Therianthropist Level via the use of sound waves. THIS IS A SONIC ABILITY AND CAN BE NEGATED BY SILENCE.

Tremorsense
By remaining on the ground a Therianthropist can detect all objects and creaetures within 5ft per Therianthropist Level. THIS DOES NOT WORK IF YOUR OFF THE GROUND.

Waterbreathing
A Therianthropist gains the ability to breathe underwater.

Scent
A Therianthropist gains the Scent Feat and may use it to track down persons.

Darkvision
The Therianthropist gains Darkvision out to 5 ft per Therianthropist level. If they already have Dark Vision it extends in the same fashion and they gain the ability to see through darkness and deeper darkness without suffering the concealment penalties.

Jet
The Therianthropist gains the ability to propel themselves through water at 5 ft per Therianthropist Level + their Base Movement Speed, once per round as a move action.

Ink Cloud
A Therianthropist may emit a cloud of jet black ink in water 5 ft per Therianthropist Level High, 5 ft per Therianthropist Level Wide, and 5ft per Therianthropist Level Long as a free action once per minute. The cloud provides total concealment.

Burrow
A Therianthropist can burrow through soil and rock at their base movement speed.

Improved Natural Armor (Can be taken Multiple Times)
A Therianthropist can increase their Natural Armor by + 1

Poison Immunity
A Therianthropist is immune to all non magical poisons.

Threatening
At 9th level a Therianthropist’s Feral Defense causes opponents to become Panicked for rounds equal to 3 + Wisdom Modifier.

Fearsome
At 14th level a Therianthropist’s Feral Defense causes opponents to become Stunned for rounds equal to 3 + Wisdom Modifier.

Ferocious
At 19th level a Therianthropist’s Feral Defense causes opponents to become Paralyzed for rounds equal to 3 + Wisdom Modifier.


True Beast
By 20th level, a Therianthropist is no longer considered humanoid but a Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger). Therefore spells that would affect normal humanoid creatures do not apply to them, however spells that would effect Monsters do now.


Ex-Therianthropist: A Therianthropist that brings harm to nature in any form, either intentionally or unintentionally, changes alignment, believes in a Deity, loses all their abilities and Primevals until they atone.

JackMage666
2007-10-06, 11:58 PM
This is more powerful than the standard Druid. Wild Shape is much more effective, as you can take Magical Beast Form (Beast type went away with 3.5). Nature's Gift can give them Blindsight, Natural Armor, an at will Con Poison ability, Rend. Not to mention they get more attacks than a Fighter at 5th Level, up until about 16th level or so.

Justdamohr
2007-10-07, 12:08 AM
This is more powerful than the standard Druid. Wild Shape is much more effective, as you can take Magical Beast Form (Beast type went away with 3.5). Nature's Gift can give them Blindsight, Natural Armor, an at will Con Poison ability, Rend. Not to mention they get more attacks than a Fighter at 5th Level, up until about 16th level or so.

Well the Magical Beast Form can be fixed because personally I wanted to make it that they gain the Type Magical Beast rather than become a Magical Beast.

Secondly Beast is pretty much advanced Animals, so that's not that bad.

They're not supposed to get more attacks than a Fighter. Actually that's just a clarity issue. They GAIN a Bite Attack and 2 Claw Attacks but it doesn't ADD attacks to their BAB. Its just that they can now use those instead of weapons.

I think the Wild Shape, now that it has been altered this way can be reduced to a minute per level, because frankly an hour per level is way too much.

Natural Armor can be reduced to + 1 easily.

Rend, Poison, and Blindsight are all abilities Druids can get anyway in their animal forms. So its really no difference, only thing now is that it applies to their normal form as well. And with Poison it has a limit per round, whereas with a Wild Shape ability its more of a constant thing (Viper).

Let's see....so I'll drop Magical Beast, make Were the epitome form, shift up Beast form, reduce wild shape to a minute per level. And we'll see what else can be done. But thanks. :smallsmile:

JackMage666
2007-10-07, 12:18 AM
It's basically a Druid as is now, with a different spell system, that's also more powerful in his natural form than he is in his wild shape forms.

As for the attack situation, natural weapons are different than manufactured weapons. A creature can make a full attack with all natural weapons (In this case, most often 2 Claws and Bite), as a full attack action. However, at higher levels, they DO NOT get interitive attacks. Example -

Bob, Fighter 5 - Full Attack = Greatsword +5 melee, 2d6
Bob, Therianthropist 5 - Full Attack = 2 Claw +3 melee, 1d4, and Bite -2 melee, 1d6. I'm assuming Bite is secondary, as standardly it is.

Bob, Fighter 15 - Full Attack = 3 Greatsword swings - +15/+10/+5 melee, 2d6.
Bob, Therianthropist 5 - Full Attack = 2 Claw +11 melee, 1d8, and Bite +6 melee, 1d10.

I didn't add Str to either of them. Natural attacks allow more attacks than BAB would normally permit, but doesn't allow natural attacks.

Justdamohr
2007-10-07, 12:31 AM
It's basically a Druid as is now, with a different spell system, that's also more powerful in his natural form than he is in his wild shape forms.

As for the attack situation, natural weapons are different than manufactured weapons. A creature can make a full attack with all natural weapons (In this case, most often 2 Claws and Bite), as a full attack action. However, at higher levels, they DO NOT get interitive attacks. Example -

Bob, Fighter 5 - Full Attack = Greatsword +5 melee, 2d6
Bob, Therianthropist 5 - Full Attack = 2 Claw +3 melee, 1d4, and Bite -2 melee, 1d6. I'm assuming Bite is secondary, as standardly it is.

Bob, Fighter 15 - Full Attack = 3 Greatsword swings - +15/+10/+5 melee, 2d6.
Bob, Therianthropist 5 - Full Attack = 2 Claw +11 melee, 1d8, and Bite +6 melee, 1d10.

I didn't add Str to either of them. Natural attacks allow more attacks than BAB would normally permit, but doesn't allow natural attacks.

All right for the attacks I can simply state that they ONLY GAIN ATTACKS EQUAL TO THEIR BASE ATTACK BONUS. Again, its only making the natural attacks AVAILABLE. They should only get the FULL ATTACK OPTION when they are in their WILD SHAPE FORMS. The Bite and Claw attacks can ONLY USE THE BAB. So at 4th level they can use either 1 Claw attack or 1 Bite attack at + 3. Understand? They don't receive the full attack option. Is that not clear in what I changed above?

JackMage666
2007-10-07, 12:37 AM
It's clear, I suppose. I don't see the point of giving them Claws AND Bite, when Bite is more powerful, so they have no reason to use Claws, but whatever.

I guess I still don't see how this weakends the Druid. He has everything a regular Druid has, and then alot more. It's more powerful than the base druid, so I don't see how this isn't overpowered.