Violet Octopus
2008-10-25, 06:42 AM
So, being seduced by the idea of being a "frickin' awesome wolf that explodes with fire and shadow teleports", I was thinking of playing a druid/swordsage character in an upcoming campaign. I figured the Ruby Knight Vindicator could just be refluffed, but no, its mechanics revolve around turn undead. So I made this. Trouble is I've never played with ToB before, so balance is likely off. Also, I'm stumped for a name. Please help, or it'll be stuck with its awful moniker forever :-/
Gnostic Warrior
The blazing sun. The ephemeral darkness. The ancient mountain. The swift predator. Some martial adepts who contemplate their art conclude that it is at its purest an expression of the primal forces of nature. A few explore this idea further, learn nature magic and attempt to commune with the wild. For those who succeed, the experience is life changing. They become gnostic warriors, defenders of nature who blur spellcasting, martial ability and shapeshifting into an unpredictable, untamable combat style.
Becoming a Gnostic Warrior
Most gnostic warriors are multiclass swordsage/druids (using the Shapeshift class variant in Player's Handbook II, and often using the unarmed swordsage variant), however crusader/druids have also been known to enter the class. Typically the latter eschew alignment-based maneuvers, seeing the forces that promote good, evil, law and chaos as anthropocentric and antithetical to the interests of the natural world. Warblades can qualify, but are usually too obsessed with personal glory to be open to mystical experience.
Entry Requirements
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least two maneuvers from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines
Martial Stances: Must know at least one stance from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw discipline
Class Features: Shapeshift, Wild Empathy
Skills: Knowledge (nature) 8 ranks, survival 8 ranks
Special: You must spend one month alone in the wild without the trappings of civilisation. During this month, you journey through perilous terrain. Your destination is unknown, but you always have an intuitive knowledge of the right direction. If you survive the month, you reach your destination, where a part of the wild teaches you the secrets of the gnostic warrior. This could be anything from a leopard or a frog to a cloud or a stream, and is different for every aspiring gnostic warrior. Nobody knows for certain if this experience is real or hallucinatory, but the insight gained is the same regardless.
Class Skills (4+Int modifier per level): Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Martial Lore, Move Silently, Ride, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Survival, Swim, Tumble
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spellcasting
1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+2|Blade Meditation, Shapeshift, Wild Empathy|-
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+3|Red in Tooth and Claw|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
3rd|
+2|
+1|
+3|
+3||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
4th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+4|Stance of Dire Savagery|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
5th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+4||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
6th|
+4|
+2|
+5|
+5|Sublime Summoning|-
7th|
+5|
+2|
+5|
+5||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
8th|
+6|
+2|
+6|
+6|Savage Reprisal|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
9th|
+6|
+3|
+6|
+6|-|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
10th|
+7|
+3|
+7|
+7|Wild Spellcasting|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class[/table]
{table=head]Level|Man. Known|Man. Readied|Stances Known
1st|
1|
0|
1
2nd|
0|
1|
0
3rd|
1|
0|
0
4th|
0|
0|
0
5th|
1|
0|
0
6th|
0|
1|
0
7th|
1|
0|
1
8th|
0|
0|
0
9th|
1|
0|
0
10th|
0|
1|
0[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: You gain no weapon or armor proficiencies.
Maneuvers: At 1st, 3rd, 5th 7th and 9th levels you gain a new maneuver known from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw discipline. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. You add your full gnostic warrior levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.
At 2nd, 6th and 10th levels you gain additional maneuvers readied (and granted, if applicable).
Stances Known: At 1st and 7th levels you learn a new martial stance from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw discipline. You must meet a stance's prerequisite to learn it.
Spellcasting: At each level except 1st and 6th, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a gnostic warrior, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.
Shapeshift: You add your class level to your druid level to determine the power of your Shapeshift class ability.
Wild Empathy: You add your class level to your druid level to determine the power of your Wild Empathy class ability.
Blade Meditation: At 1st level you gain Blade Meditation as a bonus feat. You do not need to meet the prerequisites for the feat. However, you do not choose the discipline it applies to, instead it is determined by the DM. The disciplines that may be chosen from are Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon and Tiger Claw, and the decision is based on which aspects of nature posed the greatest challenge during your month in the wild (see entry requirements). For example, a gnostic warrior who travelled through dangerous alpine terrain would have Stone Dragon chosen for them, while one who survived in a network of underground caverns would receive the feat for Shadow Hand.
Red in Tooth and Claw: At 2nd level, whenever you enter a form other than your natural one using Shapeshift, you temporarily gain Improved Critical as a bonus feat for all natural attacks the form has. In the case of the Ferocious Slayer form, when your effective druid level reaches 10, the Improved Critical (claw) and Improved Critical (bite) bonus feats gained stack with this (for a total critical threat range of 18-20).
Stance of Dire Savagery: At 4th level you gain a special stance, usable only while you are using your Shapeshift ability. You may enter this stance in two different ways. While in shapeshifted form, as a swift action you may lose the benefit of any stance you are in to gain the benefits of this one. Alternately, when you use Shapeshift, you may lose your current stance and enter this one as a free action. While in this stance, your size category increases by one (this stacks with any size category increase granted as part of the shapeshift form, to a maximum of Colossal)
Sublime Summoning: At 6th level you learn to share your martial ability with the creatures the wild sends to aid you. Whenever you cast a summon nature's ally spell, select a maneuver that you know (it doesn't have to be readied). The creatures you summon gain the ability to initiate this maneuver once within the duration of the spell. They cannot recover this maneuver. If you summon more than one creature with the same spell, you must choose the same maneuver for each one.
Savage Reprisal: At 8th level you learn to tap into an inner wellspring of fury and vengeance whenever an opponent disrupts your spellcasting. This is a martial maneuver which you must ready and expend like your other maneuvers. It is a 7th level counter that does not belong to any discipline. If you take damage while casting a spell and fail your Concentration check to avoid losing it, you may initiate this maneuver as an immediate action. The might of nature surges within you, and you change into a form available with your Shapeshift ability. You then carry out a full attack against any opponents in range. If you can recognise the damage as having come from a particular creature, and that creature is in range, you must direct all attacks against that creature.
Wild Spellcasting: At 10th level, your experience with performing supernatural maneuvers while shapeshifted allows you to achieve what was thought to be impossible. Once per encounter, you may cast a spell while in a shapeshifted form. This is an exception to the prohibition on using spells when under the effects of Shapeshift.
Gnostic Warrior
The blazing sun. The ephemeral darkness. The ancient mountain. The swift predator. Some martial adepts who contemplate their art conclude that it is at its purest an expression of the primal forces of nature. A few explore this idea further, learn nature magic and attempt to commune with the wild. For those who succeed, the experience is life changing. They become gnostic warriors, defenders of nature who blur spellcasting, martial ability and shapeshifting into an unpredictable, untamable combat style.
Becoming a Gnostic Warrior
Most gnostic warriors are multiclass swordsage/druids (using the Shapeshift class variant in Player's Handbook II, and often using the unarmed swordsage variant), however crusader/druids have also been known to enter the class. Typically the latter eschew alignment-based maneuvers, seeing the forces that promote good, evil, law and chaos as anthropocentric and antithetical to the interests of the natural world. Warblades can qualify, but are usually too obsessed with personal glory to be open to mystical experience.
Entry Requirements
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least two maneuvers from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines
Martial Stances: Must know at least one stance from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw discipline
Class Features: Shapeshift, Wild Empathy
Skills: Knowledge (nature) 8 ranks, survival 8 ranks
Special: You must spend one month alone in the wild without the trappings of civilisation. During this month, you journey through perilous terrain. Your destination is unknown, but you always have an intuitive knowledge of the right direction. If you survive the month, you reach your destination, where a part of the wild teaches you the secrets of the gnostic warrior. This could be anything from a leopard or a frog to a cloud or a stream, and is different for every aspiring gnostic warrior. Nobody knows for certain if this experience is real or hallucinatory, but the insight gained is the same regardless.
Class Skills (4+Int modifier per level): Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Martial Lore, Move Silently, Ride, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Survival, Swim, Tumble
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spellcasting
1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+2|Blade Meditation, Shapeshift, Wild Empathy|-
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+3|Red in Tooth and Claw|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
3rd|
+2|
+1|
+3|
+3||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
4th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+4|Stance of Dire Savagery|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
5th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+4||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
6th|
+4|
+2|
+5|
+5|Sublime Summoning|-
7th|
+5|
+2|
+5|
+5||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
8th|
+6|
+2|
+6|
+6|Savage Reprisal|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
9th|
+6|
+3|
+6|
+6|-|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
10th|
+7|
+3|
+7|
+7|Wild Spellcasting|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class[/table]
{table=head]Level|Man. Known|Man. Readied|Stances Known
1st|
1|
0|
1
2nd|
0|
1|
0
3rd|
1|
0|
0
4th|
0|
0|
0
5th|
1|
0|
0
6th|
0|
1|
0
7th|
1|
0|
1
8th|
0|
0|
0
9th|
1|
0|
0
10th|
0|
1|
0[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: You gain no weapon or armor proficiencies.
Maneuvers: At 1st, 3rd, 5th 7th and 9th levels you gain a new maneuver known from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw discipline. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. You add your full gnostic warrior levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.
At 2nd, 6th and 10th levels you gain additional maneuvers readied (and granted, if applicable).
Stances Known: At 1st and 7th levels you learn a new martial stance from the Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw discipline. You must meet a stance's prerequisite to learn it.
Spellcasting: At each level except 1st and 6th, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a gnostic warrior, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.
Shapeshift: You add your class level to your druid level to determine the power of your Shapeshift class ability.
Wild Empathy: You add your class level to your druid level to determine the power of your Wild Empathy class ability.
Blade Meditation: At 1st level you gain Blade Meditation as a bonus feat. You do not need to meet the prerequisites for the feat. However, you do not choose the discipline it applies to, instead it is determined by the DM. The disciplines that may be chosen from are Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon and Tiger Claw, and the decision is based on which aspects of nature posed the greatest challenge during your month in the wild (see entry requirements). For example, a gnostic warrior who travelled through dangerous alpine terrain would have Stone Dragon chosen for them, while one who survived in a network of underground caverns would receive the feat for Shadow Hand.
Red in Tooth and Claw: At 2nd level, whenever you enter a form other than your natural one using Shapeshift, you temporarily gain Improved Critical as a bonus feat for all natural attacks the form has. In the case of the Ferocious Slayer form, when your effective druid level reaches 10, the Improved Critical (claw) and Improved Critical (bite) bonus feats gained stack with this (for a total critical threat range of 18-20).
Stance of Dire Savagery: At 4th level you gain a special stance, usable only while you are using your Shapeshift ability. You may enter this stance in two different ways. While in shapeshifted form, as a swift action you may lose the benefit of any stance you are in to gain the benefits of this one. Alternately, when you use Shapeshift, you may lose your current stance and enter this one as a free action. While in this stance, your size category increases by one (this stacks with any size category increase granted as part of the shapeshift form, to a maximum of Colossal)
Sublime Summoning: At 6th level you learn to share your martial ability with the creatures the wild sends to aid you. Whenever you cast a summon nature's ally spell, select a maneuver that you know (it doesn't have to be readied). The creatures you summon gain the ability to initiate this maneuver once within the duration of the spell. They cannot recover this maneuver. If you summon more than one creature with the same spell, you must choose the same maneuver for each one.
Savage Reprisal: At 8th level you learn to tap into an inner wellspring of fury and vengeance whenever an opponent disrupts your spellcasting. This is a martial maneuver which you must ready and expend like your other maneuvers. It is a 7th level counter that does not belong to any discipline. If you take damage while casting a spell and fail your Concentration check to avoid losing it, you may initiate this maneuver as an immediate action. The might of nature surges within you, and you change into a form available with your Shapeshift ability. You then carry out a full attack against any opponents in range. If you can recognise the damage as having come from a particular creature, and that creature is in range, you must direct all attacks against that creature.
Wild Spellcasting: At 10th level, your experience with performing supernatural maneuvers while shapeshifted allows you to achieve what was thought to be impossible. Once per encounter, you may cast a spell while in a shapeshifted form. This is an exception to the prohibition on using spells when under the effects of Shapeshift.