Guardian of Nature

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Zabraxus

Servants of the gods of nature, the divine group known as guardians of nature have emerged following the rule of the dragon overlords and their total disregard for Ansalon's environment. Their abilities to merge with nature and attack those who dare destroy it make them champions of the wild world.

Clerics with access to the Animal domain find it easiest to gain access to this class, and are the ones who would be most likely to benefit from it. Druids and rangers of a high enough level to cast spells may also find it a good choice. Multiclassed fighters, barbarians, mariners, and rogues who feel an affinity with nature also may consider this class. Bards, monks, nobles, sorcerers, and wizards are less likely to follow this path. Mystics could also follow this path, and notes on such are below.

NPC guardians of nature are most likely to be found in the forests of Qualinost and Silvanost, or near Southern Ergoth, where the terraforming of the dragon overlords has taken its highest toll.
Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a guardian of nature, a character must fulfill the following requirements:

Base Will Save: +4.
Skills: Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks, Survival 3 ranks.
Spells: Must be able to cast calm animals and hold animal.
Patron: Chislev, Habbakuk, or Zeboim.

Class Skills

The guardian of nature's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Survival (Wis). Guardians of nature who follow Zeboim also gain Swim as a class skill.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the guardian of nature prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Guardians of nature gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Wild Empathy (Ex): A guardian of nature can use body language, vocalizations and demeanor to improve the attitude of an animal. This ability works like the druid and ranger ability of the same name, but uses guardian of nature levels to influence the roll. A guardian who has levels of druid and/or ranger may add his guardian of nature class levels to his druid and/or ranger levels when determining the potency of wild empathy.

Track: At 1st level, the guardian of nature gains the Track feat for free.

Spells per Day: At the listed levels, when a new guardian of nature level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in any previous divine spellcasting class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (more uses of wild shape, better animal companions, and so on). If the guardian of nature had more than one divine spellcasting class, then he must choose which class to add to at each level.

Deific Aspect: At 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level, the guardian of nature becomes more closely associated with his deity. This causes magical, mundane, and purely physical changes depending on the patron deity.

• Deific Aspect 1: Guardians of nature find themselves beginning to change physically. Habbakuk's guardians find themselves taking on aspects of ground mammals, such as growing a light covering of downy fur. Chislev's guardians take on birdlike features, such as sprouting feathers on their forearms, and guardians of Zeboim notice aquatic qualities, like their skin starting to slick like a seal's. None of these changes can grant, alter, or detract from any abilities.
• Deific Aspect 2: Followers of Habbakuk gain the Blind-fight feat, followers of Chislev gain the Scent special ability, and followers of Zeboim gain the Hold Breath ability of a crocodile.
• Deific Aspect 3: The gods now grant their followers magical abilities - a follower of Habbakuk gains the ability to use tremorsense (in a 30-foot radius), a follower of Chislev can fly as the spell, and a follower of Zeboim can use water breathing as the spell. The guardian's ability (tremorsense, fly, or water breathing) can be used for a number of rounds per day equal to the guardian's class level plus his Wisdom modifier, but these do not have to be consecutive uses.
• Deific Aspect 4: The guardian of nature continues to change physically, but this time his whole body can morph into a god aspect once per day. This functions as the druid's wild shape ability, but the duration is 1 hour per 2 guardian of nature class levels, and the forms available are from the list below. This ability does not stack with the druid's wild shape ability.
  Chislev: Bat, eagle, giant eagle, giant owl, hawk, gliding lizard (as lizard but can fall any distance with no damage), owl, raven, owl.
  Habbakuk: Baboon, badger, black bear, boar, dog, horse (any), leopard, wolf.
  Zeboim: Crocodile (any), manta ray, monitor lizard, octopus, shark (any), squid.

Nature's Enemy (Ex): When a guardian of nature reaches 2nd level, and again at 8th level, he gains certain bonuses against a chosen enemy of nature. This ability works like (and stacks with) the ranger's favored enemy ability, but the guardian of nature may only select his enemy of nature from the following list: aberrations, constructs, dragons (evil dragons and draconians only), minotaurs, ogres, oozes, and undead. At the DM's discretion, they may be allowed to choose a specific group of humanoids, such as Knights of the Lily, if the guardian sees the group causing harm to nature.

Woodland Stride (Ex): A 3rd level guardian of nature gains woodland stride, as per the druid's ability. If the guardian already has woodland stride, he instead gains the druid's trackless step ability. If the guardian has both abilities, he instead gains a +2 divine bonus to saving throws against entangle, wall of thorns, and similar spells that manipulate plants to block or hinder. Guardians of Zeboim can use this against aquatic barriers, such as kelp and coral reefs, as well as thorns and briars.

Venom Immunity (Ex): At 4th level, a guardian of nature becomes immune to all natural poisons. Manufactured and magical poisons can still affect the guardian.

Animal Companion (Ex): At 6th level, a guardian of nature can call upon an animal companion as per the druid ability. The guardian is considered a druid of 4 levels lower than his guardian of nature level when determining the animal companion's special abilities. If the guardian already has an animal companion, the character's guardian of nature levels stack with levels of the class that grants the animal companion. Guardians choose their companions from the following list, as appropriate to their patron deity:

• Chislev: Eagle, gliding lizard (see deific aspect 4), hawk, owl, raven.
• Habbakuk: Badger, cat, dog (including riding dog), light warhorse, pony.
• Zeboim: Crocodile, octopus, sea snake (small or medium-size viper with the hold breath ability), seagull (as hawk), toad.

Natural Perfection (Ex): When a guardian of nature reaches 10th level, he is the embodiment of his god's fury on Ansalon. His physical changes are even more pronounced, and the following effects occur, depending on the guardian's patron deity. The character's type also changes to Monstrous Humanoid, which means certain spells and effects will no longer affect him while others will.

• Chislev: The character grows talon-like claws on his hands, which give him a natural slashing attack that causes 1d6 damage (plus Str modifier) with each hand. He also gains +2 to Spot checks from his eagle-keen vision, and a pair of feathered wings grow on his back that allow him a fly speed of 30ft at the following maneuverability: Medium-size (average), Large or larger (poor), Small or smaller (good). He can use his fly ability (acquired from deific aspect) as feather fall if, for any reason, he finds himself falling from flight.
• Habbakuk: The character grows mole-like claws on his hands, which give him a natural slam attack that causes 1d6 damage (plus Str modifier) with each hand. He also gains +2 to avoid being disarmed, as the claws grip very tightly. Lastly, they allow the character to burrow, and he gains a burrow speed of 20ft, that can only go through sand, soil, and other soft materials. His tremorsense ability (acquired from deific aspect) is now available at will.
• Zeboim: The character grows gills and webbing between his toes and fingers, and can breathe on both land and in the sea. He gains a shark's Keen Senses ability, and a swim speed of 40ft (which gives a +8 circumstance bonus to Swim checks). He also gains the sharp teeth of a shark, which gives him a natural piercing attack that causes 1d6 damage (plus Str modifier).

NOTE: Mystics with the Animal domain can theoretically take this class, even though they do not serve a god, as they are inexorably tied to Ansalon. In this case, the mystic must still choose a path - land mammals (Habbakuk), birds and flying animals (Chislev) or sea and amphibious animals (Zeboim). This would allow a godless progression, and could allow other world progressions for the guardian - Obad-Hai from Oerth could allow any of the paths of progression, whereas Mielikki of Toril might only allow the mammal progression.

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