The Savage Master, a Barbarian and Animal Companion PrC [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Savage Master, a Barbarian and Animal Companion PrC [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Miscaleous
07-31-07, 07:03 PM Savage Master

Through the untamed wilderness runs a pair of hunters, one upright the other on all fours. They glide over terrain with the speed of cheetahs, fall upon on their mark together and rip it apart with the ferocity of relentless rage. They are of one mind and that mind is barely more than instinctual, both relishing in thoughtless combat and the knowledge that they are Alpha to all.

Prerequisites: Animal Affinity (PHB), Shared Fury (Races of the Wild), Rage Class Feature, Handle Animal 8 ranks, Animal Companion Class Feature

HD: d12

Skill Points: 4+Int modifier

Class Skills: Climb (str), Craft (int), Handle Animal (cha), Intimidate (cha), Jump (str), Listen (wis), Ride (dex), Spot (wis), Survival (wis), and Swim (str).

Code:

Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 1 2 0 0 Relentless Training, Survival of the Fittest 1
2 2 3 0 0 Savage Retaliation +1d6
3 3 3 1 1 Spirit Bond 1
4 4 4 1 1 Survival of the Fittest 2
5 5 4 1 1 Loyalty
6 6 5 2 2 Spirit Bond 2
7 7 5 2 2 Survival of the Fittest 3
8 8 6 2 2 Savage Retaliation +2d6
9 9 6 3 3 Spirit Bond 3, Roar
10 10 7 3 3 Survival of the Fittest 4, Ferocity

Relentless Training: There is no rest, no peace and no time to catch a breath when training the best and when being trained by the best. For the purposes of determining the Animal Companion’s abilities, add your class level and your Barbarian level to effective Druid levels and add 4 then consult the Druid animal companion chart.

Survival of the Fittest 1: The Savage Master will only choose and train the most feral and impressive specimen he or she can find. This gives a +2 inherent bonus to all of the Animal Companion’s physical stats.

Savage Retaliation: Although pain is common for these two eternal combatants, seeing blood spill from each other's perfect forms incites them to strike down such a challenging foe. This ability allows extra damage dice to be applied to opponents that have hurt the Savage Master or it’s Animal Companion. The dice can only be used by the Savage Master once the Animal Companion has received damage (including drain and ability damage) and only by the Animal Companion once the Savage Master has received damage. This is a measure of the raw power behind vengeance, and as such is fully effective against non-critable mobs. Therefore the dice damage is applied to constructs, undead, slimes, etc; however it is not multiplied by crits.

Spirit Bond 1: The pair have traveled together without pause for so long that they inspire each other to move even faster on foot. A 10’ increase to move speed is given to the Savage Master and his/her Animal Companion.

Survival of the Fittest 2: The savagery within the pet's heart has been unleashed by it's barbarous master. The Animal Companion’s damage die increases one step for one type of attack.

Loyalty: Who else could command or deter this focused beast? No one else but it's master. The Animal Companion is immune to mind affecting effects (pardon the redundancy).

Spirit Bond 2: The now instinctual connection between the two grants the pet freedom to wander further than normal from its master and still remain inspired by his or her perfection. Therefore the Animal Companion retains shared spells at a range of 60’.

Survival of the Fittest 3: Constant hunts and battles have hardened their hides and stirred their natural healing abilities to greater effectiveness. Both Savage Master and Animal Companion gain Fast Healing 1 and Damage Reduction 1/~. This is to help them survive on their own. In a party, fast healing 1 is nigh useless, what with combats on average lasting no more than 7 rounds.

Spirit Bond 3: Both Savage Master and Animal Companion receive their Con bonus as a racial increase to their Natural Armor.

Roar: (Ex) If raw unbidden fury from an animal can startle a man, then that of a trained savage beast can stun him into shock. The Savage Master's Animal Companion can daze a single target in its melee range with an intimidate skill check as a swift action. The Animal Companion’s intimidate roll total becomes the Fort save DC for the target. Duration is equal to 1d4 rounds. Usable 3/day.

Survival of the Fittest 4: The final training rigors that the Savage Master runs his magnificent beast through improves its chance to continue to aid him or her through long arduous battles. The Animal Companion receives 2 dodge bonus to AC and 2 Hit Points per its Hit Dice.

Ferocity: (Ex) The Savage Master found the rage in his heart long ago but has now ran with most ferocious of all beasts. The rage he finds now is a focused burning fury that he can extend to his companion. Once per day, the Savage Master can invoke an effect upon himself and his Animal Companion similar to the spell Animal Growth(PHB). The duration is equal to the Savage Master's new Con modifier in rounds or until the pair is separated by more than 60', which ever happens first.

I wish to post reasons for elements within the class, but I shall wait for your critiques.
Miscaleous
08-02-07, 01:46 PM Sweet, no one hates it! Now I'm going to Gestalt it with a rouge and SA all day long with my pet.
Apupunchau
08-02-07, 05:00 PM I see two issues off hand but overall it’s an interesting class

1 Why make a wasted feat. You have to have Natural Bond to get into the class but the first ability of the class makes natural bond useless as it overrides and doesn’t stack

2 Why the d12 hit die it makes the class a little powerful especially since not only do you continue with Animal Companion progression at an even higher level than a normal druid but you get at least one special ability and a larger class skill selection the barbarians. I would consider making it the average a d10 HD.
frasmage
08-04-07, 06:44 PM lets see:

use total character levels as Druid levels
that is asking for loopholes. I would suggest "add your class level and barbarian level to your effective druid level"

Savage Retaliation:
i like the idea of this, though the not stacking with SA is weird, you can remove that clause. I would also set a duration for which you gain this bonus damage, perhaps somewhere between 1 round and 1 minute.

Therefore the Animal Companion retains shared spells at a range of 60’.
I don't see why you would need this, there is very little spellcasting here. I would drop this ability altogether.

In a party, fast healing 1 is nigh useless, what with combats on average lasting no more than 7 rounds.
the value is more for out of combat healing anyways. Seeing as there are 14400 rounds in a day, that can take a real load off the healbot.

Ferocity: (Ex) The Savage Master found the rage in his heart long ago but has now ran with most ferocious of all beasts. The rage he finds now is a focused burning fury that he can extend to his companion. A new rage? Not exactly, a shared Animal Growth spell effect for both the Savage Master and the Animal Companion (as long as the two are within 60’ of each other). Usable 1/day. Duration=Savage Master’s new Con modifier in rounds. If one moves farther than 60’ feet from the other, the effect ends.
I don't know why you are writing the rules like casual conversation. It just makes it confusing to figure out what you are doing. I am assuming you are saying this makes you both grow by one size category and gain the associated bonuses? Kinda weird seeing as this is the only spell-like ability in the entire class.
Would it not make sense to instead give a rage improvement (such as greater rage) instead?

Another thing, for a rage-oriented class, I see very little mention of it in the actual class. I would suggest dropping a few abilities and replacing them with bonus rage uses/day. Perhaps many of the buffs only apply while in a rage? I think the latter would give the class much more balance.
Miscaleous
08-07-07, 08:14 PM I edited the class as per Anpupunchau and Frasmage's sound suggestions. I appreciate your help gentlemen, and I apologize for some of my informal prose in the class description. I decided to keep the d12 HD, stripped some skills from the list, not added another rage per day (as of yet, quite tempting however), and generally touched up the Ferocity description.

If Frasmage was hoping I would turn the Ferocity ability into a spell like ability I see that working rules-wise, but not class-intention-wise. By which I mean, I can understand limiting the Ferocity ability to be only a SLA, however the ability is supposed to stem from innate fury and have nothing to do with magic. However, I have learned that D&D is rarely about style and more about balance, so in that case I could just give in and make it an SLA.

And of course, Frasmage, you could care less about SLA vs. Extraordinary.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Miscaleous 07-31-07, 07:03 PM	Savage Master Through the untamed wilderness runs a pair of hunters, one upright the other on all fours. They glide over terrain with the speed of cheetahs, fall upon on their mark together and rip it apart with the ferocity of relentless rage. They are of one mind and that mind is barely more than instinctual, both relishing in thoughtless combat and the knowledge that they are Alpha to all. Prerequisites: Animal Affinity (PHB), Shared Fury (Races of the Wild), Rage Class Feature, Handle Animal 8 ranks, Animal Companion Class Feature HD: d12 Skill Points: 4+Int modifier Class Skills: Climb (str), Craft (int), Handle Animal (cha), Intimidate (cha), Jump (str), Listen (wis), Ride (dex), Spot (wis), Survival (wis), and Swim (str). Code: Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1 1 2 0 0 Relentless Training, Survival of the Fittest 1 2 2 3 0 0 Savage Retaliation +1d6 3 3 3 1 1 Spirit Bond 1 4 4 4 1 1 Survival of the Fittest 2 5 5 4 1 1 Loyalty 6 6 5 2 2 Spirit Bond 2 7 7 5 2 2 Survival of the Fittest 3 8 8 6 2 2 Savage Retaliation +2d6 9 9 6 3 3 Spirit Bond 3, Roar 10 10 7 3 3 Survival of the Fittest 4, Ferocity Relentless Training: There is no rest, no peace and no time to catch a breath when training the best and when being trained by the best. For the purposes of determining the Animal Companion’s abilities, add your class level and your Barbarian level to effective Druid levels and add 4 then consult the Druid animal companion chart. Survival of the Fittest 1: The Savage Master will only choose and train the most feral and impressive specimen he or she can find. This gives a +2 inherent bonus to all of the Animal Companion’s physical stats. Savage Retaliation: Although pain is common for these two eternal combatants, seeing blood spill from each other's perfect forms incites them to strike down such a challenging foe. This ability allows extra damage dice to be applied to opponents that have hurt the Savage Master or it’s Animal Companion. The dice can only be used by the Savage Master once the Animal Companion has received damage (including drain and ability damage) and only by the Animal Companion once the Savage Master has received damage. This is a measure of the raw power behind vengeance, and as such is fully effective against non-critable mobs. Therefore the dice damage is applied to constructs, undead, slimes, etc; however it is not multiplied by crits. Spirit Bond 1: The pair have traveled together without pause for so long that they inspire each other to move even faster on foot. A 10’ increase to move speed is given to the Savage Master and his/her Animal Companion. Survival of the Fittest 2: The savagery within the pet's heart has been unleashed by it's barbarous master. The Animal Companion’s damage die increases one step for one type of attack. Loyalty: Who else could command or deter this focused beast? No one else but it's master. The Animal Companion is immune to mind affecting effects (pardon the redundancy). Spirit Bond 2: The now instinctual connection between the two grants the pet freedom to wander further than normal from its master and still remain inspired by his or her perfection. Therefore the Animal Companion retains shared spells at a range of 60’. Survival of the Fittest 3: Constant hunts and battles have hardened their hides and stirred their natural healing abilities to greater effectiveness. Both Savage Master and Animal Companion gain Fast Healing 1 and Damage Reduction 1/~. This is to help them survive on their own. In a party, fast healing 1 is nigh useless, what with combats on average lasting no more than 7 rounds. Spirit Bond 3: Both Savage Master and Animal Companion receive their Con bonus as a racial increase to their Natural Armor. Roar: (Ex) If raw unbidden fury from an animal can startle a man, then that of a trained savage beast can stun him into shock. The Savage Master's Animal Companion can daze a single target in its melee range with an intimidate skill check as a swift action. The Animal Companion’s intimidate roll total becomes the Fort save DC for the target. Duration is equal to 1d4 rounds. Usable 3/day. Survival of the Fittest 4: The final training rigors that the Savage Master runs his magnificent beast through improves its chance to continue to aid him or her through long arduous battles. The Animal Companion receives 2 dodge bonus to AC and 2 Hit Points per its Hit Dice. Ferocity: (Ex) The Savage Master found the rage in his heart long ago but has now ran with most ferocious of all beasts. The rage he finds now is a focused burning fury that he can extend to his companion. Once per day, the Savage Master can invoke an effect upon himself and his Animal Companion similar to the spell Animal Growth(PHB). The duration is equal to the Savage Master's new Con modifier in rounds or until the pair is separated by more than 60', which ever happens first. I wish to post reasons for elements within the class, but I shall wait for your critiques.
Miscaleous 08-02-07, 01:46 PM	Sweet, no one hates it! Now I'm going to Gestalt it with a rouge and SA all day long with my pet.
Apupunchau 08-02-07, 05:00 PM	I see two issues off hand but overall it’s an interesting class 1 Why make a wasted feat. You have to have Natural Bond to get into the class but the first ability of the class makes natural bond useless as it overrides and doesn’t stack 2 Why the d12 hit die it makes the class a little powerful especially since not only do you continue with Animal Companion progression at an even higher level than a normal druid but you get at least one special ability and a larger class skill selection the barbarians. I would consider making it the average a d10 HD.
frasmage 08-04-07, 06:44 PM	lets see: use total character levels as Druid levels that is asking for loopholes. I would suggest "add your class level and barbarian level to your effective druid level" Savage Retaliation: i like the idea of this, though the not stacking with SA is weird, you can remove that clause. I would also set a duration for which you gain this bonus damage, perhaps somewhere between 1 round and 1 minute. Therefore the Animal Companion retains shared spells at a range of 60’. I don't see why you would need this, there is very little spellcasting here. I would drop this ability altogether. In a party, fast healing 1 is nigh useless, what with combats on average lasting no more than 7 rounds. the value is more for out of combat healing anyways. Seeing as there are 14400 rounds in a day, that can take a real load off the healbot. Ferocity: (Ex) The Savage Master found the rage in his heart long ago but has now ran with most ferocious of all beasts. The rage he finds now is a focused burning fury that he can extend to his companion. A new rage? Not exactly, a shared Animal Growth spell effect for both the Savage Master and the Animal Companion (as long as the two are within 60’ of each other). Usable 1/day. Duration=Savage Master’s new Con modifier in rounds. If one moves farther than 60’ feet from the other, the effect ends. I don't know why you are writing the rules like casual conversation. It just makes it confusing to figure out what you are doing. I am assuming you are saying this makes you both grow by one size category and gain the associated bonuses? Kinda weird seeing as this is the only spell-like ability in the entire class. Would it not make sense to instead give a rage improvement (such as greater rage) instead? Another thing, for a rage-oriented class, I see very little mention of it in the actual class. I would suggest dropping a few abilities and replacing them with bonus rage uses/day. Perhaps many of the buffs only apply while in a rage? I think the latter would give the class much more balance.
Miscaleous 08-07-07, 08:14 PM	I edited the class as per Anpupunchau and Frasmage's sound suggestions. I appreciate your help gentlemen, and I apologize for some of my informal prose in the class description. I decided to keep the d12 HD, stripped some skills from the list, not added another rage per day (as of yet, quite tempting however), and generally touched up the Ferocity description. If Frasmage was hoping I would turn the Ferocity ability into a spell like ability I see that working rules-wise, but not class-intention-wise. By which I mean, I can understand limiting the Ferocity ability to be only a SLA, however the ability is supposed to stem from innate fury and have nothing to do with magic. However, I have learned that D&D is rarely about style and more about balance, so in that case I could just give in and make it an SLA. And of course, Frasmage, you could care less about SLA vs. Extraordinary.