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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Zaydos's Avatar

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    Default Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Beast Tamer:

    The man came from the woods; dressed in tattered garments made of deer hide. Wolves came with him, as obedient to his command as any dog trained by normal men. He walked to the town hall, and into the gaggle of elders who had met there. With the accent of one to whom human speech has long gone unheard he gave his ultimatum. He would kill the necromancer whose undead loomed over our village, but in exchange we must hold the forest sacred ground and inviolate and all who entered would die.

    The next day the necromancer's head was in the village, brought their by a mighty grey wolf whose growls warned men from approaching too near. The forest became a sacred place; for no man left there alive.

    Attempted Balance Point: Tier 3; they are especially not meant to be as powerful as a druid because druids are just silly strong. Specific concerns: Capstone ability too weak. Should BAB be medium instead of good? Is the strongest animal companion too weak? Also I'm thinking about feats to add select Magical Beasts to your list of Animal Companions but the question arises, should the bonus HD add full BAB (as normal for a magical beast) or +3/4th like normal for an animal companion?

    Adventures: Beast tamers become adventurers because they do not fit fully into traditional society. Left on the fringes it is only natural that they tend towards an adventuring lifestyle. Some adventure in hopes of earning themselves a place in society, proving the value of their talents and the animals they can command. Others seek to see the wild places of the world, adventuring in the most dangerous environments. Some are adrenaline junkies, who fill a common thrill when upon the hunt and when fighting to the death against demons and fiends beyond their world.

    Characterestics: A beast tamer is trained in some weapons and a modicum of armor, even so their true power does not lie in their own ability to fight. A beast tamer's strength is the animals at his command, which serve as allies in battle and scouts outside of it.

    Alignment: Beast tamers can be any alignment. They tend to live outside of normal society, and as such tend towards the chaotic alignment. The evilest beast tamers use their animals as expendable minions relying on their ability to call and bind more to them and are willing to let any number of them die in pursuit of their own gains. Good, and even most evil, beast tamers tend to have more respect for their beasts protecting them as they would their dearest friends and loved ones.

    Religion: Beast tamers often revere animal spirits or spirits of nature. Those which serve gods often align themselves with gods of nature, animals, or the hunt.

    Background: Many beast tamers come from outside of civilization, the same places which give birth to barbarians, others just from the edge. Closer to the wild than mankind, they turn to the beast and gain a deep connection with them.

    Races: Many beast tamers are elves and gnomes due to their closeness to animals. Half-elf beast tamers are also common as they retain an elven connection to beasts and as they are never quite at home amongst elves or humans they often find a place outside of society. Half-orc beast tamers turn to the arts due to their outcast nature, seeing as much in common with the beasts of the wild as with their own race. Dwarven beast tamers are rare, living on the outskirts of dwarven civilization and striving to earn acceptance through the use of their talents to help defend their fortress homes from the hordes that assail them.

    Other Classes: Beast tamers feel much in common with barbarians who share their place on the edge of civilization. They also feel kinship with druids and rangers who share their respect for nature. They feel little kinship with wizards, often seeing their obsession with the unnatural as disturbing. Sorcerers, and bards, whose magic come naturally they find more to their liking.

    Abilities: The most important ability score for a beast tamer is decided by his totem if any. In the absence of totems, Charisma determines how well you can deal with animals and Constitution determines your health and how well you can survive attacks directed at you. Strength and Dexterity help you if you decide to go into melee with your animal companions, while Int determines skill points. Wisdom is possibly your least important stat only aiding Will saves.

    Inspiration and Reasons for Doing This:
    Spoiler
    Show
    I've always loved animals and I've always loved playing characters with pets; wizards who make good use of their familiar (a feat from the Dragon Magazine Compendium which extends the range at which you can share spells is especially useful for this), druids who fight primarily by buffing their animal companion, etc. I always liked the Animal Lord and Beastmaster PrCs from Masters of the Wild and reprinted in Complete Adventurer, but always found them lacking. The Beastmaster, especially, annoyed me as only the first level seemed worth taking because the other animal companions would never be above those of a 7th level druid at 15th level and the other two even less useful. I was also reading Andre Norton's The Beastmaster which made me want to make this class even more (and was quite different than the movie based on it which I loved in my childhood). The fact that it has 4 animal companions just like the titular character of the book and film is coincedental, I assure you.


    Game Rules Information:

    HD: d6.
    Skills: 4 + Int.
    Class Skills: Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex).

    Beast Tamer:
    Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special
    1st
    +1
    +2
    +0
    +2
    Animal Companion, Wild Empathy
    2nd
    +2
    +3
    +0
    +3
    Speak with Animals
    3rd
    +3
    +3
    +1
    +3
    Improved Bond +1, Endurance
    4th
    +4
    +4
    +1
    +4
    Woodland Stride
    5th
    +5
    +4
    +1
    +4
    Telepathic Bond
    6th
    +6/+1
    +5
    +2
    +5
    Supernatural Claws
    7th
    +7/+2
    +5
    +2
    +5
    Second Animal Companion, Nature’s Favor
    8th
    +8/+3
    +6
    +2
    +6
    Quick Handling
    9th
    +9/+4
    +6
    +3
    +6
    Improved Bond +2, Trackless Step
    10th
    +10/+5
    +7
    +3
    +7
    Charm Animals
    11th
    +11/+6/+1
    +7
    +3
    +7
    Improved Telepathic Bond
    12th
    +12/+7/+2
    +8
    +4
    +8
    Camouflage
    13th
    +13/+8/+3
    +8
    +4
    +8
    Improved Supernatural Claws, Third Animal Companion
    14th
    +14/+9/+4
    +9
    +4
    +9
    Nature’s Balance
    15th
    +15/+10/+5
    +9
    +5
    +9
    Heal Animal Companion, Improved Bond +3.
    16th
    +16/+11/+6/+1
    +10
    +5
    +10
    Greater Telepathic Bond
    17th
    +17/+12/+7/+2
    +10
    +5
    +10
    Boon of Resistance
    18th
    +18/+13/+8/+3
    +11
    +6
    +11
    Dominate Animal
    19th
    +19/+14/+9/+4
    +11
    +6
    +11
    Fourth Animal Companion, Superior Supernatural Claws
    20th
    +20/+15/+10/+5
    +12
    +6
    +12
    Nature’s Avatar

    Class Features:

    Weapons and Armor: All light and medium armor and shields; all simple weapons and any 2 martial weapons or 1 martial weapon and whips.

    Animal Companion: A beast tamer can summon an animal companion as a druid of their class level. Levels in beast tamer and druid stack for determining the abilities of your animal companion and what animal companions are available to you.

    Wild Empathy (Ex): As druid ability of the same name.

    Speak with Animals (Su): Beginning at 2nd level a beast tamer can speak with animals as a supernatural ability.

    Endurance (Ex): At 3rd level a beast tamer gains endurance as a bonus feat.

    Improved Bond: At 3rd level a beast tamer’s ability to call animal companions improves. He treats his level as one higher for the purposes of determining the abilities of his animal companions and what animal companions he can summon. At 9th and 15th level this ability improves further.

    Woodland Stride (Ex): At 4th level a beast tamer gains Woodland Stride as the druid ability of the same name.

    Telepathic Bond (Su): At 5th level a beast tamer can communicate telepathically with his animal companions within 100-ft.

    Supernatural Claws (Su): At 6th level the natural weapons of a beast tamer’s animal companions count as magic for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

    Nature’s Favor (Sp): At 7th level a beast tamer gains the ability to use Nature’s Favor as a spell like ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1 time per day).

    Second Animal Companion: At 7th level a beast tamer gains the ability to call a second animal companion. This animal companion has more limited abilities than his first one and it must be chosen from the list of animal companions available to a druid 3 levels lower than his actual level and their special abilities are likewise reduced. Druid (or ranger) levels stack for determining his effective druid level for this ability.

    Quick Handling (Ex): At 8th level a beast tamer can handle an animal as a swift or move action, or push it as a move action; if it is one of his animal companions he may still handle it as a free action and may now push it as a swift action.

    Trackless Step (Ex): At 9th level a beast tamer gains trackless step as the druid ability of the same name.

    Charm Animals (Su): At 10th level a beast tamer can charm animals they talk to as a standard action usable at will; an animal which successfully saves against this ability is immune for 24 hours. The DC for this effect is 10 + ½ their character level + Charisma modifier. They may have no more than 4 HD per class level of animals charmed at one time, if a newly charmed animal would push them beyond that number they lose animals that have been charmed the longest until within that limit once more.

    Improved Telepathic Bond (Su): At 11th level a beast tamer’s telepathic link improves and he is now able to communicate with them from up to 1 mile.

    Camouflage (Ex): At 12th level a beast tamer gains camouflage as the ranger ability of the same name.

    Improved Supernatural Claws (Su): At 13th level the natural weapons of a beast tamer’s natural weapons gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. Any animal companions with only one natural weapon instead gain a +2 enhancement bonus to attack and damage.

    Third Animal Companion: At 13th level a beast tamer gains the ability to call a third animal companion. This animal companion has more limited abilities than his first one and it must be chosen from the list of animal companions available to a druid 6 levels lower than his actual level and their special abilities are likewise reduced. Druid (or ranger) levels stack for determining his effective druid level for this ability.

    Nature’s Balance (Sp): At 14th level you gain the ability to use Nature’s Balance as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1); a beast tamer may only target animals (or their animal companions) with this ability.

    Heal Animal Companion (Sp): At 15th level a beast tamer gains the ability to use Heal Animal Companion as a spell-like ability 1/day per animal companion they have (they do not have to use this ability once each on each animal companion and could in fact use all their uses on one animal companion).

    Greater Telepathic Bond (Su): At 16th level a beast tamer’s telepathic link improves and he is now able to communicate with his animal companions as long as they are on the same plane.

    Boon of Resistance (Su): At 17th level a beast tamer’s bond with his animal companions grants them a resistance to magical effects. All of a beast tamer’s animal companions gain Spell Resistance equal to his class level +5, and a resistance bonus to saving throws equal to 1/5th his class level. This spell resistance does not apply to spells and spell-like abilities from the beast tamer himself.

    Dominate Animal (Su): At 18th level a beast tamer can dominate animals (as the spell Dominate Animal) they talk to as a standard action usable at will; an animal which successfully saves against this ability is immune for 24 hours. The DC for this effect is 10 + ½ their character level + Charisma modifier. They may have no more than 4 HD per class level of animals dominated and/or charmed at one time, if a newly dominated animal would push them beyond that number they lose animals that have been dominated the longest until within that limit once more.

    Fourth Animal Companion: At 19th level a beast tamer gains the ability to call a fourth animal companion. This animal companion has more limited abilities than his first one and it must be chosen from the list of animal companions available to a druid 9 levels lower than his actual level and their special abilities are likewise reduced. Druid (or ranger) levels stack for determining his effective druid level for this ability.

    Supreme Supernatural Claws (Su): At 19th level the natural weapons of a beast tamer’s animal companions gain a +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. If an animal companion only has one natural weapon it gains a +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage with it instead.

    Nature’s Avatar (Sp): At 20th level a beast tamer gains the ability to imbue his beasts with the furious power of nature; he may use Nature’s Avatar as a spell-like ability 4 times per day. When he activates this ability he may choose to use it on any number of his animal companions within telepathic range; this uses one use of this ability for each creature affected (so all his animal companions as one swift action if he wishes).
    Last edited by Zaydos; 2014-04-23 at 03:06 PM.
    Peanut Half-Dragon Necromancer by Kurien.

    Current Projects:

    Group: The Harrowing Halloween Harvest of Horror Part 2

    Personal Silliness: Vote what Soulknife "Fix"/Inspired Class Should I make??? Past Work Expansion Caricatures.

    Old: My homebrew (updated 9/9)

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Zaydos's Avatar

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Erutnevda

    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Totem Feats:
    If you have a totem feat with an ability which only activates if you and your animal companion have the same other feat (usually a bad one) and have multiple animal companions which have this feat you only gain the additional benefit once but each of your animal companions which have the other feat gain the benefit.

    Bear Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Str 15+.
    Benefit: You gain the Improved Grab ability with your unarmed strikes, and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with bears, and +4 when dealing with ursine magical beasts. In addition if you have a bear animal companion it gains a +2 to Str and a +2 to grapple checks.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Run feat you both gain a 5-ft increase to your base land speed while you are wearing light or medium armor.

    Boar Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Ability to call an animal companion with effective druid level 4+, Con 15+.
    Benefits: You gain the Ferocity ability, and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with boars and pigs, and +4 when dealing with porcine magical beasts. In addition if you have a boar or pig animal companion it gains a +2 to Con and a +1 to Fort saves.
    If you and your animal companion both have one of the Toughness or Improved Toughness feat you both gain +1 hp per hit dice.

    Cat Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Dex 13+.
    Benefit: You gain low-light vision (or superior low-light vision if you already have low-light vision) and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with felines and +4 when dealing with feline magical beasts. In addition if you have a feline animal companion (leopard, cheetah, lion, tiger, dire versions) they gain a +2 to Dex and a +1 on attacks made as part of a charge.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Run feat you both gain a +5-ft bonus to your land speed when wearing light or no armor.

    Horse Totem [Totem]:
    Prerequisites: Ability to call an animal companion, Con 13+.
    Benefits: Your connection with horses grants you both improved power. You gain a +10-ft increase to your land speed when wearing light or no armor and carrying a light load, and +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with horses, donkeys, and other equines and +4 when dealing with equine magical beasts. In addition any equine animal companion you call gains a +10-ft increase to its land speed and a +2 to Constitution.
    If both you and your animal companion have the Run feat you both gain a +4 on Constitution checks to continue running.

    Monkey Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Ability to call an animal companion, Int 13+.
    Benefit: You gain a climb speed of 5-ft, and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with primate animals and +4 when dealing with primate magical beasts. If you have a primate animal companion it gains a +2 to Dex and its climb speed if any increases by 5-ft. You may take a monkey animal companion (your level counts as 3 higher for the purposes of special abilities) and/or a baboon animal companion.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Alertness feat you both gain an additional +1 to Spot and Listen checks.

    Mustelid Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Con 13+.
    Benefit: 1/day when you take damage you may, as a free action usable when it is not your turn, enter into a rage-like state. This grants you +2 Str, +2 Con, and -1 to AC, but in this state you cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration, nor can he cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. A fit of rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier, and cannot be ended prematurely. If you have a mustelid animal companion it gains a +2 to Constitution and if it is a badger, or wolverine (including variations there of such as dire versions) it may learn the 'Calm Down' trick to end its rage prematurely, and gains DR 1/- when raging, if it is a dire weasel its blood drain deals 1d8 Con damage/round instead of 1d4.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Alertness feat you both gain a +1 to initiative, if you both have the Toughness feat you gain +2 hp.

    Raptor Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Wis 13+.
    Benefit: You suffer a -2 to Spot checks for 20-ft of distance, instead of per 10-ft of distance, and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with hawks, falcons, and eagles and +4 when dealing with raptor magical beasts. If you have a hawk, falcon, or eagle animal companion its maneuverability increases by 1 stage and it gains a +2 to Dex.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Alertness feat you both gain a +2 on Spot checks and Initiative checks.

    Rat Totem [Totem]
    You have a special connection to rats and rat creatures, granting you resistance to disease and superior rat companions.
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Con 13+.
    Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to saves versus disease, and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with rats, mice, and other such rodents and +4 when dealing with rodent magical beasts. If you have a dire rat animal companion it gains 1 additional hit die and a +2 bonus to Dexterity.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Alertness feat you both gain a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.

    Shark Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Str 13+.
    Benefit: You gain a swim speed equal to one-half your base land speed, and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with sharks and +4 when dealing with shark-like magical beasts. If you have a shark animal companion its blindsense becomes blindsight and it gains a +2 to Str.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Great Fortitude feat you may both use Strength instead of Constitution to determine your Fortitude saves.

    Snake Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Dex 13+.
    Benefit: You gain the Poison Use special ability and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with snakes and +4 when dealing with serpentine magical beasts. In addition if you have a snake animal companion it gains a +2 to Con, a +2 on grapple checks, and a +1 to poison save DCs.
    You gain a +3 on checks to extract poison, or craft (poison) from your animal companion if it is a snake.

    Vermin Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Con 13+.
    Benefit: You gain the ability to select a vermin from the list below instead of an animal as an animal companion. Even though it does not have an intelligent score you can teach it tricks as if it had an intelligence of 1 and can handle it as if it were an animal. You also gain a +4 on saves against poison from creatures with the vermin type.

    Spoiler
    Show
    1st Level or Higher (Level –0)
    Giant ant worker, Giant fire beetle, Giant ant soldier, Giant bee, Giant bombardier beetle, Large Monstrous centipede, Medium Monstrous scorpion, Medium Monstrous spider
    4th Level or Higher (Level –3)
    Giant praying mantis, Giant wasp, Huge Monstrous Centipede, Large Monstrous Spider
    7th Level or Higher (Level –6)
    Giant stag beetle, Large Monstrous Scorpion
    10th Level or Higher (Level-9)
    Huge Monstrous Spider
    13th Level or Higher (Level-12)
    Gargantuan Monstrous Centipede, Huge Monstrous Scorpion
    16th Level or Higher (Level-15):
    Gargantuan Monstrous Spider
    19th Level or Higher (Level-18)
    Gargantuan Monstrous Scorpion
    22nd Level or Higher (Level-21; possible for a 19th+ level beast tamer)
    Colossal Monstrous Centipede


    Wolf Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Wis 13+.
    Benefit: You gain the Scent special quality and a +2 on Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks dealing with wolves, dogs, and foxes and +4 when dealing with magical beast versions. In addition if you have a canine animal companion it gains a +2 to trip attempts, and +2 Strength.
    If you and your animal companion both have the Track feat you both gain a +3 bonus on Survival checks to track by scent.

    Far-Realm Totem [Totem, Aberrant]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 3+, Chaotic alignment
    Benefits: You may have any animal companion you summon gain the psuedonatural template, although this reduces your Beast Tamer level for the effects of determining their special abilities and what creatures you can call by 3 for such creatures. In addition once you have the telepathic bond special ability it improves by one grade (Telepathic Bond -> Improved Telepathic Bond -> Greater Telepathic Bond); if you have the Greater Telepathic Bond ability it now functions across interplanar distances. Finally you don’t increase the DC to use Handle Animal checks to deal with psuedonatural creatures.

    This feat counts as Aberrant Blood for the purposes of fulfilling prerequisites.

    Heaven’s Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 3+, Good alignment, Wis 13+, ability to speak Celestial.
    Benefits: You may have any animal companion you summon gain the celestial template, although this reduces your Beast Tamer level for the effects of determining their special abilities and what creatures you can call by 3 for such creatures. Finally you don’t increase the DC to use Handle Animal checks to deal with celestial creatures.
    As long as you are adjacent to your animal companion, and it has the celestial template, you gain its SR against spells cast by evil creatures.

    Infernal Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 3+, Evil alignment, Cha 13+, ability to speak Infernal or Abyssal.
    Benefits: You may have any animal companion you summon gain the fiendish template, although this reduces your Beast Tamer level for the effects of determining their special abilities and what creatures you can call by 3 for such creatures. Finally you don’t increase the DC to use Handle Animal checks to deal with fiendish creatures.
    As long as you are adjacent to your animal companion, and it has the fiendish template, it gains a +2 profane bonus to attack and damage.

    Improved Bear Totem [Totem]:
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 5+, Str 13+, Con 13+, Bear Totem.
    Benefits: Your connection with bears strengthens. If you have a black bear or polar bear animal companion it gains special abilities as if your effective druid level was three higher. In addition any bear animal companion you call gains a bonus to their natural armor equal to one-fourth your character level or your Constitution modifier whichever is lower.
    Bears you have trained also gain a +4 bonus on saves versus fear.

    Improved Cat Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 5+, Dex 13+, Cha 13+, Cat Totem
    Benefits: Your connection with cats strengthens. If you have a cheetah, lion, or dire tiger animal companion it gains special abilities as if your effective druid level was three higher. In addition any feline animal companion you summon gains a bonus to their Reflex saves equal to one-half your character level or your Charisma modifier whichever is lower.
    Felines you have trained also gain a +2 on Spot and Listen checks.

    Improved Horse Totem [Totem]:
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 5+, Con 15+
    Benefits: Your connection with horses strengthens. You may call a heavy or light warhorse as an animal companion; if you have a heavy or light horse (non-warhorse) your effective druid level is considered 3 higher for the purposes of special abilities. In addition you may make a full-attack when riding an equine animal companion even if it moves more than 5-ft.
    Creatures riding equine creatures you have trained gain a +3 on all Ride checks.

    Improved Mustelid Totem [Totem]:
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 5+, Con 15+
    Benefits: Your connection with mustelids strengthens. If you have a badger, dire weasel, or wolverine (but not dire badger or dire wolverine) your effective druid level is considered 3 higher for the purposes of special abilities. In addition if your mustelid animal companion does not possess rage it gains rage as a badger (and can be taught the 'calm down' trick), if it does already possess rage it instead gains +2 to Str and Con when raging.
    Mustelids you have trained gain the benefits of the Track feat and a +2 on survival checks when tracking by scent.

    Improved Rat Totem [Totem]
    Your connection to rodentine creatures deepens, granting you more powerful and more effective rat minions.
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 5+, Con 13+, Int 13+, Rat Totem.
    Benefits: If you have a dire rat animal companion it gains special abilities as if your effective druid level was three higher. In addition any rat animal companion you call has the incubation period of any disease they possess has an instantaneous incubation period, and the save made to resist initial infection suffers a penalty equal to 1/4th your character level or your Intelligence modifier whichever is lower.
    Rats you have trained also gain a +2 to Listen and Spot checks.

    Improved Shark Totem [Totem]:
    You are more deeply connected to sharks, calling larger and more powerful members of their kind and increasing the deadliness of their bites.
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 5+, Str 13+, Con 13+, Shark Totem.
    Benefit: If you have a huge shark or dire shark animal companion it gains special abilities as if your effective druid level was three higher. In addition any shark animal companion you call gains a bonus on critical threat confirmation rolls equal to 1/2 your Beast Tamer level. Dire sharks you have as animal companions gain Blindsense 30-ft like other non-dire sharks.
    Sharks you have trained also gain a +2 bonus to Listen and Swim checks.

    Improved Snake Totem [Totem]:
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 5+, Dex 13+, Cha 13+, Snake Totem
    Benefits: Your connection with snakes strengthens. If you have a large viper, constrictor snake, or giant constrictor snake animal companion it gains special abilities as if your effective druid level was three higher. In addition any snake animal companion you call gains a bonus to their poison save DC equal to one-fourth your character level or your Charisma modifier whichever is lower.
    Snakes you have trained also gain a +2 to Hide and Move Silently checks.

    Improved Wolf Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer Level 5+, Con 13+, Wis 13+, Wolf Totem.
    Benefits: Your connection with wolves strengthens. If you have a wolf or dire wolf animal companion it gains special abilities as if your effective druid level was three higher. In addition any canine animal companion you summon gains DR X/silver where X is one-half your character level or your Wisdom modifier whichever is lower.
    Canines you have trained also gain a +2 on saves against mind-affecting effects.

    Improved Vermin Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Vermin Totem, Telepathic Bond special ability, Int, Wis, or Cha 15+.
    Benefit: Vermin animal companions you control which gain the Devotion special ability also gain Int 2 as well as feats and skills to go with it. In addition any vermin you call gains a +2 bonus to Constitution and a bonus to their poison save DCs equal to one-fourth your Beast Tamer class level or one-half your highest mental (Int, Wis, Cha) ability score modifier whichever is lower.

    Bear’s Fervor [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Bear Totem, Beast Tamer Level 3+, Str 13+, Con 13+.
    Benefits: 1/encounter as a swift action you may invoke the power of a bear to add an enhancement bonus to your Strength equal to your character level until the end of turn.
    Bear animal companions you control gain half this bonus to Strength when you invoke this ability.

    Lion’s Pounce [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Cat Totem, Beast Tamer Level 3+, Dexterity 15+.
    Benefits: When you perform a charge you may make a full-attack at the end of the charge.
    Feline animal companions you have gain a +1 to attack rolls for 1 round after any time you charge.

    Shark's Frenzy [Totem]
    When blood is in the water a shark's power and fury is at its highest, and you share much with your sharks.
    Prerequisites: Shark Totem, Beast Tamer Level 3+, Strength 13+.
    Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit dealing lethal damage to a living creature you gain +1 to attack and damage for 1 minute; if you score another critical hit during this time the bonus stacks and the duration resets. This does not stack with the Blood in the Water stance.
    Shark animal companions you have gain a +1 to attack and damage for 1 round after any time you or they score a critical hit.

    Snake’s Fang [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Snake Totem, Beast Tamer Level 3+, Charisma 13+.
    Benefits: 1/encounter as a swift action you may invoke the poison of a serpent. Any weapon you wield becomes envenomed for 1 minute or until you successfully strike a creature. This poison deals 1d6 Dexterity damage as initial and secondary damage (Fort DC 10 +1/2 your character level + your Charisma modifier).
    Snake animal companions you have gain a +4 on Fort saves versus poison.

    Swarm Totem [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Vermin Totem, Beast Tamer Level 5+, Wis 15+ or Cha 15+.
    Benefits: You may select a swarm from the following list as an animal companion. You are immune to the swarm attack and distraction effect of any swarm which is your animal companion, and in fact gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC while sharing a space with one. Swarm animal companions do not gain Evasion, instead gaining a bonus to their hp per hit die equal to your Charisma or Wisdom modifier, and do not gain Improved Evasion instead gaining Evasion.
    Swarm Animal Companion:
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    1st Level or Higher (Level –0)
    Spider Swarm
    7th Level or Higher (Level –6)
    Locust Swarm
    16th Level or Higher (Level-15):
    Hellwasp Swarm (BAB increases by +3/4 bonus HD)
    22nd Level or Higher (Level-21; possible for a 19th+ level beast tamer)
    Broodkeeper Larva Swarm (BAB increases by +3/4 bonus HD)


    Totem Barrier [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Any one totem feat, 17+ in ability score required by the feat (or Wisdom if there isn’t one).
    Benefits: Your totem protects you. You gain DR X/cold iron where X is the number of Totem feats you have. This is a Supernatural ability.
    In addition you gain an additional +1 to handle animal checks when dealing with your totem animals.

    Totem Eyes
    Prerequesistes: Telepathic Bond special ability, Totem Telepathy.
    Benefits: You are able to see through the eyes, and hear through the ears, of any of your animal companions within range of your telepathy. As a full round action you may transfer your senses except touch into one of them, leaving yourself effectively blind and deaf as well as without your sense of smell or taste. If you do so you have access to all of your animal companion's senses except touch (sight, hearing, taste, and scent), you use your animal companion's spot and listen modifiers or yours whichever are higher, and see things from your animal companion's square. If your animal companion can see you, you may fight as if you were not blind but suffer a 20% miss chance due to difficulties aiming from the different location (blind-fight allows a reroll of this miss chance) and your Dex bonus to AC is halved.

    Totem Telepathy [Totem]:
    Prerequisites: Telepathic Bond special ability, any Totem Feat.
    Benefits: Your telepathic connection with animals with which you have a Totem is improved. Your telepathic bond ability improves by one grade (Telepathic Bond -> Improved Telepathic Bond -> Greater Telepathic Bond), with Greater Telepathic Bond now working across interplanar distances. In addition you can see and hear through one of your animal companions which belongs to your totem as long as they are within reach of your Telepathic Bond.

    Wolf’s Howl [Totem]
    Prerequisites: Wolf Totem, Beast Tamer Level 3+, Wisdom 15+.
    Benefits: You gain the ability to perform a special howl 1/encounter. This requires a full-round action and each enemy within 60-ft must make a Will save (DC 10 +1/2 your character level + your Wisdom modifier) or be shaken for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. Creatures which make the save are merely shaken for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
    Canine animal companions you have gain a bonus on saves versus fear equal to your Wisdom modifier.

    Beastforger [Totem]
    You are able to create loyal construct companions modeled upon animals.
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 1+, Int 13+, Craft (Armorer or Blacksmith) 4 ranks.
    Benefits: You can obtain living construct versions of animals in place of animals as animal companions. To do so you must construct the body of the construct companion (costing 10 GP in materials per hit die of the creature) which is performed as part of the same 24 hour ritual to obtain a new animal companion. These living construct companions are identical to regular animals of the same species but are Constructs with the Living Construct and Augmented Animal subtype, and have living construct traits. These living construct companions are healed by your heal animal companion spell-like ability as if they were normal living animals.

    Beastforged Armaments [Totem]
    You are capable of working energy based weapons into beastforged companions.
    Prerequisites: Beast Tamer level 3+, Int 15+, Craft (Armorer or Blacksmith) 6 ranks.
    Benefits: Your beastforged companions gain the ability to fire a ranged touch attack, dealing 1d6 damage per 4 effective druid levels you possess for that companion if it were a +0 level animal companion (so a 20th level beast tame would have two which dealt 5d6, one which dealt 4d6, and one which dealt 3d6) with a range of 60-ft as a standard action. This weapon deals fire or electricity damage chosen when that beastforged companion is created, a beast tamer may change a beastforged's energy type as an action which requires 10 minutes and range of touch.

    This attack is a supernatural ability.

    Improved Beastforged Armaments [Totem]
    You are capable of installing full powered armaments on even the weakest of your companions.
    Prerequisites: 2 or more animal companions, Beastforged Armaments.
    Benefits: You may use your effective druid level for your highest level animal companion (before penalty for a stronger than normal animal companion) to determine the damage dealt by your Beastforged Armaments for each beastforged companion you possess.
    Last edited by Zaydos; 2016-03-10 at 11:58 AM.
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Go ahead and critique away... this post reserved just in case.
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    I think it definitely fits squarely into tier 3. Although I have always thought it hard to balance classes with companions or minions (you obviously want the character to have a few weakness that his companions must cover, but at the same time don't want a useless character that sits back and watches.).
    I would drop one of these stats (HD (to d6), BaB (to 15), or will save (to 6)).
    Last edited by eftexar; 2011-12-22 at 06:34 PM.

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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Lowered hit die to d6. You can fight in melee, but with medium armor and full BAB you'd probably do better to be an archer. Then again you have 2 animal companions fully capable of fighting in melee (+3 and +0 over druid) by high levels and another two capable of serving some auxillary role in combat (-3 and -6 actually aren't that bad).

    Added two new feats, clarified something about totem feats. The clarification and the new feat names are in blue text.

    Also a question: when a magical beast animal companion (available through Exalted Animal Companion, for example) gains hit die does it gain +1 BAB/HD like a magical beast or +3 BAB/4 HD like an animal? Also what about hp d10s or d8s? I'm not sure which takes precedence, and I'd like to make feats that allow claiming limited magical beasts (for example a feat to gain wolf-like magical beasts) but I'm hesitating because I'm not sure how to balance it properly based on either of those options (and I don't trust Exalted Animal Companion to be balanced with either).
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    I think by raw it would follow the magical beast progression. But from a balance point I think the normal animal progression would be better balanced, so you would just have to note it in the feat.
    As a note, according to the druid entry for normal animals that gain the magical beast type they retain the animals BaB anyways.

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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    They also gain the augmented subtype which means they use their old BAB and saves for HD they possess even if they're advanced members of that species. I think I will go with animal advancement as it is much, much simpler to balance, although it would be interesting to know which overrides which by RAW. Nothing more for tonight, though, I'm addicted to a GUNDAM video game.
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Well, first of all, whenever someone posts something like this I feel obligated to link this.

    Second, is it intentional that the improved vermin total doesn't boost effective druid level?
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Quote Originally Posted by Lix Lorn View Post
    Well, first of all, whenever someone posts something like this I feel obligated to link this.

    Second, is it intentional that the improved vermin total doesn't boost effective druid level?
    I will have to take a look at it later (although the focus seems different, I do love anything with pets and I love turning into an animal).

    And yes it is, as I tried to take the lack of feats into account for assigning levels (playtesting, or some serious acid testing would be necessary for a better judgment) and with vermins' large number of HD for their CR and what happens when a player gets their hands on feats (nothing compared to a wizard's spells, but it can still get much). Might change it because it's limited by the fact that they are still only Int 2 and you'd probably have to argue your way into any particularly fun feats (like Devotion feats).
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    My first thought, going down the list, was that I was hoping for a rat totem. Alas.

    I may check this out and review it tomorrow.

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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    And after nearly four years I have finally added Rat Totem, and the ability to get robo-animals... because robo-animals are necessary.
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    If it's not too much trouble... any ideas for further feats improving on Shark Totem?
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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    Added Improved Shark Totem and Shark's Frenzy (highly based on/inspired by Blood in the Water since that's just such a shark power).
    Peanut Half-Dragon Necromancer by Kurien.

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    Default Re: Beast Tamer (3.5 Base Class, PEACH)

    I like them.

    I like them alot.

    Mmmm... Alot of Sharks. That would be the coolest monster ever.
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