[PRC] Tiger-Lotus Disciple (repost)

[Danu]

TIGER-LOTUS DISCIPLE
"I see enlightenment within the waves of grass, within the tides of the sea, and within the graceful boughs of the trees; Within the tranquility of spring and the ferocity of winter. As the crane flies, and the tiger roars, I have touched the true source of their ambition and strength. I will make myself one with them. I am their protector, a warrior, and a servant. I am the serene lotus blossom, and the unrelenting rage of the tiger."

MAKING A TIGER-LOTUS DISCIPLE
A tiger-lotus disciple is a warrior dedicated to the forces of nature, acting as a servant to the woods, the fey, and the animals.
Abilities: Your Wisdom and Dexterity are the most important scores to you, as your Wisdom influences the strength of your blessed disciplines, and both influence your defensive capabilities. Your Constitution is also important, because as a front-line combatant you need all the hit points you can get.
Classes: While this class highly appeals to druids, the more martial influence of the prestige class appeals much more strongly to rangers. Monks who find the natural settings of the world to be more influential in their mediations find this class to be a step in the right direction.
Wilderness inclined rogues and barbarians might also find this class appealing. Barbarians enjoy the class for its strong martial aspect, the ability to get down and dirty with their fists, and the more martial disciplines. Rogues usually enter the class to gain access to the more stealthy disciplines. Few rogues commit to this prestige class for the long run.
Clerics devoted to a nature deity, or to nature itself, find this class appealing. With a single level in ranger or druid, a martial oriented cleric can make a very fine tiger-lotus disciple, although many dislike the armor restrictions imposed by the monk influence.
Sorcerers and wizards, and most other arcane spellcasters, rarely find this class appealing, since the prestige class focuses very much on the protection aspect, and few arcane spellcasters like to take the time away from their magical studies to focus on a strongly martial oriented class.
Specially trained fighters sometimes consider the class, but few actually enter it because of the armor restrictions imposed by the monk influence in the class.
Races: The idea of the tiger-lotus disciple originated amongst an ancient group of elven druids/monks who emphasized the connection between the Self and Nature. For that reason, many elves of a more lawful bent can be drawn to this prestige class. However, most practitioners today come from humans who have embraced this philosophy.
Alignment: Since the two classes that often enter this prestige class are lawful (monks) and neutral (druids), most practitioners of the tiger-lotus disciplines are lawful neutral. All other non-evil alignments are common, however, as the class is frequented by non-monks and non-druids.

PREREQUISITES
To qualify for the tiger-lotus disciple prestige class, a character must meet the following requirements.
Alignment: Any non-evil. Only creatures capable of true empathy towards the natural world are capable of understanding the intricacies of this prestige class. Evil characters simply are not capable of giving enough of their self to understand the basic principles.
Class Features: Wild Empathy
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike
Spells: Ability to cast 1st level divine spells.
Skills: Concentration 6 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranks, Survival 8 ranks.

CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A tiger-lotus disciple gains no new proficiencies with any weapons or armor. A tiger-lotus disciple with the ability to wear armor must still remain unarmored to gain the benefit of some of her class abilities.
A tiger-lotus disciple with levels in the druid class is still bound by her oaths, which forbid her from wearing metal armor.
Multi-classing: A tiger-lotus disciple who retains her lawful alignment after leaving the monk class may freely enter that class again at any time.
Monk Abilities: A tiger-lotus disciple’s class levels stack with her monk class levels for determining her unarmed strike damage, her unarmored AC bonus, and her flurry of blows attack progression. A tiger-lotus disciple who never entered the monk class is treated as a monk of equal class level for determining these abilities.
For example, a 3rd level tiger-lotus disciple would automatically gain the flurry of blows class feature, and would be treated as a 3rd level monk when determining her unarmed strike damage, unarmored AC bonus, and her flurry of blows attack progression. A 4th level monk/ 3rd level tiger-lotus disciple would be treated as a 7th level monk for determining these abilities.
Spellcasting: At 2nd, 6th, and 10th level the tiger-lotus disciple gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a new level in her existing divine spellcasting class. She gains no other benefits from that class. If the tiger-lotus disciple has multiple divine spellcasting classes, she must choose which one to assign this bonus to.
Animal Companion: At 4th level, a tiger-lotus disciple gains an animal companion. This ability functions as the druid ability of the same name, except that the tiger-lotus disciple’s effective druid level is equal to ½ her tiger-lotus disciple level.
A tiger-lotus disciple’s class levels stack with those of any other class that grants this ability.
Blessed Disciplines (Su): At 1st level, the tiger-lotus disciple gains access to her first blessed discipline. These disciplines are the mystical art forms mastered by the tiger-lotus disciple during serene states of calm mediation. By studying nature and the creatures that serve it at their most basic level, she undergoes a revelation into the true soul of those creatures she strives to protect and serve. She embraces the spirit of these creatures and makes them a part of herself.
At 1st level, and every other level thereafter, a tiger-lotus disciple may learn one new discipline. To learn a new discipline, she must spend one week’s time in secluded meditation within a natural environment. During this time, the tiger-lotus disciple must spend at least 14 hours a day in meditation and can do nothing more stressful then eating, drinking, or sleeping. If this meditation is not completed, the time is wasted, and the disciple must begin again.
Activating the benefits of a blessed discipline is a free action on the tiger-lotus disciple’s turn. It lasts for a number of round equal to 3 + her Wisdom bonus.
A tiger-lotus disciple can only activate a small number of disciplines every day. She may activate a number equal to ½ her class levels, plus her Wisdom modifier per day.
A tiger-lotus disciple may activate more then one discipline in one round, but each additional discipline beyond the first takes two uses per day then normal.
For example, a 5th level tiger-lotus disciple with a Wisdom of 16 would know three blessed disciplines, and she could activate her chosen blessed disciplines 5 times per day, each discipline lasting 6 rounds. She could activate all three disciplines in the same round, but this would cost her five uses instead of just three (1 use for the first, two uses for the second and third).
A tiger-lotus disciple may learn the following blessed disciplines.

Armor of the Tortoise: By studying the nature of the turtle and its cousin the tortoise, a tiger-lotus disciple has developed an understanding of the protective nature of these creatures. She develops the ability to withstand damage, literally shrugging off wounds that would once incapacitate her.
When this discipline is active, the tiger-lotus disciple receives a natural armor bonus to her AC of +2, and damage reduction 3/adamantine. A tiger-lotus disciple with natural armor instead gains a +2 insight bonus to her currently existing natural armor (in addition to the damage reduction).
Blessings of the Earth: The earth is unmoving, inviolate, unchanging through centuries of even the roughest wear. The earth is the foundation for all life, and through the blessings of this firm foundation the tiger-lotus disciple becomes a dependable rock upon which others may stand.
When she activates this discipline, the tiger-lotus disciple gains the Stability special ability. She gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing upon the ground. If she already had this ability, the bonuses improve to +6 while this discipline is active.
In addition, she gains a +3 insight bonus to any currently existing damage reduction she might possess (such as that granted by the armor of the tortoise discipline, or that granted by the barbarian class). If the tiger-lotus disciple possesses multiple types of damage reduction, she may choose which to add this insight bonus to. If the tiger-lotus disciple does not possess any form of damage reduction, she gains no additional benefit from this discipline.
Blessings of the Inferno: Fire is a symbol for the purest of passions that flow within the heart of all creatures. Fire is the passion that drives all creatures to accomplish deeds both great and foul. Fire is also the great cleanser, stripping the forest of its debris and enriching the soil and plants. To embrace fire is to embrace chaos, passion, and renewal.
While this disciple in active, a tiger-lotus disciple gains immunity to fire. Her body begins to burn as if she had caught on fire, although this fire does not harm the tiger-lotus disciple or her belongings. The heat produced by this flame is so intense that all creatures within 5 feet of the tiger-lotus disciple must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the tiger-lotus disciple’s class levels + her Wisdom bonus) or take 3d6 points of fire damage each round.
Blessings of the Storm: Harnessing the power of the air, the tiger-lotus disciple has become one with the storm and winds. When this discipline is activated, the tiger-lotus disciple’s hands become sheathed in a barely visible hint of lighting and air.
Whenever she makes an unarmed strike, her opponent must succeed on an opposed Strength check as if he were bull rushed. On a failure, the foe is knocked back 5 ft. and must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + the tiger-lotus disciple’s class levels + her Wisdom bonus) or be knocked prone and stunned for 1 round. The tiger-lotus disciple gains her Wisdom bonus as an insight bonus on the opposed Strength check.
Blessings of the Waves: Within all things flow the great waves of water, the greatest of equalizers. Sometimes powerful and fierce, sometimes gentle and calm, water stands as a powerful symbol for those who use it. By harnessing this gentle yet violent force, the tiger-lotus disciple can inhibit those who strike at her.
When this discipline is activated, the tiger-lotus disciple’s hands are sheathed in a wispy aura of blue, which gives off the sounds and smells of an ocean or river. Once per round, as an immediate action, the tiger-lotus disciple may make a retributive parry when she is struck in combat. Whenever the tiger-lotus disciple would take damage from a melee attack she may choose to make an opposed attack roll at her highest attack bonus against her opponent. If she succeeds on this opposed roll, she takes no damage from that attack, and she deals her normal unarmed strike damage to her opponent. The tiger-lotus disciple gains her Wisdom bonus as an insight bonus on the opposed attack roll.
Celerity of the Cheetah: Easily the quickest of animals, and certainly one of the most graceful, a cheetah is capable of moving quicker then the eye can follow. A tiger-lotus disciple who calls upon the blessings of these beasts finds herself moving with the grace and speed of one of these proud cats.
When this discipline is activated, the tiger-lotus disciple becomes hasted, as if she were under the effect of the spell. In addition, whenever the tiger-lotus disciple would take any full round action that would let her move double her speed (such as double moving, charging, or withdrawing) she instead may move up to three times her base land speed.
Cunning of the Spider: Wise and deceptive creatures, a spider is amongst one of the most deadly of predators in nature. The talent of these arachnids in entrapping and immobilizing prey is second to none. A tiger-lotus disciple who studies the ways of the spider begins to learn how to tap into the spider’s unique ways of immobilizing their prey, enhancing her abilities in combat.
When this discipline is active, the tiger-lotus disciple gains the benefit of the Improved Grapple feat while she is grappling. In addition, when the tiger-lotus disciple is grappling an opponent, she retains her Dexterity bonus to AC against opponents she is not grappling.
A tiger-lotus disciple who already has the Improved Grapple feat instead gains her Wisdom bonus as an insight bonus on all opposed grapple checks while this discipline is active.
Dance of the Crane: The grace and beauty of the crane has uplifted the heart and soul of many poets throughout the ages. Truly, the crane is a wondrous creature, which sees the skies unfettered by the earth, and dances amongst the clouds a magnificent waltz. The tiger-lotus disciple who learns this discipline understands this idyllic choice, and comes to understand what it is like to dance amongst the clouds.
When this discipline is active a tiger-lotus disciple gains the ability to fly. Her flight speed is twice that of her base land speed and she has a maneuverability of average. If the tiger-lotus disciple already has a flight speed, the dance of the crane discipline improves her speed by 30 feet and her maneuverability by one step.
Durability of the Ox: Steady, strong, and noble… the ox has been a loyal friend and servant to man-kind as long as the dog, and has served in many capacities over the years. A tiger-lotus disciple knows the mighty inner strength of these creatures, and is capable of calling them forth to become a mightier creature in battle.
When this discipline is active, the tiger-lotus disciple gains a +4 insight bonus to her Strength and Constitution. In addition, she is treated as a four-legged creature in terms of her carrying capacity.
Ferocity of the Tiger: While studying the stalking abilities of the largest and most deadly of hunting cats, a tiger-lotus disciple realizes the true potential of her unarmed attacks. By channeling the inner ferocity of these great hunting cats, she may make her strikes much more dangerous against the unwary foe.
When this discipline is activated, the tiger-lotus disciple may make a full attack with her unarmed strikes at the end of a charge, as if she had the pounce ability. In addition, she gains a +2 insight bonus on attack and damage rolls while charging.
Stealth of the Snake: Silent and wise, a snake sees things other do not and can go places none other dare. The snake is cunning and stealthy, able to approach its prey without alerting it of the danger, and striking without even the hint of warning. A tiger-lotus disciple who reveres these fast and cunning creatures learns ways of making herself unseen and adaptive.
When this discipline is active, a tiger-lotus disciple may add her Wisdom bonus to her Hide and Move Silently checks. In addition, her limbs become more flexible, allowing her to move through areas as if she were one size category smaller.
Tenacity of the Hound: Beloved by most humanoids, the hound has served as loyal companion and friend to nearly every race of humanoid since time immemorial. The hound is both friend and tenacious adversary, using their keen sense of smell to track down ally and prey alike. A tiger-lotus disciple is able to bring forth the hound within herself, gaining the innate tracking abilities of these loyal animals.
This discipline grants the tiger-lotus disciple the Scent ability and the benefit of the Track feat, allowing her to track by scent. If the tiger-lotus disciple already has the Track feat, she gains insight bonus equal to her Wisdom bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.
Wisdom of the Rat: Cunning, wise, and knowledgeable of the world around itself, a rat is rarely caught off guard. By seeing the world through the eyes of a rat, a tiger-lotus disciple’s perception of the world around her increase.
When this discipline is activated the tiger-lotus disciple receives the benefits of the Improved Initiative feat. In addition, a tiger-lotus disciple cannot be caught flat-footed, and she cannot be flanked except by a rogue at least four levels higher.
A tiger-lotus disciple who already possesses the Improved Initiative feat instead gains her Wisdom bonus as an insight bonus on Initiative checks.

Eternal Protector: At 10th level, a tiger-lotus disciple’s innate connection with the world about her changes her forever. By spending a week in meditation, she slowly undergoes a transformation into a creature more connected to nature’s whims and desires then any other. She becomes one of the truest protectors of nature, akin to the nymphs and dryads.
Her type changes to fey, and she no longer takes penalties to her ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties she has already received remain in place.
While she must still eat, sleep, and breathe, the tiger-lotus disciple becomes effectively immortal. Barring death through famine or battle, she will never age and may continue to champion nature.
A tiger-lotus disciple who has a type other then humanoid or monstrous humanoid retains her original type, but gains the immortality benefit of this class feature.
Ki Strike: At 3rd level a tiger-lotus disciple’s unarmed strikes are treated as cold iron for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. At 6th level her unarmed strikes are also treated as silver for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction.
Mystical Stride (Su): At 6th level, a tiger-lotus disciple may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment.
Furthermore, she is unhampered by even magical influences that usually impede movement, such as entangle, solid fog, slow, and web.
Wild Empathy (Ex): A tiger-lotus disciple’s class levels stack with any other class that grants the Wild Empathy class feature.

[Stycotl]

real cool overall.

first of all, i'd make the ability descriptions match the order in which you get them, by level. you know what i mean?

second, i like the blessed disciplines. i think they are very cool. they need to last longer in my opinion. especially for the ones that are only really worthwhile over long periods of time (hound and ox for example). maybe even make them like martial stances, in that they can be switched into and out of at will.

other than that, not bad. a few grammatical errors, but i am sure there are some in my post here now too...

aaron out.

[Cieyrin]

I do agree that the Hound and Ox should have a longer duration that what is currently stated to take advantage of their benefits, as having a few rounds of the ability to track or carry heavier loads doesn't really get you much of anywhere fast.

Also, since the class requires spellcasting, shouldn't there be a spellcasting progression of some sort, even if it's just half-casting, considering how much you otherwise get out of this, as I don't think any druid, as a full caster, would give up their ability to cast effectively.

[DracoDei]

Longer duration for Hound could be OK...
For Ox, a +4 to Strength and Constitution is too good to last long enough to make the carrying bonus worth having if for the same amount of time. I would make the carrying bonus permanent as soon as you selected it and the other bonuses time limited.

[Cieyrin]

yeah, i suppose that's true. The heavier carrying capacity as a permanent would be good, if not the strength and constitution increases, since they shouldn't last longer than a barbarian rage should.

[Danu]

I'm actually fairly surprised. Most of the complaints I recieved on earlier versions of the PrC aren't being brought up, for which I'm pretty thankful.

second, i like the blessed disciplines. i think they are very cool. they need to last longer in my opinion. especially for the ones that are only really worthwhile over long periods of time (hound and ox for example). maybe even make them like martial stances, in that they can be switched into and out of at will.

I really wanted to balance out a lot of the ranger/monk benefits with the blessed disciplines. Since WIS is really important to the monk (and faintly important to the Ranger) I would assume a multi-class character would have a decent stat. I didn't want to increase the length beyond the minimum.

On the other hand, the disciplines are extremely easy to activate, to re-applying an expended discipline is a matter of minor concentration.

Also, since the class requires spellcasting, shouldn't there be a spellcasting progression of some sort, even if it's just half-casting, considering how much you otherwise get out of this, as I don't think any druid, as a full caster, would give up their ability to cast effectively.

That's kind of the point. Only truly combat oriented druids would take the class. It's really geared towards rangers, not druids. But with all the other benefits the class grants, I felt +3 spellcasting levels was kind of pushing it.

Longer duration for Hound could be OK...
For Ox, a +4 to Strength and Constitution is too good to last long enough to make the carrying bonus worth having if for the same amount of time. I would make the carrying bonus permanent as soon as you selected it and the other bonuses time limited.

yeah, i suppose that's true. The heavier carrying capacity as a permanent would be good, if not the strength and constitution increases, since they shouldn't last longer than a barbarian rage should.

The +4 Str and Con are simply too good to be permanent. But I can see making the carrying capacity permanent. And possibly the hound's Scent ability. Scent is a cool, but relatively minor ability.

[TKDfirefly]

This discipline grants the tiger-lotus disciple the Scent ability and the benefit of the Track feat, allowing her to track by scent. If the tiger-lotus disciple already has the Track feat, she gains insight bonus equal to her Wisdom bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

Does the second part mean that they get to add their Wisdom bonus twice to Survival checks when tracking by scent? That does not seem to make much sense to me. Maybe change it to getting a bonus equal to the number of disciplines you have learned. That would make it still grant a bonus but not be redundant.

Other than that, I really like this prestige class. Since I normally play rangers, this class is perfect to go straight into it after 5 lvls of ranger. It would give a completely different feel to the ranger class.

[Cieyrin]

That's kind of the point. Only truly combat oriented druids would take the class. It's really geared towards rangers, not druids. But with all the other benefits the class grants, I felt +3 spellcasting levels was kind of pushing it.

Oh, i totally spaced about rangers; now i feel dumb ^^;;;

Yeah, I guess that does make sense, then. For a ranger/monk or whatever, this makes perfect sense. I'd still miss my Ranger spellcasting, though, since I think Rangers have the coolest spell selection out of any of the half-casting classes, so it'd be a tough call there.

Otherwise, the carrying capacity and scent would be good as permanents and, other than that, this is pretty cool as is.