Master Herbalist

Gnome woman Master Herbalist gathering and preparing medicinal plants at a travelling field workspace

Prestige Class: A field botanist and healer who turns rare plants into reliable adventuring remedies.

At a Glance

Role: Healer, botanist and non-industrial remedy specialist

Typical Entry: 6th level or later

Hit Die: d8

BAB: One-half

Good Saves: Fortitude and Will

Skills: 6 + Intelligence modifier

Spellcasting: Optional 3-of-5 progression or extra remedy capacity

Signature: Herbarium Preparations

A Master Herbalist knows plants as living tools rather than abstract ingredients. Their remedies are prepared fresh, carried into the field and consumed before they spoil. The class is deliberately different from Master Alchemist: it relies on botanical knowledge, healing practice and gathering rather than arcane distillation.

Master Herbalist — D&D 3.5e

Requirements

  • Skills: Heal 8 ranks; Knowledge (nature) 8 ranks; Profession (herbalist) 5 ranks; Survival 5 ranks
  • Feat: Self-Sufficient or Skill Focus (Heal)
  • Special: Must discover, cultivate or correctly identify a rare medicinal plant during play

Herbal Calling

At 1st level choose Spellkeeper or Field Herbalist. Spellkeeper advances one existing spellcasting class at 2nd, 4th and 5th level. Field Herbalist instead gains one extra daily Herbarium Preparation at those levels.

Progression

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Herbal Calling, Herbarium Preparations
2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Antidotal Lore
3rd +1 +3 +1 +3 Field Gathering
4th +2 +4 +1 +4 Deep Remedy
5th +2 +4 +1 +4 Master Herbarium

Herbarium Preparations (Ex)

Each day prepare a number of fresh remedies equal to 3 + Wisdom modifier, minimum 1. A remedy requires 10 minutes and common herbs worth 5 gp. Unused preparations spoil after 24 hours.

  • Poultice: As a standard action, restore hit points equal to 1d6 + class level. A creature can benefit from one Poultice per day.
  • Wakeleaf: Grant +2 alchemical bonus on saves against sleep and fatigue for 1 hour.
  • Steadyroot: Grant +2 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saves against poison and disease for 1 hour.

Antidotal Lore (Ex)

At 2nd level, when using Heal against poison or disease, gain +4 competence. A creature treated with Steadyroot may immediately attempt one additional save against an ongoing poison if that poison normally allows repeat saves.

Field Gathering (Ex)

At 3rd level, after 1 hour gathering in appropriate natural terrain, make Survival DC 20. On success, recover herbal materials sufficient to replace up to 25 gp of mundane preparation costs that day. This has no resale value and cannot create profit.

Deep Remedy (Ex)

At 4th level add two preparations: Clearblood, which grants a new save against one disease or poison after 10 minutes of rest, and Restorative Tea, which removes one point of ability damage after 1 hour of rest. A creature can benefit from each Deep Remedy only once per day.

Master Herbarium (Ex)

At 5th level, Herbarium Preparations increase by two per day. Poultice heals 2d6 + class level. Field Gathering succeeds on DC 15 and may replace up to 50 gp of mundane preparation costs per day, still with no resale value.

Master Herbalist — Pathfinder 1e

Use the same features. Requirements become Heal 5 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks, Profession (herbalist) 5 ranks and Survival 5 ranks. Spellkeeper may advance an existing spellcasting class at 2nd, 4th and 5th level. Prestige levels do not receive favored-class bonuses.

Sources and Rules Provenance

The former page credited Occult Lore by Keith Baker, Adam Bank, Chris Jones, Scott Reeves and Elton Robb, published by Atlas Games. This rebuilt Master Herbalist is original campaign material and does not reproduce that source’s prose or distinctive mechanics.

Keep this reference growing

If this page helped with your reading or game, you can support its upkeep or explore the curated books.

Buy the creator a coffee

Explore the Bookshop — epics, classics and stories behind imagined worlds.

Scroll to Top