“The Beast Lord: Master of the Wilds”

“Master of Beasts: Unleash Your Inner Animal with The Beast Lord Prestige Class!”

All barbarians are familiar with animals and all barbarians have a spark of the raging beast within their souls.

Quintessential Barbarian II

Author Patrick Younts
Series Quintessential Series
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2004

Some barbarians, however, have more than just a passing kinship with animal kind. The beast lord is an animal in human skin, a being of instinct and natural, beastly grace who moves through the wilderness with the speed and surety of one born to rule the untamed wilds. He has a wolf’s heart, a falcon’s eyes and the ferocity of the lion. At his passage, the jungle stills and animals bow their heads in deference, for they recognise the beast lord’s majesty and his birthright as their champion and their king.

The beast lord is the perfect prestige class for those Players who wish their barbarians to be modelled after the wild men of the jungle so popular in pulp fiction in the early decades of the 20th century. With his ability to command animals and his animal grace, he will be a mighty force in any wilderness based adventure.

Hit Die: d12.

Requirements

In order to qualify for the beast lord prestige class, the character must meet or exceed all the following requirements.

Base Attack Bonus: +11.
Skills: Climb 7 ranks, Handle Animal 13 ranks, Jump 7 ranks, Survival 13 ranks, Swim 7 ranks.
Feats: Animal Soul, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Alignment: Any chaotic.
Special: Must possess the ability to rage.

Class Skills

The beast lord’s class skills (and the relevant abilities) are: Balance (Dexterity), Climb (Strength), Craft (Intelligence), Handle Animal (Charisma), Hide (Dexterity), Jump (Strength), Listen (Wisdom), Move Silently (Dexterity), Ride (Dexterity)(Dexterity), Spot (Wisdom), Survival (Wisdom) and Swim (Strength).

Skill Points: 4 + Intelligence bonus per level.

The Beast Lord
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+2	+0	Call of the wild 1/day, companion animal
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+0	Ape Wrestler, wild empathy
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+1	Call of the wild 2/day
4th	+4	+4	+4	+1	Greater rage
5th	+5	+4	+4	+1	Animal’s grace, rage
6th	+6	+5	+5	+2	Call of the wild 3/day
7th	+7	+5	+5	+2	Speak with animals
8th	+8	+6	+6	+2	Tireless rage
9th	+9	+6	+6	+3	Call of the wild 4/day
10th	+10	+7	+7	+3	Beast rage, king of beasts

Class Features

All the following are class features of the beast lord.

Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: He is proficient with all simple and all martial weapons and is proficient with light armour but not with shields. Remember that a beast lord loses his fast movement when wearing medium armour or carrying a medium or heavy load.

Call of the Wild (Ex): The beast lord is kin to all animals and he knows the secret calls which will summon any animal to his side. Beginning at 1st level, he can, once a day, let forth with a mighty call which summons animals to serve him as he directs.

To use this ability, he lets loose a call which can be heard to a radius of one mile + one mile per three full class levels he possesses. One animal with a total number of hit dice equal to or less than the beast lord’s class levels + barbarian levels combined, heeds this call and comes to the beast lord at its fastest possible speed. When it arrives, it will aid him for a number of rounds equal to his class levels + his Charisma bonus, either fighting his enemies, or performing any task that the beast lord is capable of communicating to it.

The animal will serve to the best of its ability but will not perform any task which is immediately fatal to it or completely against its nature. At the end of call of the wild’s duration, the animal will return to where it came from. The beast lord can, before unleashing his call, decide to summon a specific type of animal (bear, elephant); if that animal is within the radius of the call it will come but otherwise, no animal appears.

Unleashing a call of the wild is a full-round action and cannot be performed if the beast lord is silenced, whether by a spell or other means. At 3rd, 6th and 9th level, he gains the ability to make another call of the wild each day. He can use a call of the wild once each round, summoning multiple animals simultaneously.

Companion Animal (Ex): He commands the allegiance of animals. At 1st level, he gains an animal companion, exactly as the druid does. This companion animal is chosen from the following list: ape, black bear, bison, boar, cheetah, crocodile, leopard, large shark, constrictor snake or large viper snake. The animal gains extra hit dice and abilities as a druid‘s companion animal, at the beast lord’s class level + his barbarian class levels –3.

If the beast lord already has a companion animal, whether from druid or ranger class levels, or from a feat in this sourcebook, then he does not gain a new animal companion. Instead, his animal companion now gains bonus hit dice and abilities exactly as the druids animal companion does, with barbarian levels, beast lord levels and druid or ranger levels stacking to determine the animal’s abilities.

Should his companion be killed, then he can attract another. One month after a new animal is selected, it gains all the benefits listed above.

Ape Wrestler: He is fearless in battle against animals and is well trained in the methods of neutralising their bulk and strength. At 2nd level, he gains the Ape Wrestler feat for free. If he has already selected the Ape Wrestler feat, then he is considered to have taken the feat twice, gaining additional benefits as described in the Barbarian Feats chapter of this sourcebook.

Wild Empathy (Ex): A beast lord understands the thoughts, the instincts and the nature of all animals. Beginning at 2nd level, he can use body language and mimicked animal sounds to improve the attitude of an animal (such as an ape or elephant). This ability functions just like the Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person (see Core Rulebook I for details).

The beast lord rolls 1d20 and adds his combined beast lord and barbarian levels to the check, plus his Charisma modifier, to determine the check result. If the beast lord has levels in the druid or ranger class, then he adds these levels to the check as well.

To use this ability, the beast lord and the animal must be within 10 feet + 10 feet per beast lord class level of one another. Using wild empathy requires a minimum of one minute’s time. Unlike a druid or ranger, the beast lord cannot use this ability to influence magical beasts.

Greater Rage (Ex): Upon reaching 4th level, the animal lord gains the greater rage ability, just as a barbarian does. This increases his Strength and Constitution bonus to +6 each when he enters a barbarian rage.

Animal’s Grace (Ex): He moves with the grace and power of an animal, stalking the wilderness like a jungle cat and swimming with the grace of a salmon. Beginning at 5th level, when the beast lord is wearing no armour and is only lightly encumbered, he gains a bonus to all Climb, Hide, Jump, Move Silently and Swim checks equal to his class level. In addition, while in a wilderness environment, his fast movement ability increases to 20 feet per round. This increased fast movement does not apply while in an urban or dungeon environment.

Rage (Ex): At 5th level, the animal lord gains the ability to rage one additional time each day.

Speak with animals (Sp): He knows how to interpret the hoots, whistles, roars and other sounds of animals and can communicate with beasts on their level. At 7th level, the beast lord gains the ability to speak with animals at will, as per the druid spell.

Tireless Rage (Ex): At 8th level and higher, the animal lord no longer becomes fatigued at the end of his rage.

Beast Rage (Su): The animal lord and his companion animal are linked by more than a mental bond. They are spiritual brothers and the animal companion shares the beast lord’s moods and his goals. At 10th level, when he enters a rage, his companion animal also gains the benefits and penalties of raging, allowing it to fight at his side with unmatched ferocity.

In order for the animal to gain the benefits of rage, it must be within 100 feet of the beast lord at the time he enters his rage and must remain within that radius throughout the rage’s duration. If the animal companion moves more than 100 feet away from the beast lord, then it no longer receives the benefits of rage and does not regain them should it move back within the radius of effect. Regardless of the animal companion’s Constitution score, the duration of its rage is identical to that of the beast lord’s.

King of Beasts (Ex): At 10th level, he has transcended his humanoid flesh and his spirit grown so strong that all beasts recognise him as their rightful king. All animals are automatically considered to be Friendly to the beast lord and will not attack him, unless he threatens or attacks them first. The beast lord can still alter their attitudes as normal, using wild empathy.

The Epic Beast Lord

• Hit Die: d12.
• Skill Points Per Level: 4 + Intelligence bonus.
• Bonus Feats: He receives bonus feats every three levels.
• Barbarian Rage: He gains another use of rage every five levels.
• Call of the Wild: The beast lord gains an additional use of call of the wild every three levels.