ANIMAL LORD

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements

The Animal Lords are nobles of the natural kingdom, having been elevated by Awr above common status.  Before Thell's unjust rebellion, their honor and status was recognized by all; now, only animals and magical beasts acknowledge the rightness of their claims.  In fury, they take up arms against the rebels.

To qualify to become an Animal Lord, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any.

Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 8 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 8 ranks.

Feats: Devotee of Awr, Friend of Beasts, Track.  Proficiency with all Martial weapons.

Spellcasting: Ability to cast first-level divine spells.

Special: The character must have plants as a favored enemy.  He must have performed a great service for Awr, such as being mostly or entirely responsible for slaying a plant creature of no less than twice his hit dice.

Class Skills

The Animal Lord's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature/nobility and royalty/religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Animal Lord

Class Features

All of the following are Class Features of the Animal Lord prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Animal Lords gain no additional armor or weapon proficiencies.

Code of Conduct: An Animal Lord loses all class abilities and benefits if he ever strays from devotion to Awr.  He must always provide aid and succor to animals or magical beasts who request it, and punish plant creatures and followers of Thell.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: When a new Animal Lord level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in one divine spellcasting class in which he could cast spells before he added the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except as noted here. If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class in which he could cast spells before he became an Animal Lord, he must decide to which class he adds each level of Animal Lord for the purpose of determining spells per day.

Companionship (Ex): Animal Lord levels count as Druid levels for the purposes of determining animal companion properties, but each level only applies if the Animal Lord already has the ability to summon an animal companion.  For example, a Cler 3/Rgr 3/AL 1 does not yet have the Animal Companion class feature, and thus cannot benefit from Companionship.  If he gains a level in ranger, his companion will benefit from any subsequent Animal Lord levels, but not those already gained.  Further note that Animal Lord levels always count as druid levels; a ranger 6 who gains a level in Animal Lord has three effective druid levels from ranger, and a fourth from Animal Lord, for the purposes of his animal companion.

Noblesse Oblige (Ex): Animal Lords will never be attacked by animals or magical beasts, even those charmed, dominated, trained, or otherwise compelled to do so.  They can make and resolve Wild Empathy checks as swift actions.  In return, they must never attack such creatures, and are obligated to assist them when needed.

Wild Shape (Su): Animal Lords gain the ability to wild shape into a Large animal once per day, as a druid does.  This stacks with any uses of wild shape they might have from other sources, and levels stack to determine the duration.  At 6th level, they are able to assume the shapes of magical beasts, and at 10th level, the size of animals or magical beasts they can become increases to Huge.  In addition to the normal effects of wild shape, the Animal Lord gains all of the magical beast’s extraordinary, supernatural, and spell-like abilities.

Exclude Animal Companion: An Animal Lord of at least 3rd level can choose to exclude his Animal Companion from area-effect spells he casts.

Bonus Domain:  At 4th level, an Animal Lord gains either the Nobility or War domain.  Note that unlike other druids, druids of Awr have one domain spell slot each level at creation, just as clerics do.

Sense Unrest (Ex): Following a Wild Empathy attempt, an Animal Lord of at least 5th level can attempt a Sense Motive check on an animal or magical beast as a free action.  He adds his class levels as a bonus to the attempt.

Speaker of the Kingdom (Ex):  An Animal Lord with 7 or more class levels can speak with any living creature.  Strangely, this includes plant creatures, which has caused some to speculate that Thell's takeover of the Plant portfolio is not yet complete.  Communication between Animal Lords and plant creatures tends to consist of arguments, demands, and insults.

Priestly Domain: An Animal Lord who does not already possess domain spell slots gains them at the 8th Animal Lord level.

Battle Summoning (Ex): An Animal Lord of 10th level gains the ability to summon animals or magical beasts via spells as a standard action rather than a full-round action.  He adds twice his Animal Lord levels to determine caster level for the purposes of such spells.

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