Systems

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Proficient with heavy crossbow, light crossbow, club, dagger, dart, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, shortspear, sling, and spear, longsword, rapier, longbow (including composite longbow) and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as well as all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape.

Proficient with light and medium armor but are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. Druids are proficient with shields (except tower shields) but must use only wooden ones. A druid who wears prohibited armor or carries a prohibited shield is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.

Racial Traits

Sun Elf

Abilities: +2 Intelligence, -2 Constitution

Languages: Elven, Common Bonus Languages: Auran, Celestial, Chondathan, Gnome, Halfling, Illuskan, Sylvan

Favored Class: Wizard

Immunity to magic sleep effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects.

+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if he were actively looking for it.

Elf base land speed is 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision: An elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.

Weapon Proficiency: Elves receive the Martial Weapon Proficiency feats for the longsword, rapier, longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats.

Feats

Spellcasting Prodigy [General] (Player’s Guide to Faerûn p44)

You have an exceptional gift for magic.

Benefit: For the purposes of determining bonus spells, treat the ability score that controls your spellcasting (Charisma for bards and sorcerers, Wisdom for divine spellcasters, or Intelligence for wizards) as 2 points higher than it's actual value.

Special: You can gain Spellcasting Prodigy multiple times. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a different spellcasting ability score. You can take this feat even if you don't have any levels in a spellcasting class yet. You may select this feat only as a 1st-level character.

Practiced Spellcaster [General] (Complete Divine p82) (Complete Arcane p82)

Choose a spellcasting class that you possess. Your spells cast from that class are more powerful.

Prerequisites: Spellcraft 4 Ranks

Benefit: Your caster level for the chosen spellcasting class increases by +4. This can’t increase your caster level beyond your HD. However, even if you can’t benefit from the full bonus immediately, if you later gain noncaster-level HD you may be able to apply the rest of the bonus. A character with two or more spellcasting classes (such as a bard/sorcerer or a ranger/druid) must choose which class gains the feat’s effect. This does not affect your spells per day or spells known. It only increases your caster level, which would help you penetrate SR and increase the duration and other effects of your spells.

Natural Spell [General]

Prerequisites: Wisdom 13, Wild Shape class ability

Benefit: You can complete the verbal and somatic components of spells while in a wild shape. You substitute various noises and gestures for the normal verbal and somatic components of a spell. You can also use any material components or focuses you possess, even if such items are melded within your current form. This feat does not permit the use of magic items while you are in a form that could not ordinarily use them, and you do not gain the ability to speak while in a wild shape.

Natural Bond [General] (Complete Adventurer p111)

Your bond with your animal companion is exceptionally strong.

Prerequisite: Animal companion.

Benefit: Add three to your effective druid level for the purpose of determining the bonus Hit Dice, extra tricks, special abilities, and other bonuses that youranimal companion receives. This bonus can never make your effective druid level exceed your character level.

Quicken Spell [Metamagic]

Benefit: Casting a quickened spell is a free action. You can perform another action, even casting another spell, in the same round as you cast a quickened spell. You may cast only one quickened spell per round. A spell whose casting time is more than 1 full round action cannot be quickened. A quickened spell uses up a spell slot four levels higher than the spell’s actual level. Casting a quickened spell doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

Special: This feat can’t be applied to any spell cast spontaneously (including sorcerer spells, bard spells, and cleric or druid spells cast spontaneously), since applying a metamagic feat to a spontaneously cast spell automatically increases the casting time to a full-round action.

Easy Metamagic [Metamagic] (Dragon Magazine 325 p62)

One of your metamagic feats is easier to use.

Prerequisites: Any other metamagic feat.

Benefit: Choose a metamagic feat you already have. When preparing or casting a spell modified by that feat, lower the spell-slot cost by one. You can never reduce the spell-slot cost below one level higher than the spell's actual level. for example, taking this feat for the quicken Spell feat reduces the spell slot cost of a quickened spell from four levels higher than the spell's actual level to three levels higher than the spell's actual level.

Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, you must choose a new metamagic feat.

Scribe Scroll [Item Creation]

Prerequisites: Caster level 1st.

Benefit: You can create a scroll of any spell that you know. Scribing a scroll takes one day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. The base price of a scroll is its spell level x its caster level x 25 gp. To scribe a scroll, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP and use up raw materials costing one-half of this base price. Any scroll that stores a spell with a costly material component or an XP cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the costs derived from the base price, you must expend the material component or pay the XP when scribing the scroll.

Class Abilities

Nature Sense

Benefit: A druid gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks.

Wild Empathy

Benefit: A druid can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The druid rolls 1d20 and adds her druid level and her Charisma modifier to determine the wild empathy check result. The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly. To use wild empathy, the druid and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. A druid can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but she takes a –4 penalty on the check.

Spontaneous Rejuvenation (Players Handbook 2 p39)

By selecting the spontaneous rejuvenation alternative class feature, you can provide the party with plenty of healing without trampling on the cleric's role.

Level: 1st

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain the ability to spontaneously convert prepared spells into summon nature's ally spells.

Benefit: You can transform the stored energy of a spell you have prepared to invigorate you and your allies. To use spontaneous rejuvenation, you must spend a standard action and sacrifice a prepared spell. All allies within 30 feet of you (including yourself) gain fast healing for 3 rounds. The fast healing amount is equal to the spell's level. For example, if you sacrifice remove disease, a 3rd level spell, each ally gains fast healing 3 for 3 rounds.

Generalist Wizardry (Elf Wizard, 1st Level, RotW 157)

Benefit: A 1st-level elf wizard begins play with one extra 1st-level spell in her spellbook. At each new wizard level, she gains one extra spell of any spell level that she can cast. This represents the additional elven insight and experience with arcane magic. The elf wizard may also prepare one additional spell of her highest spell level each day. Unlike the specialist wizard ability, this spell may be of any school. This substitution feature replaces the standard wizard’s ability to specialize in a school of magic.

Animal Companion

Benefit: A druid may begin play with an animal companion. This animal is a loyal companion that accompanies the druid on her adventures as appropriate for its kind. If a druid releases her companion from service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished.

Summon Familiar

Benefit: Summoning a familiar takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp. A familiar is a magical beast that resembles a small animal and is unusually tough and intelligent. The creature serves as a companion and servant. The caster chooses the kind of familiar he gets. As the sorcerer advances in level, his familiar also increases in power. If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the caster, the caster must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per class level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, a caster’s experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar’s demise or dismissal. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs. A character with more than one class that grants a familiar may have only one familiar at a time.

Woodland Stride (3rd Level)

Benefit: A druid 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. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her.

Trackless Step (4th Level)

Benefit: A druid leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. She may choose to leave a trail if so desired.

Ignore Arcane Spell Failure (9th Level)

Benefit: When casting an arcane spell, you ignore the arcane spell failure chance for any nonmetallic light or medium armor (padded, leather, or hide armor). You learn to cast arcane spells while wearing the types of armor that druids favor.

Wild Shape (9th Level)

Benefit: A druid gains the ability to turn herself into any Small or Medium animal and back again. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the polymorph spell, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per druid level, or until she changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid is familiar with. A druid loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but she can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as her new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.) The new form’s Hit Dice can’t exceed the character’s druid level.

If you do not already possess the ability as a class feature, you gain no new ability to wild shape. However, you add your arcane hierophant level to your druid level and gain the wild shape ability of a druid of the resulting level. For example, a character who is a 3rd-level wizard/3rd-level druid/4th-level arcane hierophant has the wild shape ability of a 7th-level druid. If you are not a druid, (for example, if you entered the class as a wizard/ranger), you do not gain the ability to wild shape.

Companion Familiar (9th Level)

Benefit: Upon becoming an arcane hierophant, you must dismiss your familiar, if you have one. (You do not risk losing XP for doing so.) You may retain any one animal companion you already possess. Your animal companion gains abilities based on a mix of the two classes adding your levels in arcane hierophant to wizard/sorcerer or druid/ranger respectively. If your familiar companion is killed or dismissed, you do not lose XP. You can summon a new familiar companion by performing a ceremony requiring 24 hours of uninterrupted prayer. The familiar companion is a magical beast (augmented animal), but you can bestow harmless spells on your familiar companion as if it were an animal instead of a magical beast.

Attack Bonus, Saving throws, Feats, Skills determined as an Animal Companion.

Bonus HD: Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Remember that extra Hit Dice improve the animal companion’s base attack and base save bonuses. An animal companion’s base attack bonus is the same as that of a druid of a level equal to the animal’s HD. An animal companion has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD). An animal companion gains additional skill points and feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice.

Link (Ex): A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The druid gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion.

Share Spells (Ex): At the druid’s option, she may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) she casts upon herself also affect her animal companion. The animal companion must be within 5 feet of her at the time of casting to receive the benefit. If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the animal companion if the companion moves farther than 5 feet away and will not affect the animal again, even if it returns to the druid before the duration expires. Additionally, the druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A druid and her animal companion can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion’s type (animal).

Devotion (Ex): An animal companion gains a +4 morale bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects.

Multiattack: An animal companion gains Multiattack as a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite three or more natural attacks, the animal companion instead gains a second attack with its primary natural weapon, albeit at a –5 penalty.

Alertness (Ex): While a familiar is within arm’s reach, the master gains the Alertness feat.

Evasion (Ex): If an animal companion is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw.

Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.

Empathic Link (Su): The master has an empathic link with his familiar out to a distance of up to 1 mile. The master cannot see through the familiar’s eyes, but they can communicate empathically. Because of the limited nature of the link, only general emotional content can be communicated. Because of this empathic link, the master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does.

Deliver Touch Spells (Su): If the master is 3rd level or higher, a familiar can deliver touch spells for him. If the master and the familiar are in contact at the time the master casts a touch spell, he can designate his familiar as the “toucher.” The familiar can then deliver the touch spell just as the master could. As usual, if the master casts another spell before the touch is delivered, the touch spell dissipates.

Speak with Master (Ex): If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.

Speak with Animals of Its Kind (Ex): If the master is 7th level or higher, a familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same kind as itself (including dire varieties): bats with bats, rats with rodents, cats with felines, hawks and owls and ravens with birds, lizards and snakes with reptiles, toads with amphibians, weasels with similar creatures (weasels, minks, polecats, ermines, skunks, wolverines, and badgers). Such communication is limited by the intelligence of the conversing creatures.

Spell Resistance (Ex): If the master is 11th level or higher, a familiar gains spell resistance equal to the master’s level + 5. To affect the familiar with a spell, another spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the familiar’s spell resistance.

Scry on Familiar (Sp): If the master is 13th level or higher, he may scry on his familiar (as if casting the scrying spell) once per day.

Channel Animal (12th Level)

Benefit: You gain the ability twice per day to establish a magical conduit between yourself and a single animal that you touch (including your familiar companion). For each use of this class feature, a spell you cast whose range is touch or greater can originate from the animal instead of from you, provided that you have line of sight and line of effect to the animal. The spell’s line of effect then extends from the animal to the target based on the senses of the animal, not you. You can also use this power to deliver touch spells through the animal. Once you cast the spell, the animal is considered to be holding the charge for the spell.

Channel Plant (14th Level)

Benefit: You gain the ability to establish a magical conduit between yourself and a natural, non-animated plant (but not creatures of the plant type) once per day. This ability functions like the channel animal class feature, except that the line of effect from the plant to the target is based on your senses. You can use this power to deliver touch spells through the plant. Once you cast the spell, the plant is considered to be holding the charge for the spell, except that the spell is delivered to the first creature or object that can receive the spell when the subject touches the plant.

Wild Shape

Tiny Size (16th Level)

Cat Agility

Owl Flight/Stealth

Rat Stealth

Small Size (10th Level)

Badger Digging

Eagle Flight

Octopus Swimming

Medium Size (10th Level)

Cheetah Speed

Leopard Agility

Black Bear Strength

Porpoise Swimming

Crocodile Swimming/Strength

Wolf Agility/Trip

Large Size (13th Level)

Ape Climbing

Polar Bear Strength

Manta Ray Swimming

Giant Octopus Swimming/Strength

Tiger Strength/Agility

Plant (17th Level)

Shambling Mound Strength

Counterspell

You may ready a counterspell against a spellcaster (often with the trigger “if she starts casting a spell”). In this case, when the spellcaster starts a spell, you get a chance to identify it with a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level). If you do, and if you can cast that same spell (are able to cast it and have it prepared, if you prepare spells), you can cast the spell as a counterspell and automatically ruin the other spellcaster’s spell. Counterspelling works even if one spell is divine and the other arcane.

A spellcaster can use dispel magic to counterspell another spellcaster, but it doesn’t always work. You make a dispel check (1d20 + your caster level, maximum +10) against the spell or against each ongoing spell currently in effect on the object or creature. The DC for this dispel check is 11 + the spell’s caster level.

Trip

You can try to trip an opponent as an unarmed melee attack. You can only trip an opponent who is one size category larger than you, the same size, or smaller.

Making a Trip Attack: Make an unarmed melee touch attack against your target. This provokes an attack of opportunity from your target as normal for unarmed attacks.

If your attack succeeds, make a Strength check opposed by the defender’s Dexterity or Strength check (whichever ability score has the higher modifier). A combatant gets a +4 bonus for every size category he is larger than Medium or a –4 penalty for every size category he is smaller than Medium. The defender gets a +4 bonus on his check if he has more than two legs or is otherwise more stable than a normal humanoid. If you win, you trip the defender. If you lose, the defender may immediately react and make a Strength check opposed by your Dexterity or Strength check to try to trip you.

Avoiding Attacks of Opportunity: If you have the Improved Trip feat, or if you are tripping with a weapon (see below), you don’t provoke an attack of opportunity for making a trip attack.

Being Tripped (Prone): A tripped character is prone. Standing up is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

An attacker who is prone has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A defender who is prone gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.

Tripping a Mounted Opponent: You may make a trip attack against a mounted opponent. The defender may make a Ride check in place of his Dexterity or Strength check. If you succeed, you pull the rider from his mount.

Tripping with a Weapon: Some weapons can be used to make trip attacks. In this case, you make a melee touch attack with the weapon instead of an unarmed melee touch attack, and you don’t provoke an attack of opportunity. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the weapon to avoid being tripped.

Apprentice-Level Rules

Hitdice

Characters without racial hitdice gain their usual 1st level hitpoints (maximum hitpoints for the first hitdie, plus Constitution modifier as usual).

Single-classed characters with racial hitdice gain half of their usual class hitpoints at 0th level, and only get Constitution modifiers on their existing racial hitdice (thus, a 0th level Gnoll Barbarian would gain half of a d12 on top of his racial hitdice).

For multiclassed characters, use the average of the two classes: thus, a Human Barbarian/Rogue at 0/0 would have 9 hitpoints plus Con modifier (average of 12 and 6).

For multiclassed characters at level 0/0 with racial hitdice, hitdice for the two classes are averaged and then treated as a single level 1 hitdie: thus, the character also gets his/her Constitution modifier. For instance, a Gnoll Barbarian/Rogue at 0/0 would gain a d12 plus a d6, divided by 2 (i.e. averaged) added to his racial hitdice, plus his Constitution modifier.

Note: Multiclassed characters with no racial hitdice gain the benefit of the "maximum hitpoints at 1st level" rule for both of their hitdice. They keep this benefit when going up to 1st level (when their class hitpoints are no longer averaged, but stack normally). This does provide a slight incentive to use this system: probably a few more hitpoints than they might otherwise have. There may be a downside for the character if the two classes have differing numbers of skillpoints: the "quadrupling rule" for 1st level skillpoints won't be applied exclusively to the high-skilled class (the usual first choice), but will be split across both classes (see "Skills" below).

When determining effects based on hitdice (e.g. vulnerability to Sleep spells), level 0 (or lower) counts as 1st level for creatures without racial hitdice, but doesn't count at all for creatures with racial hitdice: multiclassed level 0/0 always counts as 1 level (this also affects eligibility for feats and ability score increments).

Multiclassed characters at level 0/0 will advance in both classes (to 1/1) when they level up. If they lose a level, this will affect both classes, taking them to -1/-1.

Saving Throws and Base Attack Bonus

0th level characters have a +1 on "good" saves (i.e. those that normally start at +2 for 1st level). These stack: thus, a Fighter/Cleric at 0/0 will have saves of +2 Fortitude (+1 from each class), +0 Reflex, +1 Will (from Cleric). All classes have a BAB of 0 at 0th level (or lower).

Skills

For single-classed 0th level characters without racial hitdice, determine skills as for a 1st level character (including quadrupling skillpoints for 1st level).

For characters with racial hitdice, allocate half the usual number of skillpoints for the class (and no Intelligence modifier) to the appropriate class skills: maximum rank for class skills is equal to racial hitdice plus 3.

For multiclassed characters at 0/0, determine the number of skillpoints that a 1st level character would have for each class (including Intelligence modifier, and remembering to quadruple skillpoints if there are no racial hitdice). Then allocate half of the usual number of skillpoints (fractions rounded down) to spend on the appropriate class skills for each class: maximum rank is 4, or racial hitdice plus 3.

When the character levels up, he/she will gain any remaining skillpoints that were not allocated at 0th level. This means that single-classed characters without racial hitdice won't get any (they already have all the points that a 1st level character would have), characters with racial hitdice will gain the other 50%, and multiclassed characters will gain the other 50% for each class (without the 1st level quadrupling rule, which they've already used).

Weapons and Armour

0th level characters have the same weapon and armour proficiencies as 1st level characters.

Spellcasting

When compared to 1st level, 0th level spellcasters can cast one less spell per day at each spellcasting level they can cast (usually 1st and 0th). If this reduces their allocation to zero, they can still apply bonuses from ability scores, and they still gain a clerical domain spell slot or a wizard specialist spell slot (or any similar bonus slot). However, if their allocation drops below zero, they lose the ability to cast any spells of that level. 0th level spells will not drop below 1 per day in any event. "Caster level" remains at 1st level. Psionic characters have one power point less (minimum of 1 point overall, after applicable modifiers).

Other Class Features

Non-magical class features (i.e. abilities that aren't "spell-like", "supernatural", or "psionic") function normally for 0th level characters: thus, Fighters still get their bonus combat feat, Barbarians can still rage, Rogues still get Sneak Attack, and so on. Magical class features can only be activated once per day, and those with durations are limited to one minute (10 rounds). Thus, a Cleric can only turn undead once per day, a Paladin can only detect evil once per day for up to 10 rounds, and so on. Class level (where relevant) is treated as 1st level. Class bonus feats which are "magical" in nature (feats which bestow or modify spellcasting or psionic abilities) are lost (this includes the Scribe Scroll feat that Wizards gain at 1st level).