Prestige Classes

FIST OF THE FOREST

“To be one with the wild, you must become wild yourself. It’s only natural.” —Sorag, Warden of the Green For some among the Guardians of the Green (see page 68), the pursuit of an animalistic lifestyle is a form of asceticism. A feral disposition seems to come naturally to others. In either case, the result is a powerful defender of nature: the fist of the forest. BECOMING A FIST OF THE FOREST Though the two classes seem to have little in common, the paths of the monk and the barbarian often converge in the fist of the forest. Monks and other disciplined characters seek heightened connections with nature through a primal devotion to its defense. Barbarians and other wild characters seem to simply end up on this path if they are fated for it. PLAYING A FIST OF THE FOREST Living like an animal gives you a clear understanding of and sympathy for natural living things, and association with the Guardians of the Green gives you purpose and direction. Your personality, however, is your own. Depending on your character’s background and the band to which you belong, you can be as erudite or savage, as disciplined or unruly, as you see fit. Combat Your most powerful attacks are your unarmed strikes, so you should charge into the thick of battle as quickly as possible. Save your feral trance ability until the middle of a fight, so that you don’t end up fatigued while your enemies are still attacking.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

To qualify to become a fist of the forest, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +4.

Skills: Handle Animal 4 ranks, Survival 4 ranks.

Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack.

Special: Must gain approval as a fist of the forest by the leaders of a band of Guardians of the Green, then adopt the lifestyle of an animal (see Primal Living, below).

Class Skills

The fist of the forest's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: The Fist of the Forest

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the fist of the forest prestige class.

You are skilled at hunting and killing with your bare hands. You defend the forest by channeling raw, bestial might through your own being, using either disciplined focus or primal ferocity.

AC Bonus (Ex): While unarmored, you gain a bonus to your Armor Class equal to your Constitution bonus (if any). See the monk class feature (PH 40).

Fast Movement (Ex): Your base land speed is faster than the norm for your race. See the barbarian class feature (PH 25). If you already have fast movement from another class, the bonuses to your speed stack.

Feral Trance (Su): Once per day, you can enter a feral battle trance. While you are in this state, the raw power of the beast flows through you. Your hands and feet become clawlike (destroying any shoes or gloves you are wearing), and your teeth lengthen and grow pointed. For the duration of the trance, you gain a +4 bonus to Dexterity and a +2 bonus on damage rolls with your unarmed strikes. You can also make one bite attack per round at your highest attack bonus whenever you attack as a full-round action.

The damage for this attack is 1d6 + your Str modifier, regardless of your size. A feral trance lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Con modifier. While in a trance, you cannot perform certain actions, and afterward you are fatigued. These restrictions are the same as those for the barbarian’s rage class feature (PH 25–26). If you have the ability to enter a rage, you can do so while in a feral trance, using your increased Constitution score to determine the duration of both effects.

At 3rd level, you can use this ability twice per day.

Primal Living (Ex): To maintain your bestial powers, you must live like a wild animal. You must sleep in natural environments, never inside buildings, unless forced by circumstances . Furthermore, you cannot purchase food—you must obtain it by hunting, gathering, begging, or stealing. Some fists of the forest even give up speech, the use of fire and tools, and all possessions, but such extremes are not required. In any month in which you buy food or voluntarily sleep indoors more than three times, all your fist of the forest class features cease to function until you have spent thirty consecutive days living like an animal once more, or until a fellow Guardian of the Green casts atonement on you.

Unarmed Damage (Ex): Your unarmed attacks deal more damage than usual. At 1st level, you deal 1d8 points of damage with each unarmed strike. When you attain 3rd level, this damage increases to 1d10 points. See the monk class feature (PH 41). If your unarmed attack already deals this amount of damage, increase the base damage to the next step indicated on the monk class table.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, you cannot be caught flat-footed, and you react to danger before your senses would normally allow you to do so. See the barbarian class feature (PH 26). If you already have uncanny dodge from another class, you instead gain improved uncanny dodge.

Untamed Strike (Su): On attaining 2nd level, you can channel the untamed power of nature when you attack. Your unarmed strikes are treated as magic weapons; see the monk’s ki strike class feature (PH 41). If your unarmed strikes are already magical, they instead are treated lesser ghost touch weapons. They deal full damage against incorporeal creatures 50% of the time and half damage the rest of the time.

Scent (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, you gain the supernatural ability to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. This ability otherwise functions like the extraordinary ability of the same name.