Path of Nature

Oath of Druids

• Requirements: Knowledge Nature 1, 5 EXP

You take a druidic oath, swearing to protect nature. In exchange, you receive Druidic and Sylvan as bonus languages, along with access to other abilities in this Path.

Druidic Armor

• Requirements: Oath of Druids, HD 2, Knowledge Nature 3, 5 EXP

This Talent provides you with Light and Medium Armor proficiency, but only for nonmetal armor. You are still not considered proficient with any metallic Light or Medium Armor.

Resist Nature’s Lure

• Requirements: Druidic Armor, HD 5, Knowledge Nature 5, 25 EXP

As an Immediate Action, you may spend a Hero Point to completely negate mind effect, poison, or disease effects from a specific natural source for the next 24 hours (For example, a toxic cloud expelled by a local plant would count, but a Stinking Cloud cast by a Dragon would not).

Venom Immunity (Ex)

• Requirements: Resist Nature’s Lure, Con 16, HD 8, Knowledge Nature 10, 35 EXP

You gain immunity to all poisons.

Woodland Stride

• Requirements: Oath of Druids, Survival 3, Knowledge Nature 3, 10 EXP

You may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at your normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect you.

Trackless Step

• Requirements: Woodland Stride, Survival 5, Knowledge Nature 5, 10 EXP

You leave no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. You may choose to leave a trail if so desired.

Guide of the Forest

• Requirements: Trackless Step, 7 HD, Survival 12, Knowledge Nature 12, 30 EXP

You become immune to extreme heat or extreme cold in a specific biome type (AKA favored terrain), you ignore difficult terrain while in your favored terrain, whether it is magically or mundane in origin. Lastly, all travel time for you and your companions within your favored terrain is halved.

Wild Empathy (Ex) / (Su) for Plant or Ooze

• Requirements: Oath of Druids, Diplomacy 2, Knowledge Nature 4, 10 EXP

Choose a specific category of creatures (Animal, Magical Beast, Vermin, Ooze, Plant, Dragon) - you can improve the attitude of a creature of that category by using a diplomacy check. Communication is not perfect, but does allow general ideas and feelings to be understood. For example, a squirrel may not be able to identify the difference between a human and an orc, but could know that five humanoid things went North and were moving slowly.

The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, whilst wild animals are usually unfriendly. The amount of time required to use Wild Empathy is comparable to a Diplomacy check, but may vary at GM discretion. A character with Wild Empathy can also Gather Information from Unfriendly or above animals in an area, similarly to gathering information in a town. This generally takes 1d4+1 hours. However, this duration may vary based on the condition and population of the area, as well as whether or not the character utilizes bribery or makes promises to the creatures they are trying to bargain with.

This talent can be selected multiple times, each time it is selected, you may choose a new additional category of creatures to speak with.

Greater Wild Empathy (Su)

• Requirements: Wild empathy, Diplomacy 6 ranks, Knowledge Nature 6 ranks, 15 EXP

A character with this talent may freely communicate as if having a shared language with any creature type they have selected from Wild Empathy.

Homeland (Su)

• Requirements: Wild Empathy, Guide of the Forest, Knowledge Nature 15, Survival 15, 40 EXP

You may attune to a specific area relevant to the campaign, such as a prominent forest, mountain, or even a patch of sea, by performing a special 24 hour ritual (You cannot select any location where nature has been replaced with artificiality - dungeons, towns, and similar constructions are not valid locations). Generally, this area should be about 10 miles in radius. Additionally, you must choose for your home to be above or below ground - the surface and the Underdark beneath it are considered separate locations.

Through this ability, you know every tree, every deer, every blade of grass, and every scuttling beetle of your home - all creatures natural to the area have a starting attitude of friendly towards you, and you may freely speak with any creatures natural to the area you have selected as if you shared a language, regardless of your proficiencies in Wild Empathy.

The creatures native to your home will freely provide you with information to the best of their abilities, in relevance to your home. Common subjects include the ground or terrain, plants, minerals, bodies of water, people, general animal population, presence of woodland creatures, presence of powerful unnatural creatures, or even the general state of the natural setting.

Nature’s Companion

• Requirements: HD 3, Knowledge Nature 5, 15 EXP

Gain an animal, plant, or vermin companion at “1st level” for purchasing this Talent. You may increase its HD and BaB by spending EXP as if it was a player character, but for half as much cost, rounded down (minimum 1 EXP for any given purchase). You may not invest more than one third of your total Experience into a Companion (for example if you have 450 total EXP, you may only invest up to 150).

If the animal companion dies, you may replace it through an uninterrupted 24 hour ritual, whereupon it is replaced with a new animal companion with the same HD, BaB, and special abilities which your previous Companion had.

The companion increases its BaB, HD/Saves, and Skills as if they were a character - simply pay half the normal cost for such increases. You may buy Talents and Tricks for the companion at a flat 5 EXP each, up to a maximum as dictated on the table by your HD. So for example, if you want your companion to know 8 Talents, you must possess 18 HD or more. To increase the companion's ability scores with Experience, you must first cast Awaken on it.

For more information, see the Animal Companions page.

Beast Speaker

• Requirements: Nature’s Companion, HD 5, Knowledge Nature 7, 20 EXP

By taking this Talent, you may select a Magical Beast companion instead of an animal, plant, or vermin one.

Embiggen

• Requirements: Nature’s Companion, HD 4, Knowledge Nature 6, 15 EXP

When you select this Talent, your animal companion grows by one size category. They gain the following:

• +4 size bonus to Strength
• +2 size bonus to Constitution (and thus one extra HP per HD)
• +2 natural armor (stacks with existing)

The size change also affects the animal’s modifier to AC, attack rolls, and its base damage. The animal’s space and reach change as appropriate to the new size, but its speed does not change.

Hugeify

• Requirements: Embiggen, HD 8, Knowledge Nature 12, 30 EXP

When you select this Talent, your animal companion grows by an additional size category. The benefits from Embiggen are increased to the following:

• +8 size bonus to Strength
• +4 size bonus to Constitution (and thus one extra HP per HD)
• +4 natural armor (stacks with existing)

The size change also affects the animal’s modifier to AC, attack rolls, and its base damage. The animal’s space and reach change as appropriate to the new size, but its speed does not change.