Comments from the Finger: This is a great little gestalt prestige class from 3.5, incorporating elements from monk and barbarian into a druid chassis, which, like most druid prestige classes, was basically king if you also spent all your feats getting Diving Metamagic.
Circle of the Fist
It is common for druids to abandon the trappings of civilized life when they join their circle, but Fists of the Forest take things one step further, adopting the lifestyle of a wild animal. These druids rarely carry a weapon, preferring instead to master hunting as animals do, using only their bodies. At the height of this druid's expertise, it looks more animalistic than the beasts of the forest, and is twice as deadly.
Untamed Strike
At 2nd level, you fight with the strength of a feral beast. While you are unarmed and you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield, you gain the following benefits:
- You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes.
- You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike. This die changes as you gain druid levels, as shown in the Fist of the Forest Untamed Strike table. If the weapon die of your beast form is less than your Untamed Strike die, you can use this die instead while in your beast form.
- When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Fist of the Forest Unarmed Strike
Druid Level | Damage |
2nd | 1d4 |
8th | 1d6 |
14th | 1d8 |
20th | 1d10 |
Scent
By 6th level, you can hunt by scent, much like the beasts of the forest. You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Wisdom (Survival) checks that rely on smell.
Primal Defense
At 10th level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
Feral Trance
Starting at 14th level, you can fall into a primal battle trance as a bonus action. While in your trance, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor:
- You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
- You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
- When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike on your turn, you can make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.
You can use this ability twice and regain all expended uses when you take a long rest.
Changelog: 8/2/16: Untamed Strike: Allows you to wear light armor. Table: Typo fixed
Feral Trance: Allows you to wear light armor
Something I never knew I wanted in my life. Thanks for causing me insomnia as I feverishly create a character tonight! :D
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow insomniac, I welcome you to the club!
Delete(Funny story: Because my insomnia really began to affect me for the first time in college, around the same time I discovered D&D, writing campaigns, and optimizing 3.5 characters, I thought for years that D&D caused my insomnia, rather than the more likely scenario, that insomnia caused my D&D.)
It's exactly the same way on my end. The only reason why I'm so thorough with my story telling is because I'm up at times like this, brainstorming new ideas.
DeleteIf I may suggest, 10 levels is a long time to wait without any armor. Might I suggest that they can use light armor and retain the first feature, like a Barbarian? It will help smooth their AC curve significantly.
DeleteIf I may suggest, 10 levels is a long time to wait without any armor. Might I suggest that they can use light armor and retain the first feature, like a Barbarian? It will help smooth their AC curve significantly.
DeleteDefinitely agreeing with Shardin there. Especially since the trance is keyed off not using heavy armor, perhaps extend the same benefit to Untamed Strike or swap both to not using medium or higher. Otherwise, you're basically forcing the Fist of the Forest to suffer from a hilariously poor AC for half of its levels.
DeleteHuh, I actually thought I implemented that exact thing while I was editing this class. Must've gotten rolled back when I made the PDF.
DeleteChange incoming!
Shouldn't the chart for the unarmed strikes say 2nd not 3rd?
ReplyDeleteVery true. I'll fix that ASAP
DeleteUnder Feral Trance:
ReplyDelete"Your trace lasts for 1 minute." (guessing it should be "trance")
I'm not surprised at all that I made that typo, or that I missed it. Nice catch!
DeleteThis seems pretty awesome, although I'd wish it would have some mechanism to get rid of the spell slots it doesn't really use, like the Moon Circle has that healing thingy.
ReplyDeleteDo attacks in animal form count as 'unarmed'? If so, this might work extremely well with certain animal forms (those who attack for 2d6).
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteErm. Druids don't have a circle feature at 7th level, they have one at 6th. Typo?
ReplyDeletei know its doubtful but will you be posting this on d&d Beyond?
ReplyDeleteWe don't post anything on D&D Beyond, as a rule.
DeleteLegal reasons, you know.
scent says lvl 7, should be lvl 6
ReplyDelete