Knight of the Wild

Knights of the Wild are complex and multifaceted. In combat they specialize in mounted combat. They also have a very unique ability to tame a variety of wild animals and get them to serve him in battle as loyal companions, and even extend those summons out to a full day by summoning them as cohorts. It's almost like playing a fantasy version of Pokémon. You also get very good at mounted combat, which makes this class excellent in combination with any of the mounted prestige classes and classes like Beast Heart Adept which give you monstrous companions.

Role: DPS Utility

Characteristics: Mounted warriors that gain several summons and cohorts, limited casting

Source: Homebrew

Game Rule Information

The Knight of the Wild has the following game statistics.

Abilities: Charisma is important to tame the wild beasts you specialize in. Wisdom for casting and Wilderness Lore are huge. You'll want Constitution for concentration as well.

Alignment: Any Neutral

Hit Die: d8

Starting Gold: 2d4 x 10

Class Skills

The Knight of the Wild's class skills are Animal Empathy (Cha), Concentration (Con) Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Geography)(Int), Knowledge (Nature)(Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Wilderness Lore (Wis)

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Knight of the Wild.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Knight of the Wild is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and light armor

Spells: A Knight of the Wild casts divine spells. A Knight of the Wild must choose and prepare her spells in advance. To prepare or cast a spell, the Knight of the Wild must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Knight of the Wild’s spell is 10 + Caster Level. Like other spellcasters, a Knight of the Wild can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table 1-1: Knight of the Wild Progression. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. A Knight of the Wild may prepare and cast any spell on the Knight of the Wild spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.

Mounted Combat Ex: Mounted Combat: A Knight of the Wild automatically gains Mounted Combat as a bonus feat.

Subdue Beast Ex: The Knight of the Wild uses a dangerous, but potentially very effective, method of taming creatures. As a full-round action, he closes his eyes, kneels (and thereby prone), and surrounds both him and a creature at Close range with concentric rings of light, if Good/Lawful, or darkness, if Evil/Chaotic. For a true neutral, it can be either. If successful, a gate to the creature's natural habitat is opened, and he forms a bond with the creature. In 24 hours, the creature's attitude toward him becomes favorable. If unsuccessful, the target creature becomes particularly hostile towards him. A Knight of the Wild of sufficiently high level can attempt to subdue the same creature more than once. A Knight of the Wild can only forge bonds with a number of different creatures equal to his class level.

During an attempt to subdue a creature, a Knight of the Wild must make a check based on the following formulae:

Check result = 1d20 + class level + Handle Animal (for creatures with 2 or less Int) or Diplomacy (for creatures with 3 or more Int)

DC = 10 + HD of creature + (creature's HP - lethal damage) / 5

The base DC of the check (for most animals it's 10) can be adjusted at the DM's discretion (for instance, if the character is trying to subdue a dragon.)

Only creatures capable of being used as mounts can be subdued in this way (again, DM discretion). Generally, any creature in the same size category as the character, or of a larger category, and is also able to bear a rider, is eligible (see Summon Tamed Beast, below.)

Summon Tamed Beast Ex: Once per day and once per day every two levels thereafter, as a standard action, a Knight of the Wild can summon a creature he has subdued in the past. These summons have a duration of one round per class level. Creatures summoned this way are augmented according to the difference between the creature's Hit Dice and the Knight of the Wild's class level. The creature receives extra Strength, Dexterity, and natural armor equal to half the difference between the character's class level and the creature's original Hit Dice, rounded down. If the creature has fewer Hit Dice than the Knight of the Wild does, the creature gains extra Hit Dice equal to the difference minus 3. Creatures do not increase in size as a result of these extra Hit Dice. For instance, if a 15th level Knight of the Wild summons a creature that has 5 Hit Dice, the creature is advanced to 12 Hit Dice.

Summon Cohort Ex: Once per day, a Knight of the Wild may extend the duration of a summon to 24 hours. This is not cumulative with any other effects that extend the duration of a summon. This increases to twice per day at 9th level, and three times per day at 17th level.

Monster Knowledge Ex: Starting at 2nd level, a Knight of the Wild can use his Knowledge (Nature) skill to determine a creature's vital statistics, regardless of whether he can subdue the creature or not. The DC is 10 + the creature's HD, but can be adjusted at DM discretion. Successful checks reveal the information as described on Table 1-2.

Ride-By Attack/Mounted Archery Ex: At 5th level, a Knight of the Wild gains Ride-By Attack or Mounted Archery as a bonus feat. At 8th level, he gains the one he didn't select at 5th level as a bonus feat.

Mount Speed Ex: At 6th level and every five levels thereafter, all of the Knight of the Wild's summoned creatures get a movement speed boost of +10 feet. This bonus is cumulative.

Spirited Charge Ex: At 10th level, a Knight of the Wild gains Spirited Charge as a bonus feat.

Deadly Charge Ex: At 20th level, when a Knight of the Wild charges, the base damage multiplier increases by one (e.g. from 2x damage to 3x damage.)

Table 1-1: Knight of the Wild Progression

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day							Summons per Day	Cohorts per Day	Subdues per Day
						0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	+0	+2	+2	+0	Mounted Combat, Subdue Beast, Summon Tamed Beast, Summon Cohort	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	1
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+0	Monster Knowledge	3	0	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	1
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+1	—	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	2	1	1
4th	+3	+4	+4	+1	—	3	2	0	—	—	—	—	2	1	2
5th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Ride By Attack Or Mounted Archery	3	3	1	—	—	—	—	3	1	2
6th	+4	+5	+5	+2	Mount Speed +10	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	3	1	2
7th	+5	+5	+5	+2	—	3	3	3	0	—	—	—	4	1	3
8th	+6/+1	+6	+6	+2	Ride By Attack Or Mounted Archery	3	3	3	1	—	—	—	4	1	3
9th	+6/+1	+6	+6	+3	—	3	3	3	2	—	—	—	5	2	3
10th	+7/+2	+7	+7	+3	Spirited Charge	3	3	3	3	0	—	—	5	2	4
11th	+8/+3	+7	+7	+3	Mount Speed +20	3	3	3	3	1	—	—	6	2	4
12th	+9/+4	+8	+8	+4	—	3	3	3	3	2	—	—	6	2	4
13th	+9/+4	+8	+8	+4	—	3	3	3	3	3	0	—	7	2	5
14th	+10/+5	+9	+9	+4	—	4	3	3	3	3	1	—	7	2	5
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+9	+5	—	4	4	3	3	3	2	—	8	2	5
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+5	Mount Speed +30	5	5	4	3	3	3	0	8	2	6
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+5	—	5	5	4	4	3	3	1	9	3	6
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+6	—	5	5	4	4	4	3	2	9	3	6
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+6	—	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	10	3	7
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+6	Deadly Charge	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	10	3	7

Table 1-2: Monstrous Knowledge Results

DC	Result
+0	The creature's level and HP (both current and max), as well as a short description of its tendencies and attack patterns.
+5	The creature's abilities (Str, Dex, &c) and elemental and status weaknesses/resistances.
+10	The creature's Attack Bonus, Grapple, Armor Class, Saving Throws, and any other special characteristics, such as damage reduction.
+15	The creature's attack list.

Bonus Spells

In 3.6e, spellcasters who have a limited number of spells per day are granted additional spell slots based on their casting stat modifier according to the table below. In order to receive the bonus spell slots, they must already be able to cast spells of that level.

Table 1-3: Bonus Spells

Skill Bonus	Level 0	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5	Level 6
1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
2	2	2	1	1	1	1	0
3	3	3	2	2	1	1	1
4	4	4	2	2	1	1	1
5	5	5	3	2	1	1	1
6	6	6	3	2	2	1	1
7	7	7	4	2	2	1	1
8	8	8	4	3	2	2	1
9	9	9	5	3	2	2	2
10	10	10	5	3	3	2	2
11	11	11	6	4	3	2	2