Animal Lord - Shafting the Ranger again...

[Andor]

My first thought on reading the Animal lord prestige class was "What a cool PrC for Rangers." However on closer inspection it seems I was wrong.

A Human Druid can get into this class just as soon as the skill totals allow. (At 5th level I believe.)

However a Ranger of any race cannot possibly get into the class until 10th level. Why?

Because one of the required feats is animal control, which has a pre-req of animal defiance which requires spell casting.

Ranger gets spell casting at 4th level, at 6th can take Animal Defiance, at 9th can take Animal Control, at 10 can finally enter the PrC.

Oh well...

 

[Someguy]

I beleive the class was meant for Druids...and not all Prestige classes are meant to be able to be taken at early levels either...which is a peave of mine...

 

[Number47]

I think many prestige classes are thought of as "if you want to do this with a different than intended class, the best way is to multi-class"; so take a level of cleric and there you go!

 

[Numion]

I beleive the class was meant for Druids...and not all Prestige classes are meant to be able to be taken at early levels either...which is a peave of mine...

YES! Bow down before the mighty Archmage Bob... 6th level Archmage Bob.

 

[Zerovoid]

Darn, I had just finished planning out a Ranger/Fighter type who was going to be a Bird Lord, and kind of an archer. I didn't notice that prerequisite, and I think it sucks.

Could a gnome get into that class more easily? They have Speak with Animals as a racial spell like ability. This could probably meet the prerequisite for Animal Control, although you could only use it on burrowing mammels. Maybe they could be the Mole Lord.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Gnomes qualify easily for it, they get three 0-level spells automatically.

 

[nameless]

You need Detect Animals or Plants as a pre-req for Animal Defiance, which level 1 Druids get. To get Animal Control, you need either Speak with Animals or Animal Friendship; Animal Friendship is a 1st level spell. It's probably for the best that you need at least one spellcasting class to get those feats anyways, since they are based on your highest divine caster level.

I'm not sure it's an official rule, but I recall that you are allowed to save feat picks until later levels, so the feat at level 3 could wait until Rangers gets spells at 4th, and the 6th level feat can be Animal Control, getting you into Animal Lord at 7th.

For my recently created Cat Lord, I took 2 levels of Druid, 2 of Barbarian and 1 of Ranger, and Catlord from there. I min-maxed pretty well, but I'm still a utility character more than a combat-monger, so I don't feel like a munchkin. Here's my rationale for the level breakdown:

1. I need 3 total levels of Ranger/Druid for the required ranks in Animal Empathy. Just one level of Ranger gives me the virtual feats and Track, plus a Favored Enemy.

2. Barbarians get Wilderness Lore, so they're good too. When wildshaped, I keep my (Ex) abilities, so my fast movement, rage, and uncanny dodge still work. More than 2 levels and I can't get Animal Empathy high enough. Big HD doesn't hurt.

3. Past first level, and through 4th, levels of Druid are directly better than Ranger, since they get the same BAB increase, better saves and spellcasting, and abilities like Woodland Stride.

4. With 2/2/1, I've got no multiclass penalty. Always a good thing.

There you have it, my mini animal lord creation guide.

-nameless

 

[Droid101]

I'm not sure it's an official rule, but I recall that you are allowed to save feat picks until later levels,

No, it's not; and no, you can't.