Looking for a Beastmaster and a Shadow Knight

[SomebodyInteresting]

Hi. I've been lurking for a while, and have decided to come out and play with the neighborhood kids, as it were.

This is kind of a multi-topic thread, so I'll try to keep it short.

I've been a fan of druid since before I ever owned a D&D book. I've been a fan of barbarians since I was four. I, like many others, have always dreamed of some sort of fusion of the two, combining the companions and shifting with the raw rage of the barbarian. I have taken a stab at creating my own version of such an idea, but I was wondering if anyone else could recommend any base (20-level) classes that encompass that need (beyond a Shifter barbarian)?

I have similar desires for a shadow knight style class (not so much an anti-paladin as a melee class with secondary emphasis on fear and life steal effects.), which I am also working on (in both 10-level prestige class and 20-level base class versions).

As a side note, for my class creations I'm using a nice creation system by Shadowcraft Studios (http://www.dndadventure.com/dnda_classes.html).

 

[Thurbane]

You might be interested in the Druidic Avenger variant: http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/unearthedCoreClass.html#druidic-avenger

 

[Arkhandus]

You know, the EverQuest Roleplaying Game Player's Handbook (technically, it's d20 but lacks the d20 System logo) has the Shadow Knight class from EQ, adapted to D&D/d20 form. The PHB goes up to level 30, but it can easily be used as a 1-20 class (after all, past that, they just get access to Disciplines and higher necromancer spell levels).

As for the druid-barbarian, I don't think there's anything out there that quite fits what you want. You'll have to be a bit more specific about what druidic stuff you actually want for such a class. They already get so much stuff, that it'd be hard to remove stuff from the druid that would be suitable for replacement with Rage and such. Since you want animal companions and wild shaping, that really makes it tough. You'd have to cut down on spellcasting, because the other druidic class features aren't really a fair trade for barbarian Rage (the rest of the druid's still is fairly minor; they can cast Pass Without Trace anyway, for example, instead of using Trackless Step).

 

[SomebodyInteresting]

You know, the EverQuest Roleplaying Game Player's Handbook (technically, it's d20 but lacks the d20 System logo) has the Shadow Knight class from EQ, adapted to D&D/d20 form. The PHB goes up to level 30, but it can easily be used as a 1-20 class (after all, past that, they just get access to Disciplines and higher necromancer spell levels).

As for the druid-barbarian, I don't think there's anything out there that quite fits what you want. You'll have to be a bit more specific about what druidic stuff you actually want for such a class. They already get so much stuff, that it'd be hard to remove stuff from the druid that would be suitable for replacement with Rage and such. Since you want animal companions and wild shaping, that really makes it tough. You'd have to cut down on spellcasting, because the other druidic class features aren't really a fair trade for barbarian Rage (the rest of the druid's still is fairly minor; they can cast Pass Without Trace anyway, for example, instead of using Trackless Step).

Since spellcasting rarely fits my playstyle, I'm willing to forego the spells entirely.

The abilities that I really want are wild shape (which I'd willingly limit to somewhat less than what a standard druid gets), animal companion, and rage. The rest is by the wayside from a stats standpoint. I'd also like something with a more animalistic feel to it than the druid, but a more natural feel than a barbarian. Kind of like a shapeshifting, raging ranger.

Not that I'm picky or anything >.>

The simple answer is to multiclass druid and barbarian, but that still requires spellcasting (or gimping myself both build-wise and story-wise by forcing me to explain why, exactly, I am a non-casting druid).

I'll check out the EQ rulebook; I always had a thing for Iksar when I played evercrack ten billion years ago, so I stand to gain a couple things from that book.

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

 

[Slaved]

From the Players Handbook Two you can pick up the Shapeshifting variant and from the link posted by Thurbane you can get Rage and Fast Movement.

With the Wild Cohort feat found on the Wizards website you can get an animal companion. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a

Choose your spells properly and you should be able to get everything you want!

 

[Lord Slaw]

You know, the Hexblade (Complete Warrior) fits the whole Shadow Knight thing pretty well. Their powers are dark in nature, combined with a martial bent. In addition, I'm fairly sure that most of their spellcasting is Necromancy and Enchantment-oriented. They definitely fit the bill with fear effects, and I'm sure a few vampiric Necromancy spells are out there - if not, you could probably sub out something like their familiar and maybe some other random class feature for a life drain touch, or something similar. Some claim Hexblades to be underpowered, but I've had endless fun with them!

 

[Set]

Since spellcasting rarely fits my playstyle, I'm willing to forego the spells entirely.

The abilities that I really want are wild shape (which I'd willingly limit to somewhat less than what a standard druid gets), animal companion, and rage. The rest is by the wayside from a stats standpoint. I'd also like something with a more animalistic feel to it than the druid, but a more natural feel than a barbarian. Kind of like a shapeshifting, raging ranger.

Some sort of Barbarian / Ranger PrCing into Bear Warrior could work. The WotC site also has a special Feat that allows one to get an Animal Companion of sorts (not quite as beefy as a Druidic one, but still decent).

 

[Thanael]

Since spellcasting rarely fits my playstyle, I'm willing to forego the spells entirely.

The abilities that I really want are wild shape (which I'd willingly limit to somewhat less than what a standard druid gets), animal companion, and rage. The rest is by the wayside from a stats standpoint. I'd also like something with a more animalistic feel to it than the druid, but a more natural feel than a barbarian. Kind of like a shapeshifting, raging ranger.

Use the Unearthed Arcana Shifting Ranger multiclassed with a few levels of barbarian.

Ranger

A ranger might forgo training in weapon combat in exchange for the ability to take animal form and move swiftly through the woodlands.

Gain Wild shape (as druid; Small or Medium animals only), fast movement (as barbarian).
Lose Combat style, improved combat style, combat style mastery.

Possibly combine that with the Wild Shape Variant: Aspect of Nature


And/or use the Bearwarrior PrC from Complete Warrior (or was it Complete Adventurer?), entering with a few levels of Ranger and Barbarian.

There's also a Beastmaster PrC in CAdv through which you gain several animal companions.

For your animal companions check out the feats Wild Cohort (from the wizards site), and Natural Bond (from CAdv). The first gains you an (additional) animal companion, the second increases the power of your animal companions.

To teach them new tricks use the Tricks and Training for D&D Animals article on WotC.

You might also like the Totem Barbarian variant from UA or the Favored Environment variant for the Ranger

Races of the Wilds also has an elf Shifting Ranger PrC iirc.

 

[SomebodyInteresting]

Thanks for all the help so far, guys, I'm loving the feedback and ideas. I've been toying with the custom class and I thnk I've got it almost fully tweaked; once it's done, I'd like to post it here and see if anyone has some recommendations for it.