Beast Heart Adept"Remember me well, when the war comes, for I will sing of the glory and the pain."- Thurgard Thunderblade, Human Beast Heart Adept
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Making a Beast Heart AdeptText
Abilities: Text
Races: Text
Alignment: Text
Table 1: The Beast Heart AdeptLevel BAB Ref Fort Will Abilities 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
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1 +0 +0 +2 +2 Monster Empathy, Monster Handler 1 — — — —
2 +1 +1 +3 +3 Monster Lore 1 — — — —
3 +2 +1 +3 +3 Monstrous Companion 2 — — — —
4 +3 +2 +4 +4 Monstrous Flank, Resist Monsters 2 — — — —
5 +3 +2 +4 +4 Speak with Monsters 3 1 — — —
6 +4 +3 +5 +5 Monstrous Tactics 3 1 — — —
7 +5 +3 +5 +5 Monstrous Wild Shape 4 2 — — —
8 +6 +2 +6 +6 Extra Companion 4 2 — — —
9 +6 +3 +6 +6 Monstrous Wild Shape 5 3 1 — —
10 +7 +3 +7 +7 Monstrous Team-Up 5 3 1 — —
11 +8 +3 +7 +7 Monstrous Wild Shape 5 4 2 — —
12 +9 +4 +8 +8 Empathic Link, Monstrous Stagger 5 4 2 — —
13 +9 +4 +8 +8 Extra Companion 5 5 3 1 —
14 +10 +4 +9 +9 Monstrous Link 5 5 3 1 —
15 +11 +5 +9 +9 Monstrous Wild Shape 5 5 4 2 —
16 +12 +5 +10 +10 Monstrous Wild Shape 5 5 4 2 —
17 +12 +5 +10 +10 Shared Skills 5 5 5 3 1
18 +13 +6 +11 +11 Extra Companion 5 5 5 3 2
19 +14 +6 +11 +11 Monstrous Death Blow 5 5 5 4 3
20 +15 +6 +12 +12 Monstrous Wild Shape 5 5 5 5 4 Game Rule InformationBeast Heart Adept have the following game statistics.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d8
Starting Gold: As druid
Starting Age: Complex (as druid)
Class skillsClimb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, nature, the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str)
Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Class FeaturesText
- Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Beast Heart Adepts are proficient with all simple weapons, as well as light and medium armors and all shields (except tower shields).
- Spells: A Beast Heart Adept casts divine spells, which are drawn from the druid spell list. To learn or cast a spell, you must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against your spell is 10 + the spell level + your Wis modifier. You cast these spells exactly as a druid does, except you may not spontanenously cast summon nature's ally.
- Monster Empathy (Ex): You can use body language, vocalization, and demeanor to improve the attitude of a magical beast such as a chimera or a gorgon. This ability functions like the druid’s wild empathy class feature (PH 35), except that it affects magical beasts regardless of their Intelligence score. You can also use this ability to influence an animal (such as a dire bear) or an aberration that has an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 (such as a rust monster), but you take a –4 penalty on the check. If you have the wild empathy ability from another class, add your levels in that class to your beast heart adept level when influencing magical beasts or animals. In addition, you no longer take a penalty to your monster empathy check when influencing animals. If you have 5 or more ranks in the Handle Animal skill, you gain a +2 bonus on your monster empathy checks.
- Monster Handler (Ex): You can make Handle Animal checks with regard to magical beasts and aberrations without penalty. This ability applies only to creatures that have an Intelligence score of 1 or 2. Magical beasts and aberrations that have higher Intelligence scores cannot be controlled by Handle Animal at all.
- Monster Lore (Ex): At 2nd level, you gain uncanny knowledge about all types of living monsters, including their habitats, behavior, abilities, and weaknesses. You can make a special monster lore check to identify monsters or their special abilities or vulnerabilities. The check functions as a Knowledge check (PH 78), except the monster lore check can identify any living creature. You gain a bonus on this check equal to your beast heart adept level + your Int modifier. You can attempt this check in addition to making the relevant Knowledge check to learn about a creature. If you have levels in the bard class or the loremaster prestige class, you can add those levels to your beast heart adept levels when determining the bonus on the monster lore check.
- Monstrous Companion (Ex): You gain the service of a monstrous companion. The creature is similar to a druid’s animal companion (PH 35), but it is a magical beast or aberration rather than an animal. Choose one of the following as your monstrous companion: ankheg, blink dog, giant eagle, giant owl, hippogriff (4 Hit Dice), krenshar (4 Hit Dice), otyugh, owlbear, pegasus, or worg. Except for the hippogriff and the krenshar, which are larger than normal, the monster is typical of its kind. If its Intelligence is greater than 2, the companion has the same alignment as you. If you have levels in other classes (such as druid or ranger) that give you the ability to have an animal companion, those levels do not stack with your beast heart adept levels for the purpose of determining which kinds of monstrous companions you can select (and what the abilities of those companions are). At 6th level or higher, you can select from alternative lists of monsters (see the sidebar). Just as with a druid’s alternative animal companion, an alternative monstrous companion gains abilities as if your beast heart adept class level were lower than it actually is.
- Monstrous Flank (Ex): At 4th level, you learn to better coordinate your attacks with your monstrous companion. When you form a flank with a companion, both you and the creature gain an additional +2 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls against the flanked opponent.
- Resist Monsters (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a beast heart adept gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the abilities of aberrations and magical beasts.
- Speak with Monsters (Sp): Starting at 5th level, a Beast Heart Adept can use speak with monsters at will. Treat this as speak with animals, except that its effects apply to magical beasts and aberrations. Caster level is class level.
- Monstrous Tactics (Ex): Starting at 6th level, you and your monstrous companions make an excellent team. Through coordination and practice, you have learned to optimize your combined efforts. When one of your
monstrous companions strikes an opponent with a melee attack, the target provokes an attack of opportunity from you. With this ability, you can make an attack of opportunity against a particular target once per round. In addition, your companions do not grant cover against your enemies when you use ranged attacks or spells.
- Monstrous Wild Shape (Su): At 7th level, the Beast Heart Adept gains a version of the wild shape ability. Monstrous wild shape functions like the druid’s wild shape ability, except that the Beast Heart Adept instead chooses magical beasts instead of animal. At 9th level, the Beast Heart Adept gains the ability to change into a large magical beast. At 11th, a tiny magical beast. At 15th, huge magical beasts. At 16th, small, medium, and large aberrations. At 20th, huge aberrations. At 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th levels he gains two uses of his Monstrous Wild Shape, with each use lasting for one hour. Treat this ability as Wild Shape for all prerequisites.
- Extra Monstrous Companion (Ex): At 8th level, you gain a second monstrous companion, chosen from the list of companions available to a level beast heart adept. At 13th level, you gain a third monstrous companion, chosen from the list of companions available to a beast heart adept. At 18th level, you gain a fourth monstrous companion, chosen from the list of companions available to a beast heart adept.
- Monstrous Team-Up (Ex): When you reach 10th level, all the members of your adventuring party now gain the benefits of your monstrous flank and monstrous tactics abilities. Any references to “you” in those abilities now include your allies and monstrous companions. When you gain subsequent abilities, like Monstrous Stagger, your allies also gain the benefits of those abilities.
- Empathic Link (Su): At 12th level, the Beast Heart Adept gains an empathic link that allows him to communicate telepathically with his companions to a maximum distance of one mile. The Beast Heart Adept and the companion can understand one another as if a speak with monsters effect were in force.
- Monstrous Stagger (Ex): At 12th level, your coordinated attacks cause extra harm. If both you and one or more of your companions strikes a creature in the same round, that creature must make a fortitude save vs 10 + 1/2 class level + the strength modifier of the second ally to strike or be staggered for one round.
- Monstrous Link (Ex): You and your monstrous companions have grown so close that you consider them a part of you. You and your companions add your hit points together into a single pool. Until that pool runs out, neither you nor your monstrous companions can be made disabled or dying via hit point loss. Spells and other abilities that can kill one or more creatures still function normally. Your allies (via Monstrous Team-Up) do not get the benefits of this ability.
- Shared Skills (Ex): At 18th level, you are now of one soul, as well as one body. You and all your companions gain the special attacks and special qualities of all your other companions.
- Monstrous Death Blow (Ex): At 19th level, your coordinated attacks cause massive harm. If both you and two or more of your companions strikes a creature in the same round, that creature must make a fortitude save vs 10 + 1/2 class level + the strength modifier of the third ally to strike or be destroyed. This can affect undead, constructs, and other creatures normally immune to critical hits.
Monstrous CompanionThe beast heart adept’s monstrous companion is superior to a normal animal of its kind and has special powers. A beast heart adept's companion advances exactly as a druid's animal companion,
described here.
Alternate Monstrous Companion A beast heart adept of sufficiently high level can select his monstrous companion from one of the following lists. Apply the indicated adjustment to the beast heart adept’s level (in parentheses) when determining the monster’s characteristics and special abilities.
- 6th Level or Higher (Level –2) - Digester, Girallon, Manticore, Winter wolf
- 8th Level or Higher (Level –4) - Chimera, Wyvern
- 10th Level or Higher (Level –6) - Chuul, Destrachan, Dragonne
- 12th Level or Higher (Level –8) - Behir, Gray render, Yrthak
