Eagle Clan Warchief

“Nothing escapes the gaze of a hunting eagle.”

The eagle clan warchief is a barbarian who venerates birds of prey such as eagles, hawk, falcons and owls, and seeks to emulate them. They are in tune with the great eagle spirit, and embody a bird of prey’s speed, agility, keen eyesight, hunting skills and fearsome attacks. Eagle clan warchiefs make excellent scouts and watchmen, and often lead hunting parties in search of elusive prey. Like other animal clan warchiefs, these barbarians often wander the world in search of greater attunement with their totem spirit. Their astounding abilities make them prized bounty hunters, huntsmen, scouts and guards anywhere they may roam.

Hit Die: d12

Requirements

To qualify to become a eagle clan warchief, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

• Level: Barbarian 5
• Alignment: any non-lawful
• Ability Scores: Dex 16, Wis 12
• Skills: Handle Animal 3 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 3 ranks, Survival 3 ranks
• Feats: Improved Initiative and either Power Attack or Weapon Finesse.
• Special: Must have been a member of a barbarian tribe that venerates birds of prey.

Class Skills

The class skills for this class (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Acrobatics (Dex), Knowledge (nature [Int]), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Table: The Eagle Clan Warchief

Class Level	BAB	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+1	+1	+1	Wild Empathy (Birds of Prey), Eagle Alertness
2nd	+2	+1	+1	+1	Eagle Dodge
3rd	+3	+2	+1	+1	Eagle Spirit Power
4th	+4	+2	+2	+2	Eagle War Cry 2/day
5th	+5	+3	+2	+2	Damage Reduction 1/-, Rage improvement
6th	+6	+3	+2	+2	Scent 1/day
7th	+7	+4	+3	+3	Eagle Talon Strike 2/day
8th	+8	+4	+3	+3	Rage improvement
9th	+9	+5	+3	+3	Damage Reduction 2/-
10th	+10	+5	+4	+4	Greater Rage

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the eagle clan warchief prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Eagle clan warchiefs are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields.

Wild Empathy (Birds of Prey) (Ex)

At 1st level, the eagle clan warchief can improve the attitude of birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of a person. The eagle clan warchief rolls 1d20 and adds his eagle clan warchief level and his Charisma bonus to determine the wild empathy check result. The typical bird of prey has a starting attitude of unfriendly.

To use wild empathy, the eagle clan warchief and the animal must be able to study each other, which means they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal visibility conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute, but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.

The eagle clan warchief can also use this ability to influence a magical bird of prey-like beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but he takes a –2 penalty on the check.

• Eagle Alertness: At 1st level, the eagle clan warchief gains Alertness as a bonus feat. This alertness also makes it harder for rogues to sneak attack the eagle clan warchief by flanking. The eagle clan warchief’s barbarian level is considered two levels higher when using his improved uncanny dodge ability against a flanking rogue.
• Eagle Dodge: At 2nd level, the eagle clan warchief learns to twist and dodge like two eagles fighting in mid-flight. He gains Dodge as a bonus feat. If he already has Dodge, the AC bonus provided by the feat increases to +2.
• Eagle Spirit Power: At 3rd level, the eagle clan warchief gains a boon from the spirit of birds of prey. He may choose one of two abilities: Eagle Eyes or Bird of Prey Companion. Each of these abilities is described below. Once the choice is made, it cannot be undone.

Eagle Eyes (Ex)

If the eagle clan warchief chooses Eagle Eyes as his spirit power, his eyesight becomes incredibly sharp. He gains a permanent +4 enhancement bonus on visual Perception checks, and a +1 enhancement bonus on saves vs. visual illusions. He also gains darkvision, 60 ft. If he already has darkvision, the range increases by 20 ft. Finally, once per day he may take a standard action to concentrate on detecting hidden things. This ability functions exactly like a see invisibility spell, but requires no components and lasts for 1 round per three eagle clan warchief levels. The eagle clan warchief must concentrate each round in order to use this ability.

Bird of Prey Companion (Ex)

If the eagle clan warchief chooses Bird of Prey Companion as his spirit power, he gains a bird of prey (eagle, hawk or owl) as an animal companion. This ability functions identically to that of a druid. Use the eagle clan warchief’s prestige class levels +3 for determining the companion’s abilities. For example, a 3rd level eagle clan warchief counts as a 6th level druid. If the eagle clan warchief already has a bird of prey animal companion from a previous class such as druid or ranger, he does not gain another companion from this ability. Instead, he counts his druid or ranger levels as three levels higher for calculating the bird’s abilities.

Eagle War Cry (Su)

At 4th level, the eagle clan warchief can call upon the spirits of birds of prey to lend him the ability to emit a piercing cry. The cry is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. All opponents within 10 feet who hear it must make a Will save (DC 12 + 1 per eagle clan warchief prestige class levels + his Wisdom modifier) or become deafened for 1d6 rounds. Alternately, the war cry may be used to counter silence in the area, but it has no other effects if used in this manner. This ability is usable twice per day.

Rage Improvement

At 5th and 8th level, the eagle clan warchief can either choose a new barbarian rage power, or he can use his barbarian rage four additional rounds per day. Once the choice is made, it cannot be changed.

Damage Reduction

At levels 5 and 9, the eagle clan warchief gains the extraordinary ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attack. This ability is identical to a barbarian’s.

Scent (Ex)

At 6th level, once per day as a free action the eagle clan warchief can call upon the spirits of birds of prey to lend him their natural scent ability. This ability lasts for 1d4 hours.

Eagle Talon Strike (Ex)

At 7th level, the eagle clan warchief can make swift, deadly strikes in combat. Twice per day, the eagle clan warchief can designate one of his attacks to be an eagle talon strike. If he hits, the attack is an automatic critical. If he misses, the eagle talon strike is wasted. Only one eagle talon strike can be made per round.

Greater Rage

At 10th level, the eagle clan warchief gains the greater rage ability identical to that of a barbarian’s.