Knight of the Black Glade

“None shall pass!”

Legends tell of a knight of unknown purpose that lurked within the deep dark glades of the forest, mounted on a mighty black charger, and wearing a great helm sporting antlers. It is said the knight could vanish within the forest when he wished, and could make the trees and plants sprout sharp thorns to hinder those who would follow him. It is also said that the knight’s appearance was often preceded by a great black stag, which he followed on some mysterious quest.

A knight of the black glade is a warrior and druid who felt a special calling by the spirits of the forest. Many are beneficent guardians of forests and the creatures within, often traveling widely to ensure all forests are respected, preserved and thriving, and to eliminate unnatural threats to them. These knights may also be silent, mysterious protectors of nearby villages that respect the forest and do not overly cut it for timber or overhunt its denizens. Some knights roam the great forests of the land, seeking lost, sacred forest groves, glades, pools or stone monoliths of druidic significance. Others wander about on some mysterious forest-related quest which even they are not completely sure of, but are driven to pursue. Some knights are far less benign, and may consider forests to be their own realm in which they are the sole ruler. These are often violent, dangerous individuals who pose a threat to wanderers, travelers, and nearby villages, demanding tribute from those who would pass through their realm. All knights of the black glade are vengeful toward those who cause great harm to forests and their natural denizens, and they often go to great lengths to track down the interlopers.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become a knight of the black glade, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

• Level: Druid 3, fighter or ranger 2
• Alignment: any neutral
• Ability Scores: Wis 15, Str 15, Dex 12
• Skills: Handle Animal 4 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks, Ride 4 ranks, Survival 3 ranks.
• Feats: Mounted Combat, Weapon Focus in one of the following (longsword, bastard sword, lance, longspear, battle axe, mace, morning star, scimitar or warhammer).
• Special: Must have a druid horse animal companion.

Class Skills

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

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Table: The Knight of the Black Glade

Class Level	BAB	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
1st	+1	+1	+0	+1	Horse Animal Companion Advancement, Mounted Woodland Stride
2nd	+2	+2	+1	+2	Favored Terrain (Forest)	+1 level of existing class
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+3	Metal Armor Acclimation
4th	+3	+3	+1	+3	Bonus Feat	+1 level of existing class
5th	+4	+4	+2	+4	Black Stag
6th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Power of the Black Glade (1st power)	+1 level of existing class
7th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Bonus Feat
8th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Power of the Black Glade (2nd power)	+1 level of existing class
9th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Power of the Black Glade (3rd power)
10th	+8	+8	+3	+8	Power of the Black Glade (4th power), Bonus Feat	+1 level of existing class

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the knight of the black glade prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A knight of the black glade gains no additional proficiencies in any weapon or armor.

Horse Animal Companion Advancement

A knight of the black glade’s horse animal companion continues to advance with each level of the prestige class, just as if the knight had gained another level of druid. This means the horse will continue to gain hit dice, BAB, save bonuses, ability increases, feats, skills, tricks, etc., as listed in the druid’s Animal Companion Base Statistics table. For example, a druid 3/fighter 2/knight of the black glade 1 would count as a 4th level druid for determining his horse companion’s abilities.

Mounted Woodland Stride

At 1st level, the knight of the black glade’s horse animal companion gains the Woodland Stride ability. However, his animal companion can only use the ability when moving no greater than its normal speed.

Favored Terrain (Forest)

At 2nd level, the knight of the black glade gains the favored terrain ability of the ranger when in forests. This gives him a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks when he is in this terrain. At 4th level, the skill bonus and initiative bonus in forest terrain increase by +2. These bonuses do not stack with forest favored terrain ability gained from previous levels of ranger.

Metal Armor Acclimation

At 3rd level, the knight of the black glade learns to overcome some of the inhibitions of metal armor on his druid spellcasting ability. He may now wear light or medium metal armor and freely cast his druid spells and orisons. Heavy metal armor and all metal shields still interfere with his druid spells. Metal armor of any kind still interferes with the druid supernatural ability to wild shape. Bonus Feat: At 4th, 7th and 10th level, the knight of the black glade gains a bonus feat from the following list, even if he does not meet the prerequisites: Augment Summoning, Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Dazzling Display, Defensive Combat Training, Dodge, Extend Spell, Improved Initiative, Lunge, Ride-By Attack, Shield Focus, Skill Focus (any skill in the prestige class skill list), Spirited Charge, Trample.

Black Stag (Su)

At 5th level, the knight of the black glade gains the ability to summon a supernatural black stag to guide him toward a specific object or creature. The stag can be summoned once per day as a supernatural ability, for a duration of 5 minutes per caster level. While it is summoned, the stag can use either locate creature or locate object one time as a supernatural ability. The stag uses the knight of the black glade’s caster level to 54 determine the range and duration of this ability. While locating an object or creature, the stag points in its direction and will move toward it if the knight desires. The stag cannot speak, but the knight may communicate with it if he casts speak with animals. The stag counts as an animal with the same statistics as a normal, untrained light horse, but it always has the same movement rate as the knight’s horse animal companion mount. The stag does not fight and will flee if attacked, though it will return once the threat is gone. If the stag is killed, the knight may not summon it again for a week. The knight can banish the stag at any time, as a free action.

Power of the Black Glade (Su)

At 6th level and 8th-10th level, the knight of the black glade can call upon the spirits of nature to lend him supernatural powers. Each time he gains this ability, he learns one power from the list below. He can use each power once per day. When using these powers, his caster level counts as three levels higher.

• Barkskin: As the druid spell.
• Cure Moderate Wounds: As the druid spell.
• Denizen of the Black Glade: The knight of the black glade can cast summon nature’s ally IV to summon one of the following creatures: dire boar, dire wolf, griffon or grizzly bear.
• Restoration, Lesser: As the druid spell.
• Shadow of the Black Glade: The knight of the black glade can alter the appearance of himself and his animal companion mount, becoming camouflaged and shadowy. This has the effect of a displacement spell (50% miss chance), and also grants a +4 enhancement bonus on Stealth checks when hiding. If he wants to impart this effect to his animal companion mount, he must be in contact with his mount when he uses the ability. This ability lasts for 1 round per caster level.
• Snare: As the druid spell.
• Spike Stones: As the druid spell.
• Transmute Rock to Mud: As the druid spell.
• Wall of Thorns: As the druid spell.

Spellcasting

At every even knight of the black glade level, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a druid level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting.