Wolf Clan Warchief

“I hear the howl of the pack. I run beside it. Their prey is my prey. Their spirit is within me.”

The wolf clan warchief is a barbarian whose clan venerates wolves. Through intense training and spiritual attunement to the great wolf spirit, he dedicates himself to emulating a wolf’s speed, group combat tactics, hunting skills and fearsome presence. This allows him to form a close bond with wolves and he gains several extraordinary wolf-like powers. His abilities are viewed with awe and respect by most barbarian tribes, and he often leads war parties in pursuit of the clan’s enemies or serves as an elite scout. Wolf clan warriors who leave their clan to venture out on their own often find their skills as trackers, scouts, guards and fast shock troops are in great demand.

Hit Die: d12

Requirements

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

• Level: Barbarian 5
• Alignment: any non-lawful
• Ability Scores: Dex 17, Con 14
• Skills: Handle Animal 3 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 3 ranks, Survival 3 ranks
• Feats: Combat Reflexes, Skill Focus (Survival).
• Special: Must have been a member of a barbarian tribe that venerates wolves.

Class Skills

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

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Table: The Wolf Clan Warchief

Class Level	BAB	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+1	+1	+1	Wild Empathy (Wolves), Wolf Senses
2nd	+2	+1	+1	+1	Improved Wolf Senses, Wolf Pack Tactics
3rd	+3	+2	+1	+1	Improved Wolf Pack Tactics, Thrill of the Hunt
4th	+4	+2	+2	+2	Wolf Speed, Rage improvement
5th	+5	+3	+2	+2	Wolf Howl
6th	+6	+3	+2	+2	Trip, Rage improvement
7th	+7	+4	+3	+3	Damage Reduction 1/-, Greater Wolf Senses
8th	+8	+4	+3	+3	Rage Improvement, Indomitable Will
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 wolf clan warchief prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

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

Wild Empathy (Wolves) (Ex)

At 1st level, the wolf clan warchief can improve the attitude of any wolf or dog. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of a person. The wolf clan warchief rolls 1d20 and adds his wolf clan warchief level and his Charisma bonus to determine the wild empathy check result. The typical wolf or dog has a starting attitude of unfriendly toward a wolf clan warchief.

To use wild empathy, the wolf 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 wolf clan warchief can also use this ability to influence a magical wolf-like or dog-like beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but he takes a –2 penalty on the check.

Wolf Senses

At 1st level, the wolf clan warchief’s senses become keen like a wolf’s. He gains a +2 competence bonus on Survival checks when tracking and a +2 competence bonus on all Perception checks. He also gains low-light vision. If he already has low-light vision, the range increases by 20 ft.

Improved Wolf Senses (Ex)

At 2nd level, the wolf clan warchief can call upon the spirits of wolves to lend him a powerful natural scent ability. The wolf clan warrior’s scent range is 40 ft. (60 ft. upwind/20 ft. downwind) and targets within 10 ft. can be pinpointed. During this time, he also gains resistance against scent-based attacks, granting a +2 enhancement bonus on saves vs. stinking cloud and stench abilities. This ability lasts for 1d4 hours and is usable once per day.

The wolf clan warchief also now gains darkvision. If he already has darkvision, the range increases by 20 ft.

Wolf Pack Tactics (Ex)

At 2nd level, the wolf clan warrior becomes adept at striking his target’s weak spots when he is flanking them. He gains a +1 bonus to confirm critical hits against opponents he is flanking.

Thrill of the Hunt (Ex)

At 3rd level, the wolf clan warchief gains a +1 morale bonus to hit any target he has spent at least five minutes tracking in the last hour. The wolf clan warchief must have had at least one tracking success during this time in order to gain the bonus. He must select a single tracked target to apply the bonus to, and must do so at the start of combat. The bonus lasts for one round per wolf clan warrior prestige class level. This ability can only be used once per day.

Improved Wolf Pack Tactics (Ex)

At 3rd level, the wolf clan warchief has learned how to use wolf pack tactics to keep his opponents confused and off balance. Whenever the wolf clan warchief and an ally are flanking the same opponent, the wolf clan warchief not only gets a +2 bonus to hit, but he also receives a +2 bonus on damage rolls vs. that opponent. He also becomes harder for rogues to sneak attack by flanking. The wolf clan warchief’s barbarian level is considered three levels higher when using his improved uncanny dodge ability against a flanking rogue.

Rage Improvement

At 4th, 6th and 8th level, the wolf 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.

Wolf Speed (Ex)

At 4th level, the wolf clan warchief’s base land speed increases by +5 ft. Additionally, once per day as an immediate action, he can dodge like a wolf and receives a +1 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round per two wolf clan warchief levels. This ability can only be used if he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and is not carrying a heavy load.

Wolf Howl (Ex)

At 5th level, the wolf clan warchief can reproduce the chilling howl of a wolf to cause fear in his enemies. The howl is a free action, and all opponents within 20 feet who hear it must make a Will save (DC 12 + 1 for each level of wolf clan warchief prestige class attained) or become shaken for 1d8 rounds. This ability is usable three times per day. Opponents who are immune to fear are not affected.

Trip (Ex)

At 6th level, the wolf clan warchief gains Improved Trip as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. If he already has the feat, he instead gains a +1 bonus on his CMB when attempting a trip and a +2 bonus on his CMD when resisting a trip. The +1 bonus stacks with the bonus provided by the Improved Trip feat.

Greater Wolf Senses (Ex)

At 7th level, the wolf clan warchief’s senses increases to such an extent that he almost seems to have a sixth sense for danger. Once per day, as an immediate action, he may apply a +2 bonus on any single CMD check, opposed ability check, or saving throw. He must choose to use the ability before he makes the roll it is to modify. Alternatively, he can apply the bonus to his AC against a single attack (even if flat-footed). Damage Reduction: At levels 7 and 9, the wolf clan warchief gains the extraordinary ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attack. This ability is identical to and stacks with a barbarian’s damage reduction.

Indomitable Will

At 8th level, the wolf clan warchief gains the barbarian’s Indomitable Will ability.

Greater Rage

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

** Spells marked with double asterisks are winter warlock variants of existing spells. See the winter warlock prestige class spell list for explanations.

Winter Wolf Familiar

Large Magical Beast (cold); HD 6d10+18 (10 for determine effective level); hp 51; Init +5; Spd 50 ft.; AC 18 (–1 size, +1 Dex, +8 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 14; BAB +6; CMB +10; CMD 21; Atk +9 melee (1d8+6 plus 1d6 cold, bite); SA: Breath weapon, freezing bite, trip, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to cold, low-light vision, scent, vulnerability to fire, improved evasion, share spells, empathic link, deliver touch spells, speak with master; AL: N; SV: Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +3; Str 18, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 10

Skills: Perception +6, Stealth +9, Survival +1. Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Track