New Ranger Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Table 5-18 : The Verdant Lord

TEMPEST

The tempest is the point of calm within a whirling barrier of deadly blades. Poets use colorful terms such as dancer to describe the movement of a tempest and her two blades, but mastery of this fighting style is not about dancing . Nor is it about impressing anyone-least of all poets . The tempest focuses on learning the ultimate secrets of two-weapon fighting for a single purpose-the destruction of her enemies .

Typically hardy individualists, tempests rarely learn their skills through any sort of formal training. Instead, they master their art though constant application of its disciplines and experimentation on their foes. Similarly, no matter how famous tempests become, it's rare for them to take on students . Their art, they say, is one that can be learned but never taught.

This prestige class is open to all classes and races . Though tempests are rare, every humanoid race has boasted at least a few. Elves make for nimble, clever tempests whose dexterity works to their advantage . Dwarves, perhaps because they favor heavy armor and heavy weapons, are the least likely characters to become tempests . Even members of the smaller races can find the tempest's path appealing .

Hit Die : dio .

Requirements

To qualify as a tempest, a character must fulfill the following criteria .

Base Attack Bonus : +9 .

Feats : Ambidexterity, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Two-Weapon Fighting, and Weapon Finesse (any) or Weapon Focus (any) .

Class Skills

The tempest's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Wilderness Lore (Wis) . See Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions .

Skill Points at Each Level : 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

The following are class features of the tempest prestige class .

Weapon and Armor Proficiency : Tempests gain no weapon or armor proficiencies .

Improved Two-Weapon Fighting : Beginning at 1st level, a tempest can fight with two weapons as if she had the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat when she is wearing light armor or no armor. She loses this ability when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double weapon (such as a two-bladed sword) .

Off-Hand Parry: At 2nd level, the tempest gains Off Hand Parry as a bonus feat. As she gains tempest levels, her AC bonus from this feat increases, rising to +4 at 4th level and to +6 at 6th level .

Greater Two-Weapon Fighting : At 5th level, a tempest can fight with two weapons as if she had the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat when she is wearing light armor or no armor. She loses this ability when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double weapon (such as a two-bladed sword) .

Absolute Ambidexterity: Beginning at 8th level, the tempest's attack penalties for fighting with two weapons lessen by 2 when she is wearing light armor or no armor . Thus, if she fights with a light weapon in her off hand, she suffers no penalties on her attack rolls for

TABLE 5-17 : THE TEMPEST

Class

Level 1 st Base Attack Bonus +1 2nd +2 3rd +3 Fort Save +2 Ref Save +0 Will

Save +0

Special Improved Two-Weapon Fighting +3 +0 +0 Off-Hand Parry +2 +3 +1 +1

4th 5th 6th +4 +5 +6 +4 +4 +1 +1

+1 +1 +5 +2 +2 Off-Hand Parry +4 Greater Two-Weapon Fighting

7th 8th 9th +7 +8 +9 +5 +2 +2 +6 +2 +2 +6 +3 +3 Off-Hand Parry +6 Absolute ambidexterity

fighting with two weapons . (If the off-hand weapon is not light, she suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls with both her primary hand and her off hand .)

Supreme Two-Weapon Fighting : At loth level, a tempest gains an additional attack with her off-hand weapon when she is wearing light armor or no armor. In addition to the three attacks she already has each round with her off-hand weapon (for improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting) at penalties of 0, -S, and -10, respectively, she is also entitled to a fourth attack with her off-hand weapon at a -1S penalty (see Table 8-2 : Two-Weapon Fighting Penalties in the Player's Handbook) . She loses this special ability when fighting in medium or heavy armor, or when using a double weapon (such as a two-bladed sword).

VERDANT LORD

Saying the verdant lord has a green thumb is like calling a red dragon a creature with a slight affinity for fire . The verdant lord is the final defender of the forest . He has left behind the druid's search for global understanding of nature's secrets to focus all his energies on the world's plant life .

Elven and half-elven druids are the most likely characters to embrace the role of the verdant lord . Druids of other races, rangers, and the occasional priest of ObadHai or Ehlonna have also been known to adopt this prestige class . It's almost impossible for characters without such ties to become verdant lords because they have neither the interest in nor the required understanding of seeds, saplings, and trees.

Since most verdant lords have little use for civilization, they tend to be loners, watching the years pass by from their groves . Adventuring verdant lords are rare, but those who do exist are marvelous to behold . They tend to take their gardens with them, often bringing several plant creatures, such as animated trees and treants, along on adventures . Verdant lords tend to be soft-spoken, easygoing individuals-right up until someone lights a torch and threatens living plants .

Hit Die : d8 .

Requirements

To qualify as a verdant lord, a character must fulfill the following criteria .

Alignment : Any nonevil .

Skills : Profession (herbalist) 8 ranks, Wilderness Lore 8 ranks . Feats : Plant Control, Plant Defiance . Spells : Able to cast control plants .

Class Skills

The verdant lord's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (any) (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Scry (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore (Wis) . See Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions .

Skill Points at Each level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

The following are class features of the verdant lord prestige class .

TABLE 5-1g: THE VERDANT L

Class Base Fort

Level Attack Bonus Save 1 st +1 +2 2nd +2 +3 3rd +3 +3 4th +4 +4

+5 +6 +7 +8 +9 1 0th +10 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 RD

Reflex Will S ve Save Special

Spells per Day/Spells Known 0 +2 Create Infusion +1 level of existing class +0 +3 Expert infusion, sun sustenance +1 level of existing class +1 +3 Spontaneity +1 level of existing class +1 1 4 Plant facility +4 Fast healing +l level of existing class +1 level of existing class

+2 +5 Treant wild shape +1 level of existing class

+2 +5 +2

+6 Animate tree

+3 +6 +1 level of existing class +1 level of existing class +l level of existing class