Elemental Druid

Since the Dissolution campaign is set entirely in a city, we will experiment with some alternate class features for druid characters, based around the concept of an "elemental druid". That is, a druid who's connection to nature stems from a connection to the four elements, rather than plants and tree hugging. Some of this is based on ideas from ancient Greece about these four elements, in different combinations, forming all matter.

Druids can use any of the following substitutions when taking a druid level.

Bonus Languages

In place of Sylvan, an elemental druid may treat one of the elemental languages (Auran, Terran, Ignan, or Aquan) as a bonus language.

Elemental Companion

Level: Druid 1
Requirements: Knowledge (the planes) 1 rank, Speak Language (Auran, Terran, Ignan, or Aquan)
Replaces: Nature bond, wild empathy.
Benefit: You gain the companionship of a Small elemental (air, earth, fire, or water; your choice).You must speak the language of your chosen elemental companion (Auran, Terran, Ignan, or Aquan, respectively).

Your elemental companion has the normal statistics of an elemental of its kind. It does not gain any extra HD, natural armor adjustment, Strength or Dexterity adjustment, or extra tricks (it is intelligent enough to follow your spoken commands and thus needs no tricks). It gains all other special abilities normally granted to an animal companion, with the exception of Multiattack.

At 4th level, your elemental grows into a Medium elemental of the same kind. Its statistics change appropriately.

At 10th level, you can choose for your elemental companion to grow to a Large elemental of the same kind, with the appropriate changes to its statistics. Alternatively, you may choose to keep your companion Medium, but a bit smarter, in which case it gains all the statistics of a Large elemental of that type, with the following changes:

• Size is Medium (with corresponding adjustments, meaning +2 size bonus to Dexterity, a -2 size penalty to Strength, and a +1 bonus on attack rolls and AC due to its reduced size.)
• -2 Str (in addition to size adjustment), +4 Int
• -1 HD
• Gain Iron Will feat
• Gains 4 skill points to spend on any skill known by you
• Shifts one step in alignment closer to you

At 16th level, you can choose for your elemental companion to grow to a Huge elemental of the same kind, with the appropriate changes to its statistics. If you choose for your elemental to remain at its current size, it instead gains an additional +4 HD, +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, and damage reduction 5/--. All these benefits stack with existing statistics except for the damage reduction.

Elemental Sense

Level: Druid 1
Requirements: Knowledge (the planes) 1 rank
Replaces: Nature sense
Benefit: The druid's insight into the elements and how they mix provides a +2 bonus on Knowledge (the planes) and Craft (alchemy) checks.

Crowd-Walker

Level: Druid 2
Requirements: none
Replaces: Woodland stride
Benefit: When moving through a crowd, the crowd-walker moves at his normal rate, rather than requiring two squares of movement for every square as is normal. In addition, light debris does not impede his movement, and he treats heavy debris as light debris. Any other sort of rough terrain impedes him normally, however.

Ally Infusion

Level: Druid 3
Requirements: Knowledge (the planes) 2 ranks
Replaces: Trackless Step
Benefit: When summoning a creature with the Summon Nature's Ally spell, the druid selects an element to infuse into the summoned creature, which gains advantages based on the element chosen:

• Air: +1 Reflex save, +10' movement, +1 reflex bonus to AC
• Earth: +1 Fortitude save, +4 natural armor
• Fire: +1 Reflex save, +1d4 fire damage, Vulnerability to water or cold
• Water: +1 Fortitude save, DR 3/fire, Vulnerability to fire

None of the above apply if summoning an actual elemental. In such cases, however, this ability guarantees that each of the elemental's hit die generate at least 50% of the maximum hit points. (That is, when rolling the elemental's HD to determine hit points, any die that come up less than half the die's maximum value are treated as if they came up at half the maximum value, rounded up.)

Balanced Essence

Level: Druid 4
Requirements: Knowledge (the planes) 2 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 2 ranks, Heal 2 ranks
Replaces: Resist Nature’s Lure
Benefit: The druid gains awareness and limited control over the combination of the elements making up his own body, gaining +4 on saving throws against disease.