General Prestige Class : Stonespeaker Guardian
The stonespeaker guardian taps into the divine power of the earth itself to defend her fellow stonespeakers, as well as other goliaths and friendly races, from their enemies. Equally adept at spellcasting and melee combat, the stonespeaker guardian is a terror to behold for the giant, orc, or other marauder who has aroused the stonespeaker's ire.
Stonespeaker guardians typically come from the ranks of goliath druids of the stonespeakers. Some multiclass as barbarians, rangers, or fighters to improve their martial abilities.
NPC stonespeaker guardians act in accordance with the concord of stonespeakers, and most use spells such as animal messenger to stay in contact with their brethren. Many stonespeaker guardians attach themselves to goliath tribes for months or years, and they are accorded the respect due elders for their wisdom. Others move across the mountains by themselves or in small groups, settling disputes within or among the tribes before moving on.
Adaptation: One of the key features of the stonespeaker guardian prestige class is the ability to use the Stone Form feat in conjunction with the wild shape ability to turn into a kind of creature a druid can't become. A similar class based in a volcanic region might take on a fiery form or one made from magma. An "oceanspeaker guardian" could take a watery form and gain a swim speed, eventually acquiring the vortex special ability possessed by water elementals.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Stonespeaker Guardian, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Feral gargun or goliath
- Skills: Knowledge (nature) 6 ranks, Survival 8 ranks.
- Feats: Endurance, Stone Form,
- Special: Wild shape ability.
Class Skills
The stonespeaker guardian's class skills are Appraise, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (religion), Listen, Search, Spot, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the stonespeaker guardian prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Stonespeaker guardians gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each level, a stonespeaker guardian gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which she belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning or destroying undead, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on). If she had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a stonespeaker guardian, she must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.
Stony Hide (Ex): The natural armor bonus of a stonespeaker guardian under the effect of the Stone Form feat improves by 1 per class level, up to a maximum of +5 at 5th level.
Wild Shape (Su): A stonespeaker guardian's class levels stack with levels from all other classes that grant the wild shape ability to determine the maximum Hit Dice of the forms she can assume and the amount of time she can spend in one wild shape.
At 2nd level and again at 4th level, a stonespeaker guardian gains one additional use of wild shape per day. This benefit stacks with her number of daily uses gained from other classes that grant that ability.
She doesn't gain any additional wild shape-related class features, such as the ability to wild shape into Large animals, plants, and so on.
Stoneslam Attack (Ex): The slam attacks of a stonespeaker guardian of 3rd level or higher under the effect of the Stone Form feat deal damage as if the stonespeaker guardian were one size category larger than she is. A Medium stonespeaker guardian, for example, deals 2d6 points of damage with her slam attacks instead of the normal 1d8 points of a Medium character.
Fortification (Ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a stonespeaker guardian of 4th level or higher, there is a 50% chance the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
Earth Glide (Su): A 5th-level stonespeaker guardian under the effect of the Stone Form feat can glide through the earth like an earth elemental. The stonespeaker guardian moves at half speed while gliding through the earth in this manner, but she can move through stone, dirt, or almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. This burrowing leaves no tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of its presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a stonespeaker guardian moving in this manner flings the guardian back 30 feet, stunning her for 1 round unless she makes a DC 15 Fortitude save.
Earth Master: At 5th level, a stonespeaker guardian gains Earth Master as a bonus feat.
| Stonespeaker Guardian | Hit Die: d8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Stony hide | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Wild shape +1/day | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Stoneslam attack | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Fortification, wild shape +1/day | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Earth glide, Earth Master | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
Source: Races of Stone