 Raven Master
Source Adventurer's Guide pg. 175
While the Silver Ravens adopted their name as a way to honor the group of adventurers who defended Kintargo during the Chelish Civil War, some Silver Ravens have gone even farther, breeding and training actual ravens to serve both as living symbols of the organization and as fearsome weapons against House Thrune and its diabolic servants. These rangers, known as raven masters, eschew a ranger’s usual connection to the natural world to form a mystic bond with their birds and to grant both animal and master a number of specialized abilities. Over time, the feathers of these raven companions take on a silvery sheen, causing them to resemble the birds produced by the figurines of wondrous power, which served as the original Silver Ravens’ namesake.
Raven masters serve as messengers and spies for the Silver Ravens, using their ravens to scout the border between Ravounel and Cheliax and report any suspicious Thrune troop movements. Outside of Cheliax, raven companions alight on the rooftops and window ledges of palaces and keeps to eavesdrop on tyrants and dictators, feeding these precious secrets to the raven master so that she can more efficiently foment and organize rebellion.
Class Skills: A raven master adds Bluff, Disguise, and Sleight of Hand to her list of class skills. She does not gain Climb, Heal, Intimidate, Ride, or Swim as class skills.
This alters the ranger’s class skills.
Avian Empathy (Ex): A raven master’s wild empathy affects only birds.
This alters wild empathy.
Raven Companion (Ex): At 4th level, a raven master earns the trust and companionship of a particularly large, powerful, and intelligent raven. This ability functions like the druid animal companion ability, except that the raven master’s effective druid level is equal to her ranger level – 3. The raven master must select a bird as her animal companion. The raven companion starts with an Intelligence score of 3 and can speak one language known by the raven master. In addition to the normal abilities an animal companion gains as the raven master increases in level, the raven companion gains the following abilities.
This ability alters hunter’s bond and replaces specific ranger abilities as indicated below.
Silver Champion (Ex): At 7th level, the raven companion takes on a silvery, metallic appearance. It treats all of its natural attacks as though they were magic and silver for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction.
This ability replaces woodland stride.
Mimic Figurine (Su): At 8th level, once per day as a standard action, the raven master can transform her raven companion into a token similar to a figurine of wondrous power. Any gear worn by the raven melds into its body as part of this transformation, but held items do not. The raven can remain in this form indefinitely, or until the raven master spends a standard action to activate the statuette as though it were a figurine of wondrous power.
This ability replaces swift tracker.
Cheat Death (Sp) At 12th level, once per week, when a raven companion would otherwise be slain by an attack, spell, or effect, it can turn into a figurine of wondrous power as per its mimic figurine ability as an immediate action. Once transformed this way, the raven companion cannot transform back into a raven until the raven master next prepares spells.
This ability replaces camouflage.
Argent Magic: A raven master casts spells as do most rangers, but her spell list is somewhat expanded from the normal options most rangers can choose from, for her association with the bards and other talented performers among the Silver Ravens allows her to add a limited number of bard spells to her spell list. These spells function as divine spells, and are cast and prepared in the same manner as her other ranger spells.
At 6th level, the raven master selects one 1st-level bard spell of her choice and adds it to her spell list as a 1st-level ranger spell. At 9th level she does the same but for a 2ndlevel bard spell. She adds a 3rd-level bard spell at 12th level, and adds a 4th-level bard spell at 15th level.
This ability alters the ranger’s spellcasting.
|