Savage Alternate Class (PFRPG) PDF

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Share your savage side!!

Forest Guardian Press brings you the new savage alternate class for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

The Savage rips into combat with devastating fury and mixes resilience with a steadfast approach to demolishing foes. Included are the dread savage and noble savage archetypes, as well as the variant psionic phrenic savage; also, with kind permission of Little Red Goblin Games, there is a seleciton of thematic savage weapons to add to your game.

Presented as a full color, illustrated PDF for viewing on your favorite device, or as a black & white PDF for low-carbon footprint printing.

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5/5

Disclaimer: I received this PDF for free as a prize from a contest.

This is a 17-page product, coming in a full-color version and a smaller black-and-white version for easier printing. Subtracting the cover, copyright page, notes on savagery, and OGL, we have 13 pages of actual content. It's compatible with Psionics and can be played in such a world, although it doesn't really have psionic powers of its own unless you take one of the archetypes.

"Wait, hold on, Rednal," you say? "What was that part about notes on savagery? I think that's relevant." Well, you'd be right. It's not part of the class, though - rather, it's an explanation of the view that went into this product. Despite the name, the "Savage" isn't meant derogatory towards any group or culture. Rather, it's being used in this product as a fairly neutral term to note specific kinds of cultures, and it specifically encourages individual tables to come up with their own groups.

The Savage is an Alternate Class for the Barbarian and Monk - which means it can't be multiclassed with them. The class itself is a full-BAB class with good Fort and Reflex saves, a flurry-like Furious Blows ability, a d12 hit dice, and 6+Int skill points per-level. They're proficient in all simple weapons and a selection of thematically appropriate weapons, with are collectively referred to as "savage weapons". They are similarly proficient with certain specific armors, and bucklers, which are collectively "savage armor". This matters for their class features. To help compensate for this, they get a Wisdom bonus to their AC while wearing savage armor if they're currently unencumbered (making them somewhat more tank-y than a Monk).

Here at the start of the class, I would personally have included a note on its main ability scores - Strength (for damage), Constitution (for multiple class abilities), and Wisdom (as a secondary score for that lovely AC bonus). Looking over the abilities, I think this class does manage to strike a nice balance - it's more of a tank than the Monk, but not quite as smashy as the Barbarian. Indeed, rather than giving them a bonus to Strength, their Rampage ability actually gives them temporary HP equal to their foe's HD (which don't stack with themselves), although this condition also allows them to use various Barbarian Rage powers.

Starting at third-level, they get a bonus against one school of magic (personally, I suggest Enchantment, because Mind-Controlled Tanks are bad for your party), and as they level up they get further bonuses. Improved natural healing can help save on wand charges and spells used by other characters, while the Feral Pool helps with overcoming damage reduction and improving their overall combat abilities.

Overall, it's a very solid class, clearly designed to take what others can dish out and keep on fighting. If you want to feel like a nearly-invincible wall, this is the class you're looking for. I think it could use a few more out-of-combat abilities - although the decent number of skill points helps - and the book comes with a couple of archetypes to help further refine and flavor your character. All in all, this is a very nice class if you're looking for something primitive (i.e. Stone Age) yet capable.


An Endzeitgeist.com review

5/5

This alternate class clocks in at 17 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 14 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?

No the terminology might be considered a problem from the get-go - the word "Savage" constitutes more than a direct opposition to "civilized men." Hence, the 1st page is devoted to an explanation that acknowledges that this pdf is not based on any real life cultures -I applaud this maturity. If you're interested in the genesis of the development and meanings associated with this particular dichotomy, feel free to drop me a line.

The Savage class is an alternate class for both barbarian and monk, meaning that multiclassing into either is prohibited. The class receives d12, 6+Int skills per level, proficiency with axes and generally, stone age-style weapons - a comprehensive guideline for savage weapons and armors would be included here, allowing for further, campaign world specific customizations of proficiencies. When wearing medium or heavy armor, the savage loses both fast movement, furious blows and the AC-bonus. It should also be noted that the savage can add two skills of their choice as tribal lore to their array of class skills.

The class also receives full BAB-progression, good fort and ref-saves, an AC (and CMD!)-bonus scaling up to +5 and increased movement rate scaling up to +60 ft. What are furious blows? Well, at first level, the savage can execute +1 attack, imposing a -2 penalty to all attacks. These scale upwards at 8th and 15th level and these attacks may only be executed with savage weapons. Interestingly, the ability manages to get two-weapon fighting rules-interaction right - there is none this time around and this is good in this case - the ability is rather powerful, though thankfully, certain massive weapons have an additional penalty applied.

Now the savage may also enter a primal state as a full-round action that provokes AoOs. Said state can be maintained up to 24 hours and provides +2 to Intimidate, Handle Animals and Sense Motive skill checks and Improved Unarmed Strike as a feat, which also works for the purposes of feat-prerequisites - nice catch! Additionally, the state can be expended to power abilities and feats, somewhat akin to how psionic foci work - the lists of feats/powers contain the necessary information for which needs the expenditure. Instead of a rage, savages may enter so-called rampages for up to 4+con-mod rounds per day, +2 per additional class level. While in a rampage, savages receive +2 to will-saves, acrobatics, climb and swim-checks. Now rampage also offers temporary hit points equal to foe's HD for every enemy reduced to 0 hit points or below - surprisingly, the ability comes absolutely kitten-proof - no way to abuse this! Gloriously done!

Now the next thing would be a bit complex, so bear with me - savages of 2nd level (and every even level thereafter) may select a monk's bonus feat or a barbarian rage power as a savage power, though the latter only work while rampaging. Evasion and improved evasion may be chosen as well, the latter thankfully with a level-cap. A massive list of rage powers from core, APG and UC are provided and yes, the pdf is smart enough to prevent combinations of different totem rage powers. The class also receives uncanny dodge at 2nd level (improved at 5th) and a scaling danger sense that translates to a bonus to initiative and a bonus to AC when being attacked by ranged weapons in the surprise round - nice spider-sense! Savages also receive scaling bonuses versus diseases and poisons that turn to immunity at very high levels.

Also rather nice - savages may learn to receive bonuses versus particular spell schools (including psionic ones!), but this is not where we stop:

At 4th level, the savage receives a pool of feral points equal to 1/2 class level +con-mod. As long as the pool contains at least 1 point, rampaging savages may have weapons count as magic for DR-purposes and at 9th level, also as cold iron/silver. When in primal state, a savage may expend 1 point from the feral pool as a swift action to increase movement by 20 ft for 1 round, +2 natural AC for 1 round, +20 (!!!) acrobatics for jumping purposes only or +1 to critical confirmation rolls for con-mod rounds. Additionally, 4th level savages may expend feral points to quickly heal non-lethal damage or diminish the duration of some negative conditions.

At 7th level, savages heal even without resting at an increased natural rate and increases the amount of conditions they can diminish. Where math became complex for me would be the option to expend 2 feral points for +1 round of rampage - think of all the combinations possible...

At 11th level, savages receive ferocity and the truly high-level savages may enter blood rages. The capstone makes the savage tougher and makes criting them very hard - but this is not where we stop; This pdf also provides quite a few archetypes, first of which would be the Dread Savage. Instead of entering a primal state, these guys may enter a kind of death-like trance that has them count as undead, but still allows them to be healed by positive energy - provided they succeed a concentration-check. Their rampage allows them to render targets hit by their wight strikes shaken, allowing the dread savage to expend rounds of rage for additional slam attacks (no synergy with furious blows, though) and the archetype also receives a debuff aura , increased saves versus level-drain etc. The dread pool the archetype has, also allows for wholly unique benefits and 3 new rage powers complement the package.

The second archetype would be the Noble Savage - noble savages receive an unleashed presence in lieu of rampaging, use their cha-mod to determine their pool and may expend said points to grant themselves cha-mod as bonus to saves for 1 round. It should be mentioned that the presence has the bonuses applied to completely social skills and that it's governed by cha as well. Almost perfect negotiators, they can grant themselves massive bonuses to bluff, but thankfully not for feinting purposes.

Next up would be a special treat with the phrenic savage alternate class, a psionic alternative to the base savage - these guys receive changed save-progressions, a limited array of power points (scaling from 1 to 70), governed by wisdom. The phrenic savage also receives unlocked talent and a pretty limited array of psionic tricks thus, later learning to use wis to govern it instead of cha. Phrenic savages may expend power points to temporarily grant them rapid metabolism and similar feats, including a kind of DR versus ability score reduction (somewhat unfortunately named "ability", making it slightly more opaque than it should be). The improved fiery discorporation capstone at 20th level is also rather nice, though the phrenic savage pays for the psionic tricks with both the flurry-like trick and the rampages. Still, would have loved the class to mention for what it is an alternate class - I *assume* full multiclassing potential, but I'm pretty sure the class probably ought to have some limit. The 4 psionic feats used by the alternate class and the two psionic powers are provided in here as well.

We also receive a final page of primitive weapons, courtesy of Little Red Goblin Games, ranging from the great macuahuitl to the gunstock club - these are all solid.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good - while, in some instances, wording is slightly less precise than I would have wanted it to be, over all, the pdf manages to handle the complex content rather well. Minor issues like the "st/nd/rd/th" missing behind the numbers in the class level table of the Phrenic Savage can be considered generally cosmetic. The pdf comes with glorious, original full-color pieces of art and the 2-column b/w-standard generally is printer-friendly. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Morgan Boehringer (lead developer), with Jim Wettstein (and additional content by Keil Hubert and Christos Gurd), just delivers. There's no way around it, the savage may be the most interesting melee-base-class I've seen in quite a while - it is powerful and I was honestly surprised that it fared so well in playtest and turned out to be rather well-balanced. This is honestly the level of awesomeness I would have expected from each and every ACG-class. The savage has more options than either monk or barbarian, without invalidating the parent classes. The additional content just represents the icing on the cake. The psionic variant class is also solid, though it feels slightly less inspired - mainly because the class does not have that many tricks up its sleeve - the unlocked talent route does not necessarily provide a selection of powers to use, which the pdf seems to imply. Unlocked Talents nets the phrenic savage exactly ONE power, which is prescribed by the pdf. Why not provide at least a slight array of e.g. psychometabolism choices?

The psionic savage is simply not half as interesting and flexible as the base class and thus, would be one of my minor complaints. Another minor issue would be the 19th level of the savage class, which is a dead level. Now are these minor issues? Yes. Is the overall class AWESOME? HECK YEAH! The savage constitutes a damn cool addition to any kind of group, is fluff-wise easily implemented, complex, yet easy to grasp and would be 5 stars + seal of approval were it not for aforementioned minor glitches. With the slight imperfections, which in no way spoil this otherwise damn cool class, I will instead settle "only" for a final verdict of 5 stars. Consider this the monk/barbarian-class the ACG should have delivered, but didn't.

Endzeitgeist out.


Savagery Done Right

5/5

The Savage is a class born from (some would say unholy) fusion of the Monk and the Barbarian, combining the the Barbarian's battle ferocity with the Monk's enhanced state of being. This is class that is great to play for those who want to play an unarmored berserker/tribal protector/ just all around badass.

Starting off the class gets d12 HD, Full BaB, 6 Skill Ranks, and good Reflex and Fortitude save progression.

It really shines when it shows off what Armor and Weapons the class has access to, instead of simply saying the class has simple weapons and light armor proficiency the PDF actually breaks down what specific equipment the Savage is proficient in and what it can use with its class abilities (Macuahuitl!).

As for the abilities:

It gains a Movemnt and AC increase similar to the Monk's in order to help with the whole unarmored frontliner thing.

Furious Blows (Ex): When wielding a weapon belonging to the "Savage" weapon group (Macuahuitl!!) the Savage can unload on an enemy, gaining more attacks at the cost of accuracy. I really appreciate the weapon restriction on this ability, it greatly helps to separate this class ability from simply being Flurry of Blows.

Primal State (Ex): This have played Soul Knives and other Psionic will notice something friendly and familiar with this ability. By performing an action (what flavor said action is is left entirely up to the player :)) the Savage may enter a state that gives them some benefits but its main function is to fuel other Savage class abilities.

Rampage (Ex): Now this one I like. Similar to Primal State above in that a Savage entering a Rampage (akin to a Barbarian's Rage) enables other class abilities the main appeal is the Tmporary HP that a Savage gains whenever it downs an opponent while in a Rampage. The beautiful image of a fast and furious berserker plowing through waves of enemies immediately comes to mind, and it is glorious.

Tribal Lore: An interesting ability, one that grants 2 skills of the player's choosing as Class Skills for the Savage, to show the varied nature and focus of the tribe and culture that the Savage might hail from.

Savage Power: This is the class ability that ties into the above Primal State and Rampage, letting the Savage choose from either Barbarian Rage Powers or Monk Bonus Feats that are usable when in either of those state of beings.

Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Go ahead, guess what this does. I'll wait.

Danger Sense (Ex): Showing off the Savage's instincts this grants the class a bonus to initiate and AC against ranged attacks during the surprise round. Take the Catch and Return Arrow Feats to have a whole lot of fun with this ability hehehe.

Wild Resilience (Ex): The Savage picks one school of magic she really doesn't like and gains bonuses against it.

Feral Pool (Ex): Another class ability that is usable while the Savage is in her Primal state, these can be used similar to the monk's Ki pool to bolster her attacks, defense, and movement.

Staunch Recovery (Ex): By spending from her Feral Pool the Savage can heal NL damage and shrug off status conditions.

Wild Fortitude (Ex): With this the Savage starts gaining bonuses, and eventually Immunity, to Diseases and poisons.

Feral Vigor (Ex): Similar to Staunch Recovery but can heal Damage and even worse Status Conditions, but is usably only once per day.

Ferocity (Ex): Diehard for Free! With bonuses!

Indomitable Mind (Ex): More bonuses against whatever school of magic selected by the Savage by her Wild Resistance ability.

Blood Rage (Su): By spending points from her Feral Pool she can use the Spell of the same name upon herself. Scary.

And finally for the capstone:

Supreme Ferocity (Ex): Takes away the downsides of Ferocity and Diehard, grants the Savage bonuses when trying to confirm Critical Hits, and opponents must roll twice and take the LOWER result when trying to confirm Critical Hits against you!

As for the Archetypes:

Dread Savage: A much more death obsessed Savage, this variant switches the effects of Positive and Negative energy upon herself, and altering her abilities so that she put Status effects and other Debuffs on her foes while gaining bonuses to things that Undead are usually immune to.

Noble Savage: A more social inclined variant, most this Archetype's abilities are keyed off of Charisma and is great for Leader types who still wanna lay the hurt down when they want to.

Phrenic Savge: A Psionic Variant, and finally a Psionic class that I could actually see myself playing as, which is saying a LOT. Keeps the same HD, BaB, and Skill Ranks but its good Saves are Fortitude and Will. Alas, my knowledge of Psionics is nil, but this class does do a good job of getting me interested in them.

And then there are the weapons, courtesy of Red Goblin Games: We have the Tomahawk, Riding Club, Gunstock Club, Macuahuitl!!!, Great Macuahuitl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and the Tepoztopilli.

Overall the PDF is 17 pages long, 13 of which is content, and a great read for the price they're asking for it. I highly recommend it :3


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yay its here!


And thanks again Liz!!!


Thanks for the review Rysky!

Very gad you liked the design approach and you definitely got the feel for the class and its attendant Savagery!

Spoiler:
I wasn't even aware you could put spoilers in a Product Review!!! Well done!

Silver Crusade

:3


Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop.


oh snap i missed this, thank you for the review.


Endzeitgeist wrote:
Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop.

Thanks for the review End! Glad you like the class and can see its place in your game - I felt this theme was sadly under-represented, and thought of a way to best present it.

As always we'll see about adopting those portions of your critique we feel need be addressed. Which reminds me, while I'm on the topic I need to update the PDF with the playtester credits included this time...

And I'm personally glad you liked the preamble - it was very important to me to avoid real world cultural implications of any kind. Impossible I know, but there you have it.

Special thanks again to Little Red Goblin Games for the stats of additional Primitive Weapons and Jacob Blackmon for the art...


So, any plans for an unchained savage? Since both barbarian and monk got the spotlight on that book...


You can now keep tabs on your Savage with her own character sheet! Download for free at https://www.dropbox.com/s/z42uoxe60o71n40/savage_sheet.zip?dl=0


The Ragi wrote:
So, any plans for an unchained savage? Since both barbarian and monk got the spotlight on that book...

Sorry - only saw this today.

No plans as yet - I'm yet to properly familiarise myself with Unchained.


The Ragi wrote:
You can now keep tabs on your Savage with her own character sheet! Download for free at https://www.dropbox.com/s/z42uoxe60o71n40/savage_sheet.zip?dl=0

Fantastic! Thanks to The Ragi!!! This should help folks get Savage!!!

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