Thom Oaktall's page

As his name implies Thom Oaktall is a giant and massive man standing a full head over six feet, broad shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. His skin is ruddy from constant exposure to the elements and is covered in hair that accentuates the hard, dangerous lines of his body. Although he is a big man, Thom moves with the grace of a large cat and has the benevolent gaze of a kindly grandfather. He has clear blue eyes which are set below a low and broad brow. His happy, bemused, almost simpleton like face is that of a man at peace with himself and the word. His cheerful face is framed by thick, unruly, shoulder length light brown hair, going grey in places, with an equally wild beard the same color. Thom has a loud booming voice and equally booming laugh. No matter the weather he is usually clad in furs and hides with a spear and club close at hand.

Thom is at heart a product of the woods and Druidic training, trying to keep the natural order intact. However there is more to Thom then meets the eye. He is open and inquisitive as well as a lover of debate and is quick to laugh at himself and others. He is a fun loving, free spirit, quick of tongue and wit which often lands him in trouble. If given the choice the big bear of a man would rather be sitting in the shade smoking his pipe or around a camp fire with friends singing loud and off key. He finds it amusing to give advice in riddles, aphorisms, and metaphors with nature like themes.

Thanks to the Goblinoid Wars the untamed wilds between Cheliax and Isger are hard and unforgiving lands that have produced hard and self-reliant people. Thom is one such product, a Druid and warden of these lands.

Some Druids look inward for strength taking solace in the predictability of nature’s cycles. While others look to the forests and its beasts for spiritual guidance. Still others spend lifetimes travelling outside their forest glades trying to preserve nature’s balance by destroying its enemies. Thom’s life was shaped by all of these beliefs in one way or another.

In the rolling hills of the verdant wilderness between Isger and Cheliax Thom’s family owned a prosperous tobacco farm about a day’s walk from the Witch Wood. The family felt blessed, the soil was rich and with hard-work the family’s future abounded with many prospects. Unfortunately, the continued conflicts with the goblinoids of the wood prevented the farm from reaching its potential. On many occasions the hostilities forced the family to abandon their home and burn the season’s crops as they withdrew.

This pattern continued, raid, retreat, return and replant for most of Thom’s young life. Each time the family rebuilt with steadfast determination and hope for the future. That all changed when a large band of hobgoblins struck with less warning than usual and caught the family unawares. Thom’s entire family was slaughtered and he barely escaped with his life. Thom claims that he was led to safety by following the whispering winds through the enemy lines. Those who believed this account see it as a sign that Thom was favored by Gozreh.

Escaping the goblinoids was hard but surviving on his own in the wilderness was nearly impossible. Thom wandered the unwelcoming woods for days, tired, and hungry, eventually he was overcome with fatigue and he passed out. The boy awoke hours later and was lying on the ground, cold and shivering, looking up at a canopy of leaves, tall dark trees loomed over him, just a wisp of cloud peeking through and the barest sliver of the moon casting a fragment of light down upon his face when he heard the voice of the doe call him to wakefulness. Of course this was no ordinary doe it was a Cerynitis named Breeze. With Breeze’s help Thom survived and learned to the ways of the natural world. Over the next seven years the Cerynitis remained at Thom's side with a caring voice, offering him courtesy, and compliments as well as encouragement when needed. Eventually, Breeze taught him how to petition Gozreh and the forces of nature for power. With the help of the Cerynitis, Breeze, the sprouting seed of resentment over his family's slaughter was uprooted and replaced with a love of nature and cooperation, building upon the foundation of self-respect laid by his parents.

Eventually Thom struck out on his own, to watch over a portion of the witch wood and the scattered settlements. He begun spending more time among his own kind and waged a silent war against the goblinoids of the woods. Over the years Thom’s outgoing and gregarious nature, as well as his reputation as cunning warrior has helped him earn the respect in the surrounding communities although he was always will always be an outsider. He is known as fierce enemy of goblinoids and has been a defender of nature and the local communities from those that threaten them.

To that end, he traveled from his small grove, seeking protect the land from the depredation of goblinkind. And so he found himself traveling to the village of Drellin's Ferry to see if the rumors of heroes in the land were true.

Toughness - You gain +3 hit points. For every Hit Die you possess beyond 3, you gain an additional +1 hit point. If you have more than 3 Hit Dice, you gain +1 hit points whenever you gain a Hit Die (such as when you gain a level).

Natural spell - You can complete the verbal and somatic components of spells while using wild shape. You substitute various noises and gestures for the normal verbal and somatic components of a spell.

You can also use any material components or focuses you possess, even if such items are melded within your current form. This feat does not permit the use of magic items while you are in a form that could not ordinarily use them, and you do not gain the ability to speak while using wild shape.

Ease of Faith: Your mentor, the person who invested your faith in you from an early age, took steps to ensure you understood that what powers your divine magic is no different from that which powers the magic of other religions. This philosophy makes it easier for you to interact with others who may not share your views. You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks, and Diplomacy is always a class skill for you.

Outcast's Intuition: You are able to sense the motives of others and use that sense to bolster your magic against dispelling. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks, and Sense Motive is always a class skill for you. In addition, your caster level is treated as 1 level higher for the purposes of any attempts to dispel your magic.

Granted Powers: With power over storm and sky, you can call down the wrath of the gods upon the world below.

Storm Burst (Sp)

As a standard action, you can create a storm burst targeting any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The storm burst deals 1d6 points of nonlethal damage + 1 point for every two cleric levels you possess. In addition, the target is buffeted by winds and rain, causing it to take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for 1 round. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

Gale Aura (Su): At 6th level, as a standard action, you can create a 30-foot aura of gale-like winds that slows the progress of enemies. Creatures in the aura cannot take a 5-foot step. Enemies in the aura treat each square that brings them closer to you as difficult terrain. They can move normally in any other direction. You can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level. The rounds do not need to be consecutive.

Domain Spells: 1st—obscuring mist, 2nd—fog cloud, 3rd—call lightning,

Animal Domain
Granted Powers: You can speak with and befriend animals with ease. In addition, you treat Knowledge (nature) as a class skill.

Speak with Animals (Sp): You can speak with animals, as per the spell, for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your cleric level.

Spontaneous cast Healing. Spells

Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Human characters gain a +2 racial bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Size: Humans are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base Speed: Humans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Humans begin play speaking Common. Humans with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

Feat and Skill Racial Traits

Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.

Alternate Racial Traits
Dual Talent: Some humans are uniquely skilled at maximizing their natural gifts. These humans pick two ability scores and gain a +2 racial bonus in each of those scores. This racial trait replaces the +2 bonus to any one ability score, the bonus feat, and the skilled traits.

Alignment: Any neutral

Hit Die: d8

Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills
The druid’s class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies
Druids are proficient with the following weapons: club, dagger, dart, quarterstaff, scimitar, scythe, sickle, shortspear, sling, and spear. They are also proficient with all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape (see below).

Druids are proficient with light and medium armor but are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. A druid may also wear wooden armor that has been altered by the ironwood spell so that it functions as though it were steel. Druids are proficient with shields (except tower shields) but must use only wooden ones.

A druid who wears prohibited armor or uses a prohibited shield is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.

A tempest druid is proficient with the trident.

Spells

A druid casts divine spells, which are drawn from the druid spell list. Her alignment may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells. A druid must choose and prepare her spells in advance.

To prepare or cast a spell, the druid must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a druid’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the druid’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a druid can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Druid. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).

A druid must spend 1 hour each day in a trance-like meditation on the mysteries of nature to regain her daily allotment of spells. A druid may prepare and cast any spell on the druid spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.

Spontaneous Casting

A druid can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that she hasn’t prepared ahead of time. She can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any summon nature’s ally spell of the same level or lower.

Spontaneous Domain Casting

A tempest druid can channel stored spell energy into domain spells that she has not prepared ahead of time. She can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any domain spell of the same level or lower.

This replaces spontaneous casting.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells

A druid can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Orisons (Sp)

Druids can prepare a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, each day, as noted on Table: Druid under “Spells per Day.” These spells are cast like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again.

Bonus Languages

A druid’s bonus language options include Sylvan, the language of woodland creatures. This choice is in addition to the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.

A druid also knows Druidic, a secret language known only to druids, which she learns upon becoming a 1st-level druid. Druidic is a free language for a druid; that is, she knows it in addition to her regular allotment of languages and it doesn’t take up a language slot. Druids are forbidden to teach this language to nondruids.

Druidic has its own alphabet.

Natures Bond

At 1st level, a druid forms a bond with nature. This bond can take one of two forms. The first is a close tie to the natural world, granting the druid one of the following cleric domains: Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, or Weather. Druids also have access to a set of Animal and Terrain Domains. When determining the powers and bonus spells granted by this domain, the druid’s effective cleric level is equal to her druid level. A druid that selects this option also receives additional domain spell slots, just like a cleric. She must prepare the spell from her domain in this slot and this spell cannot be used to cast a spell spontaneously.

The second option is to form a close bond with an animal companion. A druid may begin play with any of the animals listed in Animal Choices. This animal is a loyal companion that accompanies the druid on her adventures.

Unlike normal animals of its kind, an animal companion’s Hit Dice, abilities, skills, and feats advance as the druid advances in level. If a character receives an animal companion from more than one source, her effective druid levels stack for the purposes of determining the statistics and abilities of the companion. Most animal companions increase in size when their druid reaches 4th or 7th level, depending on the companion. If a druid releases her companion from service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer in the environment where the new companion typically lives. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished.

A tempest druid may not choose an animal companion, and must instead select a domain when she gains the Nature Bond ability. A tempest druid must choose the Air or Weather domain, the Cloud, Storms, or Wind subdomain, or the Aquatic or Swamp domain.

Nature Sense (Ex)

A druid gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.[/s[

Sodden Shore Sense (Ex)

A tempest druid gains a +4 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks in coastal and marshy lands.

This ability replaces nature sense.

Wild Empathy (Ex)

A druid can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The druid rolls 1d20 and adds her druid level and her Charisma modifier to determine the wild empathy check result.

The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly.

To use wild empathy, the druid and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.

A druid can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but she takes a –4 penalty on the check.

[s]Woodland Stride (Ex)

Starting at 2nd level, a druid may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect her.

Trackless Step (Ex)

Starting at 3rd level, a druid leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. She may choose to leave a trail if so desired.
Stormvoice (Ex)

Electrical Resistance (Ex)

At 3rd level, a tempest druid gains electricity resistance 5. As a standard action, she can transfer this resistance to another creature for 1 hour, after which time it reverts to her.

This ability replaces trackless step.

Resist Nature’s Lure (Ex)

Starting at 4th level, a druid gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like and supernatural abilities of fey. This bonus also applies to spells and effects that target plants, such as blight, entangle, spike growth, and warp wood.

Eyes of the Storm (Ex)

At 4th level, a tempest druid can see through 10 feet of magical fog, mist, gas, wind, rain, or similar inclement weather conditions, ignoring any concealment it might grant. This distance increases by 5 feet for every 4 levels beyond 4th.

This ability replaces resist nature’s lure.

Wild Shape (Su)

At 4th level, a druid gains the ability to turn herself into any small or Medium animal and back again once per day. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the beast shape I spell, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per druid level, or until she changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid is familiar with.

A druid loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but she can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as her new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)

A druid can use this ability an additional time per day at 6th level and every two levels thereafter, for a total of eight times at 18th level. At 20th level, a druid can use wild shape at will. As a druid gains in levels, this ability allows the druid to take on the form of larger and smaller animals, elementals, and plants. Each form expends one daily usage of this ability, regardless of the form taken.

At 6th level, a druid can use wild shape to change into a Large or Tiny animal or a Small elemental. When taking the form of an animal, a druid’s wild shape now functions as beast shape II. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid’s wild shape functions as elemental body I.

Ex-Druids
A druid who ceases to revere nature, changes to a prohibited alignment, or teaches the Druidic language to a nondruid loses all spells and druid abilities (including her animal companion, but not including weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She cannot thereafter gain levels as a druid until she atones (see the atonement spell description).

I have been gaming since the early 80’s, although there was a 20 year period where it was hard to find people to play with (1992-2011). I enjoyed playing pathfinder weekly in a home brew from 2011 until this summer when I relocated for work. The move helped (forced) me discover the pbp format and I love it!! I feel it is a much better medium to bring PC’s to life. Some of the games I have enjoyed over the years are D&D (and all its versions), AD&D, Champions, GURPS, Star Frontiers, Call of Cthulhu, Boot Hill, Gang Busters, Shadow Run, Marvel Super Heroes, Rune Quest, Mouse Guard, The One Ring, Traveller, Villains and Vigilantes and a few other I have probably forgotten.

I live in the Eastern Time Zone of the United States (Indiana) and can usually post in the morning (4-6am) and the evening (6-10pm). I have been married for almost 20 years and have two kids (one a freshman in High School and the other in fourth grade).