Quintin Belmont
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Im trying to build a character who plays out as something close to a Nature and Wildlife Scholar (with a smidge of survivalism) and have been trying to decide between the two of these two PrCs.
I would likesome advice as to the pros and Cons of each and what roles they would be best for.
Also, if there is any viable way to combine the two that doesn't involve druids (Character is going to be LG, not NG) would be appreciated.
| XMorsX |
Nature Warden is for the ones that want a strong animal companion that has familiar qualities. It sacrifices caster lvls but gives nice bonuses to your companion, as well as companion bond.
Magaambyan Arcanist is IMO closer to what you are looking for, it is basically a wizard with with some druidistic infuenses. It is basically designed to be a dedicated arcane caster that knows some wizard spells and can spontaneously cast teh spells that have Spell Mastery for.
I do not believe that it is worth it to combine them. Just start as a wizard (with the spellbinder archetype probably, as your familiar will not advance) and enter Magaambyan Arcanist at 6th lvl.
| Quandary |
Putting ranks into Survival and Know:Nature and maybe Know:Geography is easy enough.
If you want to be good at Survival before entering Magaambyan you can easily get Survival as a Class Skill along with another minor bonus via Trait.
"Devotee of the Green" (Faith Trait, free download Trait Web Supplement) grants +1 to Survival and Know:Geography along with making one (of your choice) a Class Skill.
"Nomadic" (Race:Mwangi(Bas'o), Sargava Companion) grants +1 to Survival and Know:Geography along with making one (of your choice) a Class Skill.
"Jungle Walker" (Region:Mwangi Expanse, Inner Sea Primer) grants a +2 to Survival in the Jungle.
(no Class Skill, but +2>+1 and Magaambyan will eventually grant a further +3)
"Child of Nature" (Religion:Gozreh, in the APG, Faiths of Balance, and Ultimate Campaign) grants +2 to Survival only for the purpose of finding Food/Water, and +1 to Know:Nature, and one of those of your choice is a Class Skill.
Trait bonuses don't stack, so you can't stack any of those bonuses onto the same skill check.
Other Traits that may interest you might be:
"Spirits in Stone" (Race Trait:Mwangi, from free download Player's Guide for Legacy of Fire AP), which grants +2 to Initiative while in Ruins, and +1 to all Saves vs Traps and "Natural Hazards"... Although as a Race Trait you cannot have both it and the "Nomadic" Trait mentioned above.
"Eyes of the Wild" (Religion:Green Faith i.e. Druidic Faith, from Faiths of Balance) grants +2 to Perception in 'natural settings'.
If you have a Familiar it will also have your Ranks in Survival, and can be making it's own checks or Aiding you.
Animals do not have Survival as a Class Skill (strangely enough), although Aberrations and Dragons do (if/when you get Improved Familiar).
Note that Magaambyan (or any other PrC) does not advance your Wizard level for purpose of qualifying for Improved Familiars or improving unique abilities per the Familiar table.
(although things like HPs, Saves, BAB, and Skill Ranks automatically scale even with non-Caster levels)
There are a few Improved Familiars available at 5th (or even 3rd) Wizard level, but no LG-compatable options have Survival as Class Skill AFAIK.
At 7th Wizard level you can get Dragon Companions.
| Quandary |
You might want to look into taking Eldritch Heritage in the Fey Bloodline.
That requires Skill Focus: Knowledge(Nature) as a Pre-Req.
Fey will get you Woodland Stride (or Greater Invisibility) via the Improved EH Feat, and Free Re-Roll for overcoming SR for the 3rd Greater EH Feat.
If you gain Woodland Stride, you can qualify for the Mystic Stride Feat (from Ultimate Magic),
which also has a pre-req of 15 DEX and the Feat "Nimble Moves" (which allows ignoring Difficult Terrain in 1 square per round),
but Mystic Stride then lets you use Woodland Stride in areas of magical plant obstacles like Entangle and so on.
(which you could gain access to if you go Magaambyan Arcanist)