| revaar |
Mechanically, you'll need to choose a domain as your Nature Bond, and take the Warrior Priest Feat. Make sure you are LN, take the skills need, and when you hit 6th level, you should be able to prestige as a Hellknight signifier once you fulfill the RP requirements.
RP wise, this will be difficult to swing. Druids are usually guardians of the natural order, and disdainful of "modern" things like cities and metal armor. Hellknights are the watchdogs of civilization, enforcing brutal law and wanting to tame the world with their cities and metal armor. For a flavor fit, I'd suggest being an urban druid, so at least you will be ok with civilization.
| Oterisk |
Signifier + Wild Stone Plate would be a way to go. Hell Knight Plate would be off the table since it's metal.
I like Shaping Focus to gain a higher shape and then go dinosaur or Tiger or something like that for fun. You can even dip a level in Unbreakable Fighter or something instead of your level 5 Druid to keep your BAB high if you are doing a lot of Melee combat.
Imbicatus
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Here is an option that would be awesome, but completely untraditional for Druids, Hellknights, and Dwarves:
LN Dwarven Nature Fang/Signifier of Torag. Use blessed hammer + Stone Plate. You get studied target, slayer talents, and sneak attack in exchange for wild shape, you can take blessed hammer for spellstrike and be a divine magus. You could even be wisdom primary if you took a terrain domain that granted channel energy and picked up guided hand.
| Tangaroa |
RP-wise, a LN druid from the Order of the Pike would work well - they are monster hunters in the Whisperwoods. They are a smaller order, though, so they are a bit lore-light. Order of the Gate might also work - particularly if you go the hellknight signifier route.
Nature fang, and archetype from the advanced race guide, could work if you went that route. - I do like the urban druid suggestion, though.
| Pendagast |
Some druids study the paths of nature’s power through the nodes and ley lines that connect standing stones and megalithic circles, learning to tap into their energies.
Spirit Sense (Sp)
At 1st level, a menhir savant can detect the presence of undead; fey; outsiders; and astral, ethereal, or incorporeal creatures. This ability functions like detect undead, and the druid detects all of these creatures rather than trying to detect one kind.
This ability replaces nature sense and wild empathy.
Place Magic (Su)
At 2nd level, a menhir savant learns to identify and tap into ley lines in different types of terrain. As a free action, she can tap into the magic of a nearby ley line and increase her caster level by +1 for 1 round. She can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Wisdom bonus.
This ability replaces woodland stride and trackless step.
MY vote is a menhir savant, very odd sort of druid, not as tied up in the "tree hugger" world as much as the "mystical" world.
A Menhir Savant, with 3 levels of horizon walker and terrain domination (astral) so he can get dimension door, would make a very interesting, and influential member of the order of the gate.
Hellknight signifiers dont typically wear the heavy rank and file armor.
However, don't forget things like dragon plate armor, which a druid can wear.
Technically, you don't HAVE to have any levels in the PRC "hellknight" to be a member of the order.
Prc abilities are not very good or helpful to a character with the druid class.
Id take one level of HK 'enforcer' just for flavor and ne'er return to it.
6 levels of mentor savant, 3 levels of horizon walker, 1 level of HK enforcer, and back to druid I suppose. Would seem like a very cool member of the order of the gate.
Id have a hard time seeing the background story for a druid of the order of the pike, leaving his scared woods he's protecting to adventure abroad?
Le Petite Mort
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You might be able to get some value out of Divine Hunter. You lose the teamwork feat stuff, but, you gain a Domain feature from the Cleric list, which qualifies you for Warrior Priest, and thus the PrC.
Some cleric Domains (NOT Animal, and once you're a Hellknight your companion won't scale anyhow) are pretty badass, like Deception and Madness can be great for high AC frontliners like Hellknights.
Plus, you'll have your Animal Focus things, and those things have a TON of utility (particularly if your companion should just HAPPEN to get killed in combat and you didn't replace him).