Hunter's Ward Aspect requirements?

[Deca4531]

One of my players was asking about this and if they could make a little nature shrine out of candles, crystals, and incense and qualify for the shrine buff. RAW I would say yes it technically would since the ability it pretty vague. RAI I think, like all the other aspects, it would need to be more significant than that. Just looking to get some second opinions.

Ward Aspects

When a character in tune with nature comes upon an area that a kami could ward but that is lacking a guardian, she has the option of making that area her ward in a symbiotic relationship. Whenever a character with the animal focus class feature is within 100 feet per class level of one of the wards listed below, she can use the associated ward aspect instead of one of the normal options for her animal focus class feature. Hunters can apply the benefits of a ward aspect to themselves, but not to their animal companions.

If a character with the animal focus class feature spends 30 minutes meditating while within 10 feet per class level of the ward, she attunes herself to that ward. A character attuned to a ward can use the associated ward aspect while within 1 mile per class level. A character can be attuned to only one ward at a time, but depending on her surroundings, she could choose from among multiple wards. A character with the second animal focus class feature can still only use one ward aspect at a time, no matter how many aspects she has available to her.

The following ward aspects are available to characters who meet the conditions described above.

Road: The creature gains a +10-foot enhancement bonus to its base speed while running, charging, or withdrawing. This bonus increases to +20 feet at 8th level and +30 feet at 15th level. Source PPC:WO

Shrine: The creature gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Wisdom. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and +6 at 15th level. Source PPC:WO

Tree: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on saving throws against death effects and effects that deal negative energy damage. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level. Source PPC:WO

Waymarker: The creature gains a +4 competence bonus on attack rolls with improvised weapons. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level. Source PPC:WO

Well: The creature gains a +2 shield bonus to AC. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and +6 at 15th level. Source PPC:WO

[Azothath]

Hunter class - Ward Aspects
see comes upon an area that a kami could ward but that is lacking a guardian then is within 100 feet per class level of one of the wards listed below, ...
Shrine: The creature gains a +2 enhancement bonus to Wisdom. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and +6 at 15th level. so the bonuses are clearly tied to Hunter Level.
Thematically kami are protectors of a natural area/objects/animals assigned by the deities of antiquity and there are far more wards(as in things in need of protection, guardianship) than kami.

unfortunately it is similar to a medium's spirits that are tied to an area... it's the GMs job to say - "hey - there's something interesting here" and let the PC follow up. The PC can't create the location but I'm guessing that if they walk within 100*HntrLvl ft of a ward they can 'sense' it. If the PC goes looking for a ward, you're in Home Game territory and I'd use Knw(geog, hstry, locl, rlgn), Srvl or something similar rather than let a PC 'create' a warded area (just asking for trouble). Given a PC spent time and effort in game to discover and travel to a site, I don't know why a GM would limit a PC's access to a particular kind of site unless the background & practical theme of the area prevented it.

Once they find the site there's no RAW way to enhance it other then spells(Hallow, Consecrate, etc) but the Hunter's bonuses likely won't change.

[Azothath]

Advice: there's limited RAW so I would read terrains, medium class, ley lines, then secretly make up 8-12 kinds of generic types with associated skills to find them etc; geographic sites(geography), object types(arcana, local, religion), animal & plant types(nature), etc for variability (RAW is rather poorly developed). Then offer 1 randomly per day as nearby using a RAW description as cover leaving it up to the PC to discover different types as they investigate the guardianships(wards). You can cover spirits at the same time.
You could start a thread in Homebrew to gather input.
I'd rather call them 'vacant guardianship' or aristotelian ideals rather than wards due to the clashing arcane definition.

[happykj]

Kami

Creating a ward without significant meaning might make it seem too cheap. Since according to the Kami description, i would say the shrine should at least have some history rather than built less than one day.

If you want to give your PC the shrine buff, perhaps provide some clue about an existing shrine. For example, an abandoned shrine that was once guarded by a Kami who is killed by something, let the PC to research about it and maybe an encounter with the monster that killed the Kami, so the PC can get a shrine that surely qualify for the Ward Aspect. Or simply a knowledge (local) to find a shrine that is old enough but dont have a Kami for some reason.

If the main purpose is to build a shrine to get the buff whenever is needed, then I think it is not what the Rules intended, but RAW didn't specify what is qualified, except the sentence "an area that a kami could ward but that is lacking a guardian"

[Tom Sampson]

The Hunter's ward is taking things that are not protected by kami but could be. If you create a terrain feature that a kami could ward (however low of a priority it might be for a kami to ward that), then by RAW that terrain feature is a valid target for the ward aspect. There is no exception written for player-created shrines, wells, and so on, and there is nothing stopping a kami from warding a brand new location if they wish to, so that is how I would rule on it. It's a bit game-y perhaps, and I guess that's where the complaints come from, but it's not likely to cause a problem to give the Hunter more reliable access to this expanded list of aspects. Using the Shrine ward aspect will still consume swift actions and unlike a proper headband you will not receive bonus spells doing this. The other potentially strong ward aspects are the Wayfinder one for an improvised weapons build (unless there is a Bard in the party, as competence bonuses do not stack, and indeed an equal level Dawnflower Dervish Bard would have superior competence bonuses, to all attacks, at all levels) and the Well one for a shield bonus (which can also be obtained with the Unhindering Shield feat). Usually the hunter's ward aspects are expanded with the Planar Focus feat or the Aspect of the Quah trait (mostly for the bonus against mind-affecting effects) for better options.

There is no real FAQ on this issue, but there is a FAQ on a similar issue about favored locations as a Medium for whatever that's worth, and the approach of creating your own favored location to conduct a seance in is supported there, but that is probably because a Medium that cannot channel spirits is in a poor state as the class is poorly designed (and indeed Medium class players should strongly consider using an archetype that foregoes this Favored Location requirement).

So in short, I'd just let them. As written, this is rules legal and it's unlikely to prove a balance problem, so it seems reasonable enough for a player doing a clever trick.