Prestige Class: Beast Master

The beast master embodies a friendship between the civilized races and the beasts of the world. United in focus, a beast master and his companion work as one to fight the monstrous foes that threaten civilization and the wilderness alike. Choosing this prestige class means committing yourself to this ideal, working in partnership with an animal as its companion and friend.

The Beast Master Level Features Bonus HP Hit Dice 1st Beast Companion 25 5 2nd Exceptional Training 30 6 3rd Bestial Resilience, Ritualist 35 7 4th Ability Score Improvement 40 8 5th Awakening, Bestial Fury 50 10

Prerequisites

In order to advance as a beast master, you must meet the following prerequisites (in addition to the multiclassing prerequisities for you existing class):

Dexterity 13. A beast master must be agile enough to keep pace with her companion.

A beast master must be agile enough to keep pace with her companion. Wisdom 13. An acute awareness of the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it is vital for any beast master.

An acute awareness of the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it is vital for any beast master. Proficieny in the Animal Handling skill. An aptitude for taming beasts is paramount.

An aptitude for taming beasts is paramount. Character level 5th. It takes a strong-willed individual to train a wild beast, and you must be a 5th-level character before you can gain levels in the beast master prestige class.

It takes a strong-willed individual to train a wild beast, and you must be a 5th-level character before you can gain levels in the beast master prestige class. Complete a special task. You must find a beast in the wild and gain its trust before any training can begin. If at any point your beast companion dies, you must gain the trust of a new beast before you can gain any more levels in this prestige class. The beast you tame can be no larger than Large and must have a challenge rating of 1/2 or lower.

Class Features

As a beast master, you gain the following class features

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10 per beast master level

1d10 per beast master level Hit Points per Level: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constituion modifier per beast master level

Proficiencies and Equipment

The beast master prestige class does not grant any proficiencies or special equipment.

Beast Companion

At 1st level, you have begun to train the beast you found as a prerequisite to this prestige class. Add your proficiency bonus to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well as to any saving throws and skills it is proficient in. It gain a bonus to its hit point maximum equal to the amount shown in the Bonus HP column of the Beast Master table. It also gains a number of hit dice equal to the number shown in the Hit Dice column. A beast's hit dice size are determined by its size. The beast obeys your commands as best as it can. It takes its turn on your initiative, though it doesn’t take an action unless you command it to. On your turn, you can verbally command the beast where to move (no action required by you). You can use your action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action. If you have (or later gain) the Extra Attack feature, you can make one weapon attack yourself when you command the beast to take the Attack action.

Exceptional Training

Beginning at 2nd level, on any of your turns when your beast companion doesn’t attack, you can use a bonus action to command the beast to take the Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action on its turn.

Bestial Resilience

At 3rd level, you beast companion gains proficiency with Wisdom saving throws and the saving throw associated with its highest ability score (you choose one if there is a tie), if it doesn't have these saves already.

Ritualist

Also at 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast the speak with animals and beast sense spells as rituals.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Awakening

At 5th level, you gain the ability to cast the awaken spell, targeting only your beast companion. If you target any other beast or plant, the spell fails.

Bestial Fury

Also starting at 5th level, your beast companion can make two attacks when you command it to use the Attack action or it may use Multiattack if it has that ability.