Feralan
The Feralan may look like a human, but for the most part, he acts like a wild animal. He speaks the language of animals and lives in their lairs. He leads them on hunts, defends them against predators, and considers them his family. Yet, the Feralan retains vestiges of his own race, characterized by his agile mind and an unshakable curiosity about human civilization. Many Feralans have picked up enough human language to communicate with them, albeit on a limited basis.
Despite his bestial tendencies, the Feralan's moral principles are not so different from other rangers. He values the well-being of his followers as much as his own. He avoids needless killing and considers himself the nemesis of hunters who stalk game for sport. Greed and jealously are as unknown to the Feralan as they are to the creatures of the forest.
Familial Species: At the beginning of his career, the player should choose a familial species for his Feralan, representing the type of animal that raised him. A Feralan can have only a single familial species, which never changes. The familial species must share the Feralan's primary terrain and is subject to the DM's approval. Animals suitable as familial species include wild dogs, bears (any), wolves, great cats (any), and primates (any). A familial species can't be human, demihuman, humanoid, or of magical or supernatural origin.
While a Feralan's human companions may admire his courage and respect his instincts, they may find his beast-like behavior offensive at best, frightening at worst. After a hunt, a Feralan may drag the carcass of his prey back to the party's campsite and eat it raw, tearing off chunks with his familial followers. Personal hygiene is rarely among a Feralan's priorities, though he may occasionally lick himself clean. He grooms his animal friends by picking bugs from their fur, then cuddles up with them to go to sleep. When disturbed, he may snarl like a wolf. To celebrate victory over a predator, he may howl at the moon. He communicates in grunts, growls, and sentence fragments. He may disconcert new associates by sniffing them.
During melee combat, the initial wounding of an opponent may impel the Feralan into a frenzy of blood lust, increasing his fighting effectiveness. A Feralan can make one attempt to become enraged at any particular opponent. After the first round in which a Feralan inflicts damage on an opponent, the Feralan has the option of making a saving throw vs. death magic. If the roll succeeds, the Feralan goes into a feral rage for the next 2d6 rounds. During that time, the rage gives the Feralan a +2 bonus to all attack and damage rolls, and his base Armor Class improves by 2 (an unarmored Feralan's AC is temporarily raised to 8). However, all attacks must be made against the designated opponent and the Feralan must attack in every round he's able; he can't voluntarily break off an attack, or choose to attack a different opponent.
An enraged Feralan must continue to attack the designated opponent until the feral rage wears off, or the opponent dies or escapes. If the rage wears off, the Feralan may continue to attack normally, or take any other action; however, the Feralan can't attempt to become enraged again against the same opponent. If the opponent dies, the feral rage automatically ends. If the opponent flees, the Feralan will pursue for the duration of the rage.
The Feralan has a base climbing success rate of 60%. This allows tree climbing at the Feralan's normal movement rate (cliff climbing instead if the primary terrain is Arctic, Desert, or Mountain). This ability is much more limited than the thief ability to Climb Walls . The climbing modifiers discussed in Chapter 14 of the Player's Handbook apply in all situations other than those given.
The Feralan can Speak with Animals at will with animals from his familial species. The ability is similar to the 2nd level priest spell Speak with Animals, but requires no components or casting time.
The familial followers of a Feralan will generally do what they're asked, assuming they're physically capable of doing so, when the Feralan speaks to them in their own language. Mistreated familial followers may still abandon a Feralan, as detailed in the Parting Company section of Chapter 3.
The Feralan may train (Animal Training) non-familial followers (use guidelines in Chapter 3).
When in his primary terrain, the Feralan may attempt to summon familial species animals by howling at the top of his lungs for 1-6 rounds. The DM then secretly rolls percentile dice. If the result is less than or equal to the Feralan's Wisdom score plus his level (a 5th level Feralan with Wisdom 15 has a base chance of 20%), 1-4 familial animals show up within the next hour. Once they arrive, these animals act as followers for the next 1-4 hours. During this time, the Feralan may command them with his Speak with Animals ability. At the end of the 1-4 hour period, the summoned animals disappear into the wilderness. A Feralan can attempt call of the wild once per day.
| Feralan Level | Casting Level | Priest Spell Level | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-7 | - | - | - |
| 8-9 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 10-11 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 12-13 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 14-15 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 16+ | 5 | 3 | 2 |
A Feralan may use any magical item normally allowed a ranger.
A Feralan has little interest in money or gems, which for the most part are as worthless to him as rocks. He keeps only enough funds to cover training costs, equipment replacement, and basic living expenses. He usually allows fellow party members to divide the remainder of his share of treasure as they wish. (However, the Feralan still receives all experience points due him for finding treasure and fellow party members receive no experience point benefit for the Feralan's share.)
Lacking extensive resources but mainly lacking the inclination, a Feralan will not build a castle or any other type of fortification at any point in his career.
The rough manner and appearance of the Feralan inflicts a -3 penalty when encountering human, demi-human, or humanoid NPCs, including other Feralans. A Feralan will seldom, if ever, develop any close relationship with politically powerful human, demi-human, or humanoid NPCs.
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