Blackclaw Pack

The Master Hunters of the Wulven People

Pack Description

The master hunters and rangers of the Wulven, the Blackclaw pack possesses fur that is often dark hues such as black, dark purple, and even dark blue. As a pack they are perhaps the most tightly knit, and from their birth as pups they are raised to be perfect hunters who hunt in tandem with several members of their kin. As such, they are masters of group tactics when in combat or on the hunt, and they are incredibly adept at surrounding and expertly taking down a foe with both the strength of their numbers and the overwhelming power and deftness with which they wield their claws and teeth, which even other Wulven packs are said to revere them for. They are highly in tune with the terrain surrounding their villages, much as a druid or ranger is familiar with their home forests or terrain, and as such are highly respected and feared for their skill and knowledge of the land. They are masters of wave tactics and as a pack place a greater emphasis on the collective whole rather than the individual, giving them a very communal lifestyle that places great importance on family, friends, and community. They often reside in hard to reach climates and places within the world such as high mountain ranges or deep within dangerous forests, and as such often become highly friendly with the generally solitary Giants that call the place home, as the two races can often get along very well. The Blackclaw are also treated with superstition and even fear by their own kin and especially outside races due their preference for the stealthy blow, and the blow that comes unseen. As they are master trackers and highly adept in their home terrain, they are excellent at hiding and moving stealthily despite their massive bulk. When a powerful prey needs hunting, the Blackclaw will assuredly find it, hunt it, and render it unconscious if it is a man or kill it if it is beast.

Pack Mechanics

Pack Trait: Treat your natural weapons as one size category larger than they are.
Masters of the hunt and of the art of the stealthy strike, Blackclaw know intrinsically how to make the most of their claws and teeth...and are capable of causing more damage(or bruises) with them than other Wulven.

Alternate Pack Traits:

Master Hunter: Gain a favored enemy as per the ranger class feature. Replaces We Fight, We Drink, We Learn!.
Being the foremost masters of the hunt of all the Wulven packs, the Blackclaw are rangers, hunters, and masters of being in-tune with nature so much so that they can move as effortlessly through their home environment as easily as if they were striding through open grasslands...when the Blackclaw go on the hunt, few can truly escape their wrath.

Unrelenting Tide: Gain a racial +4 to any effect that would slow or immobilize you. You may share your square with any 1 other Wulven creature. Replaces Nature Primordials.
The Blackclaw, veritable masters of group assaults and wave tactics, often run to war and go to hunt in massive waves of fighters that fall upon their foe in crashing tides, slamming into them again and again in such a way that the assault seems truly unending...in this way, they both tire out their foe and give themselves ample spacing between waves so that they themselves never tire. Due to this favored tactic, Blackclaw Wulven are much harder to slow down or immobilize and can naturally move and fight alongside others of their kind more easily.

Wulven Commando: You are treated as one size smaller for stealth penalties due to size, and Stealth is always a class skill for you. If your dexterity is below 10, always treat it as being 10 for the purposes of the Stealth Skill. Replaces Hunter’s Nose.
As every Blackclaw grows up fighting in the dark corners of the forest and stalking their prey to wait for the right moment to strike, all Blackclaw are somewhat familiar with the ways of hiding and stealth...some truly exemplify these traits and become truly fearsome for their ability to hide their bulk and move unseen surprisingly well.

Communal Lifestyle: Gain a racial +4 to Survival and it is always a class skill for you. Gain a +5 bonus on all fortitude saves made to resist the effects of alcohol. Replaces We Fight, We Drink, We Learn!.
Within the Blackclaw pack, each pup is raised and trained from birth to work towards the betterment of the tribe, to put the whole before themselves, and to trust their brethren with their lives. This inspires levels of teamwork, brotherhood, and trust between Blackclaw Wulven that is exemplary even among the Wulven people...this sense of community gives them strength, and through it they become more in tune with the land and foraging off of it, as well as becoming more inured to the effects of the alcohol they use to come together and celebrate.

Pack Feats:

Wulven Wave Tactics:
Prerequisites: “Unrelenting Tide” Alternate Trait, Character level 10th
Effect: You can no longer be affected by any effect that would slow you or stop you from moving so long as you are adjacent to at least one allied creature. You gain a +2 to hit any creature that was damage by an ally in the last round of combat. This bonus increases to +4 if it was hit by two or more allies, and +6 if it was hit by three or more. These bonuses are separate, and do not stack with each other.
The very pinnacle of Blackclaw battle tactics, the "Wulven Wave" is a far afeared war formation that sees dozens and sometimes hundreds of Wulven crashing down on their foes in carefully planned out and spaced out Waves...the Wulven that charge at the front of these formations are masters of this tactic, and are unstoppable engines of war incapable of being stopped or slowed in their charge towards their foe...indeed, as they rush shoulder to shoulder with allies, the morale of the charge invigorates them and increases the damage done to enemies struck by their allies.

Flexible Hunter:
Prerequisites: “Master Hunter” Alternate Trait, Character level 8th
Effect: Once you have killed a certain number of enemies that you gain a “Favored Enemy” bonus on(A hidden number kept track of by the GM, typically 1d100 + 20 but may be higher or lower), you may switch your Favored Enemy to any other type after a full night of rest or spend 8 hours in quiet, motionless meditation.
Spending much and sometimes all of their lives hunting, the master hunters of the Blackclaw often learn that to truly master the way of the hunt, one must adapt to the changing enemies a far-reaching hunt will take one to. These masters then learn to meditate and focus after fighting enough of their preferred targets, and then changing their battle strategies to better target another type of foe. In this way, they stay on their toes and never fall behind in a hunt.

Giantfriend:
Prerequisites: Character level 6th
Effect: Gain giant as a bonus language if you don’t already possess it. You are no longer capable of being afflicted by any penalties due to extremely high altitudes, and you gain a racial +4 to all Athletics checks. All creatures that speak giant as a racial language treat you as one step more friendlier than normal, stacking with other benefits of this kind. You also no longer die until you reach twice your negative CON score.
As their tribal homes are often found in the deep forests and tall mountains of the world, the Blackclaw pack often encounters and befriends more monstrous creatures who naturally reside in such places...chief most among these are the Giants that prowl these extreme climates. Often, the two races see each other as fellow outcasts or fellow inhabitants of extreme climates, and often become close friends...these Wulven who take to their new friends learn to speak their tongue and become more adapted to high altitudes as they are.

Penultimate Hunters:
Prerequisites: Character level 14th
Effect: May cast Enlarge or Shrink Person on self 3/day. Whenever you are not under an enlarging effect that either increases your size or makes you count as a size larger that isn’t your pack trait, your natural weapons count as one additional size category larger than normal. Stacks with the Blackclaw pack trait.
The true reason the Blackclaw are so feared for their prowess at hunting a foe is the technique the masters among them develop which lets their claws and bodies grow and shrink, striking with more and more force until they can even cleave trees and rocks in twain with their blows...to say nothing of the concussive force they can deal to sentient creatures to subdue them, as is the Wulven wont to do.