The Dungeon Crawl -- The Beast Master

This prestige class was created for my campaign setting that I am developing, but can be placed in any mid- to high fantasy campaign that involves a medieval style setting (i.e. Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, etc.). If you use this prestige class, I'd
like to hear about it. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated as well.

Commentary - Why I think this is a balanced class: While the Beast Master has a lot of abilities, none are overly powerful. Arguably, the most powerful abilities the BM has are the rage and a mount. The rage has a severe limitation on it (read below).
The mount is up to the DM so that (hopefully) won't get out of hand. Several of the other abilities are tied to ability score
modifiers, so those powers depend on how well the PC is constructed. And as usual, the more powerful ones are attained
at higher levels. I'd love to hear your comments on this prestige class.

You can also download the Word Document to print up. This class is Copyright 2000 Evan Miller and is presented under the Open Gaming License. If you wish to list this class on your own site, please email me for permission (all reasonable request will be approved).

     It is whispered that out in the wilderness there are men who can speak with the animals. Seemingly as feral as that which
they associate with, they tend to shun human cities and towns, preferring to live in the wilds. They are known as the
Beast Masters.
     The beast master is a class of warrior that has become one with his animal nature and is able to communicate with
animals. They trade away their logic and reason for instinct and action. They are the staunchest defenders of the wilds and
the bane of unnatural creatures.
     Beast Masters come to be not through training, but rather they begin to feel the pull of the wilds. They begin to feel
cramped and trapped in normal society to point where they can hardly breathe while in a town, let alone a city. Soon they
find they can communicate with animals.
     The most common classes that a Beast Master will arise from are Rangers, Fighters and especially, Barbarians.
Paladins, Clerics and Monks that worship or dedicate themselves to a nature god/dess sometimes feel the pull as well.
It is uncommon among Druids as they have already heard the call of the wild, but they are more common than Wizards,
Sorcerers, Rogues, or Bards, all classes that thrive on civilized society. Wizards are the least common of all, after all it's hard to research spells in the woods.
      NPC Beat Masters are usually encountered patroling the wilderness seeking poachers and other transgressors. Particularly zealous Beast Masters try to disrupt civilized life in towns and cities in an attempt to reclaim the land for nature. Evil Beast Masters use nature to further their own ends, but still dislike the raping of nature that they see on a regular basis.

Base Attack: +3
Align: Any neutral
Ability: Charisma 12+
Skills: Ride 4 ranks, Handle Animal 4 Ranks, Wilderness Lore 4 Ranks
Feats: Track
Special: PC must be dedicated to nature in some way (worship of a nature god or a defender of the wilds, etc.) and
cannot reside within a city or town.

Level	Attack+	Fort+	Ref+	Will+	Special
1	+1	+0	+2	+0	Speak with Animals
2	+2	+1	+2	+0	Cornered Rage
3	+3	+1	+3	+1	Detect Animals
4	+4	+2	+3	+1	Feral Senses
5	+5	+2	+4	+2	Wilderness Advantage
6	+6	+3	+4	+2	Call Mount
7	+7	+3	+5	+3	Magic Fang
8	+8	+4	+5	+3	Stare Down
9	+9	+4	+6	+4	Dominate Animal
10	+10	+5	+6	+4	No Fatigue for Cornered Rage

Skill points at each level: 4+Int modifier

The Beast Masters class skills and their key abilities are: Animal Empathy (Cha, exclusive), Handle Animal (Cha),
Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str),
Wilderness Lore (Wis).

HD: d10

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The Beast master is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and light
    armor. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist,
    Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of
    armor and equipment carried.

Speak with Animals: The Beast Master at will may speak with animals, as the spell of the same name, as many
times each day equal to the characters Charisma modifier. This is a supernatural ability.

Cornered Rage: The Beast Master, when faced with being cornered by a more powerful foe, can go into a rage
    much like a Barbarian. If the PC is cornered by a foe who has 2 or more HD than the PC OR the party is cornered
    by a group of enemies whose HD total 1.25x the party's total HD (rounded up), the Beast Master may choose to enter
    a rage. The Beast Master temporarily gains +4 Str, +4 Con, and a +2 to Fort and Will saves. The Beast Master suffers
    a -2 AC penalty while in a Cornered Rage. The rage may last for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the characters raised Con     modifier. The character may end a rage voluntarily. When the character comes out of it s/he is winded and is at -2 Dex
    for the duration of the battle (Cannot charge or run). All other Rage rules are as the rules for a Barbarian class character.
    This may be used 1/day for every 3 levels obtained (1 at 2nd level, 2 at 5th level, 3 at 8th level). The DM may allow that any     situation that is deemed dangerous and threatening to the characters well being (surrounded by thugs in a dark, dead-end
    alley) may provoke a Cornered Rage irregardless of the HD of those involved, but the BM must be cornered. The DM
    may inform the player that s/he will allow a Cornered Rage.
    It is imperative to know that this rage only occurs when the character or the party is cornered.
    At 10th level, the Beast Master no longer suffers the penalties for coming down from a Cornered Rage.

Detect Animals: At will, the Beast Master may Detect Animals as the spell. It is usable a number of times equal
to the characters Wis modifier per day. Unlike the spell though, the Beast Master does not detect plants with this
ability. This is a supernatural ability.

Feral Senses: The Beast Master's senses have become as sharp as an animal's. The BM gains a +2 bonus to any
    roll that involves using their senses (Listen, Spot, Search, etc.) and gains the feat monster feat Scent. Also, the character
    may not be caught flat-footed or sneak attacked. The PC may be sneak attacked by a rogue or other class with the
    sneak attack ability who is 4 levels higher than the Beast Master.

Wilderness Advantage: The Beast Master has become so attuned to the wilds that s/he gains a +2 combat
bonus to hit rolls and a +1 AC bonus while in the wilds. This is to reflect their skill at using the wild terrain to their
advantage.

Call Mount: At 6th level, a Beast Master may call a mount much like a Paladin. This mount may be a horse, but it may
    be one of several different animals as well. The animal that answers the call is up to the DM but may include: War
    Horse, Tiger, Dire Wolf, Brown Bear, Dire Badger, etc. Any large animal will do. Dire animals should be used with care.
    Check the Animals description in the Monster Manual. The Dire animal should be no more than 6-10 feet in length. If
    the Beast Master is a small sized character, make the choice of mounts from the medium size animals. The progression
    of the mount is as follows:

Beast Master Level	Bonus HD	Natural Armor	Str. Adjustment	Intelligence	Special
6	+2	4	+1	6	Improved Evasion, Share Spells, empathic link, share saving throws
7	+3	6	+2	7
8-9	+4	8	+3	8	Command creatures of it's kind
10	+5	10	+4	9	Spell Resistance

* See the PHB section on Paladins for the description of these abilities.

Magic Fang: The Beast Master may use Magic Fang on their mount or any other creature as per the spell. S/he may
use a number of times equal to 1 x Cha modifier per day. This is a spell like ability.

Stare Down: The Beast Master may Stare Down animals or beasts to get them to back off and avoid a fight. S/he
may stare down a number of animals whose HD are equal to or lower than the Beast Master's level. This is an
Extraordinary ability.

Dominate Animal: 1/day, the Beast Master may use this ability. It duplicates the effect of the spell Dominate Animal.
This is a spell-like ability.

Special Restriction: A Beast Master cannot reside within a town or city. If a Beast Master stays within a town or city
    for too long, s/he begins to "lose the beast". For every 2 weeks spent out of contact with nature, the Beast Master takes
    a negative level to his/her BM level only. The BM loses all bonuses and abilities for that level, but they retain their hit dice.
    It would be difficult to keep a BM out of contact with nature for that significant amount of time. A leisurely stroll through
    the woods is sufficient to keep in touch, although a park in the center of the city is not sufficient. Such places are man-made
    and not wild. If a level is lost to underexposure, it may be regained by spending 1 week in the wilds uninterrupted, per
    level lost.