Nature Fetish Path

Each barbarian believes that he is tied to a spirit companion from the time of his birth until his death. These spirit companions, like totems, usually take the form of an animal or creature.

But unlike a totem –where the entire tribe identifies with the animal as a symbol of their nation, family or clan –this spirit is a personal guide. The spirit often manifests itself to the barbarian for the first time during his tribal rituals of manhood, and from that time forth the spirit guide has a recurring presence throughout his life.

The power of these spirit guides can be harnessed in the physical vessel of a nature fetish. These fetishes are often made from the feathers, skin, fur, or bone of the creature associated with the spirit guide, but they may also take the form of a tiny stone or gem idol of the creature. In either case, the nature fetish is possessed of mystical power, and barbarians place great faith in the power of the fetish to grant amazing abilities and victory in battle.

Craft Nature Fetish

You can create a spiritual focus for the animistic powers of your spirit guide.

Benefit(s): At third level, when you choose this Path you may create a nature fetish to gain the powers of your spirit guide.

This fetish may be created from the flesh, bone, teeth, or feathers of whatever creature you consider your sacred beast (as chosen by the GM –see below), or it may be carved from a semi-precious stone. Creating the fetish requires the barbarian to make a successful Intelligence check whose DC = 10 + the amount of bonus the Fetish imports upon the character. In addition, if it is created using a gemstone, tusk, fang, claw, or hide, this item must be worth at least 500 gp.

Once the nature fetish has been crafted, the barbarian may then perform a ritual that binds one aspect of the animal spirit permanently into the fetish (see the ‘Nature Fetish’ for details on what aspects do). This aspect may be used by the barbarian once per day as a standard action and lasts for a number of rounds equal to the barbarian’s level. Note that if the fetish is made from a precious material, the aspect’s daily duration is extended by one extra round for every 500 gp worth of the base precious material used to construct the fetish (up to a maximum of 4 extra rounds).

When this ability is selected, the GM or Player will choose an animal to be the barbarian’s spirit guide. This animal provides a number of aspects that provide additional abilities to the barbarian.

By creating a Fetish, the barbarian can tap into one of these aspects. Each fetish may be used once and provides its benefits for 1d6x10 minutes, after which the barbarian must engage in a long rest before it may be used again.

At 5th-level, the barbarian may expend one use of his fetish to cast the spell augury.

At 6th-level, the barbarian need only engage in a short rest between uses of his fetish.

At levels 10 and 14, the barbarian may create an additional fetish (for a total of three fetishes at level 14). If the barbarian’s spirit guide provides only two aspects, he will have two fetishes that provide one of the aspects, and one that provides the second.

The fetish is a personal item whose power is tied to the life force of its creator. In the hands of another, the fetish is a perfectly useless piece of ornamentation.

Aspects and Caster Levels

Some of the aspects below grant spell use, using the barbarian’s level as the effective caster level. This caster level determines the maximum spell level that can be used for the spell effects. Consult the Druid spellcasting table for maximum spell level the barbarian can access. For example, a 3rd level Barbarian can use up to a second-level spell slot to cast a spell effect, meaning he could, with the Protection Aspect, cast bless on himself as a first level spell, or upon himself and one other using a 2nd-level slot. Though barbarians do not have spell slots per se, they can choose to cast a spell anywhere from its base level of power to the maximum level allowable by a Druid of the same level.

Table 2-9: Spirit Guides
Animal Spirit Aspects1
Antelope Antler, Hoof
Ape Cunning, Rage, Strength
Baboon Climbing, Rage, Strength
Badger Claw, Scent
Bat Blindsight, Flight
Battle Dog Blood, Claw, Tooth
Bear Claw, Rage, Strength, Tooth
Boar Rage, Strength, Tusk
Bull Horn, Rage, Strength
Cat Grace, Leap, Third Eye
Chameleon Chameleon, Climb
Cheetah Claw, Grace, Speed
Crab Claw, Shell
Crane Flight, Grace
Crocodile Tooth, Water Limb
Deer Antler, Hoof
Dog Claw, Endurance, Tooth
Dragon Blood, Blindsight, Flight, Talons, Third Eye
Eagle Flight, Raptor’s Eyes, Talon
Fox Claw, Cunning
Griffon Flight, Strength, Raptor’s Eyes, Talons
Goat Horn, Strength
Hawk Flight, Raptor’s Eyes, Talon
Hedgehog Protection, Spine
Horse Endurance, Hoof, Strength
Hummingbird Flight, Grace
Kangaroo Endurance, Fleet of Foot, Leap
Koala Climb, Night Eyes
Lion Blood, Endurance, Tooth
Lizard Climb, Cunning
Mongoose Grace, Tooth
Monkey Climb, Grace
Musk Ox Horn, Rage, Strength
Ostrich Fleet of Foot, Strength
Owl Flight, Night Eyes, Third Eye
Ram Horn, Leap, Strength
Raven Flight, Third Eye
Turtle Endurance, Shell
Wolf Blood, Claw, Scent, Tooth

1 In addition to the aspects listed, all spirit guides have the aspect of augury.

Table 2-10: Nature Fetish Aspects
Aspect Ability
Antler +4 bonus to Charisma.
Augury As per the augury spell.
Battle Blood Grants the use of the Diehard feat.
Breath of the Waves As per the water breathing spell (treat the character’s barbarian level as the caster level).
Claw +3 bonus to unarmed damage.
Climb Grants advantage to Strength (Athletics) checks to climb walls, cliffs or other surfaces.
Cunning Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
Endurance As per the enhance ability (bear’s endurance) spell (treat the barbarian’s level as the caster level.)
Fins Grants Advantage to Strength (Athletics) checks to swim.
Fleet of Foot As per the familiar ability fast movement (see the ‘Familiar Special Abilities’ for details).
Flight Allows flight at speed and maneuverability of the fetish creature.
Grace As per the spell enhance ability (cat’s grace) (treat the character’s barbarian level as the caster level).
Hoof As per the familiar ability fast movement (see the ‘Familiar Special Abilities’ for details).
Horn +3 bonus to unarmed damage.
Leap As per the familiar ability great leap (see the ‘Familiar Special Abilities’ for details).
Night Eyes Low-light vision.
Protection As per the bless spell (treat the barbarian’s level as the caster level).
Rage As per the barbarian’s own rage ability, thus granting an additional rage each day (though this bonus rage is subject to the duration restrictions outlined in the Create Nature Fetish feat (see the ‘New Feats’ for details).
Raptor’s Eyes Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight.
Scent Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on smell. The barbarian can pick up scents that normal humans cannot and can track by smell using Wisdom (Perception) in any situation that an animal could (GM’s discretion).
Shell +3 natural bonus to AC.
Spine +3 bonus to unarmed damage.
Strength As per the spell enhance ability (bull’s strength). (Treat the character’s barbarian level as the caster level).
Talon +3 bonus to unarmed damage
Tooth +3 bonus to unarmed damage
Tusk +3 bonus to unarmed damage
Third Eye As per the spell detect magic.
Water Limb Advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to swim.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Familiars & Companions, Copyright 2017, Troll Lord Games; Author Casey Christofferson, Justin Bacon, Tommy Ruteledge, Josh Hubbel, Lance Hawvermile, Luke Johnson, Stephen Vogel and Dave Zenz.