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Pack Leader

Primal spellcasters with a particular affinity for animals often aid their community by training and healing their domesticated animals. Others focus their time on preserving endangered species and helping them propagate or adapt to a changing environment. The pack leader is most often paired with the trained bat companion; see the Pack Leader Companions sidebar for other options.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 19
Unspecific Lore: DC 17
Specific Lore: DC 14

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Pack LeaderCreature 4

Medium Human Humanoid 
Source NPC Core pg. 132
Perception +12
Languages Common, Wildsong
Skills Athletics +6, Diplomacy +9 ((+12 against animals)), Nature +12, Stealth +9, Survival +10
Str +0, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +4, Cha +3
Animal Empathy The pack leader can ask questions of, receive answers from, and use the Diplomacy skill with animals.
Items leather armor, sickle, sling (10 bullets)
AC 20; Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +12
HP 55
Stay Strong! [reaction] Trigger An allied animal within 30 feet attempts a saving throw; Effect The pack leader shouts a word of encouragement, granting the allied animal a +1 circumstance bonus to the save.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] sickle +11 [+7/+3] (agile, finesse, trip), Damage 1d4+4 slashingMelee [one-action] fist +11 [+7/+3] (agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed), Damage 1d4+4 bludgeoningRanged [one-action] sling +11 [+6/+1] (propulsive, range increment 50 feet, reload 1), Damage 1d6+4 bludgeoningPrimal Prepared Spells DC 20, attack +12; 2nd animal messenger, enlarge, summon animal; 1st gentle landing, heal, pet cache; Cantrips (2nd) gouging claw, guidance, ignition, stabilize, tangle vine
Druid Order Focus Spells DC 20, 1 Focus Point; 2nd heal animal
Timely Trick [one-action] (auditory, concentrate, mental) The pack leader commands an animal ally within 30 feet to perform a specific action; the target can spend its reaction to immediately Step, Stride, or Strike.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Pack Leader Companions

In addition to the trained bat companion (and, optionally, with one of the support benefits), these Monster Core animals make good companions for the pack leader. Level 3 dire wolf, giant mantis, giant scorpion, giant wasp, gorilla, grizzly bear, hyaenodon, lion, pachycephalosaurus; Level 4 daeodon, giant stag beetle, great white shark, griffon, hadrosaurid, rhinoceros, tiger.

All Monsters in "Primalist"

NameLevel
Dedicated Druid7
Mountain Guardian6
Pack Leader4
Skin Shifter8
Tempest Incarnate19
Tree Singer13

Primalist

Source NPC Core pg. 132
A primalist is a wielder of primal energies and magic, sometimes taught by forces of primal power, including powerful elementals or fey of the First World. Primalists protect the natural world, offering strong medicine to those in need while facing suspicion from those who don't understand their ways.

A great many primalists belong to druidic circles, and even those who aren't members tend to be familiar with the most prominent ones in their homeland.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Crossover Ancestry NPCs

Several of the NPCs elsewhere in NPC Core can fit well in this group: Gnome conservationist (level 6), kobold earth diver (level 4)

Sidebar - Locations Druid Groves

When they choose to settle in one place, druids famously dwell in druid groves. These sanctums mix elements of living spaces, ritual shrines, and the natural environment into a cohesive, harmonious whole. Flora and fauna form the majority of fixtures in most groves, with only small amounts of construction work, as druids prize fitting themselves into the environment rather than bending it to suit them. A grove might be a small hollow that's home to a solitary druid or an overgrown copse of trees housing an entire lodge.

Sidebar - Additional Lore Order Hierarchies

Green Faith orders tend to obey strict hierarchies, with nine “circles” for major orders and three or five for minor orders. A new member becomes an initiate of the first circle. Each ascending circle guards more secret and precious information and has fewer members than the circle below it. To ascend, a druid must do service toward the order's goals and grow in knowledge and magical ability. If a circle is full, a druid might need to win their way into the circle by challenging a superior.

Sidebar - Advice and Rules Speaking Wildsong

The secret language spoken among druids, called Wildsong, sounds more like animal calls than spoken words. If you're roleplaying a conversation between druids at the table, you might want to try imitating an animal, or even just play audio clips of animal noises. Much of Wildsong is conveyed through tone and associations with different animals. An individual druid's Wildsong might more frequently incorporate sounds from animals prevalent in the druid's home region, forming a dialect or accent of sorts.