Beast Lord
Source War of Immortals pg. 118The tales of connections between man and creature are numerous across the lands, often carrying with them legends of the exploits of companions as they protect that which is dearest to them. A beast lord is defined by their bond with their companion, an unshakable union that cannot be broken. This link can be brought forth through deific intervention, a traumatic shared event between companions that solidified their connection in magic, or even simply through a powerful friendship. A beast lord is not simply a title by which to measure those who unite with their companions, it is a collective merging of minds and souls. It’s been proposed that while the heart of one companion still beats, the other’s cannot cease, two drums in a perpetual song forever destined to be together as one. Stories of beast lords see them arising from their long-lost or secret dens to protect the lands, other companions, or lost members of their domains even long after most believed them dead and gone. These legends suggest that while even one life still lives, regardless of how many generations have passed, a beast lord can return to defend, and sometimes lead, those under their protection.
While this archetype is called “beast lord,” your companion need not be an animal. A wizened
druid might preach the
Green Faith alongside a similarly weathered arboreal companion. An elven ranger might patrol the skies above their forest home on a riding
drake. An ingenious
inventor might construct a robotic ally to aid in his workshop. What is important is that the beast lord has a strong bond with a companion, and that the two work hand-in-hand, almost sharing one mind.
Across the Inner Sea Region,
Adowyn (untamed female human hunter) and
Leryn (protective male wolf companion) travel protecting sacred natural lands and hunting those unfortunate enough to draw their ire. Their most recent exploits involved stopping an illegal strip-mining operation in the foothills of the Mindspin Mountains.
In the Mwangi Expanse, a young kobold named of
Vidni (charismatic nonbinary kobold merchant) travels in hopes of selling their varied wares, keeping their most trusted friend and bodyguard
Hew (fearsome male gorilla companion) close. The two have found some success in Senghor, and are saving up to buy their first trading ship.
In the Verduran Forest of Avistan,
Gal (clever female centaur ranger) moves hoof in hoof with her boar companion
Jinx (steadfast female boar companion), plunging tusk and arrow into the hearts of any would-be intruders. They are friendly with the local druids who reside on the Isle of Arenway, but aren’t beholden to their politics.
In Alkenstar, the inventor
Dr. Ashley Arrowbaud (distractable female human inventor) labored for years within her laboratory until she one day emerged with a large, arthropod-shaped metal creature marked
SC- 04910 (sturdy genderless construct companion) who almost has a will of its own. The two have recently begun to discover the sinister actions of a secret society that includes members of the administration of Dr. Arrowbaud’s alma mater, Blythir College.
Any of these characters may be, or may one day become, beast lords. By sharing a deep connection and the same goals, each pair may find a cause or quest that is important to them, which could eventually transform them into figures of legend. Tales of their exploits may inspire a similar connection in others, who might soon become another beast lord.
You have forged your own union with a loyal companion. The two of you share every burden, every strife, and a clear destiny. That future, no matter what foes you face, lands you protect, or quests you pursue, always shares the commonality of your undying connection to each other. Though there will be enemies who seek to drive you apart or even send you into the hands of
Pharasma, they will not be able to dissolve your partnership as long as you and your companion remain true to one another. You are one unit, one body and one mind, and the tribulations and trials set against you will quickly crumble through the power of your union.
You need not travel alone, though others won’t truly understand the connection you have with one another. You and your companion may make other friends or even form intimate relationships outside of this bond. Those ties will always be secondary, however, and that may cause some jealousy or resentment. But nothing like that will ever drive a wedge between you and your companion. Those who shun or ostracize you for your bond will eventually see its power when you rise to become figures of myth whose stories will be told for the rest of eternity.
Click here for more rules on using this archetype.Uncommon Destiny Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 118Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites a
mature animal companion or an
advanced construct companion
Your Calling has united your destiny with a
companion, harnessing a connection between you that links your minds, hearts, and souls. Choose a companion that qualified you for this feat as your united companion. Your united companion increases its Intelligence modifier to +0 or by 1 if its Intelligence modifier is greater than +0. It gains the ability to understand a language that you know and can communicate with you, but only you can understand your companion when it speaks, as it uses chirps, grunts, or other noises to convey its meaning. If you or your united companion are conscious and within 30 feet of each other and either must attempt a saving throw against a
mental effect, both you and your united companion attempt the saving throw. The target of the effect uses the best result; this also applies if both you and your united companion must attempt a saving throw against the same effect.
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 119Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
You have designated an ally to be you and your
companion’s ward, making it your primary directive to shield them from harm. During your daily preparations, choose an ally who isn’t your united companion. While either you or your united companion are adjacent to your ward, you grant them a +1 circumstance bonus to their AC and Reflex saves.
When your ward attempts a Reflex saving throw while adjacent to either you or your united companion, you can spend a
Mythic Point as a reaction to allow your ward to roll that Reflex save twice and take the better result. This is a
fortune effect.
Special If you have the
Defend Our Union feat, it can also be triggered when a foe successfully Strikes your ward; if used in this way, the damage to your ward is reduced if your Strike is successful instead.
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 119Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
You and your united
companion have elected to become guardians of a particular location or domain. If you spend 1 week of downtime within a settlement or natural area with a 5-mile radius, you and your companion can become guardians of the area and consider it to be your guarded domain. Your guarded domain remains under your protection until you spend more than 1 month outside of your domain, after which you must spend another week of downtime to re-attune to your guarded domain. You can only have one guarded domain at a time, and selecting a new guarded domain immediately ends your protection over the previous guarded domain.
If a creature has been in your guarded domain for at least 1 hour while you or your companion are also inside your domain, you or your companion can attempt to
Gather Information about the target by spending 1 minute communing with the land or its residents. You attempt this check at mythic proficiency.
In addition, once per day as a 3-action activity you can spend a Mythic Point to instantly teleport yourself and your united companion to a location you are aware of within your domain. This is a
teleportation effect.
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 119Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
You and your
companion move as one, never tripping each other up. This fluid movement throws your enemies off balance. You and your united companion can share each other’s spaces. When you do so, both you and your united companion provide
lesser cover to one another. You and your united companion also count as being adjacent to one another when sharing each other’s spaces. A target is automatically
off-guard against the first
Strike each round each of you and your united companion make while sharing one another’s spaces; this benefit also applies if you are
mounted on your united companion.
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 119Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord DedicationRequirements Your united
companion made a successful
Strike against a creature this round.
When you and your
companion attack together, you can ensure that escape is but a whispered dream.
Strike the same creature that your united companion hit. If your Strike is successful, the targeted creature has been marked for death by you and your companion and can’t become
hidden or
concealed to you and your companion for 1 minute or until it moves more than 60 feet away from either you or your companion, whichever comes first. If the triggering creature is under an effect or spell that would normally grant it this condition, you can immediately attempt to
counteract the effect. Your counteract rank is half your level rounded up, and your counteract check modifier is equal to the higher of your class DC –10 or spell DC –10.
Bat Around [two-actions] Feat 16
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 120Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
Your attack moves a foe into a position that your united
companion can take full advantage of. Make a melee
Strike against an enemy. As long as your Strike deals damage, you can attempt an
Athletics check to either
Reposition or
Shove the creature you hit. Both attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but it doesn’t increase until after you’ve made both attacks. If your Reposition or Shove moves the target and it ends this movement within your united companion’s reach, your companion can Strike the target. Unless it critically fails, your companion can also attempt an Athletics check to Reposition or Shove the creature. These attacks affect your united companion’s multiple attack penalty the same way.
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 120Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord DedicationTrigger You and your
companion are within 15 feet of each other, and a foe successfully
Strikes your united companion.
You can protect your
companion from danger with a welltimed attack. You can immediately
Stride toward the triggering enemy and can make a
Strike against them if they would be in the first range increment of your ranged weapon or within your melee
reach. If this Strike is successful, reduce the damage to your companion by your level, or twice your level if the Strike was a critical success.
Linguistic Mental Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 120Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
Your union is so strong, you can communicate with each other without uttering a word, even across vast distances. You and your united
companion can communicate telepathically while within 1 mile of each other as if you were speaking your shared language. You and your companion can also sense each other’s general emotions as long as you are on the same plane, allowing you to know if the other is in peril or under great distress.
Mythic Stance Source War of Immortals pg. 120Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
You and your companion enter a unified fighting style that allows you to fight in tandem more succinctly. When you enter this stance, your united
companion gains the
quickened condition and, when Commanded, can use the extra action to
Stride or
Strike.
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 120Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication; you have a united companion with a
specialization.
Your specialized united companion grows with unparalleled power and strength, becoming a creature of myth. It gains one of the following effects.
- Baleful Body Your united companion’s blood is boiling, its mechanical fluid is acidic, or its insides are otherwise destructive to the touch. Choose acid, fire, or poison. If your united companion would take damage from a melee attack, it deals half your level in damage of the chosen type to the creature that made the melee attack. By spending a Mythic Point when you Command your united companion, your united companion can spew its corrosive power as a 2-action activity to deal 14d6 damage of the chosen type in a 15-foot cone or 30-foot line (basic Reflex save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher).
- Chimeric Heads Your united companion sprouts an extra head which gives it extra eyes and allows it to make additional attacks with related unarmed attacks. Your united companion gains all-around vision. By spending a Mythic Point when you Command your united companion, your united companion can make two Strikes with its unarmed attacks as a single action, each using its current multiple attack penalty. Both Strikes must have the same target. If both attacks hit, combine their damage, and then add any other applicable effects. This counts as one attack when calculating your united companion’s multiple attack penalty. Your united companion must have a head and at least one unarmed attack that uses its mouth or head (such as a beak, jaws, or mandible attack) to select this.
- Energy Aegis Your united companion is protected from hazardous energy. Your united companion becomes immune to your choice of acid, cold, electricity, or fire. Your companion gains a +1 status bonus to AC and saves that originate from creatures with the listed trait and to effects and spells with the listed trait. By spending a Mythic Point when you Command your united companion, your united companion can take a single action with the concentrate trait to extend these same benefits to all creatures who are adjacent to it until the beginning of your next turn.
- Magnificent Flight Your united companion grows wings or learns some other method of flight. Your united companion gains a Fly speed equal to its Speed and it gains the mount special ability. If your united companion already had the mount special ability or a Fly speed equal to its Speed, it instead increases its Speed by 10 feet. By spending a Mythic Point when you Command your united companion, your united companion can, as a two-action activity, Fly up to twice its speed and make a single unarmed melee attack at any point along the way.
- Protective Skin Your united companion is hardened by the infused magic of otherworldly powers. Its maximum Hit Points increase by 30 but it gains a weakness of 10 to either cold iron or silver. By spending a Mythic Point when you Command your united companion, your united companion gains fast healing equal to your level for 1 minute.
Auditory Concentrate Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 121Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
You and your united
companion call upon the service of others of its kind, creating figment duplicates of your companion to form a massive swarm of formidable power. Spend a Mythic Point. Your united companion becomes Gargantuan for 1 minute. It gains
immunity to precision damage,
resistance to physical damage equal to half your level, and a
weakness to area damage equal to half your level. While in this form, your united companion gains the Amassed Assault action, which you immediately Command them to use as the final step of this activation.
Amassed Assault [one-action] (
attack) Each enemy in your united companion's space takes damage equal to one of its unarmed Strikes plus your level (
basic Reflex save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher).
Mythic Source War of Immortals pg. 121Archetype Beast LordPrerequisites Beast Lord Dedication
The minds of you and your
companion are so intertwined that, so long as one of you lives, the other continues to exist in the living one’s mind. If your united companion ever dies or is
destroyed and it is within 30 feet of you, its consciousness is drawn into your mind, where it can communicate with you normally and remains there until your next
daily preparations. During your next daily preparations, you can call upon your union to restore your companion to life again in a ritual that takes 1 hour. Your restored united companion returns whole-bodied, at their maximum Hit Point total, and cured of any afflictions that may have been afflicting it when it died.
If you would ever die or be destroyed and you are within 30 feet of your united companion, you consciousness flows into your companion for 3 days. During this time, you can perform actions as if you are your united companion using its abilities and characteristics for any actions you perform. After spending 3 days in this state, you are returned to life with a number of Hit Points equal to twice your level and regain a Mythic Point.
If you or your united companion die while sharing your body with the other’s consciousness, you truly die, but if you are not returned to life within 1 year, you are both reincarnated as children (or in a similarly immature state) in a location near where you first became companions. Neither you nor your companion complete your journeys along the River of Souls, nor do you possess any knowledge of the other’s reincarnated form. However, you both feel an inkling of your former connection, should you ever meet. If either of you are killed before you are together again as companions, the cycle of reincarnation is broken, and you can both die as normal.