link with mount, pegasus mount, lay on hands, remove disease 6/week,share spells with mount, quasi-deity traits; AL LG; SV Fort +19, Ref+29, Will +19; Str 28, Dex 40, Con 25, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 24.

Skills and Feats: Climb +34, Concentration +50, Diplomacy +50,Handle Animal +50, Heal +50, Intimidate +30, Jump +34, Knowledge(arcana) +27, Knowledge (history) +27, Knowledge (nobility and roy-alty) +27, Knowledge (the planes) +27, Knowledge (religion) +33,Knowledge (undead) +32, Listen +29, Ride (horse)+62, Spot +32, Swim +31; Alertness, Cleave,Great Cleave, Improved Critical (halfspear),Improved Critical (heavy lance), ImprovedCritical (longsword), Improved Initiative,Lightning Reflexes, Mounted Combat, PowerAttack, Quick Draw, Ride-By Attack, Run, SpiritedCharge, Sunder, Trample, Weapon Focus (half-spear), Weapon Focus (heavy lance), WeaponFocus (longsword)

Smite Evil (Su): Once per day a val-kyrie may attempt to smite evilwith one normal melee attack. Shegets +7 on her attack roll anddeals 20 extra points of damage.Smiting a creature that is notevil has no effect but uses theability for that day.

Turn Undead (Su): A valkyrie turnsundead as a cleric of two levelslower would.

Aura of Courage (Su): A valky-rie is immune to fear, magical orotherwise. Allies within 10 feet ofher gain a +4 morale bonus onsaving throws against fear effects.

Detect Evil (Sp): The valkyrie canuse detect evil at will as the spell.

Divine Grace: The valkyrieapplies her Charisma bonus toall saving throws. (This modi-fier is already figured into thestatistics given above.)

Divine Health: A valkyrie isimmune to all diseases, includingmagical diseases such as mummyrot and lycanthropy.

Empathic Link (Su): The val-kyrie can communicatetelepathically with themount at a distance ofup to one mile. The val-kyrie has the sameconnection to an itemor a place that themount does.

Pegasus Mount: This creature grants its master empathic link andshare spells. See below for statistics.

Lay on Hands (Sp): A valkyrie can heal wounds by touch as astandard action. Each day she can cure 140 hit points. The valkyriecan cure herself and can divide the curing among multiple recipi-ents. She doesn’t have to use it all at once.

Remove Disease (Sp): A valkyrie can remove disease, as the spell,six times per week.

Share Spells: A valkyrie may have any spell she casts on herself alsoaffect her mount if the latter is within 5 feet at the time. The val-

kyrie may also cast a spell with a target of “You” on her mount.Paladin Spells/Day: 5/5/5/4; base DC = 17 + spell level.

Quasi-Deity Traits: Immune to transmutation, energy drain, abil-ity drain, ability damage, mind-affecting effects,

electricity, cold, and acid; fire resistance20, DR 35/+4, SR 32, immortal.

dValkyries’ Mount: CR 12;Large outsider; HD 12d8+36; hp90; Init +6; Spd 60 ft., fly 120 ft.good; AC 21 (touch 11, flat-footed 19); Atk +17 melee(1d8+6, 2 hoofs), +12 melee(1d8+3, bite); SA Spell-likeabilities; SQ Command, im-proved evasion, scent, SR 25;AL NG; SV Fort +11, Ref +10,Will +11; Str 22, Dex 15, Con

16, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 13.Skills and Feats: Diplomacy +3,

Hide –2, Intimidate +16, IntuitDirection +11, Listen +16*, Search

+11, Sense Motive +16, Spot +16*,Wilderness Lore +16; Flyby Attack,Improved Initiative, Iron Will,

Wingover. *+4 racial bonus on Lis-ten and Spot checks.

Spell-Like Abilities: Detectgood and detect evil at willin a 60-yard radius as thespells cast by a 5th-levelsorcerer.

Scent (Ex): The creaturecan detect approachingenemies, sniff out hiddenfoes, and track by sense

of smell.

PRESTIGE CLASS:BERSERK

Berserks are warriors who dress themselves inbearskins (“berserk” comes from “bear sark,” or “bear

shirt”), taking advantage of the fear most people have for wild

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Table 6–4: The BerserkClass Base Fort Ref WillLevel Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special

1st +0 +2 +0 +0 Battle fury 1/day, +10 ft. movement2nd +1 +3 +0 +0 Damage reduction 1/–3rd +2 +3 +1 +1 Beast shape 1/day4th +3 +4 +1 +1 Battle fury 2/day, damage reduction 2/–5th +3 +4 +1 +16th +4 +5 +2 +2 Beast shape 2/day, damage reduction 3/–7th +5 +5 +2 +28th +6 +6 +2 +2 Battle fury 3/day, damage reduction 4/–9th +6 +6 +3 +3 Beast shape 3/day

10th +7 +7 +3 +3

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animals and simultaneously inviting the wild rage of the animalinto the warrior’s body. Berserks whip themselves into a battlefrenzy, biting their shields and howling like animals. They areferocious fighters and seemingly insensitive to pain while thismadness lasts. Berserks make formidable enemies. In their ragethey have even been known to attack the boulders and trees of theforest, and it is not uncommon for them to kill their own people.

Barbarians generally disdain berserks, whose lack of control inbattle goes beyond even barbarians’ legendary rages. The Asgardiangods are often arcane spellcasters themselves, so even wizards andsorcerers may find themselves “blessed” with battle fury.

As nonplayer characters, berserks are indistinguishable fromother fighters and warriors until their madness overtakes them.They rarely travel together, knowing firsthand how dangerousthey can be to their own allies.

Hit Die: d12.

RequirementsTo become a berserk, a character must fulfill all the followingcriteria.

Alignment: Any nonlawful.Base Attack Bonus: +5.Feats: Armor Proficiency (medium), Martial Weapon Proficiency

(battleaxe, longsword, or warhammer), Shield Proficiency.

Class SkillsThe berserk’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) areAnimal Empathy (Cha), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Jump(Str), Listen (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore(Wis). See Chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class FeaturesAll the following are class features of the berserk prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Berserks gain proficiencywith light armor as well as all simple and martial melee weapons, ifthey did not have these proficiencies from a previous class.

Battle Fury (Ex): Starting at 1st level, berserks can enterbattle fury as a standard action. They gain +6 to Strength, +6 toConstitution, and a +3 morale bonus on Will saves, but suffer a–2 penalty to AC while in battle fury. The increase in Constitu-tion increases the berserk’s hit points by 3 points per level, butthese hit points go away at the end of the fury when the Consti-tution score drops back to normal. (These extra hit points are notlost first the way temporary hit points are; see Temporary HitPoints in Chapter 8 of the Player ’s Handbook.) While in his fury, aberserk cannot use skills or abilities that require patience andconcentration, such as moving silently or casting spells (the onlyclass skills he can’t use are Animal Empathy and WildernessLore). He cannot use ranged weapons. He can use any feat hemight have except for Expertise, item creation feats, metamagicfeats, and Skill Focus (if it’s tied to a skill that requires patienceor concentration). While in a fury, berserks attack every beingthey can see. When a berserk begins attacking a foe, she contin-ues until that foe dies, the berserk dies or becomes incapacitated,or the fury ends.

In order to avoid attacking a friend or innocent bystander, theberserk must make a Will save (DC 15 + the number of roundsalready spent in a fury). A fit of battle fury lasts for a number ofrounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitutionmodifier. The berserk may not prematurely end the battle fury vol-untarily. If there are no longer any beings in sight, the berserk ran-domly attacks walls, rocks, trees, doors, or anything else she cansee. At the end of a fury, the berserk is fatigued (–2 to Strength, –2to Dexterity, can’t charge or run) for the duration of that encounter.The berserk can only fly into a fury once per encounter and only acertain number of times per day (determined by level).

Movement Bonus (Ex): At 1st level, berserks increase theirmovement rate by 10 feet. This bonus only applies to the berserk’shuman and hybrid forms.

Beast Shape (Su): At 3rd level, the berserk selects a totemanimal from the following list: bear (brown), boar, eagle, raven,whale (cachalot), or wolf. A number of times per day determinedby level, the berserk may change shape into a hybrid creaturewith features that combine human and animal, or into the animalitself. A hybrid retains the use of human arms, hands, and intelli-gence, but loses the power of speech. A hybrid cannot use skillsor abilities that require patience and concentration, such asmoving silently or casting spells (the only class skills he can’t useare Animal Empathy and Wilderness Lore). He can use any feat hemight have except for Expertise, item creation feats, metamagicfeats, and Skill Focus (if it’s tied to a skill that requires patienceor concentration). Hybrids also gain +2 Strength and +2 Consti-tution. The increase in Constitution increases the berserk’s hitpoints by 1 point per level, but these hit points go away at theend of the fury when the Constitution score drops back tonormal. (These extra hit points are not lost first the way tempo-rary hit points are; see Temporary Hit Points in Chapter 8 of thePlayer’s Handbook.)

While in animal form, the berserk gains the abilities and move-ment speeds of the animal and retains her human intelligence. Aberserk cannot use battle fury while in either hybrid or animalform, nor can she use beast shape while in battle fury. A berserkcan always change back to human form. No equipment or clothingtransforms with the berserk.

Damage Reduction (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, the berserkgains the ability to shrug off some amount of injury from eachblow or attack. Subtract 1 from the damage the berserk takeseach time she is dealt damage. At 4th level, this damage reductionrises to 2. At 6th level it rises to 3. At 8th level it rises to 4. Damagereduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0.

ASGARDIAN MONSTERSThe following monsters are particularly appropriate for a campaignthat uses the Asgardian pantheon.

Monster CR NotesDire ape 3 A “snow ape” version (same

stats)Dwarf, deep 1/2 Typical Norse dwarfDwarf, duergar 1 Typical evil Norse dwarfElemental, air 1 to 11 Often has a cold attackElemental, fire 1 to 11 Often more intelligent than

standardElf, high 1/2Elf, drow 1 Often called svartalfFrost worm 12Gnome, svirfneblin 1 Often indistinguishable from

dwarvesGiant 7 to 13 Mostly fire and frostLycanthrope, 5 Often with warrior or

werebear barbarian levelsMephit, fire 3Mephit, ice 3Mephit, magma 3Skeleton 1/6 to 9 Any sizeSprite, nixie 1 Often chaoticWight 3 Servant/creature of HelWinter wolf 5Worg 2Zombie 1/6 to 12 Any sizeAnimals: Bear, polar (CR 4); dog (CR 1/3); dog, riding (CR 1);

raven (sometimes celestial) (CR 1/8); snake, giantconstrictor (sometimes fiendish at +1 CR) (CR 5); whale,orca (CR 5); wolf (CR 1).

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