Schnozzle and I got to talking in chat the other day about how the different classes would interact with society, realistically, in his new campaign setting.

This bought to my attention that we'd need a new healer if we wanted to avoid getting rocked the first time out.

I present for the Inn's Consideration: The Slate Survivalist.

A heavily modified ranger that uses a modified version of the Herbalist's Herblore skill. This, combined with a stripping of ranger features (and martial ability) combines for what is hopefully a fresher, more thematic spin on an apocalyptic healer.


Slate Survivalist
HD: d6
Skill points 7 + Int mod
Class Level! BAB! Fort/Ref/Will! Special
1 ! 0 ! 2/2/0 !Craft: Herbal Kit/Basic Herblore: Utility
2 ! 1 ! 3/3/0 !Spells/Herblore: Minor Healing
3 !2 ! 3/3/1 !Endurance
4 ! 3 ! 4/4/1 !Herblore: Wound Setting/Pain Relief
5 ! 3 ! 4/4/1 !Herlore: Extra Potency
6 !4! 5/5/2! Herblore: Moderate Healing
7 ! 5 ! 5/5/2! Woodland Stride
8 ! 6/1 ! 6/6/2 ! Swift Tracker
9 ! 6/1 ! 6/6/3 ! Evasion
10 ! 7/2 ! 7/7/3 ! Herblore: Poisons
11 ! 8/3 ! 7/7/3 !
12 ! 9/4 ! 8/8/4 ! Herblore: Advanced Healing
13 ! 9/4 ! 8/8/4 ! Camouflage
14 ! 10/5 ! 9/9/4 !
15 ! 11/6/1 ! 9/9/5 Herblore: Advanced Poisons
16 ! 12/7/2 ! 10/10/5 !
17 ! 12/7/2 ! 10/10/5 !Hide in Plain Sight
18 ! 13/8/3 ! 11/11/6 !Herblore: Expert Healing
19 ! 14/9/4 ! 11/11/5! Herblore Expert Poisons
20 ! 15/10/5 !12/12/6! Herblore: Mastery


Spells per day

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1 - - - -
2 1 - - -
3 1 - - -
4 1 0 - -
5 1 0 - -
6 1 1 - -
7 1 1 0 -
8 1 1 1 -
9 2 1 1 0
10 2 1 1 1
11 2 2 1 1
12 2 2 2 1
13 3 2 2 1
14 3 2 2 2
15 3 3 2 2
16 3 3 3 2
17 3 3 3 3
18 4 3 3 3
19 4 4 3 3
20 4 4 4 4
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Herblore: Herbalists gain an increased knowledge of plants, herbs, and foliage during their training and advancement. Herblore is the collective name for all such knowledge gained to that point. Depending on how much Herblore the Herbalist knows, their abilities may be affected as follows: Basic Herblore - This allows the Herbalist to use and create Herbal Kits. This does not provide any proficiency in their use, but simply the knowledge of what they consist of and how to apply them in a real-world situation.

Herblore: Utility - This allows the Herbalist to create and use a variety of multi-purpose Herbal Kits. In particular, common kit types created are anti-fever treatments, itch/rash relief, heat/cold treatments, and cleaning solvents. The effects of these are inherently limited, as they cannot be used to harm or destroy, and are strictly non-combat in usage.

Herblore: Wound-Setting - This is the most basic of combat-related Herbal Knowledge. Such herbs and kits allow a nHerbalist to set a wound, staunch bleeding or hemorrhaging, and otherwise stabilize an individual. This will not relieve or heal cuts, scrapes, and other serious injuries, but rather serve to prevent further deterioration of the victim's condition, so he may be safely transported to a site of more advanced healing. The sister knowledge of Pain Relief, this field of knowledge focuses on the physical aspect of injuries.

Herblore: Pain Relief - Similar to the herbs used to stop blood flow, this particular area of knowledge focuses on numbing the effects of pain, as well as reducing swelling and bruising on an individual. This will not relieve or heal cuts, scrapes, and other serious injuries, but rather serve to prevent further deterioration of the victim's condition, so he may be safely transported to a site of more advanced healing. The sister knowledge of Wound-Setting, this field of knowledge focuses on the mental/emotional aspect of injuries.

Herblore: Moderate Healing - By far the most commonly-practiced type of Herblore, the power to Heal others is always of use. This first foray into the field provides several essential techniques, usable both in combat and outside the arena. Focusing on healing cuts, gashes, burns, and other painful injuries, this is essential knowledge for any Herbalist.

Herblore: Poisons - Poisons are always a danger when out in the wilderness, whether from a venomous creature lurking in the jungle, or an assassin's poison in your dinner, and it's always a good idea to have a Poison Kit or two on hand, just in case...
Herblore: Advanced Healing - By far the most commonly-practiced type of Herblore, the power to Heal others is always of use. This Second foray into the field provides more advanced healing techniques, usable both in combat and outside the arena. Focusing on healing severe injuries, minor breaks and dislocations, and even effective for severed limbs when applied quickly enough, this is essential knowledge for any Herbalist.

Herblore: Advanced Poisons - Poisons are always a danger when out in the wilderness, whether from a venomous creature lurking in the jungle, or an assassin's poison in your dinner, and it's always a good idea to have a Poison Kit or two on hand, just in case... This advanced knowledge of Poisons allows creation of more effective remedies, as well as the tools necessary to craft Poisons of your own. Also prevents accidental self-poisoning when working with Herbal Poison Kits.

Herblore: Expert Healing - By far the most commonly-practiced type of Herblore, the power to Heal others is always of use. This third and final foray into the field provides several high-risk and high-reward techniques, usable both in combat and outside the arena. Focusing on healing extreme injuries, severe breaks and dislocations, severed limbs and burns, this is essential knowledge for any high-level Herbalist. Finally, a Herbalist with this ability can start, stop, and resume crafting an Herbal Kit without the risk of ruining the mixture.

Herblore: Expert Poisons - Poisons are always a danger when out in the wilderness, whether from a venomous creature lurking in the jungle, or an assassin's poison in your dinner, and it's always a good idea to have a Poison Kit or two on hand, just in case... This expert knowledge of Poisons allows creation of extremely effective remedies, the ability to create deadly and untraceable Poisons, and techniques for preventing future Poisonings and diseases. Also prevents accidental self-poisoning when working with Herbal Poison Kits. Finally, a Herbalist with this ability can start, stop, and resume crafting an Herbal Kit without the risk of ruining the mixture.

Herblore Mastery - Upon reaching 20th Level, the Herbalist is considered to be a Master of all things related to plants and Herblore. He/She can Use, Alter, or Create any Herbal Kit at a +3 Bonus. In addition, the Herbalist can then begin imparting his/her knowledge to others, providing a +2 Knowledge Bonus to any student they may take on. As well, the intense knowledge of Herblore and Herbal Kits allows the Herbalist to recognize various Kits on sight, and their lifelong experience with Herbs allows them to resist any Kit applied to them, if they so choose. Finally, a Herbalist with this ability can resume crafting an Herbal Kit previously ruined by a lesser-skilled individual, at no extra cost.


Craft Herbal Kit: This allows the Herbalist to create special Herbal Kits, capable of anything from numbing pain to transmitting deadly Poisons into a victim. The amount and variety of Kits that an Herbalist can make is determined by, among other things, his/her Herbalist Level. Creating an Herbal Kit requires a Craft(Herbal Kit) check. In general, a single Kit is effective on creatures of Large size or smaller(except where noted). For each increase in size, the number of Kits necessary increases by 1. The following types of Herbal Kits can be created:

Herbal Utility Kit - These simple Kits are non-combat in use, but are useful around the house and in the field. Their exact limitations will be provided by the DM, but they are often used for such tasks as minor cleaning/stain removal, fever treatments, heat wraps and cool compresses, itch/rash relief, and the like. This Kit is exhausted after 3(Three) uses. DC 10 to Create, Heal DC 10 to Use.

Herbal Wound-Setting Kit - This kit contains items to staunch the flow of blood, to set minor wounds, and to halt further deterioration of the body. A typical kit is effective on 2 creatures of Large size or smaller, or one Huge creature. This Kit is exhausted after use. DC 10 to Create, Heal DC 10 to Use.

Herbal Pain Relief Kit - This kit contains items to relieve temporary or chronic body aches. It can also be used to reduce swelling and bruising. Temporary conditions will be wholly restored, but chronic/permanent pains will only affected for a short duration, usually 2d2 days. A typical kit is effective on 2 creatures of Large size or smaller, or one Huge creature. This Kit is exhausted after use. DC 10 to Create, Heal DC 10 to Use.

Herbal Healing Kit - This kit contains items to Heal and restore injured and otherwise damaged individuals. It can restore health, fix cuts and breaks, as well as other more extreme uses. A typical kit is effective on 1 creature of Large size or smaller. This Kit is exhausted after use. The following are the effects of varying Healing Kits:

Minor Healing - 1d8 HP restoration, healing of small/medium cuts and scrapes, minor burn relief. DC 10 to Create, Heal DC 10 to use.

Moderate Healing - 2d8 HP restoration, healing of small/medium cuts and scrapes, moderate burn relief. DC 15 to Create, Heal DC 15 to Use.

Advanced Healing - 5d8 HP restoration, healing of large cuts and scrapes, burn relief, treatment of breaks and some small severs. DC 30 to Create, Heal DC 25 to Use.

Expert Healing - 10d8 HP restoration, healing of all cuts and gashes, burn relief, treatment of broken limbs, restoration of severed limbs. DC 40 to Create, Heal DC 35 to Use. Must have Herblore(Expert Healing) to Create

Herbal Poison Kit - This kit contains items to diagnose and cure many common Poisons, such as Lotus Tears solutions and snakebites. Standard Poisons will be completely expunged from the system, but extremely potent and rarer Poisons may only be temporarily halted, allowing transport to a place of Healing/ A typical kit is effective on 2 creatures of Medium size or smaller. This Kit is exhausted after use. The following are the effects of varying Poison Kits:

Standard Poison Kit - Diagnosis of Poison, relief/restoration of common Poisons, halting of advancement of rare Poisons. DC 15 to Create, Heal DC 15 to Use.

Advanced Poison Kit - Diagnosis of Poison, relief/restoration of common and rare Poisons, halting of advancement of unique Poisons. Creation of a single dose of Poison, valued at up to 300 GP. DC 35 to Create, Heal DC 30 to Use.

Expert Poison Kit - Diagnosis of Poison, relief/restoration of common, rare, and unique Poisons. Creation of a single dose of Poison, valued at up to 1,000 GP. DC 45 to Create, Heal DC 40 to Use. Must have Herblore(Expert Poisons) to Create
Herbal Toxin/Acid Kit - This kit contains a variety of toxins and acids, useful for combat and non-combat scenarios. Valued at up to 300 GP, a wealth of toxins or acids can be created, whether to supplement a Poison Kit or to create acid for combat/weaponsmithing. A typical kit is effective for up to 3 months, after which the toxins and acids lose their potency. This Kit is exhausted after use. DC 20 to Create, Heal DC 20 to Use.

Creating an Herbal Kit - An Herbal Kit normally takes about 1-2 hours to prepare, depending on its complexity and the skill of the Herbalist. An Herbal Utility Kit would take just under an hour to prepare, while an Expert Healing Kit could take well over 2 hours. Of course, more learned Herbalists can prepare Kits faster, and availability of supplies, outside pressures, assistants, and the like can all affect preparation time.

Multiple Kits of the same kind can be created together, with each Kit beyond the first adding 20 minutes to the preparation time. Gathering the supplies for the Kit is done beforehand, and while each Kit necessitates different components, they all have a few things in common:

Water - Used to bring the various components together, as well as to create the base of the final salve/solution.

Grass or other common plant - To create the base of the solution/salve

Heat - To combine all the components together, and activate the healing properties of each Herb.

To create the Kit, simply combine Water, Grass, and the necessary Herbs/components in a small bowl, pot, or other vessel. Grind the Herbs and Grass, then allow the water to permeate through the mixture. Finally, heat the solution to thicken it, then apply it to the appropriate surface. Full effects should be felt almost immediately. If an Herbal mixture is disturbed mid-crafting, or something interferes with its creation, it may or may not lose its potency. A successful Knowledge (Nature) check at DC 15 will discern if the solution is still salvageable. If not, it must be thrown out, and the process started anew(If more than one Kit was being created together, the whole batch is ruined).

Extra Potency - At 5th Level, the Herbalist's advanced knowledge allows them to increase the potency of their Herbal Kits. Each Herbalist Class Level taken provides a +1 Potency Bonus to the effect of an Herbal Kit created/used by that Herbalist. Healing Kits are more effective at healing, Poison Kits become deadlier, and Hallucinogenic/Toxic/Acid Kits become harder to resist. For example, a 7th Level Herbalist would add +7 to her Herbal Kit healing results, and a 15th Level Herbalist would add +15 to her Poison Kit damage.

Each Herbalist Level provides a Half(1/2)-point bonus to the Craft(Herbal Kit) check to Create, and the Heal check to Use, for an Herbal Kit. For example, an Herbalist 6/Druid 4(with no Wis Bonus and 8 ranks in Craft) would count as having 8 Herbalist Levels, and would thus get +4 to his/her Craft and Heal checks. If such a character was attempting to create an Advanced Healing Kit(for which the low-level Herbalist did not possess the appropriate Herblore), they would also receive a -4 Knowledge Bonus, and their final bonus for the DC 30 Advanced Healing Kit would be +8 (+0 for Wis Bonus, +8 for Heal Ranks, +4 for Herbalist Levels, -4 for Herblore Knowledge).

Knowledge(Physiology) - Physiology is the knowledge of the body, and as thus is very important for an Herbalist to understand. Dealing with everything from nerve centers, to blood flow and passage ways, it is crucial for such things as Healing and disease treatments. Knowledge(Physiology) provides Half its listed bonus(rounded down) to all Heal checks.

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Beginning at 2nd level, a ranger gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the slate ranger spell list. A ranger must choose and prepare his spells in advance (see below).
To prepare or cast a spell, a ranger must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a ranger's spell is 10 + the spell level + the ranger's Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a ranger can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Ranger. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score. When Table: The Ranger indicates that the ranger gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell level. The ranger does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.

A ranger prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though he cannot lose a prepared spell to cast a cure spell in its place. A ranger may prepare and cast any spell on the ranger spell list, provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.


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Slate Ranger spell list.

1st-Level Ranger Spells

Alarm: Wards an area for 2 hours/level.
Calm Animals: Calms (2d4 + level) HD of animals.
Charm Animal: Makes one animal your friend.
Detect Animals or Plants: Detects kinds of animals or plants.
Detect Poison: Detects poison in one creature or object.
Endure Elements: Exist comfortably in hot or cold environments.
Entangle: Plants entangle everyone in 40-ft.-radius circle.
Hide from Animals: Animals can't perceive one subject/level.
Jump: Subject gets bonus on Jump checks.
Longstrider: Increases your speed.
Pass without Trace: One subject/level leaves no tracks.
Resist Energy: Ignores 10 (or more) points of damage/attack from specified energy type.
Speak with Animals: You can communicate with animals.

2nd-Level Ranger Spells

Barkskin: Grants +2 (or higher) enhancement to natural armor.
Cat's Grace: Subject gains +4 to Dex for 1 min./level.
Cure Light Wounds: Cures 1d8 damage +1/level (max +5).
Hold Animal: Paralyzes one animal for 1 round/level.
Owl's Wisdom: Subject gains +4 to Wis for 1 min./level.
Protection from Energy: Absorb 12 points/level of damage from one kind of energy.
Snare: Creates a magic booby trap.
Speak with Plants: You can talk to normal plants and plant creatures.
Spike Growth: Creatures in area take 1d4 damage, may be slowed.

3rd-Level Ranger Spells

Command Plants: Sway the actions of one or more plant creatures.
Cure Moderate Wounds: Cures 2d8 damage +1/level (max +10).
Darkvision: See 60 ft. in total darkness.
Neutralize Poison: Immunizes subject against poison, detoxifies venom in or on subject.
Remove Disease: Cures all diseases affecting subject.
Repel Vermin: Insects, spiders, and other vermin stay 10 ft. away.
Tree Shape: You look exactly like a tree for 1 hour/level.
Water Walk: Subject treads on water as if solid.

4th-Level Ranger Spells

Animal Growth: One animal/two levels doubles in size.
Commune with Nature: Learn about terrain for 1 mile/level.
Cure Serious Wounds: Cures 3d8 damage +1/level (max +15).
Freedom of Movement: Subject moves normally despite impediments.
Nondetection M: Hides subject from divination, scrying.
Tree Stride: Step from one tree to another far away.

Formatting issues. Not sure how to fix, so I'll list the main differences here for anyone who has trouble reading it.

BAB progression lowered a level.

Saves maintained to fit in with theme.

Though not listed here, weapon proficiency maintained for the same reason.

Hd dropped a level to d6, to further distance it from more martial characters.

Skill points per level increased by one.

Class skill Knowledge: Physiology added to the standard list.

Combat Style class feature removed.

Favored enemy Class feature removed.

Animal companion class feature removed.

Spells per day slightly increased at high levels.

Spell casting granted earlier.

Spell list reduced, and deprived of MOST offensive capability, and some utility that didn't make since thematically.

After all, if, in a setting like this, our Survivalist could cause crops to grow, I doubt he'd be allowed to go adventuring, hey?

What are the class skills?

The same, with the addition of the Herblore necessary (if I read that page right) Knowledge: Physiology

If the Companion has been removed then why was Animal Growth left on the spell list?

For more creative players. Survivalists can still make checks to improve relations with a wild animal. And, DM permitting, enlarge them and send them through an enemy camp, or something. It may not see much use in battle, but it didn't seem like something that necessarily needed to be stripped to me.

*evaporates*