Some druids come from tribes with strong ties to a single animal spirit, referred to as the tribe’s totem. The animal’s spirit guards the tribe and advises its elders and chieftains, and the tribesmen tend to have characteristics attributed to the animal. Druids that come from a totemic tradition are closely linked to their tribe’s totem animal.
The totem druid is a variant druid. Unless otherwise noted, a totem druid advances in the same manner as a druid (same Hit Die, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, skill points, and so on). When a character elects to take a level of druid or totem druid, she may not later take levels in the other class. This prevents the character from gaining the benefits of a 1st-level druid twice.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Nature Sense, Totem Animal Companion, Totem Shape (1/day), Wild Empathy |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Natural Spell, Woodland Stride |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Totem Shape (2/day), Trackless Step |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Resist Nature’s Lure |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Totem Shape (3/day) |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Totem Shape (dire 1/day) |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Totem Shape (4/day) |
| 8th | +6/+1 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Totem Speech |
| 9th | +6/+1 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Venom Immunity |
| 10th | +7/+2 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Totem Shape (planar) |
| 11th | +8/+3 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Totem Shape (5/day) |
| 12th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Totem Shape (dire 2/day) |
| 13th | +9/+4 | +8 | +4 | +8 | |
| 14th | +10/+5 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Totem Shape (6/day) |
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Timeless Body |
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Totem Shape (dire planar) |
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +10 | Totem Shape (7/day) |
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +11 | Totem Shape (dire 3/day) |
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +11 | A Thousand Faces |
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +12 | Totem Shape (8/day) |
| Level | 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| 10th | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 11th | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 12th | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 13th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 14th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — |
| 15th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — |
| 16th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 17th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 18th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 19th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 20th | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
All of the following are class features of the totem druid.
Totem Animal: At 1st level, a totem druid must choose one of the following animals to bind his spirit to: ape, bear, eagle, horse, shark, snake, tiger or wolf.
Totem Animal Companion (Ex): The totem druid can only choose her totem animal (or its dire form) as her animal companion. Her animal companion gains special abilities as if the totem druid was two levels higher. The totem druid counts as two levels higher for purposes of determining whether or not she can choose a dire animal as her alternative animal companion.
Totem Shape (Su): Totem shape uses the same rules as wild shape, although a druid can only take the form of her totem animal. She gains the ability to change into this shape once per day at 1st level.
Starting at 6th level, the totem druid can choose to take the dire form of her totem animal once per day. The dire form is in addition to her normal usage.
Beginning at 10th level, the totem druid can choose to change into a celestial or fiendish form of her totem animal. Good druids using the planar totem shape form gain the celestial template and evil druids gain the fiendish template. Neutral druids must choose which template to apply upon reaching 8th level and cannot change their choice after that.
At 16th level, the totem druid gains the ability to apply her planar template to her dire form.
Natural Spell: At 2nd level the totem druid gains Natural Spell as a bonus feat.
Totem Speech (Ex): Starting at 8th level, the totem druid can speak any language she knows while in animal form and she can speak with her totem animals as with the speak with animals spell.
Source: Dragon Magazine #335 (Page 87)