The wild defender is a holy warrior attuned to the sacred divinity of nature. Druids usually welcome them, but most wild defenders work in solitude. The wild defender guards the land and those who use it respectfully. Those who violate the wilderness consider wild defenders a manifestation of nature’s wrath.
The wild defender is a variant ranger. Unless otherwise noted, a wild defender advances in the same manner as a ranger (same Hit Die, base attack bonus, saving throw bonuses, skill points and so on). When a character elects to take a level of ranger or wild defender, he may not later take levels in the other class. This prevents the character from gaining the benefits of a 1st-level ranger twice.
Alignment: A wild defender must be neutral good, lawful neutral, neutral or chaotic neutral.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Natural Lore, Smite Evil 1/day, Wild Empathy |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Woodland Stride |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Trackless Step |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Resist Nature’s Lure |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Animal Companion, Smite Evil 2/day |
| 6th | +6/+1 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Rebuke Nature (Animals) |
| 7th | +7/+2 | +5 | +5 | +2 | |
| 8th | +8/+3 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Rebuke Nature (Vermin) |
| 9th | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +3 | |
| 10th | +10/+5 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Smite Evil 3/day |
| 11th | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Evasion |
| 12th | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +8 | +4 | Rebuke Nature (Plants) |
| 13th | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +8 | +4 | |
| 14th | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +9 | +4 | Rebuke Nature (Fey) |
| 15th | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +9 | +5 | Smite Evil 4/day |
| 16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +10 | +5 | |
| 17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +10 | +5 | |
| 18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +11 | +6 | Rebuke Nature (Oozes) |
| 19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +11 | +6 | |
| 20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +12 | +6 | Rebuke Nature (Elementals), Smite Evil 5/day |
| Level | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2nd | 0 | — | — | — |
| 3rd | 1 | — | — | — |
| 4th | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 5th | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 6th | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 7th | 2 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 8th | 2 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 9th | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 10th | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 11th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 12th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 13th | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 14th | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 15th | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 16th | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 17th | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 18th | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 19th | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 20th | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
The wild defender loses the base ranger’s favoured enemy, bonus feats, combat style, camouflage and hide in plain sight class features but gains several druid and paladin abilities and acquires some class features at different levels than a ranger.
Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, the wild defender may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. He adds his Charisma bonus (if any) to his attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per wild defender level. If the wild defender accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.
At 5th level and every five levels thereafter, the wild defender may smite enemies one additional time per day, as indicated on the wild defender table. A character with levels in both wild defender and paladin adds his levels in both classes to determine how many times per day he may smite evil as well as the amount of extra damage he deals.
Natural Lore (Ex): The wild defender has a +2 bonus on Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks.
Trackless Step (Ex): At 3rd level, the wild defender leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. He may choose to leave a trail if so desired.
Resist Nature’s Lure (Ex): At 4th level, the wild defender gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like abilities of fey.
Rebuke Nature (Su): When the wild defender reaches 6th level, he gains the ability to rebuke (but not command) creatures of nature, just as an evil cleric can rebuke undead. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. He rebukes nature as a cleric of three levels lower would turn undead. At 6th level, this ability only works on animals, but the wild defender gains control over a wider range of natural creatures as he gains levels.
Source: Dragon Magazine #324 (Page 95)