Archetype - Guardian

## Protectors of the Natural World

The Guardian represents Characters in fiction who have a strong bond with the material world or an aspect of it, and strive to preserve and guard it against harm. They might be druids and witches who seek to protect the natural world, a shaman who revere certain aspects of the natural world, or Characters who have a spiritual connection with the spirits of the natural world. The ways your Guardian harnesses and interacts with nature defines them.

### Features

The Guardian draws power from the Natural Tradition of magic through they deep connection to the Natural World. This connection may be sometimes, but not always, represented by a Deity or a spiritual force of nature. As Guardians gain further levels they gain the ability to channel their connection to Nature to either request further aid from the natural world, empower an Animal Companion or become an Animal themselves.

### Recommended Ability Bonuses

* High Focus
* Good Endurance and/or Dexterity

### Alternate Names

* High Fantasy and Historic Settings: Druids
* Futuristic and Modern Settings: Guardians

## Level 0

In addition to the features your Character gains at Level 1, they gain the following for starting their adventure as a Guardian.

### Skill

* You gain the Lore or Survival Skill
	+ If you already have one of these Skills, you may choose any Skill of your Choice.

### Saving Throw Skills

* Skilled in Focus Saving Throws
* Skilled in Intelligence Saving Throws

### Weapon and Armor Training

* Trained in Simple Weapons.
* Trained in Light Armor, Medium Armor and Shields

### Cantrip

* You learn one Cantrip of your choice from the Natural Spell List.
* Focus is your Spellcasting Ability for this Spell.

## Level 1

### Increased Damage Limit

* Your Damage Limit increases by 5 for each level of this Archetype you have.

### Natural Language

* You learn the Natural Language.
	+ If you have already learned this Language, such as through an Ancestry feature, you learn two languages of your choice.
* Natural Language is a simple language consisting of a range of animalistic noises and gestures, ranging from grunts and chirrups to clicks and gestures.
* Understanding Natural Language grants the following benefits:
	+ Natural Language is understood by Animals, and may be used to communicate simple ideas with them using nouns, verbs and adjectives that would be encountered in the Natural World.
		- For example, "Castle" would become "Big Person Cave", and "Car" would become "Giant Fast Beetle".
	+ Many other Characters with close ties to the Natural World may understand Natural Language, such as Elementals, Dragons and other Guardians.
	+ The written Language of Natural Language consists of a series of symbols formed in Nature, such as arrangements of rocks, branches and leaves.
		- You recognize such symbols when you see them and you may leave such symbols to communicate messages to other speakers of this language. Similar to spoked Natural Language, you may only communicate Simple Ideas.
* You may wish to devise a Natural Language name for yourself for other speakers of the Language to know you by. A short phrase including a combination of five or less nouns, verbs or adjectives relating to Nature are common.
	+ For example, "Hunter of Sky and Sea", "Little Fire Monkey", "Bird from Stone Tree" etc

### Student of Nature

* Whenever you make a Lore or Survival Skill Check which relates to your knowledge of the Natural World, you may add one roll of your Support Die to the Result of the Check.

### Support Die

* At Level 1 your Support Die is a d4.
* This die represents your Character's ability to provide help and guidance to those around them.
* At levels 5, 9, 13 and 17 of Guardian, the Improved Support Die feature increases the size of your Support Die to a d6, d8, d10 and a d12 respectively.
	+ If you gain the Improved Support Die feature from another source (such as the Champion or Summoner Archetypes), increase the Support Die by one size category upto a maximum die size of a d12.

### Spellcasting: Natural

You have an empathic link with Nature and can use this bond to harness the latent power of the Natural World.

All Spells you learn through this Archetype, or the Themes granted by this Archetype may be referred to as Guardian Spells.

#### Cantrips

* Cantrips are a subset of Spells which you may use with the Cast a Spell Action without expending Mana.
* You learn one Cantrip of your choice from the Natural Spell List.
* You learn additional Cantrips from this list you gain levels in this Archetype, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Guardian Archetype features Table.
* You may change any number of Cantrips gained through this Archetype for other Cantrips on the Natural Spell List when you Level Up.

#### Mana

* Mana is a resource which Characters may expend to Cast levelled spells of between 1st and 5th Level.
* When you gain the Spellcasting feature, you have one Mana point.
	+ When you gain the Additional Mana feature from this Archetype, another Archetype or another Feature, your Mana increases by one. You cannot have more than 10 Mana.
* When you Cast a Spell of between 1st and 5th Level, you must expend an amount of Mana equal to the Spells level. The Spell fails if you are unable to provide sufficient Mana.
* You regain all expended Mana when you complete a Long Rest, or when you use the Recharge Action.
* You are able to use the Recharge Action twice. You regain the ability to use the Recharge Action twice after you complete a Long Rest.

#### Upcasting

* Some Spells grant additional benefits when additional Mana is spent during their Casting. This is referred to as Upcasting.
* The Maximum Mana you can spend on a Spell is equal to the Highest Spell Level you may learn (see Max Spell Level in the Archetype features Table)

#### Greater Spells

* You cannot expend Mana to Cast a Spell of 6th Level or higher.
* At 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th Level of this Archetype you gain the ability to Cast a Spell of 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Level respectively.
	+ You may also Upcast Spells of lower Level with this feature, Casting them as though you expended Mana equal to that Spell Level.
* You may Cast a Spell in this way once for each Spell Level described. You regain the ability to Cast Spells in this way when you complete a Long Rest.

#### Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

* You may know up to two Spells at a time, and you may choose these Spells from the Natural Spell list.
* The number of Spells you may know at any time increases as you gain levels in this Archetype.
* Whenever you gain the Additional Spell Known feature from this Archetype or another Archetype or feature, you may learn an additional Spell, and you may choose this Spell from the Natural Spell List.
	+ For New Players, we recommend that whenever you may learn an additional Spell, you learn a Spell of the highest Spell Level available to you (see Additional Spellcasting Rules for Guardians).

#### Spellcasting Ability

* Focus is your Spellcasting Ability for your Guardian Spells. Your magic comes from your empathic connections with the forces of the Natural world.
* You use your Focus whenever a spell refers to your Spellcasting Ability.
* In addition, you use your Focus Bonus when setting the Saving Throw DC for a Guardian Spell you cast and when making an Attack roll for such a Spell.
	+ Spell save DC = 8 + your Skill Bonus + your Focus Bonus
	+ Spell Attack Bonus = your Skill Bonus + your Focus Bonus

#### Ritual Casting

* You can Cast any Spell you have learned as a Ritual if that Spell has the ritual tag.
* The Duration to Cast a Ritual is the Spell's usual casting time plus 10 minutes.
* When you Cast a Spell as a Ritual you do not expend Mana.
	+ Casting a Spell as a Ritual requires you maintain Concentration on the Spell throughout performing the Ritual.

#### Additional Spellcasting Rules for Guardians

##### Maximum Spell Level

* The maximum level of a Spell you may learn through this Archetype is equal to half your Spellcasting level rounded up, up to a maximum of 9th level.

##### Changing Spells Known

* Whenever you level up, you may change any number of Spells learned through this Archetype for other Spells you may learn from the Natural Spell List.
* These Natural Spells may be of any Spell Level available to you through this Archetype, but we recommend having a balanced number of Spells from each Level.

##### Daily Spell Preparation

* In addition to changing your learned Spells when they Level Up, when you complete a Long Rest you may change one Natural Spell you know for another you could learn at their current Level.

**Spellcasting Focus: Natural Objects**

* You may use a Spellcasting Focus whenever a costless material component is required to perform a Guardian Spell.
* Guardian may use any objects which represent their connection to the Natural World.
	+ Wooden Staves, wands and branches are common in fantasy and medieval settings, while in modern and futuristic settings these objects take the form of crystals or tomes of natural knowledge.
* Choose a physical object which may be easily held in one hand which would act as a Spellcasting focus for your Guardian Spells.
	+ You may not choose a Weapon or an object you may wear such as a Shield or item as a Spellcasting Focus unless a feature specifically grants you that ability.
* You may have only one Spellcasting Foci, and you may change the objects representing your Spellcasting Foci at the end of a Long Rest.
* If you lose a Spellcasting Foci, you may replace it by performing a 10 minute Ritual in which you prepare another suitable object for the task.
	+ Whether an object is deemed suitable or not as a Spellcasting Focus is at the GM's discretion.

## Level 2

### Additional Mana and Spell Known

* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

### Will

* You gain a resource called Will Points, which represent your profound connection to the Natural World to create extraordinary effects, such as those granted by your Natural Bond feature.
* When you gain this feature you have two Will Points.
* You regain all Will when you finish either a Long or Short Rest.
	+ You may only gain the benefits of a Short Rest twice, after which you must take a Long Rest to gain further benefits from a Short Rest.
* The maximum amount of Will Points you have increases whenever you gain the Additional Will feature from this Archetype, or from another Archetype, or from a Theme which also grants this feature.

### Natural Bond

* At Level 2 you gain one of the following Features due to your dedication to the forces of the natural world: Wild Shape, Wild Intervention or Wild Companion.

#### Wild Shape

* As a Minor Action, you may expend one or more Will Points to transform into a Small or Medium Sized Animal (your choice).
* Your Animal Form has a Damage Limit equal to 10 times the number of Will Points expended, and you remain as an Animal for a number of hours equal to the number of Will Points expended, or until the Animal Form exceeds it's Damage Limit. You may also as a Minor Action choose to end the Form.
	+ While you are in an Animal Form and you take Damage, the Damage is taken by your Animal Form instead of you.
	+ If Damage dealt to you exceeds your Animal Form's Damage Limit, you take any remaining Damage.
	+ If you have Temporary Hit Points, these Hit Points are reduced before your Animal Form takes Damage.
	+ If an effect Targeting you would reduce your Damage, this effect instead reduces your the Animal Form's Damage.
* Additionally, for each Will Point expended when you use the Wild Shape feature, you may choose to gain an Animal Ability from the list presented at the end of this Archetype. These Animal Abilities represent additional features you gain due to the specific type of Animal you transform into (see Animal Abilities).
* While in your Animal Form, you also gain the following Benefits:
	+ Your Creature Type changes to Beast.
	+ You may use your Focus Bonus whenever you would ordinarily use your Strength, Dexterity or Endurance Bonus, such as to determine your Armor Class, determine the amount of Damage you may Endure or when you make an Attack, Skill Check or Saving Throw which relies on one of these Abilities.
		- Unless you are wearing Armor fitted to the Animal Form, your Armor Class is as follows:
			* **Animal Armor Class** = 8 + Dexterity Bonus or Focus Bonus (your choice)
	+ You may make an Unarmed Strike using any natural weapons available to animals, including teeth, claws, limbs, wings and tails.
		- You may choose the Damage Type used when you Hit a Target with an Unarmed Strike, choosing any Physical Damage Type (Piercing, Bludgeoning or Slashing Damage).
		- Additionally the Damage Rating of these Unarmed Strikes is equal to half your Support Die's Maximum Value (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 for a d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12 respectively)
* While in your Animal Form, you have the following Restrictions:
	+ You cannot Cast Spells while in this form, but you may maintain Concentration on Spells you Cast before entering this form and perform Actions and Minor Actions to trigger the effects of those Spells.
	+ Your Equipment is all dropped or merges to become part of you (your choice. Items which may be worn by the form chosen move to locations which may be worn by the new form.
		- You are unable to wield weapons, shields or use tools while in this form.
		- You are unable to wear armor while in this form, unless the armor has been specifically designed to be worn by the Animal you transformed into (e.g. Barding for a Horse).
* While in your Animal Form, the following aspects of your Character are specifically unchanged:
	+ You retain the ability to Speak and Understand languages.
	+ Your Size Category (unless an Animal Ability specifically changes this)
	+ You retain your Skills and Saving Throw Skills while in this form.
	+ You retain your Archetype and Ancestry Features, including Movement Speed bonuses.

#### Wild Companion

* You gain the Basic Feat: Animal Companion.
	+ If you already have this Feat, you instead gain the benefits of a Minor Improvement:
		- You may Train one Ability or choose one Basic Feat from the Basic Feats Section.
			* You may not increase an Ability Bonus above +3 with this feature.
* Additionally, your Animal Companion gains the benefits of the Wild Shape feature. It may use this feature when you as a Minor Action Command it to do so.
	+ Using the feature in this way expend your Will, and where the feature refers to using an Focus Bonus or Support Die, use your Character's.

#### Nature's Intervention

* You may call on Nature to assist in the Casting of a Spell, allowing you to exceed the limits of your own Spellcasting.
* When you Cast a Guardian Spell of 1st Level or Higher, you may expend one Will Points to increase the Level at which the Spell is Cast, granting it the benefits of being Upcast at a higher Level.
	+ For each Will Point expended, the Spell's Level increases by one. You may use this feature to exceed the maximum Spell Level you may usually Cast a Guardian Spell at.
* When you Cast a Spell in this way, you also gain the following benefits:
	+ The Spell is channeled through Nature itself. You do not need to provide Somatic, Verbal or Uncostly Material Components for Spells which benefit from the Nature's Intervention feature.
	+ Additionally, if the Spell has a range other than Self, you may choose a point within 30ft of you which you can see from which the Spell originates. Treat the Spell as having been Cast as though you were in at the chosen point.

## Level 3

### Theme

* At Level 3 you may choose a Theme compatible with this Archetype, such as the Life Theme.
* At Levels 6, 10 and 14 the Theme Improvement feature unlocks additional benefits from this Theme.

### Additional Mana and Spell Known

* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 4

### Major Improvement

* You may either: Increase an Ability Bonus by 1; Train Two Abilities; Train One Ability and Gain a Basic Feat; or Choose one Advanced Feat
	+ You cannot increase an Ability Bonus to higher than +5 at this level.

### Additional Cantrip, Mana and Spell Known

* You learn one additional Cantrip from the Natural Spell List.
* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 5

### Improved Support Die

* Your Support Die increases from a d4 to a d6.

### Additional Will, Mana and Spell Known

* Your Will Point Maximum increases by one.
* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 6

### Theme Improvement

* You unlock the 6th Level Features of a Theme you gained from this Archetype.

### Additional Mana and Spell Known

* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 7

### Additional Mana and Spell Known

* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

### Improved Natural Bond

* At 7th Level your Natural Bond feature gains the following improvements.

#### Improved Wild Shape

* While you are in your Animal Form, you may as a Minor Action expend one or more Mana to reduce the Damage taken by your Animal Form by an amount equal to a number of rolls of your Support Die equal to the amount of Mana expended.

#### Improved Wild Companion

* While your Animal Companion is within 30ft of you, you may as a Minor Action expend one or more Mana to reduce the Damage taken by them by an amount equal to a number of rolls of your Support Die equal to the amount of Mana expended.

#### Improved Nature's Intervention

* As an Action, you may expend one Will Point to replace one Spell you have learned through this Archetype with another Spell from the Natural Tradition.

## Level 8

### Major Improvement

* You may either: Increase an Ability Bonus by 1; Train Two Abilities; Train One Ability and Gain a Basic Feat; or Choose one Advanced Feat
	+ You cannot increase an Ability Bonus to higher than +5 at this level.

### Additional Cantrip, Mana and Spell Known

* You learn one additional Cantrip from the Natural Spell List.
* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 9

### Improved Support Die

* Your Support Die increases from a d6 to a d8.

### Additional Will, Mana and Spell Known

* Your Will Point Maximum increases by one.
* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 10

### Theme Improvement

* You unlock the 10th Level Features of a Theme you gained from this Archetype.

### Additional Mana and Spell Known

* Your Mana Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 11

### Greater Spell: 6th Level

* You may Cast a 6th Level Spell you know, or Upcast a lower level Spell at that Level.
* You may Cast a Spell in this way once, and you regain the ability to do this again when you complete a Long Rest.

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 12

### Major Improvement

* You may either: Increase an Ability Bonus by 1; Train Two Abilities; Train One Ability and Gain a Basic Feat; or Choose one Advanced Feat
	+ You cannot increase an Ability Bonus to higher than +5 at this level.

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 13

### Improved Support Die

* Your Support Die increases from a d8 to a d10.

### Additional Will and Spell Known

* Your Will Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

### Greater Spell: 7th Level

* You may Cast a 7th Level Spell you know, or upcast a lower level Spell at that Level.
* You may Cast a Spell in this way once, and you regain the ability to do this again when you complete a Long Rest.

## Level 14

### Theme Improvement

* You unlock the 14th Level Features of a Theme you gained from this Archetype.

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 15

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

### Greater Spell: 8th Level

* You may Cast an 8th Level Spell you know, or upcast a lower level Spell at that Level.
* You may Cast a Spell in this way once, and you regain the ability to do this again when you complete a Long Rest.

### Improved Natural Bond

* Your Natural Bond feature gains one of the following benefits:

#### Improved Wild Shape

* As a Minor Action, you may swap one Ability granted by the Wild Shape feature for another on from the Animal Abilities list, provided neither of the Abilities cause a change in your Size Category.

#### Improved Wild Companion

* As a Minor Action, you may swap one Ability granted by the Wild Shape feature for another on from the Animal Abilities list, provided neither of the Abilities cause a change in their Size Category.

#### Improved Nature's Intervention

* When you use Nature's Intervention to replace a Spell you know, you may Cast the Spell you gain as part of the same Action, provided the Spell requires either an Action or a Minor Action to Cast (expend the required Mana as usual).

## Level 16

### Major Improvement

* You may either: Increase an Ability Bonus by 1; Train Two Abilities; Train One Ability and Gain a Basic Feat; or Choose one Advanced Feat
	+ You cannot increase an Ability Bonus to higher than +5 at this level.

### Additional Cantrip and Spell Known

* You learn one additional Cantrip from the Natural Spell List.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 17

### Improved Support Die

* Your Support Die increases from a d10 to a d12.

### Greater Spell: 9th Level

* You may Cast a 9th Level Spell you know, or upcast a lower level Spell at that Level.
* You may Cast a Spell in this way once, and you regain the ability to do this again when you complete a Long Rest.

### Additional Will and Spell Known

* Your Will Point Maximum increases by one.
* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 18

### Rebirth

* Your bond with Nature allows it to intervene in your passing.
* When you Die, if you wish you may choose for your Character to be Reincarnated, as though the Reincarnate Spell were Cast on them by Nature itself.
* The effects of the Spell take place 1 hour after your Character Died.
* You may use this feature once, and may only do so again after completing a Long Rest.

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 19

### Major Improvement

* You may either: Increase an Ability Bonus by 1; Train Two Abilities; Train One Ability and Gain a Basic Feat; or Choose one Advanced Feat
	+ You cannot increase an Ability Bonus to higher than +5 at this level.

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

## Level 20

### Additional Spell Known

* The number of Spells you may know at a time increases by one.

### Champion of Nature

* At Level 20 your Bond with Nature is at it's strongest. You gain the following benefits to your Natural Bond:

#### Improved Wild Shape and Wild Companion

* You gain access to the Kaiju Animal Ability.

#### Improved Nature's Intervention

* You may draw directly from the vast power of Nature to conserve your own Mana.
* When you Cast a Guardian Spell of 8th Level or Less, you may expend Will Points to decrease the required Mana for that Spell.
	+ For each Will Point expended, decrease the amount of Mana required for the Spell by one.
	+ The Spell still counts as being Cast at it's original Spell Level for the purposes of features which depend upon the Spell Level which it is Cast at.

### Epic Improvement

* You may either: Increase an Ability Bonus by 1; Train Two Abilities; Train One Ability and Gain a Basic Feat; or Choose one Epic Feat

## Animal Abilities

The Animal Abilities list below represents the Animal Abilities you may choose from when you, or your Animal Companion, uses the Wild Shape feature.

For each Will Point you expended when you used the Wild Shape feature, you may choose an Ability from the below list.

Some Abilities require you achieve a certain level of Guarding first. Some require you choose other Abilities as part of the Wild Shape feature.

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## Copyright Notice

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

## Credit this Work

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This work includes material taken from "7e” by Peter Rees and materials taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Both "7e" and the "SRD5.1" are Licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode