Identity
The Path of the Wild is the oldest Berserker tradition still practiced in inhabited space, predating the Federation and surviving in every backwater the Federation never quite reached. Its walkers grow up alongside beasts — sometimes literally, in feral colony-creches; sometimes ritually, through frontier coming-of-age rites; sometimes by accident, in the long survival weeks after a ship goes down. They wear pelt and bone, sharpen their teeth, and over years their bodies start to listen. The iconic Path of the Wild walker is a primal warrior of one of the unaligned Frontier worlds, half wolf and half human at the edges, but the same path is walked by Vanir shamans, Zyrrak hunt-elders who tipped past predator into pure animal, and Drownside beast-tamers whose tamed beasts began returning the favor.
Features
- L3 Wild Aspect
Choose one beast-aspect that has bonded to you. Your choice is permanent; it shapes the path. Options: • **Claws of the Hunter** — Your unarmed strikes count as natural weapons that deal 1d6 slashing damage and use your Strength modifier. They are considered melee weapon attacks for the purposes of Rage, Extra Attack, and similar features. • **Eye of the Hawk** — You gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. At long range (beyond 60 ft), you do not suffer disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks against creatures you can see clearly in bright or natural light. • **Fur of the Bear** — You have resistance to cold damage. Additionally, you can ignore the first 5 ft of difficult terrain on each of your turns and you have advantage on saving throws against environmental cold. You can change your Wild Aspect during a long rest spent in wilderness contact (a forest, an open void with stars visible, a death-world ridge) at the GM's discretion.
- L7 Pack Leader
Beasts read you correctly. You have advantage on Wisdom (Animal Handling) and Charisma (Intimidation) checks made against any creature of the Beast type. Non-hostile beasts of CR equal to or less than your proficiency bonus will not attack you unprovoked, and you can issue simple commands (one or two words) to friendly beasts as a free action on your turn. Additionally, if you have a beast companion, mount, or other animal ally under your command, it gains temporary HP equal to your Berserker level whenever you enter Rage.
- L11 Wild Companion
Once per long rest, you can call a beast to fight beside you. As an action, you summon a Beast of CR equal to half your Berserker level (rounded down, minimum CR 1) within 30 ft of you. The beast is friendly to you and your allies, rolls its own initiative, and acts on its turn under your command. It vanishes after 1 hour, when it is reduced to 0 HP, or when you dismiss it as a bonus action. The beast's form should be appropriate to your Wild Aspect and to the location it is summoned in (a void-wolf in space, a frontier hill-cat in wilderness, etc.).
- L15 Primal Form
While raging, you can spend a bonus action to enter a **Half-Form**: a partial transformation into the beast that bonded to you. Until the Rage ends or you dismiss the form as a free action, your size increases by one category (up to Large), your walking speed increases by 10 ft, your natural weapons (or, if you do not have Claws of the Hunter, your unarmed strikes) deal 1d10 slashing damage, and you gain a climb speed equal to your walking speed. You can still wield weapons and use equipment in Half-Form, but armor that does not accommodate the size change is treated as ill-fitting (no AC benefit). You can enter Half-Form once per Rage.
- L18 Beast of Legend
Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can fully transform into the **Beast of Legend** that has been growing inside you. For 1 minute, you become a Large or Huge beast appropriate to your Wild Aspect (a colossal direwolf for Claws, a stormhawk for Eye, a great void-bear for Fur). While transformed: • Your HP maximum increases by 4 × your Berserker level for the duration; lost HP are restored from this pool first. • Your natural weapon attacks deal 2d10 slashing or piercing damage and you gain Multiattack (two attacks per Attack action) in addition to the Berserker's Extra Attack — for a total of three attacks per Attack action. • Your walking speed becomes 50 ft and you gain a climb speed and a swim speed of the same value. • You have advantage on Strength checks and saves, and your Strength score becomes 22 if it was lower. • You can speak only with other beasts; you understand languages spoken to you but cannot reply in them. The form ends early if you fall unconscious, if your Rage ends, or if you dismiss it as a free action. When the form ends, any temporary HP from the form are lost and any damage taken is subtracted from your normal HP up to your normal maximum.