New Class - The Warden

[SmootRK]

I have no problem with HD increasing. A fighter's HP is not all physical brawn, but a rough measurement of combat prowess/luck/etc. all rolled together. In a similar fashion any creature can get boosted.

That said, for another set of ideas on companions, you can take a look at the Familiars Supplement in the Showcase area. I did not base it off any prior work directly, so it has some unique ideas that you might utilize.

[merias]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I've incorporated some of these and updated the links to R3 in the first post. Here is a summary of changes:

- Changed HD progression from a fighter's d8 per level to d6 per level, but with 2d6 at first level. This gives Wardens a chance at a few extra HP at 1st and 2nd levels, and is more in line with the classic Ranger I was trying to emulate.
- Reduced animal companion HD from a range of 1-5. As others have mentioned, increasing HD given the abstract nature of classic D&D combat is not unreasonable, but this cuts it back a bit.
- Incorporated the track/move silently/hide percentage table from the Rangers and Paladins supplement, although I increased the chances at low levels, while keeping the point spreads the same between levels. With a 20% penalty in urban environments, this at least gives low level Wardens a small chance of success when not outdoors.
- Incorporated the bow specializations as per the Combat Options supplement. I really like this as it scales with the Warden's level, as opposed to a simple +1.
- Reduced the effectiveness of the healing poultices.