Malar, the Beastlord

Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Domains: Animal [Fur], Chaos, Evil [Cannibalism], Hunting, Moon, Panther, Strength, Vulture, Wolf, Wrath.
Favored Weapon: Claw Bracer.

Malar is the god of the savage wild, and lord of the Hunt. Along with Umberlee and Auril, he is one of the Gods of Fury subservient to Talos, patrons of those who revel in the kill or who hunt for sport or to excess, humanoid-hunting rangers, sentient carnivores, and evil lycanthropes. Those who suffer the depredations of wild beasts attempt to placate the Beastlord with offerings of freshly killed and bloody meat, but Malar rarely recognizes their entreaties. In his more favorable aspects he is revered by beings who identify with the untamed nature, grace, and amorality of predators.

Malar achieves almost sensual fulfillment from the hunt and the kill. He revels in the fear radiated by the hunted and hungers for the blood of his prey. He speaks only in low growling undertone or vicious snarl. The Lord of Beasts does not seek to destroy nature, but rather to dominate it. He despises the altruistic druids of the Green Faith and their deities and seeks to overthrow them, believing that the proper balance in nature is one where the strong survive and cull the weak.

Dogma: The strong must winnow the weak, and exult in the doing if they are to survive and achieve dominance of the pack that society truly is under the polite veneer it maintains. Taste the blood of those you slay and never kill from a distance. The glory and danger in the hunt should be told to all in grand tales. Work against woodcutters, farmers, and all fools who seek to cut back the forest and slay beasts because they are dangerous. Suffer not to live those who believe not in survival of the strong, but in a weak-minded balance that allows the inferior to survive and often to rule. Slay not pregnant wild creatures, young wild creatures, or deepspawns so that dire beasts to hunt may always be plentiful.

For Deific Obedience

Obedience: Under the night sky, stalk and hunt a creature that you’ve deemed your prey. If you succeed in capturing your quarry, you must sacrifice it by tearing or slicing its throat and feeding on the still-warm life’s blood. Gain a profane bonus on saving throws of +4 during a full moon, +3 during a waxing or waning moon, or +2 during a new moon.

Boons
1: Moonshadow (Sp) keen senses 3/day, darkvision 2/day, or rage 1/day
2: Choose one of these boons; once you have chosen it cannot be changed:

• Lunatic Potency (Su) The light of the moon fills your spells with maddening power and opens your heart to pure and primal rage. The DC of spells and spell-like abilities you cast under the light of the moon increase by 1, and you are healed of an amount of damage equal to the spell’s level as the spell is cast. During nights of the full moon, spells with the fear or emotion descriptor have their save DCs increased by 2 and you are healed of an amount of damage equal to twice the spell’s level when you cast such a spell.
• Beast Within (Su) You contract lycanthropy and become a werewolf (even if you couldn’t normally gain that template). If you are already a werewolf, you become a true lycanthrope. If you are already a true lycanthrope, you gain a +2 bonus to your Dexterity score and a 10-foot increase to your base speed in your hybrid or animal form.

3: Gain one of these boons based on your second choice

• Howl at the Moon (Su) If you chose Lunatic Prophecy, you take on aspects of the wolf — you become more rugged, your ears become elongated, and you sprout sharp fangs and fur. You gain a +2 profane bonus to your Strength, the scent ability, and a +4 bonus on trip combat maneuvers checks. You gain a bite natural attack that deals damage appropriate to your size (1d6 if you are Medium). As a swift action or whenever you hit with a bite attack, you can attempt combat maneuver to trip your foe; this trip attempt does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
• Lupine Champion (Su) If you chose Beast Within, you can use your lycanthropic change shape ability as a swift action. You become a true lycanthrope if you were an afflicted lycanthrope. If you are already a true lycanthrope, your natural armor bonus increases by 2 in your hybrid and animal form, or it increases by 6 when you’re not wearing armor. In addition, you gain the pounce ability when in your hybrid form (whether you are a true lycanthrope or not), but only when you make attacks with natural weapons.

For Followers of Malar

Archetypes: Feral Hunter (Hunter), Feykiller (Hunter), Moon Stalker† (Druid), Shapeshifter (Ranger), Unshackled Rager† (Bloodrager).

Specialty Priest: Talon† (Druid)

• Gain proficiency in the claw bracer; they are treated as having the Two-Weapon Fighting feat with these bracers.
• They lose proficiency with any ranged weapon; they cannot later gain these proficiencies from multiclassing.
• They are forbidden from killing at a distance, and forbidden from killing the young, and will have to atone if they resort to doing either.
• They lose the Animal Empathy ability, and instead gain the UnRanger’s Survivalist ability at the same level.

Divine Fighting Technique: Black Blood Stalker

Feats: Conversion Channel, Fearsome Finish, Nightmare Scars, Merciless Rush, Nimble Natural Summons, Shatter Resolve,

Magic Items

• Armor: Fangtide Scale Mail
• Item Sets: Garb of the Hunting Cat
  • Mask of the Tiger – Face
  • Claw Gloves – Hands
  • Mantle of the Predator – Shoulders
    COLLECTION BENEFITS The garb of the hunting cat provides you with a deadly rending attack and the power to disappear from sight. When wearing the entire garb of the hunting cat, you take on the appearance of a humanoid feline predator during combat. When this occurs, the fur on the various items appears to be that of a living creature, making you appear something like a bestial rakshasa or weretiger.
    2 Pieces: If, during your turn, you hit a single foe with both a primary claw glove attack and an off-hand claw glove attack, the second attack rends, dealing an extra 3d6 points of damage. You can rend only once per round.
    3 Pieces: Once per day, you can use invisibility on yourself (CL 3rd) as a standard use-activated action.
• Ring: Gluttonous Feasting Ring
• Weapons: Claw Bracers of the Hunter
• Wondrous Items: Belt of the Snake King, Broken Chain of the Beast

Prestige Classes: Arcane Devotee, Divine Champion, Divine Disciple, Divine Scion (Unchained).

Spells: Monstrous Extremities

Traits: Beastlord’s Rage, Bestial Wrath, Blessing of the Feast, Child of Nature, Eyes of the Wild, Fatal Trapper, Know the Land, Natural Philosopher, Strength’s Fanfare, Strong Willed, The Flexing Arm, Voice of Monsters, Wise Teacher, Wolf Cub.

Unique Spell Rules

• Baleful Polymorph can be prepared as a 4th-level Cleric or Ranger spell
• Summon Nature’s Ally can be prepared at appropriate spell levels for all divine casters.
  

Unique Summons

• Summon Monster VII: Beast of Malar (Hunting Panther Form or Claw Slayer Form)
• Summon Nature’s Ally VII: Beast of Malar (Hunting Panther Form or Claw Slayer Form)
• Divine casters of Malar may summon animals with the Fiendish Simple Template using Nature’s Ally spells with a spell level adjustment of +1.

Clergy and Temples

Clergy of Malar indulge in hunting as often as possible and strive to route the hunt to make it as dangerous as possible, so that its finale (the killing of the quarry) takes place in a settled area so that the Malarites can demonstrate their superiority. Common folk who do not appreciate having desperate leucrotta, wolves, displacer beasts, and the like chased through town tend to fear Malarite clergy members — which is the whole idea: Those who do not venerate the Lord of Beasts should respect him out of fear.

In the lands of Cormyr, however, Malar is tolerated as the god of the Hunt, and many nobles pray to Him during their hunting. The clergy in this Royal Country foster this image as they are legally allowed to practice their faith. Many huntsmen of Malar, rather than driving their pray into settled areas, bring their kills to share the meat with the townsfolk in order to cultivate further worship. Malar has shrines in several communities as a result. High Hunts, however are forbidden in the bounds of Cormyr — this doesn’t mean they don’t happen, but it does mean they aren’t openly held, and any Huntsmen caught hosting such a ceremony will be swiftly punished by the Crown, with no intervention made on the behalf of the church.

By Malar’s command, his worshipers must celebrate at least one High Hunt in each of the four seasons of the year. A High Hunt is a sporting event attended by all Malarite clergy members able to walk. They wear boots and headpieces made from the skulls or heads of beasts they have personally slain, and each wields only a single knife or the claws of Malar. Their quarry—a sentient humanoid, usually an elven male—who is set free in a wooded area (or extensive cavern complex if necessary) ringed by Malarite clergy members. The quarry is armed and armored with all the nonmagical items he or she desires that can reasonably be obtained—and then hunted to death for the glory of Malar. However, if the prey escapes the boundaries of the hunt (set up at its beginning) within a day and a night or survives until the sun has cleared the horizon on the morning after the hunt begins, he or she wins freedom, can never be so hunted again, and can ask any boon of the Huntmaster that is within his or her power and does not involve the death of a Malarite.