Wild Defender

Wild Defenders are a Variant Class for the 3.0 version of the Ranger hidden in the pages of Dragon Magazine #324. Whilst rangers have often been associated with druids by D&D fans, often in a similar manner to paladins being associated with clerics, none make that as explicit as the Wild Defender; a holy warrior who reveres the divinity of nature, either in itself or through the lens of a patron wilderness god/dess, and so dedicates their life to its defense, both alone and in the company of druids and Wild Monks.

Mechanically, a Wild Defender uses the ranger base class, but sacrifices the Favored Enemy, Bonus Feats, Combat Style, Camouflage and Hide in Plain Sight class features, instead gaining he following. Oh, and it also has a mandatory alignment of Neutral Good or any Ethically Neutral (Lawful-Chaotic Neutral).

• Smite Evil: As per the Paladin, 1/day from 1st level, +1 use at every 5th level (5, 10, 15, 20).
• Natural Lore (Ex): +2 bonus to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival checks, 1st level.
• Trackless Step (Ex): From 3rd level, the wild defender only leaves a trackable trail in a natural surrounding if they want to do so.
• Resist Nature's Lure (Ex): From 4th level, the wild defender gains a +4 bonus to saves against the spell-like abilities of fey creatures.
• Rebuke Nature (Su): From 6th level, a wild defender can Rebuke Nature, which is basically Rebuke Undead, but it only affects animals. This can be done (3 + Charisma modifier) times per day, and the wild defender treats their ranger level as being -3 for comparison to a cleric rebuking undead. They gain the ability to rebuke vermin at 8th level, plants at 12th level, fey at 14th level, oozes at 18th level, and elementals at 20th level.

Wild defenders do gain the following ranger abilities at the indicated levels - Wild Empathy (1), Woodland Stride (2), Animal Companion (5), Evasion (11).