The Wildkeeper is what the corp sends when a settlement is six months out from the next supply drop and the local biology is the supply. They are not a Xenobiologist with a specimen jar; they are the person who lives in the field, who knows which xeno-flora will stop bleeding and which will stop the heart, who reads an alien ecosystem the way an Engineer reads schematics. The corp books them as an ecological specialist -- a category that exists because the alternative is sending specialists out and never seeing them again.
On the Kadiss, the Wildkeeper is logged as a biological surveyor. They are tracked because the corp wants to know where its field experts are and because their gene-trait library is a corporate asset. They are not flagged; they are catalogued. The gene-psion traits that occasionally surface in Wildkeeper lineages are catalogued separately and quietly.
Beast Empathy is the Wildkeeper's handshake with the non-human world: the gift (or curse) of being readable by alien fauna, of knowing when the predator is hungry versus territorial versus curious. Xeno-Flora Expertise turns a forest into a pharmacy, with the rider that half the pharmacy is a poison cabinet. Ecosystem Reading is the diagnostic: the Wildkeeper walks a site and tells you whether the water is safe, whether the radiation is elevated, whether the local biology has been touched by Fold. Frontier Remedy is what happens when there is no Sawbones and the surgery has to happen in the field.
Operating on the Support chassis (d8 HD, 3/4 BAB, Fort/Will good, Ref poor). WIS, CON, INT primes: the perception, the endurance, the mind. The Ref poor save is the cost of the work: the Wildkeeper is observant but not agile, and the megafauna does not care.
Archetype Niche: The wilderness ecologist. The Wildkeeper is the class that understands the whole system -- the alien flora that can save your life or end it, the megafauna that can be calmed or must be fled, and the ecosystem health that tells you whether a world is safe to settle. Where the Xenobiologist studies alien life from behind a specimen jar and the Sawbones patches up humans, the Wildkeeper lives in the space between: reading the land, brewing remedies from local plants, and convincing the local predators that lunch is elsewhere. Beast Empathy gives the Wildkeeper a social dimension that no other Academic/Support hybrid has -- they interact with the non-human world as fluently as the Face interacts with humans. Xeno-Flora Expertise and Frontier Remedy make them the party's field medic when no Sawbones is available. Ecosystem Reading turns the Wildkeeper into a living sensor suite for environmental hazards. Nature's Ally at level 13 lets the Wildkeeper call on the ecosystem itself as a weapon. Their signature tension is preservation vs. exploitation: the Wildkeeper understands alien ecosystems well enough to protect them or strip-mine them, and every frontier settlement forces that choice.
Multiclass Notes: Wildkeeper can multiclass with Scout, Ranger-Scout, Xenobotanist, and Xenobiologist archetypes. Non-humans use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Weapon Allowance: Simple firearms, All melee weapons (non-powered), Tranq rifles and dart guns, Nets, snares, and traps, Improvised natural weapons (cudgels, staves)
Level Table
Apprentice Naturalist
Field
Value
bab
0
fortitude
2
level
1
reflex
0
skillPoints
16
title
Apprentice Naturalist
will
2
xp
0
Field Naturalist
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
3
level
2
reflex
0
skillPoints
4
title
Field Naturalist
will
3
xp
1500
Journeyman Naturalist
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
3
level
3
reflex
1
skillPoints
4
title
Journeyman Naturalist
will
3
xp
3000
Wildkeeper
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
4
level
4
reflex
1
skillPoints
4
title
Wildkeeper
will
4
xp
6000
Senior Wildkeeper
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
4
level
5
reflex
1
skillPoints
4
title
Senior Wildkeeper
will
4
xp
12000
Frontier Wildkeeper
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
5
level
6
reflex
2
skillPoints
4
title
Frontier Wildkeeper
will
5
xp
24000
Senior Wildkeeper
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
5
level
7
reflex
2
skillPoints
4
title
Senior Wildkeeper
will
5
xp
48000
Master Wildkeeper
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
6
level
8
reflex
2
skillPoints
4
title
Master Wildkeeper
will
6
xp
90000
Ecology Warden
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
6
level
9
reflex
3
skillPoints
4
title
Ecology Warden
will
6
xp
135000
Xeno-Sage
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
7
level
10
reflex
3
skillPoints
4
title
Xeno-Sage
will
7
xp
250000
Senior Xeno-Sage
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
7
level
11
reflex
3
skillPoints
4
title
Senior Xeno-Sage
will
7
xp
625000
Frontier Loremaster
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
8
level
12
reflex
4
skillPoints
4
title
Frontier Loremaster
will
8
xp
1000000
Ecology Archon
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
8
level
13
reflex
4
skillPoints
4
title
Ecology Archon
will
8
xp
1375000
Nature's Voice
Field
Value
bab
10
fortitude
9
level
14
reflex
4
skillPoints
4
title
Nature's Voice
will
9
xp
1750000
Wildkeeper General
Field
Value
bab
11
fortitude
9
level
15
reflex
5
skillPoints
4
title
Wildkeeper General
will
9
xp
2125000
Ecology Sovereign
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
10
level
16
reflex
5
skillPoints
4
title
Ecology Sovereign
will
10
xp
2500000
Xeno-Sage Supreme
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
10
level
17
reflex
5
skillPoints
4
title
Xeno-Sage Supreme
will
10
xp
2875000
Frontier Archdruid
Field
Value
bab
13
fortitude
11
level
18
reflex
6
skillPoints
4
title
Frontier Archdruid
will
11
xp
3250000
Nature's Guardian
Field
Value
bab
14
fortitude
11
level
19
reflex
6
skillPoints
4
title
Nature's Guardian
will
11
xp
3625000
The Living Encyclopedia
Field
Value
bab
15
fortitude
12
level
20
reflex
6
skillPoints
4
title
The Living Encyclopedia
will
12
xp
4000000
Special Abilities
Beast Empathy
Field
Value
level
1
name
Beast Empathy
description: Communicate empathically with alien animals and beasts (INT 3 or lower). DC 10 + creature HD Handle Animal or Survival check, full-round action. Success: read the creature's emotional state (hostile, fearful, hungry, territorial, curious); project calm, making the creature indifferent for 1 minute per class level. Does not grant control -- a calmed predator will not attack unprovoked, but will defend itself. At level 6, issue simple commands to calmed beasts (flee, stay, follow, guard) DC 15. At level 12, empathic contact with up to WIS modifier (min 1) creatures simultaneously. At level 18, attempt permanent bond: DC 20 + creature HD over 1 hour uninterrupted contact creates a beast companion that obeys and advances as a cohort (HD = Wildkeeper level - 4). The handshake with the non-human world; the predator that does not attack is the predator that lets the survey continue.
Xeno-Flora Expertise
Field
Value
level
1
name
Xeno-Flora Expertise
description: Identify alien plants and fungi with a DC 10 + rarity Xenology check. On success: edible, medicinal, toxic, or inert; general properties (stimulant, sedative, antiseptic, hallucinogen, paralytic); known interactions with human biochemistry. Prepare improvised remedies: DC 15 Medicine + Xenology (lower modifier) over 1 hour produces a dose that heals 1d4 HP, cures mild toxin (DC 15 or lower), or grants +2 to one save vs environmental hazard for 1 hour. At level 8, 1d8+2 healing and +4 save. At level 14, prepare in 10 minutes and cure disease (DC 20 or lower) or neutralise poison (DC 25 or lower). The forest as pharmacy, with the rider that half the cabinet is poison.
Ecosystem Reading
Field
Value
level
3
name
Ecosystem Reading
description: 10 minutes observing local environment (animal behaviour, plant patterns, water, soil). DC 15 Survival or Xenology: water sources within 1 mile, hostile fauna presence (type and distance), habitability (toxins, radiation, hazards), ecosystem health (thriving, stressed, dying, corrupted). DC 20 also reveals Fold-tainted flora or fauna (mutations, emanations, distortions). At level 10, 5-mile range and approximate creature count and type. At level 16, move action and +5. The diagnostic that says whether the water is safe and whether the radiation is elevated and whether the local biology has been touched by Fold.
Frontier Remedy
Field
Value
level
5
name
Frontier Remedy
description: +2 to all Medicine checks in field medicine (no proper facilities). First aid (DC 15 Medicine to stabilise a dying creature) also restores 1d6+2 HP. Treat disease or poison: DC 20 Medicine grants +4 to the patient's next save vs the condition. At level 11, first aid 2d6+4 and +6 save bonus. At level 17, emergency surgery in the field: DC 25 Medicine over 1 hour removes one negative condition (disease, poison, ability damage) and restores 3d8+6 HP. What happens when there is no Sawbones.
Wild Lore
Field
Value
level
9
name
Wild Lore
description: +4 competence bonus to all Xenology and Survival related to alien flora, fauna, and ecosystems. 1 hour researching a specific species, DC 20 Xenology: full biology (diet, reproduction, lifespan, habitat), weaknesses (toxins, conditions, frequencies), uses (medicinal, nutritional, industrial, military), interactions with other species. Knowledge is cumulative -- the Wildkeeper builds a personal encyclopaedia. At level 14, research in 10 minutes. At level 19, DC 30 Xenology identifies completely unknown species. The corporate database the Wildkeeper carries in their head.
Nature's Ally
Field
Value
level
13
name
Nature's Ally
description: Once per day, call on the local ecosystem. In wilderness: a fauna swarm harassing enemies within 30 feet (Reflex DC 10 + half level + WIS or distracted, -2 attack 1d4 rounds); a sudden xeno-flora growth creating 20-foot difficult terrain; or a large predator arriving in 1d4 rounds and attacking the nearest hostile (companion rules, HD = level - 6). In settled environments, weaker: 1d4 small vermin or scavengers creating a distraction (Perception DC 15 to notice, -2 Perception for 1 round). At level 17, twice per day and predator HD = level - 4. At level 20, concentration as a free action directs the creature for up to 10 minutes.