Creating a Shapeshifter Class - Help and Advice Needed!


Homebrew and House Rules


Warning: Long post incoming. (A tldr is at the bottom).

Hello all. I come to you in hopes of a healthy conversation about creating a class revolved around shapeshifting. I am in the early stages of its creation and would have love it to be an involved process with any of you that are interested. However, if anyone feels like this all can be reasonably accomplished through existing material, I would love to hear those ideas as well.

PREAMBLE (skip to "CONCEPT" if you don't care about my background/motivation): I am a huge fan of shapeshifting, always have been. Druids are awesome for it, but I have always wanted a class revolved purely around shapeshifting. I have come across some 3rd party stuff and some archetypes that get close, but I have some specific concepts in mind and I think they might warrant a new class.

CONCEPT: I want to build a martial focused shapeshifting class, who gets a single chosen form at level one, allowing them to swap between this animal form and their humanoid form at will. Imagine an animorph, or animagus from Harry Potter, or Haku from Spirited away, etc. I think their primary means of combat will come from being in the form. I haven't decided if they should get weak spell casting or not. As it progresses, it will unlock more shapeshifting and other abilities based on Origin (see point "THREE" below).

I am bringing together the skeleton of the class currently but I wanted to start this discussion ASAP. Four things I am currently looking at (number "FOUR" being the most important).

ONE: Should the main form follow regular wild shape rules, or should it be more like D&D shapechanging (gaining physical stats, keeping mental), or should it be some kind of set progression regardless of form (like an animal companion or eidolon)? I tend to lean towards the third option, but I would love to hear thoughts.

TWO: What HD and BAB do I give the class?

THREE: I created this concept of Origin. Upon taking the first level in Shapeshifter, the player must select an Origin that defines how they obtained their abilities and how the will grow. A few examples: Fey/Changeling/Draconic Ancestry (the ability is in their blood), Spirit Touched (they are a spirit guardian of a forest, or transform into their spirit animal, etc), and Cursed/Blessed Beast (they player was once an animal, but has been blessed/cursed into greater intelligence and a humanoid form). Then, at certain levels throughout their progression (the same for all Shapeshifters) they will gain some new abilities based on their Origin. This is mechanically similar to a Cleric domain or the like.

***FOUR: Concerns with a one level dip in this class being absurdly strong. This is the one I want the most help with currently. I am trying to come up with a way to give the class its chosen form at level one, without letting a class (lets say Rogue) take one level dip (choosing rat/owl) and become the greatest scout ever. Way too much utility there for a single dip. I have thought of time duration and the like, but if possible I would really like the class to be able to transform to their chosen form at will. One possible solution (and potentially interesting mechanic) I came up with was: "Whenever transforming into the chosen form, the player must make a Will save or succumb to a more bestial nature. The player is still in partial control of themselves, but their thought process and desires are more governed by the animal they have become than by their previous humanoid self. The extent of this can be decided by the player and DM. *Example: A human shapeshifter has chosen hawk form, deciding he wants to be a scout. At some point, the party wants to see what is over some low rolling hills but doesn't want to be spotted. The shapeshifter transforms into his form (hawk), intent on flying over the hills to scout. However, he fails his Will save. Now, he remembers that he has a human form, and a party, but right now all he cares about is finding a large rat or rabbit and sinking his talons into it.* The shapeshifter can attempt the Will save again if/when/after *insert stipulation here*." I think this is a cool idea to be explored more. The DC could decrease with levels in the class (making it much more of a gamble for a single level dip) or the Will save retry could become more frequent with levels (again discouraging a single level dip). I am open to any suggestions though, as I could see this being potentially frustrating (though potentially very fun as well). Thoughts?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for sticking with me through it. Here is a summary:

TLDR: I want a shapeshifting focused class, primarily based around changing into one single form. Ideally, changing to and from will be at will. The class will gain more thematically appropriate shapeshifting skills as it progresses. A concept of Origin might be introduced, detailing how the character got his powers and how they will manifest as he grows (see point "THREE" above). My main concern currently is that a one level dip to get an alternate form at will is absurdly strong (i.e. a rogue transforming into a rat at will with only a one level dip). I would like advice on how to combat this issue, adding some drawbacks or shortcomings of the ability early on. I proposed a potential solution, involving a Will save to stay on task while in animal form, that gets easier to beat/manage as you progress. Thoughts?


ONE: I'd think that you'd want it to be its own kind of shapeshifting. It's not nearly as cool if a Druid or Wizard can effectively pull off the same trick with a single spell from their massive spell-list. Something like the animal companion or eidolon progression would work well, in my opinion.

TWO: Since you envision it as a martial class, I'd be inclined to give it a d10HD and full BAB. As for weak spell casting? I'd probably allow it, with similar progression to a Paladin or Ranger, but with it's own spell list (possibly with bonus spells to the spell list based on Origin?). I do think that it needs to be spontaneous casting, *not* prepared.

THREE: I think is where things could get really fun. Origin could affect spells available, bonus shapes (Fey/Changeling ancestry might get more shapes sooner, Draconic might get additional spell-casting, cursed/blessed might get abilities that put them more in touch with their animal form, etc.)

FOUR: I need to think more about it, but I wonder if something similar to Druid restrictions might work best in terms of making a one-level dip inadvisable.

One of those things where, once you no longer follow the "rules" of this class, you lose access to the abilities? You'd probably want it to be something that encompasses both weapon use, armor wearing, and spell-casting.

Maybe something like:

Wild Form Reliance - Shapeshifters gain their abilities from being in touch with their primal side. As such, the more they rely on manufactured tools, armor, or spellcraft, the harder it is for them to shift form. If a Shapeshifter uses a weapon other than natural weapons, wears armor that contains metal, or has cast an arcane or divine spell (OPTIONAL if you include spell casting: that isn't from the Shapeshifter Spell List), they are unable to access their Wild Form(s) for the following 24 hours.

I suppose this would still let a Monk dip in without too many restrictions - but I could also very easily see this class be alignment restricted to any chaotic, making the combination of the two very difficult.

I definitely like the concept though.


You.... you do know that Ultimate Wilderness is coming out next month with the Shifter class, right? There's almost certainly going to be an archetype that focuses on changing into one particular animal included if that's something core to what you want.


Hey Aaron, thanks for the thorough reply. It sounds like we are of a similar mindset on this. A lot of what you proposed is exactly what I was envisioning.

ONE: I am definitely leaning toward a progression system in the changed form. I think it will better allow players to choose the creature they want to shape into, without worrying about which form is "stronger". As you made a point of, it also will make the class feel more unique with respect to other shifters already in the game.

TWO: I am considering if the humanoid form and animal form should have different BAB and HD. Perhaps the form has HD 10 and full BAB, but the humanoid form is d6/d8 with 3/4 BAB. I haven't thought about it enough though, and that might be unnecessary book keeping. I don't want to overshadow the likes of Fighter/Ranger. I like the idea of Ranger/Paladin spell progression, with its own list and spontaneous, as you suggest. I even considered 6th level casting but with a limited spell list / spells per day. But I think I favor your idea, giving more advanced spellcasting to some of the Origins. So perhaps 4th level casting by default, but some Origins alter to it to 6th (and maybe some get rid of it entirely?).

THREE: I am glad you like the idea. I was pretty excited about it. I like the suggestions you make. Building on them a bit, maybe Draconic gets that aforementioned bump to 6th level casting (and might be able to pull a bit from the Sorcerer list?) while the cursed/blessed loses spellcasting but gets increased HD, or maybe an extra attack + multiattack, or some other martially bent advantage. I could see an origin that had a focus on Summon Nature's Ally too. "Nature's Herald" or something.

FOUR: This is a great idea. I had considered the alignment restrictions but not the Druid ones. I will think on that. I am not sure I want to restrict the class to not using weapons, but that might actually be quite thematic and solves the problem well.

What do you think of the Will save? It started as a way to "punish" the ability early but now I think it might be interesting.

*BONUS: I intend to add Alter Self pretty early on. What do you think about when I should introduce it, and how often it can be used? I was thinking maybe as early as 2nd level, once per day.

Liberty's Edge

You might also want to check out the Skin-Changer one of the classes in the New Paths Compendium which comes out in a few weeks. It sounds like the class is pretty much exactly what you are describing!

Skin-Changer: skin‑changers truly embrace the untamed, animalistic aspects of nature. Rather than bonding with an animal companion, the skin‑changer actually assumes the form of an animal and fights with the fury of nature itself.


Dαedαlus wrote:
You.... you do know that Ultimate Wilderness is coming out next month with the Shifter class, right? There's almost certainly going to be an archetype that focuses on changing into one particular animal included if that's something core to what you want.

I actually did not! I heard rumors a while back but I didn't know that they were making an official Shifter class. Finally! It has always amazed me that one didn't already exist. Thanks for the tip!


Marc Radle wrote:

You might also want to check out the Skin-Changer one of the classes in the New Paths Compendium which comes out in a few weeks. It sounds like the class is pretty much exactly what you are describing!

Skin-Changer: skin‑changers truly embrace the untamed, animalistic aspects of nature. Rather than bonding with an animal companion, the skin‑changer actually assumes the form of an animal and fights with the fury of nature itself.

Thanks for the heads up Marc, I will look into it!

Liberty's Edge

Awesome!!

Quick follow up - the New Paths Compendium is now available for preorder!

New Paths Compendium preorder

It will also be available in a few weeks right here through Paizo.com as well!


So, I would like to get this post noticed again. Now that I have seen the Ultimate Wilderness Shifter class... I am horribly disappointed. To the point of anger, honestly. Back to homebrew! I would love more thoughts of the above ideas I posted. Thanks!

Liberty's Edge

Marc Radle wrote:

Awesome!!

Quick follow up - the New Paths Compendium is now available for preorder!

New Paths Compendium preorder

It will also be available in a few weeks right here through Paizo.com as well!

Quick follow up - the book is now available!

Expanded and Updated New Paths Compendium Hardcover

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