Back in 1st edition, before the Shifter was released, I found myself wanting a class dedicated to shapeshifting, one that was more fleshed out than using a Druid's Wild Shape or a transformation spell from any other class. I wanted to make sure that it was up to the player what exactly they transform into, instead of pigeonholing someone into a Werewolf or demon or draconic form. That line of thinking eventually gave birth to the 1st edition homebrew class of the Shaper (1e) . It saw some playtesting in a homebrew campaign where it was able to keep up with other casters in a high-level party, but was otherwise never really expanded on.
Now with 2e having been released and expanded upon by Paizo, I took interest in re-designing the Shaper for 2e. The shifter was never especially well-received in 1e, making it unlikely Paizo will redesign the class for 2e anytime soon.
- At its core, the Shaper is a class based around gaining and utilizing monstrous traits. It should not be designed specifically to emulate more traditional types of shapeshifters, but it should still be possible to build them.
- It can hold its own in combat, but shouldn't out-perform pure martials in terms of damage or accuracy. It's niche is meant to be a dynamic combatant, able to immediately respond to unexpected situations and adjust to them
- Thanks to the Alter Essence focus spell, the Shaper also has a role of being able to apply other party members' strengths and patch up their weaknesses.
I'd love to hear any feedback you have to give! Particularly on balance/mechanics; I've played about a dozen 2E Pathfinder Society scenarios, but haven't been able to dedicate time to larger undertakings. The level of balance here is based on reading other first-party classes and understanding what they can/cannot do, so firsthand experience would very valuable input. I'd also like to hear any ideas for further class feats!
181. Shallow Grave
School: Necromancy
Level: Cleric/Oracle 5, Sorcerer/Wizard 6, Antipaladin 4, Inquisitor 6,
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, M(dirt exhumed from a cemetery).
Range: touch
Duration: 1 round/level.(D)
Target: living creature touched
Saving Throw: Will (harmless)
Spell Resistance: yes (harmless)
The target cannot be killed while under the effect of this spell. Effects that would kill them, whether from damage, failed saving throw, or otherwise, instead reduce them to an amount of health equal to their negative constitution score plus 1. When this spell ends, if they are at an amount of negative hitpoints equal to or greater than their constitution score, they die as normal.
Creatures under the effect of this spell still fall unconscious when their health is reduced below 0.
176. Hand in Hand
School: Conjuration(healing)
Level: Paladin 4, Cleric/Oracle 6, Inquisitor 6, Druid 7, Shaman 7, Witch 7
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, DF
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous or 1 min/level; see text
Target: creature touched
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless);
Spell Resistance: yes (harmless)
Hand in Hand allows two allies to draw on each other's strength to continue fighting even in the most dire of situations.
It immediately sets both the caster's current health and the target's current health equal to the higher of the two. If this would put either target over its maximum health, it gains the excess as temporary hit points that are removed after 1 round.
The caster may choose for this spell to immediately take effect when cast, or they may choose to empower both themselves and their target. While empowered, either creature affected by this spell may touch the other as a standard action to expend the spell's effect.
Invert life twists the energies that animate and reanimate life, reversing their effects.
While affected by this spell, if the creature would be healed by positive energy, it is damaged by positive energy instead. If the creature would be damaged by positive energy, it is healed by positive energy instead. If the creature would be healed by negative energy, it is damaged by negative energy instead. If the creature would be damaged by negative energy, it is healed by negative energy instead.
Creature that would be immune to the effects of either positive or negative energy are not affected by this spell.
178. Mass Invert Energies
Level: Cleric/Oracle 8
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: one creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart
Functions as Invert Energies, except as stated above.
179. Zarket's Servant
School: Conjuration (creation)
Level: Wizard/Sorcerer 3, Summoner/Unchained Summoner 3, Bard 3, Magus 3, Psychic 3
Components: V, S, F (a piece of string, a bit of wood, and a clothing button)
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One translucent semi-intelligent servant
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: no
This functions as unseen servant, with the following changes:
The servant summoned is visible, but translucent. It can be made to either resemble the caster or may appear as a faceless featureless humanoid.
The servant has effective Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma scores of 10. This can allow it to perform more complex tasks without direct instruction that an unseen servant would normally not be able to accomplish, such as sorting a pile of treasure into separate piles of gold, silver, and platinum. or delivering important missives to the correct recipients.
The servant has access to all knowledge and memories the caster has, though the servant still cannot use this knowledge to perform any skill check that has a DC higher than 10.
The servant can speak any one language, chosen at the time of casting, that the caster is capable of speaking.
To begin with, this looks like a really cool scenario, with all the fights, but especially the first and last fights on a scale that feels appropriate for PCs at seeker levels. I can't wait for the chance to GM it a few weeks from now!
My questions are how the "Deskari's Bargain" section would interact with the Paladin's Code of Conduct:
If a paladin accepts Deskari's blood or eats only part of Deskari's heart, do they lose their Paladin Class features via willfully committing an evil act? Even if it is for the purpose of slaying Koth'Vaul?
If a paladin finishes Deskari's heart, do they lose their Paladin Class features for the same reason?
If a paladin successfully steals Deskari's power, do they lose their Paladin class features?
If a paladin knows his allied PCs are trying to do any of the above, what action, if any, is he obligated to take in order to stop it.
A phantom thief adds Handle Animal, Heal, Ride, Spellcraft, Survival, and all Knowledge skills to her list of class skills. Furthermore, she selects one of her rogue class skills and adds half her rogue level on all skill checks using that skill. At 3rd level and every 2 rogue levels thereafter, she selects an additional rogue class skill and adds half her rogue level on all skill checks using that skill as well. Starting at 4th level, if the phantom thief is an unchained rogue, she gains rogue’s edge skill unlocks with each of these skills rather than selecting one skill every 5 levels, and she adds half her rogue level to her number of ranks to determine when she receives a skill unlock (so a 7th level rogue (phantom thief ) with 7 ranks in a chosen skill would count as having 10 ranks and receive the second skill unlock).
For a (chained) Rogue, it looks pretty straightforward. At every odd level you pick a new skill to specialize in and add half your level to it. (but no minimum +1 bonus, for some reason).
But how does this work for an Unchained Rogue? It looks like the ability is saying that every 5 levels you don't get to specialize in an extra skill, but you wouldn't normally get to choose a new skill at 10th or 20th level anyway. How is this supposed to be interpreted?
Kinship Armor (+1 bonus): When the wearer is attacked by a creature with the same racial type and subtype, the attacker takes a -2 penalty on attack and damage rolls. If the attack does damage and has an additional effect that requires a saving throw, you also gain a +2 sacred bonus on that saving throw.
Conquering Weapon (+1 bonus): Whenever the wielder lands a killing blow on a foe (or otherwise defeats the foe in combat, GM discretion), the wielder regains 1d8+1 health as if affected by a Cure Light Wounds spell (CL 1st).
With the Shifter being released very soon, I figured I'd finish up my work on the Shaper in the event that Paizo and I come up with some similar ideas for a Full-BAB Martial Shapeshifter.
The idea for this class started off as a Master Summoner off-shoot, which was more oriented on using Evolutions(or as they're referred to now, Alterations) to buff themself instead of their Eidolon.
Eventually I scrapped the idea of them summoning at all, and turned the concept into a full-BAB Martial class with zero armor/weapon proficiencies, but instead has pretty hefty Natural Armor/Natural attack options.
The resulting class seems reasonably balanced on paper. It's fairly MAD, wanting all three physical stats to some extent and being based off Constitution like the Kineticist. Normally Full-BAB classes have d10 hit die, but when combined with their reliance on Constitution scores, I kept it as d8 so that their health would remain at reasonable levels. They'll have a rough time getting AC early on because of their lack of armor or anything to offset it like the Monk's Wisdom to AC. Though they don't have weapons, their Natural attacks can be easily buffed as much as necessary through Alterations.
However at high levels, while I doubt the Shaper will be able to hit as hard as a fighter or barbarian, it has a TON of extra flexibility options thanks to Spontaneous Alterations and their newer feature, the Essence Adaptations. Ideally this would mean high-level Shapers would have something to do other than pump out as much damage/tankiness as possible.
If this concept seems familiar, that's because this is a newer version of the class I posted months ago. The class features and Alteration list have been changed extensively since then, though, to the point where a new thread seemed necessary to avoid having discussion of the previous iteration confusing newcomers.
Notable changes from that version include:
[list]
The Class skills have been altered into a more "primal", less "magic/alchemical" feel, since the class is no longer based on Intelligence.
Your Essence Pool is now based off your Constitution modifier instead of your Intelligence modifier. It also has a base power of being able to buff your physical skill or ability checks.
Essence Adaptations, available at 2nd, 8th, 14th, and 20th levels, give you additional ways to spend your Essence other than on adaptations. There's a total of five different "lines" of adaptations, each having a corresponding entry at 2nd, 8th, 14th, and 20th level. You could focus on one of these lines of adaptations, or mix and match at your leisure.
Categorized many of the Alterations into not just Natural Attack, but Defense and Sense alterations. At the requisite levels, Natural Defense and Natural Predator will give you bonus Alteration points towards Defense and Sense alterations respectively.
Extensive work on adding, editing, and removing the Alterations list, particularly giving new options specific to certain types of Natural attacks and adding more options for high-level Shapers.
Essence Armor has been removed. Those that still wish to get an Armor bonus without having to shell out money on Bracers of Armor should look no further than the "Imperviousness" line of Essence Adaptations.
I've got a few questions after how the ritual interacts with the last encounter:
1. The PCs receive a +2 bonus on a certain number of checks based on how many Trust points they have. Which checks do these apply to? Do the players get to decide? Would the GM apply it randomly? Would it apply to the first few checks?
2. What type of action is it to make a check to contribute to the ritual? I assume it's a standard action.
3. Is the ritual supposed to use the Occult Ritual rules in the Occult Adventures book? There's no description block for the ritual anywhere in the scenario...
4. Are there any consequences for the PCs failing checks? I know it says that the PCs need 6 checks to succeed at the ritual, but without a time limit or penalty for failure on the check, is there a reason PCs can't just take 20 after the fight's over? Is there a reason to have 1 PC continue the ritual instead of contributing to fighting Eynemb/the shadows?
Currently I have someone in my group that is making a new character and is interested in playing a paladin, who will take the "Mount" bond at 5th level, and will multiclass into summoner, who gains an eidolon. Normally most levels in "companion" classes stack for the purpose of determining the companions' advancement, but eidolons and animals companions don't seem to be compatible in this way.
Would this character get both a mount and an eidolon? Or is there some way the two share advancement?
Currently in the early staging of designing a Campaign Arc with elements inspired by XCOM and Persona 5.
Upon arriving in the island city of Plotville, population 30,000, the party will get a few days to mess around and tour the place while simultaneously trying to find their contact (they have been to this city before with another party that wiped on the BBEG encounter, this is their second chance to do so after the BBEG has run amok for a couple years. Odds are they'll metagame and try to figure out what happened to all their favorite NPCs and locations from last time, which I might as well allow).
Eventually, the party will find out that BBEG is working on (and has almost completed!) an ascension pool that allows anyone who is immersed to be transformed into *homebrew OP race* and immediately turned to the CE cause. They're only 30 days away from completion, and they'll need to sneak into what was once the local authority figure's palace in order to find and neutralize this pool by any means necessary.
The catch is this palace is meant to be enormous, with enough traps, guards, obstacles, and encounters to bring a team of fresh level 7 characters to fresh level 10 characters by the time its all done.
This part I could actually use a few suggestions for. Note that the Palace is still being used somewhat. The entire city, palace included, is currently under the dominion of The Forces Of Evil, who trashed a lot of the palace in the process (they REALLY hate decadent people, previous owner of the palace was filthy rich and had all the standard indulgent items to back that up). However, they didn't completely destroy it, as it made for a good base of operations. The BBEG is willing to invest a lot of effort into locking down the palace's defenses, as the ascension pool is a critical part of her plans, but the BiggerBEG isn't going to be happy about BBEG asking for more defenses than she actually needs.
The more the PCS break into the palace, especially if they aren't sneaky about it, the more the BBEG will catch on to them, adding new traps, guards, etc to counter their tactics. Since the BBEG is the de facto leader of the city, she'll start utilizing her own strategems against them (Nemesis system from Ultimate Intrigue).
It will undoubtedly be an imposing task at first, but in Plotville there are going to be numerous contacts/sidequests (basically Persona 5's Social Links) that can offer crucial assistance in infiltrating the palace, such as someone who can bail the party out if they get captured, someone who designed the palace's original security measures, a former guard who has a (sort-of) up-to-date map of the palace, etc.
The previous party in the city also ran a tenement that they built up using the Downtime Rules (one player commented that it reminded them of XCOM's base building). After they died, the BBEG burned it to the ground and went to great lengths to defame them after their death. Odds are the new party will want to do something similar, if only to avenge their fallen base.
172. Do not assume that the NPC you just shafted before leaving town won't show up again later.
173. Do not completely ignore the "job board" 5 feet from the docks then complain about a town's lack of plot hooks.
174. Do not try to make a party of 4 or more Summoners. Nevermind, go ahead and do that, just don't act surprised when every enemy and their dog has Protection from X active and 6+ castings of Dismissal.
175. Do not play a fighter if you're going to completely ignore the Combat Stamina system that the GM allowed you to have for free just to make Fighters more interesting.
175b. Do not then proceed to complain that Fighters are boring.
176. Do not bring your GF along for a one-shot if there is more than a 50% chance she wants to play a Druid. I know veteran players who wouldn't touch that class with a 10-foot-pole because of how many complicated things there are to keep track of.
177. Do not name your characters after anyone from the Lord of the Rings universe.
177b. If you absolutely must name your Elven Ranger "Legolas" anyway, do not proceed to call every Dwarf you meet "Gimli".
178. If there is a large set of double doors in a dungeon, there's probably a particularly powerful monster behind them. Don't try going through while the rest of your party is in the middle of another fight.
179. If an NPC asks you what your plan is to take down the BBEG, "We'll figure it out later" is not an acceptable answer. This is the GM telegraphing that the BBEG is not to be taken lightly.
180. "Are you sure?" is not a rhetorical question.
Is there anything that prevents the shaper from wearing armor? Non-proficiency doesn't prevent it, and there is no arcane spellcasting to discourage it. It stacks with natural armor, and then of course there's enhancement bonuses to natural armor. I say all of this because I think you should slow how quickly the shaper's natural armor bonus is gained.
Essence Armor's Active ability is an Armor bonus. Assuming an Int of 16 or so at low levels (you'll probably want to physical stats to be up to par as well) that's an equivalent bonus to wearing studded leather armor. I guess the worst part right now is that wearing armor would be largeely redundant with one of your class features unless you want to spend multiple feats to fix this. I was hoping to take a less heavy-handed approach than the druid or arcane casters where wearing armor is borderline unplayable.
This started off as a Master Summoner off-shoot, which was more oriented on using Evolutions(or as they're referred to now, Alterations) to buff themself instead of their Eidolon.
Eventually I scrapped the idea of them summoning at all, and turned the concept into a full-BAB Martial class with zero armor/weapon proficiencies, but instead has pretty hefty Natural Armor/Natural attack options.
The resulting class seems reasonably balanced on paper. It's fairly MAD, needing all 3 physical stats to fight with, as well as Intelligence to drive many of its class features, but getting easy access to numerous natural attacks at level 1 gives them high damage output early on if they can hit with everything. Though they don't have weapon training, they can take alterations or feats to give their attacks an extra kick if need be. My sample builds so far seem to be keeping up at least with premade fighters/barbs, though they need to spend nearly all their Alteration points to do so. I've assumed that there would be a feat to give 1 Essence, the same way the summoner has a feat for 1 extra Evolution point. It
However at high levels, while I doubt the Shaper will be able to hit as hard as a fighter or barbarian, it has a TON of extra flexibility options thanks to Spontaneous Alterations. Ideally this would mean high-level Shapers would have something to do other than pump out as much damage/tankiness as possible.
Heavily based on the Shapers from the Geneforge series, the Shaper is a pseudo-caster with high versatility. It draws inspiration from the summoner's ability to dynamically modify his eidolons and applies these alterations to Creations, which are based on a union of the Summon Monster list, the Summon Nature's Ally list, as well as a few extras added in from the Geneforge lore.
Currently I still have to add the creation list for levels 2+, but many of the creatures' initial statblocks will be identical to those from the summon monster/nature's ally lists.
I ended up running this scenario yesterday as my first time GMing in Pathfinder Society.
Spoiler:
Presumably to check for further traps, the party ended up hurling Harlo's dead body into nearly every new room they entered. This ended up not mattering much until they threw it down the stairs in front of the room where Meleren and Shechera were hanging out. I decided to roleplay them as appalled and flabbergasted at these unknown people throwing and disrespecting the dead body of their former leader and friend. Considering they were already supposed to be belligerent and uncooperative initially, this certainly didn't help matters. Though someone did attempt a diplomacy check to talk to them peacefully, the rest of the party chose to instead Intimidate with several very high results, moreso than the Diplomacy. They threatened the bandits and demanded that they gave up the amulet from the chest earlier. The bandits toned down their belligerent rhetoric a bit, but apparently it wasn't enough for the party's bloodrager, who "has had enough of this" and landed a crit on Shechera, killing her instantly, and the rest of the party downed Meleren in one round, but chose to heal him back to consciousness later.
When the scenario ended, Meleren was given a choice by the party between 1. Joining the Pathfinder Society, 2. Being turned over to the authorities, or 3. Being killed by the bloodrager alongside Shechera. At this point I felt that I had to use common sense to figure out how this would play out.
Meleren said to the party that he would join the Pathfinders, but once the party parted ways with him, he reconsidered and turned himself in out of fear of the party. Meleren describes the choice he was given by the party, and this information finds its way to the Lodge, and the party is given a strongly worded letter that amounted to "You can't coerce people into joining the Society." Their defense was that he wasn't coerced, he had the choice to turn himself in to the authorities.
Meanwhile, I informed one of the party members who was part of the Silver Crusade that he had failed his faction mission spectacularly, since one of the two NPCs was dead, and that Meleren would develop an irreconcilable hatred for the Pathfinders as a result. They asked what the mission was, and I told them about the epiphany points system, they asked how many points they would be penalized for killing an NPC. I responded that the scenario doesn't specifically say that there is a penalty for killing one NPC, but that I couldn't imagine that Meleren would want anything to do with the group that killed Shechera in cold blood. His defense was that if the scenario doesn't specifically say that an action would penalize you, then it doesn't. In other words, killing one NPC would have no effect on the other NPC's epiphany point total. It ended up being a moot point anyway, their actions in the scenario would easily put their epiphany points in the negative (multiple intimidation attempts, using him as bait for traps)
To anyone else who had GMed this scenario, or other more experienced GMs in general, what would you have done in this situation? I tried not to deviate from the scenario, but this seems like too large of an oversight to sit back and do nothing about.
Pathfinder Society GM. 16 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 7 Organized Play characters. 