MasterGeese's page
 Pathfinder Society GM. 16 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 7 Organized Play characters.
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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.
The result of this work is the Shaper (2e).
- - 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!
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.
For Reference, the ability states:
Quote: 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?
The Shaper
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.
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?
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Here's the doc.
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.
What are your thoughts?
The Shaper
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.
What are your guys' first impressions?
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