I would really like to see a druid base class that is non-spellcating and focuses entirely on the druids ability to shape change. This class would be very combat oriented.
More specificly a base class that would allow the druid to manifest various aspects of nature similar to the geomancer.
The end result being a druid that could take his/her altered form at will. Each "aspect" druid would ultimatley be different because like the geomancer he/she should have options to choose from. For example various paths might include mammal, reptile, aquatic, avian, or elemental. Or the player could mix and match this aspect lines. For example if a druid wanted to breath water and be immune to cold he/she could mix and match the aspect lines of aquatic and elemental.
Wow! That'd be really hard to pull off from a balance standpoint, I think. On the one hand, the Druid is probably the most powerful class - at least once they get wildshape. I've seen some pretty insane things pulled off. So certainly, any new class is probably going to fail to meet the same power level (which may not be bad).
On the other hand, though, spellcasting is what gives the druid great versitility already.
I think striking a balance between whatever new stuff you gave and the lack of spellcasting would be extremely difficult. I like a challenge, though, so I'll ponder the idea and send in a query if I think I can pull off something interesting and balanced. ;) Of course, that shouldn't deter others from sending in a query.
Hey thanks for the consideration Zherog. I don't think I mentioned it before but other possible aspect lines would be plant or insectoid. I'm not sure how one would go about building such a class but I was thinking the Druid could start small "shape changing" little things like skin color allowing the druid to better blend with its environment, then possibly the eyes (hawk eyes, serpant eyes, fish eyes). And the end result would be something like the Beast from the X-Men (clawed hands, strong, cat like agility, furry, spider climb or Brachiation (that ability to move through the trees) and ultimately not specificly any one animal, plant, or insect. In other words the Druid loses the ability to become anyone specific animal (so no sneaking into town as a cat or bird) and no spells. On the plus this side druid would remain a fierce and powerful defender of nature. It might also be a good idea to eliminate the Druids animal companion seeing as how this druid would be more prone to offensive rather than defensive combat.
Well I hope I'm getting the general idea across and this class would probably not be suitable for a class acts article because of the amount of alteration that would have to go into this class.
Thanks again to anyone who might be willing to attempt building this class.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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You could go the opposite direction - Unearthed Arcana has a ranger that loses combat styles to gain wild shape.
Off the top of my head, I would say that your druid should gain a good BAB and an extra 2 skill points per level for losing spellcasting. If that leaves you too weak, raid one of the wildshape prestige classes from Complete Divine/Adventurer or give out bonus wildshape feats from the complete books at the same levels that fighters get bonus feats.
Edit: the wildshape feats would let you do the aspect of thing too. Just give out a few extra uses of wildshape to power them.