Hello everyone and all the strolling trolls out there!
I have a question for you all. I always interpreted the wild shape ability of the Animal Shaman archetypes as a "modification/augmentation" that took effect at 6th level. This would mean that an Animal shaman would get wild shape at 4th and 5th level as per a normal druid and at 6th level you would specialize in poly-morphing into a particular animal type at the expense of other forms. Recently i heard another interpretation that has the animals shamans not getting wild shape at all until 6th level. I am not convinced this is supported by the RAW. Am i missing something? What are those of you who have these in your games doing for the WS ability? The exact wording of the Su is below:
Wild Shape (Su): At 6th level, a bear shaman’s wild shape
ability functions at her druid level – 2. If she takes on the
form of a bear, she instead uses her druid level + 2.
Thanks in advance!
IIRC, the designer of the shaman archetypes said that he intended for them to not gain wild shape at all until 6th level.
I also play it that way (no wild shape until 6th).
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Well, RAW it seems pretty clear to me that you get wildshape as normal at 4th lvl. Then when you hit 6th level the wildshape changes and you get better at one type and worse at others.
"At 4th level, a druid gains the ability to turn herself into any small or Medium animal and back again once per day." (Normal Druid)
and
"At 6th level, a bear shaman’s wild shape ability (implying that they already have it) functions at her druid level – 2. If she takes on the form of a bear, she instead uses her druid level + 2."
The first one says that the druid GAINS wildshape at 4th. The second one says that the wildshape ability (again implying they already have it) is now modified. There is no mention anywhere of replacement or delayed wildshaping ability.
Not that it is a legal source, but d20pfsrd has all those nifty charts for archetypes showing what gets replaced and such, and they do not show the 4th lvl wildshape being replaced or swapped out at all.
"This ability replaces a thousand faces."
This is another entry from the bear shaman archetype where it specifically mentions that it replaces one ability with a different one. There is nothing like this in the wildshape section.
Seems pretty cut and dried to me.
IIRC, the designer of the shaman archetypes said that he intended for them to not gain wild shape at all until 6th level.
I also play it that way (no wild shape until 6th).
Sorry all, in my search i neglected to find the following link that Are is referring too i believe. Cheers!
http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz2rzh?APG-Druid-Shaman-Wildshaping-Modifiers-Wha t-do#1
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Well, I guess that is that.
This ability is very confusing in its wording, especially since RAW it says something besides what was intended. Nowhere does it mention that it replaces or delays wildshape like the other things clearly mention. It would be great to add to the errata and fix across the board.
Well RAW it seems equally clear to me that at fourth level your wild shape as an animal shaman is that of a 2nd level druid, i.e. no wildshape at all.
Except you don't get the -2 until 6th level.
While both of these may be equally true at raw, my interpretation is simpler, more elegant and doesn't require wildshape progression to make a U Turn for non totemic shapes at 6th.
What U-turn? Non-totem shapes would say the same at 6th level as they did at 4th level.