A fellow player is tasked with making a new character, and I've stepped up to help him. He wants to play a "Spirit Wolf." Basically, he's a human that has been turned by Nature into a giant Wolf. Most of the time, he will be in giant wolf form, but he can shapechange into human form when needed (for talking encounters), and also into a hybrid form (similar to werewolf) for most fighting encounters.
I created his race, and it is on par with other normal races in terms of power/abilities. I'm looking for ways to use the Ranger class (specifically two-weapon fighting style) in a way that is conducive to natural weapons. This character (in concept) can seem overpowered, but in reality I simply want him to be on par with a front-line two-weapon fighting Ranger.
1. I'm curious as to how to best utilize two-weapon fighting. How does he get attack and damage bonuses while using claws SO THAT it is comparable to the attacks and damage from hand-held magic weapons?
2. I'm also curious as to how to utilize Armor Class. He needs to be able to have an AC that is comparable to magical medium armor.
Thanks for the help, I appreciate any thoughts...
In my opinion, the easiest thing to do would be to reflavor the Kitsune race. Changing the ability scores from +2 Cha/Dex, -2 Str to something like +2 Wis/Dex, -2 Charisma would give your PC almost the same modifiers as a lycanthrope gets. From there, jiggle the schools of magic and spell-like abilities of the kitsune a little bit, reflavor Fox Shape into Wolf Shape, and you have a pretty strong "werewolf" race without any difficult changes to the game.
As for class, I second Shapeshifter Ranger, making sure to grab the Natural Attack fighting style. With it, your player could grab Aspect of the Beast and have a bite attack and two claw attacks at 2nd level. Not too shabby. For additional fun, I'd grab four levels in Monk as well as the Feral Combat Training and Monastic Legacy feats so you could do a flurry of natural attacks using the monk's unarmed strike damage.
Did I mention that thanks to the Monk's AC bonus, you could do all of this while unarmed and while in the shape of an actual wolf? Because that's pretty sweet, too.
Thanks, guys, for the help. He asked me to make it work as a Barbarian. That seems a bit easier for now, and the Rage powers tie in perfectly (thematically and mechanically) for the werewolf hybrid form.
Here's the write-up for the race. If the DM doesn't accept it as is, we'll have to change his Wolf form from Large-sized to Medium-sized.
Race: Spirit Wolf
The Spirit Wolf is not a normal natural creature, nor a creature of magic; he is the embodiment of nature’s fight against evil using both man and wolf. Naturally, his alignment is most often Neutral Good.
Physical Description: Spirit Wolves are natural large creatures, just as big as Dire Wolves. Their furs range in color from white to black, often in varying shades of grey. For all intents and purposes, they are simply over-sized wolves.
Society: Spirit Wolves have no established society.
Relations: Spirit Wolves are extremely rare. Because of their shape-changing ability, they are sometimes feared and shunned by other societies. Druids can always see a Sprit Wolf for his true nature, so they generally accept a Spirit Wolf with open arms.
Alignment: Being creatures of nature, a Spirit Wolf must always have Neutral somewhere in his Alignment Matrix.
Adventurers: A Spirit Wolf is not a randomly occurring act of nature; it is a deliberate creation by nature herself or by a powerful entity/deity of druidic nature. In essence, a humanoid and a wolf have been called together to bond, together becoming something greater than either. The character’s purpose is clear and profound: to protect nature and life from any and all threats. How the Spirit Wolf decides to accomplish this task is left to him, but his decisions are at least slightly based off of natural instinct. As wolves are pack animals, more often than not, a Spirit Wolf character will seek out other adventurers to help accomplish his task.
Standard Racial Traits:
• Ability Score Racial Traits (Humanoid):
o None
• Ability Score Racial Traits (Hybrid):
o +2 size bonus to Strength
o +2 natural armor bonus
• Ability Score Racial Traits (Spirit Wolf):
o +4 size bonus to Strength
o +4 natural armor bonus
o -2 penalty to Dexterity
• Type: Spirit Wolves are natural animals with the Shapechanger subtype.
• Size: Spirit Wolves are Large creatures who can shapechange into a Medium-sized creature.
• Base Speed: Spirit Wolves (in Spirit Wolf form) have a base speed of 40 ft. In Humanoid or Hybrid form, they have a base speed of 30 ft.
• Languages: Spirit Wolves begin play speaking Common, as well as follow the normal Language rules for their Humanoid form (see that race’s particular Racial Traits).
Feat and Skill Traits:
o Intimidating: Spirit Wolves (in Hybrid form) receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks due to their fearsome nature.
Sense Traits: Low-lite vision and Scent (in any form).
Attacks:
o Humanoid: Normal
o Hybrid: Claws or Bite (1d6 + Str)
o Spirit Wolf: Bite (1d8+Str plus Trip)
Other Racial Traits:
• Shapechange: As a standard action, the character may change shape into that of a Humanoid or Spirit Wolf (or from Hybrid into either of those). The player must specify what his original humanoid form is (Elf, Human, etc... once chosen, it cannot be changed). In Spirit Wolf or Hybrid form, he retains the use of certain equipment as per the rules for normal shape-changing. When Raging, he must change into Hybrid form, and it takes only a Swift action - he can Rage only while in Hybrid form, and he can't be in Hybrid form without Raging.