A shapeshifting focused class?

[Thormind]

One complain i see a lot is the lack of a melee class in the book. A shapeshifting focused class has been requested for a long time now. It would fit the occult theme perfectly...

Full BAB, beast shape ability similar to druids at lower lvl and new magical beast shape at later lvl. Ability to shift frequently and stay in a form as long as desired. Maybe a penalty if you shift too much or stay in the same form for too long. No spell. Would make a more simple class to understand and play since all classes of the book at the moment are quite complexes.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

You just want a Billy the werewolf to go with your Harry the Occultist, don't you? ;)

[CEBrown]

Hmm - there were Disciplines & Sciences for this in the old Complete Psionicist Handbook so it would not be without precedent.
Kind of a "reverse Medium" - instead of brigning in spirits, they keep their own spirit but reshape themselves?

Then again, we've only seen a fraction of the rules at this point - there may BE spirits for Mediums that do this, additional rules for some Kineticist builds heading in this direction, etc.

Though I suspect starting with something like the Monk as a foundation and tweaking it a bit would fit quite well...

[MMCJawa]

Thormind wrote:

One complain i see a lot is the lack of a melee class in the book. A shapeshifting focused class has been requested for a long time now. It would fit the occult theme perfectly...

Full BAB, beast shape ability similar to druids at lower lvl and new magical beast shape at later lvl. Ability to shift frequently and stay in a form as long as desired. Maybe a penalty if you shift too much or stay in the same form for too long. No spell. Would make a more simple class to understand and play since all classes of the book at the moment are quite complexes.

While I agree there is an open niche for a shapeshifting focused class, it's not really realistic at this phase of development for them to add a new class to this book.

[LessPopMoreFizz]

In some ways, the Alchemist already fills this niche.

[joeyfixit]

LessPopMoreFizz wrote:

In some ways, the Alchemist already fills this niche.

What way would that be?

[Bardess]

I hope in a Metamorphosis spell similar to the old 2E power. Wizards and sorcerers couldn't take the shape of objects, and still can't. But psionicists once could, and I hope Psychics can.