Is a druid's Wild Shape class feature the same as the Change Shape special quality?
This is a point which I expect to come up soon in one campaign. One of my players looked at the spells in Horror Adventures, and found the Quick Change spell (L 2 for Druids and many other classes too). The spell's first sentence starts: "If you have the change shape special quality, you can ..."
My personal reading of the spell is that a druid's Wild Shape class feature is not the same thing as the Change Shape special quality.
For one thing, a druid's Wild Shape has a time limit, unlike the Change Shape quality which seems to have no time limit. Furthermore, the Bestiary entry for Change Shape makes no mention of Wild Shape. Also, Wild Shape encompasses many forms (moreso as the druid gets more levels), while Change Shape is normally limited to just one specific form (e.g., lamia matriarchs each have only one alternate form).
Wild shape would need to say that it grants the change shape special quality. It doesn’t.
Therefore, no.
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Wild Shape is the supernatural ability of Druids to polymorph into one of myriad forms, mimicking the spell effects of either Beast Shape, Elemental Body or Plant Shape.
Change Shape is the supernatural ability of creatures to polymorph into just one, or a small number of forms, usually mimicking just a single spell effect (Beast Shape).
The two abilities are different in name, and different enough in function, to not be equivalent.
Tell your player about Quick Wild Shape, instead ^_^
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Thank you both for the quick replies! :)
@ Sithis: And thank you for reminding me about that feat. If I have to take something away from a character (whether by RAW/RAI or by house rules/"reasons"), I do like to be able to offer an alternative option.