| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
My vote would be to have polymorph effects/wildshape work roughly along the lines of the Beastmorph's mutagen. Namely, you get a list of abilities, and you get to choose a couple of them. (And, perhaps, a list of sizes you can choose from, each associated with certain stat plusses and minuses, and a choice regarding what natural attacks you get -- e.g., either 1 attack that does 2d6 + 1.5*str damage, or 3 attacks that do 1d6+str damage each.)
This would polymorphing much less of a pain -- no poring through bestiaries to find the optimal monster for this particular situation, no working out tedious spreadsheets containing different forms for every other animal, and so on.
And it would allow for a broader range of flavor w.r.t. what people polymorph into, instead of having 90% of polymorphs be into one of a half-dozen combat-optimal forms.
It's definitely easiest on the development side if wildshape just gives you a pool of points to build out a form, because that's a lot easier to balance than actually changing stats. You're already a magical shapeshifting spellcaster, you don't have to have the actual traits of a bear when you wear the shape of one.
My vote would be to have polymorph effects/wildshape work roughly along the lines of the Beastmorph's mutagen. Namely, you get a list of abilities, and you get to choose a couple of them. (And, perhaps, a list of sizes you can choose from, each associated with certain stat plusses and minuses, and a choice regarding what natural attacks you get -- e.g., either 1 attack that does 2d6 + 1.5*str damage, or 3 attacks that do 1d6+str damage each.)
This would polymorphing much less of a pain -- no poring through bestiaries to find the optimal monster for this particular situation, no working out tedious spreadsheets containing different forms for every other animal, and so on.
And it would allow for a broader range of flavor w.r.t. what people polymorph into, instead of having 90% of polymorphs be into one of a half-dozen combat-optimal forms.
This is how shape shifting works in Spheres of Power and it is great. I really hope that whatever they do they modify stats instead of replacing them like they did in DnD 3. I like that if a Druid invests in Str for their character they are stronger in bear form too. Also I get the feeling that the stat increase PF2 are more MAD friendly as they are in star finder.
Have polymorph natural attacks work like weapons. No pounce, no extra attacks because you picked the best dinosaur. One action = one attack. That also means you can pick a dire wolf or a tiger, and do about as well with either.
As long as I can Wildshape into dinosaurs, I'm cool.
But in full rules, I want it to be fun and provide new abilities, but not render the party's martial characters obsolete. Versatility at some expense of raw ability in a given area seems like the best option.
I don't have problem with P1E approach, but IMHO the "use your own stats + mods" approach conflicts with it's rule for ability DCs gained from form (which uses 'caster stat'). IMHO all STR/DEX/CON based DCs should still use those stats (i.e. your own + mod). Using (caster stat) in place of any INT/WIS/CHA based DCs makes some sense in general (these are 'magic' powers, they should match magic you are using to create effect in first place) but also contains room for dubious situations (social effects have strong argument to use CHA).
Treating the HPs gained from CON boost as Temp HP pool seems reasonable to me, although I'm not attached to it, and there can be balance concerns about it, although Paizo seemed to change it's mind on that later on in P1E.
3.5 had a druid variant where your wild shape consisted of vague themes that you could role/roll with. You started with a predatory form with certain attacks and bonuses, but get to fluff it from there. Eventually you get an Aerial form, a Ferocious form (Tiger, Bear, etc), Forest Avenger (Treant, Shambling Mound, Etc), and Elemental form.
It was nice in that you only needed to track a small number of stats, but it could have been improved with a small pool pool of floating ability options like pick one/two additional abilities from a list when you take on a form.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Please keep the bonuses from wildshape being a buff to your own stats. This keeps forms that are used as character theming viable. If I play a wolf based druid, I want to always be able to turn into a wolf and have that be beneficial.
Additionally, consider unlocking size templates on different animals. If I want to play a wolf shaman, let me use the small or tiny templates to turn into a wolf puppy, or the giant template for an exceptionally large direwolf. Keep the gradual unlocking of greater and smaller sizes of wildshapes consistent with character theme.
Be clear on communication rules. If as a wildshaped druid, i'm not allowed to speak human languages, can I speak with other animals of my kind? This would be a fair trade off.
Be more lenient toward abilities offered from some specific wild shapes. Set a DC based off your class level or what have you for them if you have to. Just don't be afraid to let your druids do the cool thing the monster does instead of just the basic things the monster does.
Please keep the bonuses from wildshape being a buff to your own stats. This keeps forms that are used as character theming viable. If I play a wolf based druid, I want to always be able to turn into a wolf and have that be beneficial.
Additionally, consider unlocking size templates on different animals. If I want to play a wolf shaman, let me use the small or tiny templates to turn into a wolf puppy, or the giant template for an exceptionally large direwolf. Keep the gradual unlocking of greater and smaller sizes of wildshapes consistent with character theme.
Be clear on communication rules. If as a wildshaped druid, i'm not allowed to speak human languages, can I speak with other animals of my kind? This would be a fair trade off.
Be more lenient toward abilities offered from some specific wild shapes. Set a DC based off your class level or what have you for them if you have to. Just don't be afraid to let your druids do the cool thing the monster does instead of just the basic things the monster does.
Perhaps a totem style approach then? Similar to what the Shifter has, but with well more options to pick from.