Evolutionists, Shifters, and a "Customizable Reaction".

[Justnobodyfqwl]

Hi everyone! I've been thinking a lot about the Pathfinder 1e Shifter, Starfinder 1e Evolutionist, and what it would look like for a 2e class that reimagines them both.

I could get into more detail about how I would design the class, but I'm very new to PF2E homebrew- and I wanted to focus on a "core mechanic" idea I had first.

The idea was simple- if the fantasy of an Evolutionist/Shifter is being able to adapt to any problem, then why not have a special reaction that allows you to adapt to any problem?

So here's my pitch, and I wanna hear if it's in any way feasible in the current rules system: this class would start at level 1 with a unique reaction, and then your feats & class options allow you to not just pick from other options when your reaction triggers- it allows you to pick other triggers, too!

For instance, the default reaction might be "When you roll initiative, you can use a reaction to Shapeshift". (I'm assuming that this class would have other forms it could "wild shape" into, or at least one big customizable form.)

However, if you pick the Perfected Form "mutation", you'd get a reaction with another trigger, and another effect- "whenever you fail a Charisma skill roll, you can reroll that roll with Deception, Intimidation, or Performance". The obvious goal is to have a Charisma based option that allows you to mutate yourself into "Physical Perfection".

However, it would all be One Reaction - it just now can trigger two different ways, and you pick one of two different effects. You can now Shapeshift as a reaction to failing a Charisma check (Lied to the wrong guy? Turn into a bird and fly away!), or reroll your initiative roll using one of your charisma skills (giving up your "activate class ability at beginning of combat for free" ability that PF2E likes to give people post-remaster).

Obviously, other reactions would play into different fantasies of "rapidly adapt for survival". Taking extreme heat or cold damage could grant temporary environmental protections. An enemy using a flying, burrowing, or swim speed could allow you to temporarily gain the same. And of course, an enemy striking you or an ally could allow you to adapt scales or a protective hide to deflect the blow.

How does this core idea sound? Does it sound fun to have a single customizable reaction, that gets stronger and easier to use every turn as you level up? Would it be too cumbersome, with a lot of memory issues to keep track of 3+ possible reaction triggers? Do the current rules even allow this kind of thing?

I'd love to hear what you all think!

[Teridax]

This is entirely feasible, and ought to be fairly easy to word as well. You could have something like the following as a core feature:

Class feature wrote:

At the start of each of your turns, you gain an additional reaction that you can use only for any [insert class name here] reaction you have.

And then you could just design whichever reactions you'd want, each with their own trigger. If you want to look at what transforming on a reaction can look like, I very much recommend taking a look at the Druid's Reactive Transformation feat, which lets you transform into a particular shape you have if you meet its specific trigger.

Personally, I also just really like this idea in general. In my Shifter brew, I also copied that same feat for a reactive transformation (Reactive Shift at 14th level), and think it's a cool idea for a shapeshifting character to transform in response to a particular circumstance, in addition to proactively transforming their body into whatever form best suits the occasion. I'll be very keen to see what a special reaction would look like as one of the central mechanics to a shapeshifting class.

[Perpdepog]

To answer one of your other questions, PF2E is pretty well-equipped to handle characters with multiple additional reactions, particularly if those reactions are both limited in what they can be used for, and also take higher-level feats or class features to unlock. The main concern is figuring out which of your additional reactions you want to be poachbable by other classes via multiclassing.

Champion is a pretty good guide there. You can eventually have something like three different reactions by around level 14 or so, but if another class wanted to do the same thing they're either required to spend their level 16-20 feats on them, or barred from taking the additional reactions at all, such as the feat granting an extra use of your Champion's Reaction.

Justnobodyfqwl wrote:

For instance, the default reaction might be "When you roll initiative, you can use a reaction to Shapeshift". (I'm assuming that this class would have other forms it could "wild shape" into, or at least one big customizable form.)

I know that you're super early in the process, but I did wanna point out that you should alter this to instead be a free action, since you don't actually get your reaction when you roll initiative, but rather when your turn comes up in turn order. Free actions can still have triggers, so no fear there. Check out Gunslinger Ways or the barbarian's Quick Tempered feature for some examples.