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wayfare
2011-01-28, 01:46 AM
I'm working on a wildshape variant for an alternate druid class, and I thought I'd take the basics to the playground. As always, any criticism is welcome:

Wild Shape

While in wildshape, you retain:
-Your attribute ratings
-Your health
-Your attack bonus and skill ratings

While in wildshape you gain:

-Attack forms, movement types/rates of animal
-Racial skill bonus and extraordinary abilities of animal
-If you gain size as part of wildshape, gain 2 Strength per size category gained
-If you lose size as part of wildshape, gain 2 Dexterity per size category lost

Restriction on Wildshape

-You cannot assume the shape of a beast with HD greater than your class level.

Thoughts?

wayfare
2011-01-28, 02:04 PM
More notes on the druid variant.

This druid won't be able cast spells, but gains a more malleable form. In addition to wild shape, at 1st level and every 4 levels thereafter, the druid gains a class feature called "Natures Panoply." Each time you gain this class feature, you can perform a limited form of shapeshifting on yourself or your wildshape.

Options Include


Fierce Claws: Your hands transform into savage talons. You gain a natural attack, inflicting 1d4 (19-20/x2) damage. If you naturally have talons, or are wildshaped into a form that has talons, increase the damage of your natural weapons by 1 size category.

Savage Bite: Your mouth elongates and transforms into a wolf-like muzzle, granting you a natural bite attack inflicting 1d6 (20/x3) damage. If you naturally have a bite attack, or are wildshaped into a form that has a bite attack, increase the damage of your natural weapon by 1 size category.

Camouflage: Your skin blends in with background surfaces, giving you a +5 Circumstance bonus to hide as long as you do not take move actions.

Wings: You grow a set of wings, allowing you to fly at half your base movement rate (maneuverability: poor). If you already have wings, you can either increase your movement rate by half your base speed, or you can increase your maneuverability by 1 category.
Special: You cannot take this shaping until level 4.

Agile Outline: You adopt a leaner, muscular form, with powerfully built legs. While this effect is active, you gain a +5 bonus on jump checks and increase your movement rate by 10.

Nimble Climber: Your upper body becomes heavily knotted with muscle, as your arms elongate and your hands become spatulate. You gain a +5 bonus to climb checks and can clime most surfaces at your full speed. You can even clime sheer surfaces at half speed.

Tough Hide: Your skin toughens, granting you 3 points of natural armor or increasing your natural armor rating by 3.

Grasping Tentacles: Your arms extend into two long tentacles, granting you a reach attack inflicting 1d6 (20/x2) damage on a successful attack. You gain a +2 bonus to grapple checks while this effect remains active.

Aquatic Form: Your body becomes elongated and streamlined as your extremities flatten out into flipper-like appendages. Internally, your lungs expand to provide buoyancy on extend your air supply. You gain +5 to swim checks, add 10 you’re your swim speed, and can hold your breath for 5 times as long as normal.

Reaving Form: Your muscles and bones stretch and contort, adding hundreds of pounds to your frame as you literally grow before your opponents eyes. You gain 1 size category (and +2 Strength as a result of your size change).

Inhuman Restoration: The effects of this shaping are invisible until you are injured, at which point wounds close and bones knit together at an amazing rate. While this effect is active, you gain Fast Healing 1.
Special: You cannot take this shaping until level 8.

Heat Adapted: Your body slims down as your skin becomes dark, leathery and tough. You gain the ability to survive in very hot environments (up to 150 degrees) without penalty. You also require ¼ normal water consumption for your species.

Cold Adapted: You body bulges as you develop a substantial layer of blubber under your skin. Meanwhile, your skin becomes covered in a heavy pelt, protecting you from frigid artic winds. You can survive in terribly cold conditions without ill effect. You can endure temperatures of up to -50 degrees and only require half the normal food intake for your species in order to survive.

Stunning Venom: You can deliver a poisonous via a piercing or slashing natural weapon. On a successful attack your opponent must make a Fortitude Save DC (10 + ½ Level + Constitution modifier) or take 1 point of Dexterity damage, with a second save to avoid an additional 1 Dexterity damage 1 minute later.

Acidic Secretions: Your natural attacks secrete acid, inflicting 1d6 additional points of acid damage.
Special: You can only take this shaping at 4th level or higher.

Acidic Phlegm: Acid sacs form at the base of your throat, as your mouth is coated in a thin layer of protective mucus. Once per round, as standard action, you can spit a glob of acidic phlegm at a single opponent. This is a ranged touch attack with a range of 20 feet that inflicts 2d6 points of acid damage.
Special: You can take this feature at 8th level.
You may take this feature a second time, increasing the range to 30 feet and inflicting 3d6 acid damage on a successful attack.


You can only have 1 natures panoply option active at a time, but you can stack this option with wildshape to create fantastical creatures -- a winged lion, a leaping serpent, etc.

Cidolfas
2011-01-28, 06:38 PM
Hit Dice seems like an unnecessary limitation to which CR might be preferable, in my opinion. There are many lower CR monsters, particularly of the animal type, that have way more HD than they do CR. And since you are retaining your own HD in the first place, you won't gain anything extra by turning into a creature that simply has more HD but an equivalent CR to another monster.

I think turning into a creature with a CR equal to your class level -2 would work well. Perhaps even equal to you your level, since you aren't gaining all of the abilities and size bonuses of the monster anyway. The only real equalizer is the assumption that you have Natural Spell, otherwise you're just turning into an animal that is likely nowhere near as powerful as you are no matter how you dice it.