explain planar shepherd

[geekintheground]

it gets thrown around a lot, and i just dont see the appeal or what makes it so special. is it the fact you can add a template to wild shapes? i guess another point of my confusion is planes themselves... please explain as if i were an idiot? :smalleek:

[avr]

it gets thrown around a lot, and i just dont see the appeal or what makes it so special. is it the fact you can add a template to wild shapes? i guess another point of my confusion is planes themselves... please explain as if i were an idiot? :smalleek:
It's things like the ability to wilshape into an efreet, which puts you one feat away from getting wish as an SLA (hence, no XP cost.) Or, if you choose a different plane (I forget which) you can create a planar bubble where time moves 10x as fast but which does not prevent spells or other effects crossing its boundary. That's the top of the line stuff but even without those it's Druid+.

[eggynack]

The 10:1 time ratio plane is Dal Quor, if I'm not mistaken. At the most basic level, I believe that it is the only prestige class that advances all three of the druid's main class features. It's a tragedy, really, because it's a factor that makes other PrC's far less viable, so the only option that's strictly better than straight druid is ridiculously overpowered. You get to wild shape into crazy stuff, and cheese around with planar bubble, and under all of that you're a druid.

[Killer Angel]

For example, You can wild shape into any outsider or elemental from your native plane (within your HD, size, etc.) AND you retain ALL of their extraordinary, supernatural and spell-like abilities.
There's a reason There are lots of reasons why PS is one of the most broken PrCs around.

[geekintheground]

ok, the 10:1 time thing DOES sound pretty awesome. and i didnt realize it was the only PrC to do that...

[LTwerewolf]

It changes into outsiders that get their SU's and SLAs. There are quite a number of outsiders that get wish as a spell-like. On top of that you can use the planar bubble to increase your caster level by 1, and use the effects of that plane as long as that it the plane you're attuned to when you use planar bubble.

[The Trickster]

I also remember another plain (Irian, maybe?), which is basically the positive energy plain. Free heals, anyone?

[Chronos]

Quoth eggynack:

...so the only option that's strictly better than straight druid is ridiculously overpowered.
Well, that's kind of inevitable, isn't it? I mean, straight druid is already pretty overpowered, so it's kind of a no-brainer that something strictly better than it is going to be even more overpowered.

Really, they had a golden opportunity with druid to make good, well-designed prestige classes, and they blew it. There's the planar shepherd, which advances all three of the druid's main features, and it's obviously too good. Then there are classed that advance only one of them, better than the base class does (Beastmaster for animal companion, Master of Many Forms for wildshape, and all sorts of them for spellcasting), and those are mostly not good enough to bother with. But if they had made three classes that each advanced two of the features, a little better than straight druid, but abandoned the third, then people would have a real, meaningful choice whether or not to take a prestige class, a decision which is sadly almost entirely absent in 3.x.

[eggynack]

Well, that's kind of inevitable, isn't it? I mean, straight druid is already pretty overpowered, so it's kind of a no-brainer that something strictly better than it is going to be even more overpowered.

Sure, but not to that level. Like, imagine if you had a druid, except you gave it fatespinner abilities. You'd still advance all three of the main class features, but you'd get a moderately powerful ability on top of that. The important thing is what you're not doing, which is casting ten spells a turn. Obviously a druid+ is going to be overpowered, but there isn't a druid+. All we have is a druid+++++, and a pile of druid-'s. There's not much in the way of in between there.

[Eldan]

The basis is that a druid has no reason not to take it. Everything a druid gets and more. And that more is fantastic.


Planar traits. That involves such beauties as time traits, energy traits, free metamagic and more.

Wildshaping into outsiders. There's some ridiculously powerful outsiders out there.

[Amphetryon]

At the most basic level, I believe that it is the only prestige class that advances all three of the druid's main class features.Arguable nitpick: a Shifter Druid who chose to focus on Shifting over Wildshaping advances all three Class features via Moonspeaker, if I'm not mistaken.

[Big Fau]

Arguable nitpick: a Shifter Druid who chose to focus on Shifting over Wildshaping advances all three Class features via Moonspeaker, if I'm not mistaken.

Moonspeaker is pretty good, especially if your DM houserules the Shapeshifting variant Druid from PH2, but it isn't quite worth it outside of that circumstance.

[eggynack]

Arguable nitpick: a Shifter Druid who chose to focus on Shifting over Wildshaping advances all three Class features via Moonspeaker, if I'm not mistaken.
Well, it doesn't advance the animal companion, so it can't be said to advance all of the druid class features. Also, even if you wouldn't gain a benefit from wild shape advancement, that doesn't mean that wild shape is being fully advanced. Moonspeaker probably comes the closest to being neutral with respect to straight druid, though it doesn't look like an upgrade, and is actually probably a downgrade.

[Chronos]

And just how does Planar Bubble to a fast time plane work, anyway? Yes, you get 10 times the actions of anyone outside the bubble, but how? Do you get 10 full-round actions on your initiative count? Do you roll initiative 10 times, and act on each of those counts? Do you sandwich each of your rounds into the span of 2 initiative counts on the outside, and act somewhere within that 2 count window depending on your initiative?

[Vortenger]

Also, Lion of Talisid does indeed progress all 3 features, also granting scent, pounce and a few other goodies (celestial animal companions have 3 Int, and are now able to understand complex directions)at only the cost of 2 levels of wild shape, a feat...oh, and being exalted, which can be a no go for some.

Makes it a slightly less cheesy alternative to 'upping' a druids relative power.