PF "Advanced Class": The Wild Shifter

[malonkey1]

I saw the playtest not too long ago for the Advanced Classes Guide for Pathfinder (link to the announcement HERE (http://paizo.com/paizo/news/v5748eaic9rdw?Paizo-Publishing-Opens-Worldwide-Playtest-For)), which is a book whose centerpiece is 10 new base classes, all formed from combining aspects of two existing classes, similarly to a Bard combining some aspects of Rogue and Sorcerer, or more directly, a Magus melding Wizard and Fighter. The class presented here is intended to be a mix of the Ranger and Summoner, providing frontline combat ability out of the box, ties to nature, and an animal companion a la the Ranger, plus some of the summoning ability and a new twist on the Summoner's Eidolon Evolutions. Please take a look at it, tell me what you think, and if you see a place where it seems broken, or needs rewording, or could simply be cooler, better, or more fun, please tell me! Enjoy!

Wild Shifter:

Wild Shifters are uniques shapeshifters and masters of beasts, having the ability to mutate themselves and their animal companions into newer, more powerful forms. They often have rather bestial natures, but aren't necessarily uncivilized so much as blunt.
Role: Wild Shifters generally are best as frontline combatants, working in concert with their animal companions to take down game much bigger than themselves, as well as hunters, scouts and trackers. Depending on their specific choices, they can fill other roles to a limited extent as well.
Ability Scores: Strength can be important for dealing damage, seeing as you're a frontline combatant more often than not. After that you may want to invest in Constitution and/or Dexterity for survivability (although certain choices in evolutions can ameliorate this). After that, Charisma is useful for certain evolutions, as well as how often you can use summon nature's ally.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d10
Starting Wealth: As Ranger
Starting Age: Trained
Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points: 4+Int

BABFortRefWillSpecialEvolution Points
1+1+2+2+0Bond of the Beast, Track, Wild Empathy–
2+2+3+3+0Summon Nature's Ally I–
3+3+3+3+1Bonus Feat–
4+4+4+4+1Bestial Form (1/day, 2 forms)7
5+5+4+4+1Summon Nature's Ally II8
6+6/+1+5+5+2Bestial Form (2/day), Bonus Feat9
7+7/+2+5+5+2Animal Speech10
8+8/+3+6+6+2Bestial Form (2/day, 3 forms), Summon Nature's Ally III11
9+9/+4+6+6+3Bonus Feat13
10+10/+5+7+7+3Bestial Form (3/day)14
11+11/+6/+1+7+7+3Summon Nature's Ally IV15
12+12/+7/+2+8+8+4Bestial Form (3/day, 4 forms), Bonus Feat16
13+13/+8/+3+8+8+4Animal Senses, Beast Strike17
14+14/+9/+4+9+9+4Bestial Form (4/day), Summon Nature's Ally V19
15+15/+10/+5+9+9+5Bonus Feat20
16+16/+11/+6/+1+10+10+5Bestial Form (4/day, 5 forms)21
17+17/+12/+7/+2+10+10+5Summon Nature's Ally VI22
18+18/+13/+8/+3+11+11+6Bestial Form (5/day), Bonus Feat23
19+19/+14/+9/+4+11+11+6Animalistic Power25
20+20/+15/+10/+5+12+12+6Bestial Form (at will, 6 forms), Summon Nature's Ally VII, Primal Power26


Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Wild Shifters are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields (excluding tower shields).

Bond of the Beast (Su): At level 1, you receive an animal companion, as per the Druid class feature, except that its Intelligence score becomes 3 if it was not at least 3 already.

Track (Ex): As the Ranger class feature.

Wild Empathy (Ex): As the Druid class feature.

Summon Nature's Ally (Sp): When you just aren't enough, you can use your primal bond with nature to call for aid. This is identical to the Summoner's ability to cast Summon Monster, allowing you to cast a summon nature's ally spell of the level given for your class level 3 + your Charisma Modifier times per day, using your class level as the caster level.

Bonus Feats: At every 3rd level, you may choose a combat feat or one of the following feats for which you qualify as a bonus feat. You may take monster feats listed below as bonus feats if you or one of your Bestial Forms (below) meets the requirements, but if you only meet the requirements of a feat while in a Bestial Form, said feat only functions in that Bestial Form.

Ability Focus, Alertness, Animal Affinity, Aspect of the Beast, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Natural Attack, Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Snatch, and Wingover.

Bestial Form (Su): You can change your body, subtly at first, but then more overtly later in your career, temporarily becoming more bestial in nature. At level 4, you acquire your first Bestial Form, a set of Evolutions that you (and your animal companion) can take on once per day (gaining an additional use at level 6 and every 4th level thereafter, until you can use it at-will at level 20). You must select each evolution for this form upon gaining it, and may not change them. These evolutions must be applied to you or your animal companion from this class, and the form's Evolution Pool is counted for the total value of evolutions applied to you and your animal companion in the form. As you acquire more evolution points, you can add or improve your evolutions. You may not remove evolutions from a Bestial Form, but you may add new ones, or replace existing ones with superior versions (replacing Basic Magic with Minor Magic, replacing Resistance with Immunity, etc.). Any effects that rely on your summoner level use your Wild Shifter level instead. The Bestial form lasts for 1 minute per Wild Shifter level, or until you dismiss the effect. You and your animal companion can not enter your Bestial Form separately, and if it takes effect on you, it also takes effect on your animal companion, and vice-versa. At every 4th level after 4th, you gain an additional bestial form. Each form has its own evolution pool, so evolution points spent in one Bestial Form do not affect the number of Evolution points available in another. Bestial form qualifies you for feats that require Wild Shape, provided they do not modify Wild Shape in any way in order to function. While in Bestial Form, you count as either your normal type or an Animal for all applicable effects, whichever is more beneficial. Unless you took an archetype that trades your Bond of the Beast away, your Animal Companion similarly counts as either its own type or yours.

Animal Speech (Ex): At level 7, you gain the ability to speak with animals as per the spell. You also gain a +3 bonus on Wild Empathy checks.

Animal Senses (Ex): At level 13, your eyes and ears become keen, and your nose becomes a precision instrument. You gain the scent and blindsense special abilities, and a +4 racial bonus on Perception checks and Survival checks made for tracking. You are treated as having the scent evolution for meeting prerequisites.

Beast Strike (Ex): At level 13, your body has permanently changed, granting you a natural attack. You gain one of the following natural attacks, appropriate to your size. Each can be modified by any evolution as if they were the evolution they correspond with.

A bite attack. You are treated as having the bite evolution at all times.
2 claw attacks. You are treated as having the claws evolution at all times.
A slam attack. You are treated as having the slam evolution at all times.


Animalistic Power (Ex): At level 19, as a result of your bond with nature and your tranformations, your body is permanently improved. You add a total of 4 points, split between your Dexterity and Strength scores.

Primal Power (Su): A Wild Shifter that has fully mastered his powers, he can call upon previously unknown reserves of power. As a move action, once per day, you and your animal companion each gain extra evolutions with a total value equal to or less than 10 points. This can be activated in, or out of, Bestial Form, and lasts for 10 minutes. Any evolutions may be used in this, but prerequisites for any such evolutions must still be met.

[malonkey1]

Feats:

Bestial Mastery:
Despite your diverse training, you have a single Animal Companion.
Prerequisites: One Animal Companion, plus at least one of the following: Any additional Animal Companions, a mount from a class feature, the Improved Familiar feat, or the Tumor Familiar discovery.
Benefits: Designate a single animal companion, class feature mount or familiar you have as your only animal companion (you may not select a Tumor Familiar). You must dismiss any other familiars or animal companions you possess (except your Tumor Familiar). In exchange, your animal companion is treated as one of a Druid of your total levels in any classes that offer an Animal Companion, Mount or Familiar (plus your Alchemist level if you have the Tumor Familiar discovery). If you are an Alchemist with the Tumor Familiar discovery and your Animal Companion is at least 2 sizes smaller than you, it becomes your Tumor familiar and can fuse into your body as normal.

Highly Evolved Form:
You can mutate yourself or your Eidolon more readily than others.
Prerequisites: Evolution pool of at least 8
Benefits: Your Evolution Pool increases by your Charisma Bonus. If you are a Wild Shifter, this applies to all your Bestial Forms.

Touch of the Wild
Even in your normal shape, you retain a touch of your bestial nature.
Prerequisites: Bestial Form 1/day
Benefits: Select a 1- or 2-point evolution possessed by one of your Bestial Forms. That evolution is always in effect, be it on you, or your animal companion, even when in a different Bestial Form. Evolutions that would normally stack with the chosen evolution do not. You may not change the evolution granted by this feat, even if your Bestial Form loses this evolution.
Special: You may select this multiple times, gaining a different evolution each time.

Greater Touch of the Wild
Your physical alterations become more powerful.
Prerequisites: Bestial Form 3/day, Touch of the Wild
Benefits: Select a 3- or 4-point evolution possessed by one of your Bestial Forms. That evolution is always in effect (be it on you, or your animal companion). You may not change the evolution granted by this feat, even if your Bestial Form loses this evolution.
Special: If the chosen evolution has prerequisites, you must meet these prerequisites to use this evolution via this feat. If one of the prerequisites is a specific evolution, you must take Touch of the Wild or Greater Touch of the Wild for that evolution first.

Natural Summoning
You have learned to combine your arcane power with your natural knowledge.
Prerequisites: Eidolon and Bestial Form class features.
Benefit: Your Summoner levels and your Beastmaster levels stack for determining the EP pool for your Bestial Form class feature, and your Beastmaster animal companion is treated as your Eidolon for the purposes of any Summoner class features (excluding evolutions). Additionally, your animal companion is not killed permanently like a normal animal companion anymore, and instead disappears to another plane as an Eidolon would upon death.

Archetype:
Planar Scion
Planar Scions are those touched by an outside force at some point in their lives, touched in a way that forever changed them. Unlike a Sorcerer, whose bloodline was touched by magic, or a Cleric, who worships a deity, these individuals may not even be aware of the source of their power, and the source of their powers may not even be aware of them! While many are the product of fairy meddling or demonic dealings, angelic beings are sometimes known to bless creatures with this power, and other, even stranger and more alien forces with even stranger and more alien motives have been thought to grant powers to those they choose.
Class Skills: Remove Handle Animal, and Knowledge[Nature], add Knowledge[Arcana, Planes, Religion]
Scion's Sponsor (Su): As a sign of your benefactor's support, you have been permanently changed, making you a cut above (or below), your fellow mortals. Select a patron from the following list. At the levels stated, you receive the listed benefits:
Aberrant Master: Some aberrant being from the Far Realms has, in its unimaginable wisdom and madness, has chosen to grant you powers.

Alien Eyes: At level 1, your eyes become black orbs, dotted with points of white that resemble stars. These strange eyes grant you Darkvision out to 30 feet (or increase your exiting Darkvision by the same).
Inhuman Hands: At level 5, your hands have changed, becoming covered in fine hairs, or suckers, or sticky slime. Your CMD against disarm attempts receive a +4 racial bonus, and you receive a climb speed of half your base speed or 10 feet (whichever is more).
Hideous Maw: At level 10, your teeth have grown gnarled and twisted, granting you a bite attack and a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks when you can show your wicked teeth.
Grasping Tentacles: At level 15, your body warps, as two tentacles errupt from the sides of your body. They are short enough to hide under clothing or armor, and provide no reach. As a result, you receive two tentacle attacks, and a +4 racial bonus to CMB when grappling.
Starbound Body: By level 20, you have left your mortality behind for the bizarre pseudo-life of the Far Realms. Your physiology has changed so that you are immune to death effects, critical hits, poison, disease and any effects that specifically target a living or dead creature, as you are now neither. You no longer suffer aging penalties and do not die when you reach the end of your life span. As a result of your new physiology, you can not be resurrected except by a wish or miracle. Aberrations see you as a fellow aberration when applicable


Effendi: You gained your powers from a pact with a Genie of some kind, creating magical changes in your body that cause you to resemble your "business partner".

Shrewd Trader: At level 1, your dealings with Genies have granted you a measure of talent with business dealings, granting you a +3 bonus to Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks.
Wind of the Djinni: At level 5, like the air spirits known as Djinn, you have mastered the winds, creating a small whirlwind around your body. You receive 25% concealment vs. ranged attacks.
Shaitan's Might At level 10, you have gained impressive strength in combat, your hands having grown large and gained a crystalline sheen. When you confirm a critical hit, the weapon does an extra 1d10+Cha damage. If the hit was made with a melee weapon wielded in two hands, it deals an extra 2d6+Cha damage instead.
Efreeti's Inferno: At level 15, your eyes blaze with the fire of an efreeti, and smoke occasionally spills from your nostrils. You can breathe a 15-foot cone of fire that deals 1d6 damage per 2 class levels, and can be used once every 1d4 rounds.
Marid's Waters: At level 20, you receive your final blessing from the Genies. Your skin becomes cool to the touch, and you gain the ability to create water from nothing. You can replicate the effects of a create water spell, except that instead of producing up to 40 gallons of water, you can produce up to 4000 gallons at a time.
Blessing of the Genies: At level 20, in addition to gaining the powers of Genies, you also become one of them. You become an Outsider with the native subtype and the air, earth, fire, or water subtype. You gain immunity to electric (for air), acid (for earth), fire (for fire), or cold (for water). You gain an additional use of any item with a limited number of charges that reproduces limited wish or wish, but only for that effect, and you no longer need to pay the experience cost to cast wish. You receive a +5 racial bonus on Appraise checks and checks made to haggle or barter. Other Genies recognize you as a Genie, where applicable.


The Gift of the Fair Folk: The fairies are an odd and capricious lot, meddling in affairs on the Material Plane for their own amusement. They seem to have found favor in you for some reason, and have touched you with their power.

Unearthly Beauty: At level 1, the Fair Folk have granted you beauty beyond the ken of most mortals. You receive a +3 perfection bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Handle Animal and Perform checks, and all creatures suffer a -3 morale penalty to attacks against you. This is a mind-affecting effect, and creatures with wildly different standards of beauty from your own race are immune to this effect.
Dryad's Step: At level 5, you have learned to step through nature like a Dryad, although you are not bound to trees as they are. You can dimension door as a Sorcerer of your class level from one natural object (tree, cliff face, dead goat, etc.) to another within range of it. After doing so, you cannot do it again for 2d4 rounds.
Pan's Flute At level 10, like the Satyrs of the woods, you have the ability to sing creatures to sleep. You can create a magic sleep effect 3 times per day, affecting 2 HD worth of creatures per class level within 30 feet of you. (Will negates, DC 10 +1/2 class level+Cha Bonus)
Unearthly Mind At level 15, like the fey who have touched you, your mind has grown strange and bizarre. You receive a +4 racial bonus on will saves vs. mind-affecting abilities, and whenever you make a successful will save against a charm or compulsion effect, you can make a second Will save at the original DC +10 to attempt to turn it back on the user. If this second save fails, nothing happens and the spell is simply resisted. If the second save succeeds, the original caster becomes the target in place of yourself, and you are treated as the caster.
Child of the Fair Folk: At level 20, you have become more fey than human. Any time you cast a spell or use a spell-like ability of the enchantment or illusion school, the targets must roll twice for their saves against it anf take the lesser roll. You gain DR 10/cold iron, your type becomes fey with the augmented subtype, and you now gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to your Charisma bonus.


Fiend's Touch: You have, either by a foul pact or the machinations of a demon lord or devil prince, gained a measure of fiendish power. The question stands, will use your powers to serve your evil overlord or to undermine its power?

Brimstone: At level 1, your powers cause you to reek with the hellish smell of sulphur. All creatures within 30 feet of your must make a Fortitude save (DC 10+1/2 level+Con) or be sickened for as long as they remain in the area. They receive a new save each time they exit the area and return, but if they succeed the save, they are immune for the remainder of the encounter. You may suspend or resume these effects as a move action, but you will always smell slightly of brimstone.
Wicked Wounding: At level 5, you are guided by the wicked hands of your fiendish patron, striking blows to an enemy with spell or sword. Whenever you hit with an attack of opportunity, sneak attack, or critical hit, the target also receives 1 bleed damage.
Devilskin: At level 10, your skin hardens and becomes slightly scaly, like a demon or devil. You gain DR 5/good and a +2 natural armor bonus to AC.
Sow Discord At level 15, your masters have granted you their uncanny power to cause strife amongst friends. Select 1 target per 4 class levels. Each target must make a Will save (DC 10+1/2 level+Cha) or treat all those around them as enemies, attacking them, insulting them, or otherwise acting cruelly toward them. This can be an effective tool for causing a distraction or clearing a room of enemies.
Fiendish Synthesis: At level 20, you have become, for all intents and purposes, a fiend. You are now an Outsider with the native and evil subtypes. You can now travel freely in evil-aligned planes, regardless of your alignment, you receive Spell Resistance 25, and resistance 10 to fire, acid and electricity. Evil outsiders regard you as a fiend where applicable, and you receive a +4 racial bonus on saves against evil effects and supernatural, spell-like or spell effects generated by evil creatures.


Heart of the Angel: Some deity of light or celestial power has seen great potential in you, and has seen fit to offer you a measure of its might.

Light of Righteousness: At level 1, you radiate an aura of purity which bolsters your allies. All allies within 30 feet of your receive a +1 sacred bonus per 4 class levels to attack and damage. Good Outsiders receive double this bonus.
Celestial Healing: At level 5, your benefactors grant your body impressive healing capabilities. You gain fast healing 1 at all times, and heal ability damage at quadruple speed.
Feathered Wings: At level 10, You sprout great, feathery wings that carry you aloft into battle. You receive a Fly speed equal to your base land speed, with average maneuverability.
Light of Justice: At level 15, your very presence makes weapons injurious to evil. All weapons within 30 feet of you gain the holy quality. If a weapon is already holy, it deals an extra 1d6 damage to evil creatures.
Perfected Light: At level 20, you have fully accepted the light into yourself, gaining DR 10/evil, a +4 sacred bonus to AC, fast healing 3 (this replaces your fast healing from celestial healing), and resistance 10 to acid, cold and electricity. You can travel freely through good-aligned planes, regardless of alignment, and become an Outsider with the native and good subtypes. Good outsiders regard you as a celestial where applicable.

This replaces Bond of the Beast.
Summon Monster (Sp): Instead of summoning animals and nature spirits, you summon creatures appropriate to your patron to aid you. This is as the Summoner class feature, except that you can only summon the following creatures based on your patron:
{table=head]Level|Aberrant|Genie|Fair Folk|Fiend|Celestial
I|Sanguine Ooze SwarmPF43|Young Small Elemental|Gathlain|Fiendish animal from the normal list|Celestial animal from the normal list
II|Akata|Small Elemental|Brownie|Lemure|Celestial Gryph
III|Choker|Quasit|Faerie Dragon|Dretch|Lantern Archon
IV|Grick|Janni|Fey Giant Toad|Hell Hound|Hound Archon
V|Mi-Go|Djinni|Redcap|Xill|Bralani Azata
VI|Destrachan|Genie (Abasheen, Efreeti or Shaitan)|Treant|Shadow Demon|Lillend Azata
VII|Irnakurse Fleshwarp|Genie (Hawanar or Marid)|Ijiraq|Bebilith|Angel (Movanic Deva)[/table]
Patron's Blessing (Ex, Su or Sp): At level 20, your patron grants you one final gift: Select any two evolutions. This evolution is always in effect for you. You can use it at any time you would be able, and may use them to meet prerequisites as normal.
This replaces Primal Power

[malonkey1]

Reserved Post: Preconstructed Character(s)

Alright, done reserving, methinks.

[Tanuki Tales]

I haven't really looked too much into the Advanced Class Guide (except for that one discussion thread on here that put a bad taste in my mouth), so do all the other "Advanced classes" lack capstones?

[malonkey1]

I haven't really looked too much into the Advanced Class Guide (except for that one discussion thread on here that put a bad taste in my mouth), so do all the other "Advanced classes" lack capstones?

No, I just forgot one. Wow. Okay, this is why I asked for criticism. Thank you. :smallsmile:

EDIT: Yeah, I remember that thread. I would have joined the discussion, had it not (mostly) degenerated into raging a few pages in. I'm most looking forward to the Bloodrager, Investigator and Warpriest. I'm actually curious as to how Bloodragers are handled with Dragon Disciple...

[malonkey1]

Alright, there is a capstone, but I'm thinking of changing it if I can come up with something better. I don't think I super like it.

[malonkey1]

Oh, hey, somebody left an Archetype lying around in post 2...

[Kensen]

This looks like a fun class to play. :) In some ways it reminds me of a summoner archetype I wrote wayyy back, before the Synthesist was published.

A balance point to consider: Extra Evolution gives you 1 evo point, but Highly Evolved Form gives you evo points equal to Cha mod. So, for a character with Cha 20, for example, this feat is 5 times as good as a published feat.

I'd also suggest you change the name: The beastmaster is a good name as such, but there's already a ranger archetype that has that name, so it may be confusing for the players.

As an aside, I also liked the Bloodrager and Warpriest (the newer version). Looking forward to seeing what the finalized classes will look like. :)

[Tanuki Tales]

A balance point to consider: Extra Evolution gives you 1 evo point, but Highly Evolved Form gives you evo points equal to Cha mod. So, for a character with Cha 20, for example, this feat is 5 times as good as a published feat.


I don't see that as bad. Now, a whole feat for a single evolution point is absolutely terrible.

I haven't read the archetype yet Malonkey, but I'd suggest letting Primal Power be rationed out throughout the day instead of a one-shot ten minute boost.

[malonkey1]

I don't see that as bad. Now, a whole feat for a single evolution point is absolutely terrible.

Agreed.


I haven't read the archetype yet Malonkey, but I'd suggest letting Primal Power be rationed out throughout the day instead of a one-shot ten minute boost.

Maybe...I'm still not sure I love that capstone.