New Trick for Totemists, or Old Hat Trick?

[Rubik]

Multitasking is a feat in Savage Species which allows you to take an extra standard action (3.0 partial action) each round for every pair of arms you've got above the one standard pair.

What happens if you combine that with the totem bind for the girallon arms soulmeld, which actually gives you a second pair of arms? Two standard actions every round?

Combine with a third pair of arms via the warforged mighty arms graft, and you've got three standard actions every round until and unless your soulmeld is somehow unshaped, probably via dispelling, since nobody would willingly unshape it of their own volition.

[Troacctid]

Incarnum forms two additional, powerful arms that spring out from your ribs. These spirit arms mirror the movements of your real arms. All four of your arms are tipped with long claws that no longer seem ghostly, but quite real—and quite sharp.

The arms are formed from incarnum--they're not "real" arms that are physically part of your body. (See also the illustration on page 67.) They also mirror the movements of your real arms, which should make multitasking with them mostly impossible. It's possible that a DM might rule that they count as proper extra arms, but I don't think that's the RAW.

Mighty Arms definitely wouldn't work as they aren't extra arms, they're an improvement to your existing arms.

It could work in 3.PF, though, for an Alchemist with two instances of the Vestigial Arm discovery.

[Rubik]

The arms are formed from incarnum--they're not "real" arms that are physically part of your body. They also mirror the movements of your real arms, which should make multitasking with them mostly impossible.The feat just needs an additional pair of arms, and the girallon arms do allow you to make additional attacks and grant rending attacks when you hit with at least two of them, as well as on bonuses with Climb and grappling, so they can obviously be used in ways that just two arms can't. Do you have anything RAW that prevents the combo?


Mighty Arms definitely wouldn't work as they aren't extra arms, they're an improvement to your existing arms.I've read the graft rules several times, and absolutely nothing in the text even hints that they replace your original arms. Unless you can quote otherwise, there's nothing stopping you from grafting them on as additional arms.

[Troacctid]

The feat just needs an additional pair of arms, and the girallon arms do allow you to make additional attacks and grant rending attacks when you hit with at least two of them, as well as on bonuses with Climb and grappling, so they can obviously be used in ways that just two arms can't. Do you have anything RAW that prevents the combo?
I think it's implied in the Multitasking feat that the four arms have to be your arms. (You presumably can't carry around a big bag of other people's severed arms and use them to gain the benefits of the feat.) Girallon Arms don't give you actual extra arms, so they don't count.

See also MoI p49, which notes that soulmelds are treated like worn objects.


I've read the graft rules several times, and absolutely nothing in the text even hints that they replace your original arms. Unless you can quote otherwise, there's nothing stopping you from grafting them on as additional arms.

"Your arms are built of artificial materials, allowing you to use them to make slam attacks." It modifies your arms. (See also the image.) There's nothing in the graft that allows it to give you extra arms. It's just not part of the effect of the graft.

It's well-established that D&D's rules are permissive, not restrictive. It's not enough for the rules to not say you can't do a thing--they have to actually say you can do the thing. Since the rules don't say you get extra arms from the graft, you don't get extra arms from the graft. Similarly, you also don't get extra arms from the Adamantine Skin or Heart of Steel grafts.

[Amphetryon]

I think it's implied in the Multitasking feat that the four arms have to be your arms. (You presumably can't carry around a big bag of other people's severed arms and use them to gain the benefits of the feat.) Girallon Arms don't give you actual extra arms, so they don't count.

"I think it's implied" is fairly shaky ground on which to plant RAW, IMO. I think Rubik's idea is pretty squarely in "ask your DM" territory, particularly given the shoddy editing in MoI.

[Rubik]

I think it's implied in the Multitasking feat that the four arms have to be your arms. (You presumably can't carry around a big bag of other people's severed arms and use them to gain the benefits of the feat.) Girallon Arms don't give you actual extra arms, so they don't count.But they count well enough for Multiweapon Fighting and its derivatives. i don't see why they wouldn't count here.


See also MoI p49, which notes that soulmelds are treated like worn objects.And so do arms of the naga, from Savage Species. They work exactly like real arms, as well.


"Your arms are built of artificial materials, allowing you to use them to make slam attacks." It modifies your arms. (See also the image.) There's nothing in the graft that allows it to give you extra arms. It's just not part of the effect of the graft.Once they're grafted on, they're your arms, regardless of the fact that they weren't your arms at any point prior to being grafted. The text works exactly the same for either case.

(Also, if pictures mean anything, Jozan, a Lawful Good cleric can cast Evil spells because the picture in the PHB says he can.)


It's well-established that D&D's rules are permissive, not restrictive. It's not enough for the rules to not say you can't do a thing--they have to actually say you can do the thing. Since the rules don't say you get extra arms from the graft, you don't get extra arms from the graft. Similarly, you also don't get extra arms from the Adamantine Skin or Heart of Steel grafts.They say nothing about replacing your arms, merely that they're grafted on. If you have an actual quote where it says you must replace your arms, then I'll accept it, but I have yet to see a discussion where anyone can find such text.

The rules for the graft permit you to add arms to your character. They do not restrict anyone from actually having their natural arms at the same time.

Unless you have to have a tail prior to a tail graft, or actually have had arms prior to an arm graft? Can an Awakened snake get some arm grafts? There's absolutely nothing preventing it, as far as I can tell.

[sleepyphoenixx]

You could also cast Girallon's Blessing (SpC). Those arms are definitely yours.


The arms are formed from incarnum--they're not "real" arms that are physically part of your body. (See also the illustration on page 67.) They also mirror the movements of your real arms, which should make multitasking with them mostly impossible. It's possible that a DM might rule that they count as proper extra arms, but I don't think that's the RAW.

Basing your ruling on an illustration and fluff text isn't exactly the most airtight of arguments, to put it mildly.
I'd rather have the DM tell me "no, because more standard actions are overpowered" than give me something like that as a serious rules interpretation. It feels like a cheap excuse for that anyway, so you may as well come out and say it.

[ben-zayb]

Not exactly groundbreaking cheese. Considering that the more broken version of Girallon's Blessing (seriously, up to 5 pair!) is in the same book, this feat is pretty much broken the first time it was seen. As other stuff from that book, so not exactly surprising.

[Troacctid]

"I think it's implied" is fairly shaky ground on which to plant RAW, IMO.
Perhaps, but if we take the reading that it works with a bag of severed arms, the point is moot, isn't it? There's no need to invest gold or feats or chakra binds into gaining extra arms when you can just hack off your enemies' and use those.


But they count well enough for Multiweapon Fighting and its derivatives.
I think that's equally debatable.


And so do arms of the naga, from Savage Species. They work exactly like real arms, as well.
That's not what the text says. The text says they can allow the wearer to use items designed for creatures with humanoid hands and arms, or, if the wearer already has arms, they allow the use of a two-handed weapon plus another piece of equipment. It doesn't say they can be used for everything that regular arms can be used for--in fact it explicitly bars you from using them to multitask or make extra attacks.


Basing your ruling on an illustration and fluff text isn't exactly the most airtight of arguments, to put it mildly.
The "fluff" text is the only part of Girallon Arms that says you get extra arms, so if you're disregarding that part, then you aren't getting any extra arms no matter how you slice it.

[Necroticplague]

Also, there's the Undead arm grafts from Libris mortis, which are dirt-cheap sources of extra arms.
Though honestly, I think this trick is more useful for Martial Adepts to fire off multiple strikes per turn.

[Prime32]

Multitasking is a feat in Savage Species which allows you to take an extra standard action (3.0 partial action) each round for every pair of arms you've got above the one standard pair.

What happens if you combine that with the totem bind for the girallon arms soulmeld, which actually gives you a second pair of arms? Two standard actions every round?

Combine with a third pair of arms via the warforged mighty arms graft, and you've got three standard actions every round until and unless your soulmeld is somehow unshaped, probably via dispelling, since nobody would willingly unshape it of their own volition.
3.5 nerfed all the abilities that granted you extra partial actions, like Haste. I'm not sure if it was explicitly called out in the rules for converting 3.0 material to 3.5, but part of those rules was "if you're unsure, look at similar material and see how it was changed".

The most obvious 3.5 conversion for Multitasking would be "You can make an extra attack as part of a full attack for every extra pair of arms you have, which does not stack with haste or a speed weapon". However, that stacks with the rules for Multiweapon Fighting where the original didn't. A better alternative could be adding extra attacks to an attack action - e.g. if you have six arms, you can attack thrice as a standard action. For the spellcasters maybe throw in a side-benefit where Quicken Spell costs only +3 levels for you as long as you have enough arms free, since swift actions weren't a thing in 3.0.


Also, the mighty arms graft doesn't give you extra arms, it replaces the ones you have.

[Necroticplague]

Also, the mighty arms graft doesn't give you extra arms, it replaces the ones you have.

Source? I'm not seeing tat anywhere in the graft entry. Especially given how it doesn't mention the possibility of losing natural attacks (which could be a natural consequence of losing an arm that has, say, a claw on it).

[Aleolus]

The arms are formed from incarnum--they're not "real" arms that are physically part of your body. (See also the illustration on page 67.) They also mirror the movements of your real arms, which should make multitasking with them mostly impossible. It's possible that a DM might rule that they count as proper extra arms, but I don't think that's the RAW.

Except if you bind that meld to your Totem chakra they become actual physical arms attached to you and (presumably) under your control. I can see your argument working if you just had the meld shaped, but when bound to your totem chakra it actually does give you the extra arms

[Prime32]

Also, the mighty arms graft doesn't give you extra arms, it replaces the ones you have.Source? I'm not seeing tat anywhere in the graft entry. Especially given how it doesn't mention the possibility of losing natural attacks (which could be a natural consequence of losing an arm that has, say, a claw on it).FoE grafts occupy a body slot. They explicitly take up space on your arms, preventing you from using any other graft which also replaces your arms. The description of the graft is "your arms are built of artificial materials". Even the picture shows a guy who replaced his arms.

[daremetoidareyo]

Perhaps, but if we take the reading that it works with a bag of severed arms, the point is moot, isn't it? There's no need to invest gold or feats or chakra binds into gaining extra arms when you can just hack off your enemies' and use those.


I don't know. If a PC approaches me with a bag of severed arms as a cheesey interpretation, I just refluff it as taint based magic, work out a system, and let them have it. (They may need freshly alive arms harvested from living creatures (not warforged or undead), harvested within the last 48 hours, they need to come in sets of even numbers from the same body). This may derail much of the planned campaign, as the PCs go off to set up some cheese about how to get a supply line of easily harvested sentient arms. They'd probably start offering bounties for live goblin captures, leading to small industry of low level men and women out hunting goblins with mancatchers, nets and bolas. Acolytes of peace show up to keep the goblins from being slain etc. etc.



Also, the mighty arms graft doesn't give you extra arms, it replaces the ones you have.
The clawed arm fiendish graft from fiend folio however, doesn't say anything about replacement. This arm gets its own natural attack each round, implying that it exists separate from your biologically derived arms. This makes the fiendish graft "fast leg" really wierd however. You get a ...ahem ...third leg with which to jump better with.

[xyianth]

Not exactly groundbreaking cheese. Considering that the more broken version of Girallon's Blessing (seriously, up to 5 pair!) is in the same book, this feat is pretty much broken the first time it was seen. As other stuff from that book, so not exactly surprising.

I've never understood this viewpoint. I'm fairly sure that there exists broken content in virtually every book in 3.0 and 3.5. Why do some books, like savage species, get accused of being broken when some of the most broken things are straight out of the PHB?

Back on topic: The soulmeld when bound to the totem slot does appear to give you real-enough arms for me to allow you to take that feat. However, partial actions are not the same thing as standard actions. Since the soulmeld already allows you to make extra attacks with those arms, the feat shouldn't really grant you extra attacks. I would allow you to take an additional move-equivalent action (like manipulating an object, climbing a wall, etc...) instead of extra attacks during the round. The action would have to be able to be performed with clawed hands though. In this way, the feat expands what you can accomplish with your soulmeld granted arms, rather than add even more attacks.

If it granted extra attacks, it would be a more powerful version of the rapidstrike feat with fewer restrictions and easier requirements.

[ComaVision]

I've never understood this viewpoint. I'm fairly sure that there exists broken content in virtually every book in 3.0 and 3.5. Why do some books, like savage species, get accused of being broken when some of the most broken things are straight out of the PHB?


I think it's a fair contender for the worst book in 3.0/3.5. It has very little useful content, and it's the only book that I've really considered just blanket banning from my games. Nearly everything in it is either too weak or too strong.

Sure, PHB has more absolutely world-shattering stuff but it also has well written and useful content.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Friends don't let friends use Savage Species material.
And if someone tries to use Savage Species material in a game you DM, s/he's not really your friend.

[xyianth]

I think it's a fair contender for the worst book in 3.0/3.5. It has very little useful content, and it's the only book that I've really considered just blanket banning from my games. Nearly everything in it is either too weak or too strong.

Sure, PHB has more absolutely world-shattering stuff but it also has well written and useful content.


Friends don't let friends use Savage Species material.
And if someone tries to use Savage Species material in a game you DM, s/he's not really your friend.

My vote for worst book would be Serpent Kingdoms, not Savage Species. I actually like the equipment, some of the feats, and the concept of savage progressions from SS. The book is meant for a different kind of campaign than is the normal, which is why it doesn't easily gel with your standard campaign. Some of the best campaigns I've been a part of have used SS as a primary resource. SK, on the other hand, is only ever used for two things: a broken druid spell (because they obviously needed more power) and Pun-Pun.

I will grant you that there is a lot of stuff in SS that is badly designed, but that is hardly unique to SS. ToB: are stances maneuvers? ToM: truenamer and shadowcaster mechanics; FR: zhentarim skymage, runecaster, hathran, incantatrix, any of the dozens of other brokentastic content; etc...

[ComaVision]

My vote for worst book would be Serpent Kingdoms, not Savage Species. I actually like the equipment, some of the feats, and the concept of savage progressions from SS. The book is meant for a different kind of campaign than is the normal, which is why it doesn't easily gel with your standard campaign. Some of the best campaigns I've been a part of have used SS as a primary resource. SK, on the other hand, is only ever used for two things: a broken druid spell (because they obviously needed more power) and Pun-Pun.

I will grant you that there is a lot of stuff in SS that is badly designed, but that is hardly unique to SS. ToB: are stances maneuvers? ToM: truenamer and shadowcaster mechanics; FR: zhentarim skymage, runecaster, hathran, incantatrix, any of the dozens of other brokentastic content; etc...

Fair point on SK but it's also not a book that everyone knows about. Anyone that has downloaded a PDF pack knows about SS so it comes up a lot more. (I've literally never seen any SK content used in games.)

Yeah, SS has good concepts but Truenamer is a good concept too, it's not enough. ToB: Definitely a good book with relatively minor issues. ToM: 1/3 of a good book. FR I'll refrain from commentary.

Anthropomorphic animals in SS are a popular request in my experience but are trash. The Savage Progressions are a cool idea but all trash, unless everyone is using them and the DM balances around that. The templates are pretty ridiculous (Incarnate Construct particularly). For a book about playing monsters, it is not very helpful at playing monsters.

[Necroticplague]

FoE grafts occupy a body slot. True, but not relevent.


They explicitly take up space on your arms, preventing you from using any other graft which also replaces your arms.
Isn't the underlined what we're discussing? That seems a bit assuming the conclusion.

The bolded, however, is false. It prevent you from having another graft in the Arm location. This is not the same as any other graft that replaces your arms.

The description of the graft is "your arms are built of artificial materials". Even the picture shows a guy who replaced his arms.

And that statement is true if some of your limbs are made, and some are natural (ignoring that for some characters, that statement is true without any form of graft).

The picture has absolutely zero connection to the rules.

[Troacctid]

Except if you bind that meld to your Totem chakra they become actual physical arms attached to you and (presumably) under your control. I can see your argument working if you just had the meld shaped, but when bound to your totem chakra it actually does give you the extra arms

The arms aren't properly under your control. They just mimic the movement of your real arms.

[Rubik]

The arms aren't properly under your control. They just mimic the movement of your real arms.And how does this change anything whatsoever? My toes on each foot all tend to curl at once, but I still have five on each foot. If I had a feat that gave me bonuses for the number of toes I have, I'd still count as having ten in total, regardless of the amount of control I have over them.

[Darrin]

The arms aren't properly under your control. They just mimic the movement of your real arms.

This is fluff text. Rules-wise, it doesn't tell me if the arms are or are not capable of manipulating objects on their own.

Even if the arms aren't capable of independent actions, the point is moot, because once you take Multitasking, the feat now allows them to move independently enough to perform distinct partial actions. The feat doesn't care if some of your arms don't work properly, just that you have four of them.

However, it should be noted that actually getting Multitasking into a build is not exactly easy. Dex 15, Int 15, Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, and Improved Multiweapon Fighting are difficult to get into the same build, and the last feat has a BAB +9 requirement (as per the Epic section of the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#improvedMultiweaponFighting)). Totemist isn't full BAB, so you can get Improved MWF around ECL 10 at best, but it's not listed as a fighter bonus feat and it's debatable if Ranger 6 can get it from their combat style. More likely you take it at ECL 12, which means no Multitasking until ECL 15.

[Rubik]

However, it should be noted that actually getting Multitasking into a build is not exactly easy. Dex 15, Int 15, Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, and Improved Multiweapon Fighting are difficult to get into the same build, and the last feat has a BAB +9 requirement (as per the Epic section of the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#improvedMultiweaponFighting)). Totemist isn't full BAB, so you can get Improved MWF around ECL 10 at best, but it's not listed as a fighter bonus feat and it's debatable if Ranger 6 can get it from their combat style. More likely you take it at ECL 12, which means no Multitasking until ECL 15.You only need totemist 2, and multiclassing is a thing You can easily get (Improved) Multiweapon Fighting on, say, a kobold. Kobolds're good, right?

[MisterKaws]

Soulmelds are treated as items, and to take any feat using items as prerequisites, you need to have your DM's permission anyway, so it's not even worth discussing.

[Psyren]

The trouble with this trick, any any other Savage Species trick, is that it's unupdated 3.0 material and thus requires "minor adjustments" from the GM before it can be used in 3.5. The trouble is that many minor adjustments, such as changing a single word in an ability's text, can significantly alter how they work in-game and cut off many cheesy interpretations.

Bottom line is that it depends on the GM helping you to make it work by leaving it untouched, which puts it on a lower rung of optimization than something that just works and needs the GM to stop it.

[Chronos]

Quoth xiyanth:

SK, on the other hand, is only ever used for two things: a broken druid spell (because they obviously needed more power) and Pun-Pun.
Not true: It also has a race which is tiny but without any LA, which is also broken. So far as I know, there are only two races in the entire game that get that... though if there are any I'm overlooking, they're probably in Savage Species.

I think that the biggest problem with Savage Species is that it's written with the assumption that everyone's a fighter, and thus, if something isn't overpowered for a fighter, it's balanced. Which means that most of it is horribly overpowered for a skillmonkey or spellcaster who doesn't care about the things that fighters care about.

[Necroticplague]

Er, maybe I'm missing something or have an off definition, but what broken thing comes from SS (outside of Symbiotic, which shares its issues with Lycanthropic and Tauric)?

[sleepyphoenixx]

Er, maybe I'm missing something or have an off definition, but what broken thing comes from SS (outside of Symbiotic, which shares its issues with Lycanthropic and Tauric)?

Supernatural Transformation and Assume Supernatural Ability are both from SS.

[Chronos]

Also many of the anthropomorphic animals, such as bats, which get flight and +6 Wis with no LA nor RHD.

[Psyren]

It also has those rituals to monkey with your type/subtype IIRC

[Necroticplague]

Supernatural Transformation and Assume Supernatural Ability are both from SS.
The first of which isn't particularly usful (ignore SR, which isn't particularly common and is easy to get around, don't provoke AoO on abilities you can normally use from a distance, and immune to dispelling, whcih I've rarely seen anyone bother with). On top of only working on one specific ability, and not all your SLA's. The broken part of that comes from combining it with some poor wording for Psionics, and the fault lies with Psionics, not ST.

The second kind of defeats the primarly purpose of the spell it supports (the main benefit of polymorph and co is versatility, locking a feat to only benefit in a specific form either kills that or means you've wasted a feat slot), in addition to being obviated by Shapechange.

Also many of the anthropomorphic animals, such as bats, which get flight and +6 Wis with no LA nor RHD.
Many? Almost all of them are horrible. Even the bat you say is broken has net +0 to stats, and is slow (even taking into account flying, which is only average maneuverability and is slow than a standard move speed).


It also has those rituals to monkey with your type/subtype IIRC

Which cost a lot of gold and XP and tack on LA.

[Chronos]

Yes, it's a net +0 to stats, but in almost all other books, anything with no LA and +4 to a single stat has a net stat penalty, and there's nothing at all that has +6 to a single stat. Plus unlimited flight at level 1, which you literally can't get from anything in any other book. Yes, anthro bat stats suck if you're a fighter, but that just gets back to what I said before about how they balanced that book: You can't balance something by looking at its worst use, but at its best, which in this case is druid (which they even made the bat's favored class).

[sleepyphoenixx]

The first of which isn't particularly usful (ignore SR, which isn't particularly common and is easy to get around, don't provoke AoO on abilities you can normally use from a distance, and immune to dispelling, whcih I've rarely seen anyone bother with). On top of only working on one specific ability, and not all your SLA's. The broken part of that comes from combining it with some poor wording for Psionics, and the fault lies with Psionics, not ST.

The second kind of defeats the primarly purpose of the spell it supports (the main benefit of polymorph and co is versatility, locking a feat to only benefit in a specific form either kills that or means you've wasted a feat slot), in addition to being obviated by Shapechange.

Psionics by itself isn't overpowered. Supernatural Transformation + psionics is. The feat has the same problem as most of the book, being either total crap (most innate SLA's) or overpowered (psionics), which makes it functionally broken.

Something being obviated by Shapechange isn't exactly saying much, considering it's probably the most broken spell in the game. And ASA is not only available far earlier, it also works with shapechanging effects that don't cost you your own (Su) abilities. Which can be quite useful when you consider that most of the good caster PrC abilities are (Su), as are exalted and psionic feats, special abilities like telepathy and a whole lot of other abilities most spellcasters would rather keep in combat.

And even if you don't get ASA via a floating feat (Alter Self explicitly grants racial bonus feats. Hello human.) or psychic reformation, getting that one ability can often be enough. The Choker makes a pretty neat caster form even without getting an extra standard action every round. It's pretty common knowledge that messing with the action economy breaks the game faster than most other things, and with an Elan wizard you can get that at level 3, long before Shapechange is more than a vague idea for your game.

[Chronos]

In fairness to Assume Supernatural Ability, you can get basically the same thing but with even more flexibility from Metamorphic Transfer (which is in the "psionics by itself" book). You're limited to only three uses per day, but the most abusive abilities only need to be used once. For instance, a human wizard 3 with Metamorphic Transfer could Alter Self into a changeling, and gain the changeling's Minor Shapeshift, and then use Minor Shapeshift to become a zodar, and gain the zodar's Wish.

[sleepyphoenixx]

In fairness to Assume Supernatural Ability, you can get basically the same thing but with even more flexibility from Metamorphic Transfer (which is in the "psionics by itself" book). You're limited to only three uses per day, but the most abusive abilities only need to be used once. For instance, a human wizard 3 with Metamorphic Transfer could Alter Self into a changeling, and gain the changeling's Minor Shapeshift, and then use Minor Shapeshift to become a zodar, and gain the zodar's Wish.

Minor Shapeshift is based on Disguise Self iirc. A zodar is way beyond the scope of that spell. It changes your looks, not your race. It would take a stupidly permissive DM to allow that reading.
Metamorphic Transfer also runs into the problem of how to interpret 3 uses/day with abilities that are always on.
Not to mention that it requires ML 5, so i'd be surprised if you can get it on a wizard 3 or even a wizard 5. You'd need at least one level in a manifesting class and Practiced Manifester first.

ASA + Choker on the other hand is ironclad by RAW, and all it takes is a single feat and a spell you'd probably take anyway. You could certainly do a lot worse and not a lot better, both with uses of Alter Self and spending a feat slot.

All that aside "there's another ability that's just as broken" isn't really an argument to allow ASA. The XPH at least has the fact that most of it is well written and decently balanced (for a system that's essentially equivalent to 9th level casting anyway) on its side.
SS really doesn't have much of that, with the only thing i can think of being the Necklace of Natural Attacks. The rest is either too weak to be used in a normal game or completely screws any notion of balance.

[Necroticplague]

Psionics by itself isn't overpowered. Supernatural Transformation + psionics is. The feat has the same problem as most of the book, being either total crap (most innate SLA's) or overpowered (psionics), which makes it functionally broken.

Supernatural transformation on its own isn't horrifically powerful, either. The brokenness is an emergent property (much like Rainbow Servant+fixed list casters). However all the relevant text is in the psionics books (talking about manifesting being a psi-like ability, calling manifesting innate, saying you can take things that modify SLAs for PLAs), so the blame is closer to them than Supernatural Transformation.

[daremetoidareyo]

Supernatural transformation on its own isn't horrifically powerful, either. The brokenness is an emergent property (much like Rainbow Servant+fixed list casters). However all the relevant text is in the psionics books (talking about manifesting being a psi-like ability, calling manifesting innate, saying you can take things that modify SLAs for PLAs), so the blame is closer to them than Supernatural Transformation.

So that is how I make the best use of the dromite PLA. Supernatural transformation turns the psi like ability energy ray into a way better thing because it now scales with level rather than half level.

[Chronos]

Minor Shapeshift is based on Disguise Self iirc. A zodar is way beyond the scope of that spell. It changes your looks, not your race.
Disguise Self is limited only by basic body shape, not by creature type. Zodars are humanoid-shaped and medium-sized, so a medium humanoid could use Disguise Self to turn into a zodar. The changeling ability, despite being based on Disguise Self, also changes your actual form. It's a very trivial change in your form, that does almost nothing by itself... but it's still enough to qualify you to use Assume Supernatural Ability or Metamorphic Transfer, in which case you get a supernatural ability.