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View Full Version : Pathfinder The Nahual, an Akashic Shapeshifter!



Kris Moonhand
2020-03-07, 02:04 AM
I got inspired a while back to make something of an akashic druid after seeing the Stormbound's take on the concept. Where the Stormbound went for weather magic, I've gone for shapeshifting. I present to you, the Nahual (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uHetSvkeWLWCshPgGLJCpjKb2_2D7QK8rdb1nq2N98s/edit?usp=sharing)! I haven't playtested it yet, so there's probably some roughness to work out. The basic gist is that you have more options than a Druid, but you have to kind of focus on one or two if you want them to be good.

Grek
2020-03-07, 04:48 AM
I'm not sure that this is especially accurate to the concept of a Nahual. The basic idea behind a Nahual is that each person has a single unique animal spirit double which influences their personality and talents. Some people have a bird spirit, some people have a cat spirit, some people have a snake spirit. Since it's Pathfinder, you might have a magical beast like a unicorn spirit or a basilisk spirit instead. And some people have the ability to do magic and physically turn into their animal spirit instead of just having their talents influenced by it. But conceptually, Nahual don't choose what they turn into, and they don't turn into zombies or elves or demons - they always turn into a single specific animal unique to that one specific Nahual. The witch that can turn into a jaguar to murder people and drink their blood always turns into a jaguar, not into a leprechaun. Conceptually, a Nahual would be a cross between a Pathfinder Shifter and a 3.5 Totemist.

Doing something with the traditional Mayan model of souls (where each person has vital spiritual essences in their blood, bones, breath and shadows in addition to their animal spirit) would be interesting as well. But that doesn't terribly fit with veilweaving, so maybe not.

Kris Moonhand
2020-03-07, 06:06 AM
Apologies, naming classes is rather difficult without stepping on someone else's toes. I couldn't really find a mythical shapeshifting creature with multiple forms, and I didn't want to end up calling it something like "Mimic" or "Doppelganger". I kinda wanted to call it "Skinwalker", but that's already the name of a race, so... If you have a suggestion for a better name, I'd welcome it. Maybe something to do with Rakshasa, to go with Akasha's more vaguely-Indian theme?

I'll look into the Mayan vital essence thing. It might make an interesting archetype or something.

Palanan
2020-03-07, 08:30 AM
Originally Posted by Kris Moonhand
I couldn't really find a mythical shapeshifting creature with multiple forms....

Proteus comes to mind, so maybe you could do something with that.

Grek
2020-03-07, 08:56 AM
If you have a suggestion for a better name, I'd welcome it.
How about a Huay? They're similar to a Nahual, but aren't limited to animals. Some Huayob (Way/Huay is singular, Wayob/Huayob is plural) turn into ghosts, skeletons, deer-apes, men made of fire and into the appearance of other people. And they're generally not restricted to just one form like a Nahual is. Huay Chivo (a well known example of the Huayob) is said to turn into any of a goat, a dog, a deer or a chupacabra. The problem is that, like Warlocks and Witches, they're pretty much Always Evil in the stories - a Huay never shows up to help people, he always wants to curse or eat livestock.

Kris Moonhand
2020-03-07, 05:06 PM
How about a Huay? They're similar to a Nahual, but aren't limited to animals. Some Huayob (Way/Huay is singular, Wayob/Huayob is plural) turn into ghosts, skeletons, deer-apes, men made of fire and into the appearance of other people. And they're generally not restricted to just one form like a Nahual is. Huay Chivo (a well known example of the Huayob) is said to turn into any of a goat, a dog, a deer or a chupacabra. The problem is that, like Warlocks and Witches, they're pretty much Always Evil in the stories - a Huay never shows up to help people, he always wants to curse or eat livestock.That is actually exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. Could you point me towards some more info on Huayob? I tried my google-fu on it and all I found was the rather lackluster wikipedia page on the Huay Chivo, plus a bunch of cryptid lists also only mentioning Huay Chivo.

Palanan
2020-03-21, 05:28 PM
Did you ever find any more information on the Huayob? Sounded interesting.