[3.P] Construct Shifter Class

[TotallyNotEvil]

I have a player that wants to play a flying ship as a character, but also to change his form to fit into small dungeons, serve as a chariot, help in combat encounters, etc. Is there anything close to that in the ruleset? First thought was flavouring the shifter class, but it doesn't end up feeling like a construct build.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by TotallyNotEvil
I have a player that wants to play a flying ship as a character, but also to change his form to fit into small dungeons, serve as a chariot, help in combat encounters, etc. Is there anything close to that in the ruleset?

I’ve never come across anything like that, although for construct shenanigans you really want unseenmage.

All I can think is a compact module that would serve as the brain for a ship or a chariot—something that could plug in, as it were, and power/animate/give direction to an otherwise inanimate ship or vehicle.

You might start with a warforged scout (MM3), which is Small, and modify it from there to something smaller and less independently capable, which only comes into its own when animating a vehicle. I’m not sure how that would interact with class levels, since becoming the animating mind of a vehicle seems like a pretty major class feature on its own.

As an alternative, maybe use a lantern archon or Cassisian angel as the chassis, and then grant it the feature to animate a vehicle?

[Vizzerdrix]

Fiend of possesion, with a high wis, and lots of shapesand. Create and posses whatever you want.

[FaerieGodfather]

It seems like you could start with the PF Shifter, or the 3pp Legendary Shifter, and make an animated object archetype for it?

[ElderDarren]

May I point you to the Transforming Construct template from Pathfinder. With a little DM love it allows a Warforged to become a veritable all terrain vehicle, and comes with natural attacks per form to boot! I combined this with Aegis for the eventual passengers Customization, but if he can somehow become large, nothing prevents him from serving as a mount for at least one character in the meantime.

[icefractal]

What level is this, and are you open to 3PP material, like Spheres of Power?

The Alteration sphere can perform an instantaneous (not dispel-able and presumably works in an AMF, but a few specific spells can remove it) shapeshift at CL 10th. That would take care of "being an airship", and then use normal shapeshifts to assume the other forms. Being airship-sized would be the hard part, you need CL 15th for gargantuan, 20th for colossal.

However - this isn't personal-only, so if the GM's feeling generous, this could come from an external caster at any level you can afford it (and this doesn't cost the caster anything more than spell-slot equivalents, so it doesn't have to be all that expensive).

Another method (1st party) - be a Ghost with the Vehemence power. You can animate and possess a colossal object at level 13. But you aren't really playing as the object then, and using Ghost for that purpose is kind of a waste.

[ShurikVch]

Urban Druid from the Dragon Compendium is able to turn into objects (animated or not), but this ability is available only at higher levels (and Airship, being Colossal, wouldn't be available at all - unless the Colossal Wild Shape [epic] feat)

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by TotallyNotEvil
I have a player that wants to play a flying ship as a character, but also to change his form to fit into small dungeons, serve as a chariot, help in combat encounters, etc.

Does he want to do all this at first level, or is he willing to wait until later levels for the flying ship and other supersized options?

[TotallyNotEvil]

The campaign starts at 6th, so it should be at least functional by then.

[StSword]

The Patreon of the publisher Samurai Sheepdog, under Name's Games, created a race that might be useful here.

The Mechanin, transformers for pathfinder.

The default assumption is that they transform into other creatures, but have an alternate racial trait to take on vehicle (or weapon forms). Sadly, different racial traits, though.

This allows a mechanin to study a large, medium, or small vehicle for five minutes and then shapeshift into them ala mimic object whenever they want.

There's a racial feat to add additional slots to the library, and another feat that allows them to operate themselves, so the mechanin could transform into a vehicle and then drive themselves, aim built in weaponry if the vehicle has built in weaponry, and even reload ammunition as needed.

If that's enough shapeshifting, then that opens up every class.

[daremetoidareyo]

Soulfused construct template on an animated chariot or skate board?

I think that you're gonna have to home brew this one.

You can probably do a colossal ship magic item (polymorph) for transformations into the airship.

[Thurbane]

Maybe some ideas here: Gazebo Jones (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=9823824)

[icefractal]

I forgot about Gazebo Jones! That's a very nice build.

As you're the GM, re: homebrewing -
The reason that becoming huge+ is usually restricted to high levels is because it gives huge grapple bonuses, often high stats, and (for animated objects) also more HD.

The last one doesn't have to be the case, and the first two aren't an issue if the form is impractical to fight in. Turning into a Colossal airship but with no natural attacks or limbs, and the normal amount of HD, would be fine to do at a pretty low level.

So with that in mind, you could waive size limits for non-combat forms, which would make the concept achievable by 6th level or probably earlier.

[Prime32]

If you're using both 3.5 and PF material:

Tactician (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/classes/tactician) (Metanexus (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/classes/tactician/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/metanexus/)) 5
Feats: Enlarge Collective (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/feats/enlarge-collective/), Psicrystal Affinity

Be undead (e.g. a necropolitan) and have haunt shiftLM cast on you to transfer you into the airship. Use your psicrystal to interact with the world. There's various other things you can do to improve this, like implanting your psicrystal into a larger body (https://libraryofmetzofitz.fandom.com/wiki/Crystallized_Creature).



PF also has the cheese of applying the Petitioner (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/petitioner-cr-1/) template to an intelligent item (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/intelligent-items/), which fills out some of the creature statistics that it was missing. You then use Synthesist Summoner to gain your eidolon's size and physical ability scores. This would, however, make your airship form ridiculously fragile.

[EldritchWeaver]

What level is this, and are you open to 3PP material, like Spheres of Power?

The Alteration sphere can perform an instantaneous (not dispel-able and presumably works in an AMF, but a few specific spells can remove it) shapeshift at CL 10th. That would take care of "being an airship", and then use normal shapeshifts to assume the other forms. Being airship-sized would be the hard part, you need CL 15th for gargantuan, 20th for colossal.

However - this isn't personal-only, so if the GM's feeling generous, this could come from an external caster at any level you can afford it (and this doesn't cost the caster anything more than spell-slot equivalents, so it doesn't have to be all that expensive).

Another method (1st party) - be a Ghost with the Vehemence power. You can animate and possess a colossal object at level 13. But you aren't really playing as the object then, and using Ghost for that purpose is kind of a waste.

To add on Spheres of Power, Alteration provides a base form, depending on the chosen talent, and one or more traits depending on caster level further enhancing the form. Also there is the Transformation feat, which allows at-will transformations lasting indefinitely, based upon Alteration sphere talents. It is already available at level 1, but you are not gaining traits unless you take Improved Transformation at level 5. And even then, you can still add at least a single trait from normal casting in addition, which allows you some flexibility of the chosen form, which otherwise has fixed traits.

The martial twin Spheres of Might has the Tech sphere, where the 2nd expansion is in playtest. It has an AI race already, which allows you to build and upgrade the normal body. If you take the Transformation feat, you can be of any race you want at least in appearance. There is some more Transformer-like stuff planned, but not published, so that is unfortunately something for the future at this point of time.

Another alternative would be to switch things around a bit. Employ the Tech sphere to create drones of various sizes (can be you or an ally). Take the Wraith class to possess the drones. You need to take object rider to be able to possess drones. If you want to have a more AI like feel, take the Unbodied archetype, which basically forces permanent possession. Since Tech talents can't be taken instead of magic talents, you need to trade 5 general feats for 10 combat talents, which limits a bit the drone options in the low levels, assuming you build them on your own.

[ShurikVch]

Another method (1st party) - be a Ghost with the Vehemence power. You can animate and possess a colossal object at level 13. But you aren't really playing as the object then, and using Ghost for that purpose is kind of a waste.If we already talking about a Ghost, then object also can be animated by the Haunt Shift spell or Fiend of Possession PrC...

[unseenmage]

Maybe some ideas here: Gazebo Jones (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=9823824)
This was exactly what I was going to mention. Glad someone else got to it first because I'm pretty sure I was misremembering the name.


PF downtime rules have rules for buildings and rooms. The sizes correlate nicely with the Animate Objects sizes. Use those downtime rules to build the sailing ship and this could let you make as squeezed and low volume a ship as possible for Animate Objects.

On the note of Animate Objects, both the Aballonian (iirc) and the Necrocraft have additional Construction Point superpowers lists that are pretty compatible with the CP list for Animate Objects, GM willing.


An Intelligent Magic Item spelljamming helm could be hot swapped from chariot to sailing ship to make either fly. If the character either IS the Int magic item or occupies it via possession/mind switch etc that could work.

The spell Greater Humanoid Essence is nice because it turns a Construct into a Humanoid for the duration. Even better spell effects dont go away just because the original target stops being a legal target due to type change.
So you can do all kinds of neat spell stuff to Constructs that would normally only apply to Humanoids, like mind swaps and mind control as examples.


GHEssence also allows us to infect Constructs with lycanthropy. Alternatively, the Monstrous Lycanthrope template from Advanced Bestiary (can be found on PFSRD) let's us make a were-anything monster. Maybe the character was bitten by a viscous were-animated-object-sailing-vessel and now has that as an alternate form. Food for thought.