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Vadin
2008-05-29, 02:28 PM
http://www.enworld.org/Pozas/Pictures/Illustration/shifter_druid.jpg

Shifter
Abilities: +2 to an ability that the race chooses after an Extended Rest
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Low Light
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Languages: Common
Skills: +2 Bluff
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Bonus Feat: Any one bonus feat
Emulate Ability: After every extended rest, choose a racial power that the race you're emulating that day has that is usable on a per encounter basis. For the remainder of the day, you have access to this power as though you were a member of that race.
Imitation: A shifter is treated as a member of the race whose power they are emulating. This does not allow you to take feats that require being a member of a given race, however.
Mutable Defense: At the beginning of the day, choose Fortitude, Reflex, or Will. You gain a +1 bonus to that defense. At the end of each Short Rest period, you may change to which defense this applies.

Racial Feats
Heroic Teir
Focused Shifting [Shifter]
Prerequisites: Shifter
Benefit: You may add +1 to two ability scores in place of +2 to one ability score at the beginning of each day.

Toughened Shifting [Shifter]
Prerequisites: Shifter
Benefit: Your bonus from Mutable Defense increases to +2.

Paragon Teir
Versatile Shifting [Shifter]
Prerequisites: Shifter, Character Level 11
Benefit: You may choose two defense to apply the bonus from Mutable Defense to.
Special: If you took the Toughened Shifting feat, both defense chosen are increased by +2.

Racial Shifting [Shifter]
Prerequisites: Shifter, Character Level 11
Benefit: This feat allows you to emulate a Heroic Teir feat every day from the race whose power you are emulating that day. You choose the feat to be emulated at the beginning of each day.


Thoughts? A bit different than Eberron's Shifters, but I thought it worked quite nicely. Obviously, of course, the +2 to an ability score doesn't stack. It's more like a permanent but temporary +2 bonus. Some room for expansion would be a paragon path that granted the ability to emulate powers from other classes (like enhanced multiclassing) and the ability to gain a racial feat every day for the race you're emulating.

Also, thank you, Xefas, for the easy to use 4e race format.

Scintillatus
2008-05-29, 03:43 PM
Uh, we already have Dopplegangers and two kinds of Shifers statted out in the MM.

Vadin
2008-05-29, 04:01 PM
Correct. None of those, however, are statted up as races or work like this. Also, I'm not sure which of those are in the 4e MM. I mean, dopplegangers most likely are (as in, I'll be shocked if they aren't), but what I don't know if shifters are in it.

Scintillatus
2008-05-29, 04:32 PM
I can assure you that they are in. Longtooth and Razorclaw, both with their own unique "wolf out" abilities. The Longtooth gets regeneration and attack buffs, the Razorclaw gets speed and reflex buffs. And they're both supported as PC races.

Xefas
2008-05-29, 06:35 PM
Also, thank you, Xefas, for the easy to use 4e race format.

No problem :smallsmile:

First of all, why the Bluff bonus? I'm no expert on Shifters, but they don't see very...bluffy. I could be wrong.

Second, it looks a little underpowered. I suggest adding something like:
Mutable Defense: At the beginning of the day, choose Fortitude, Reflex, or Will. You gain a +1 bonus to that defense. At the end of each Short Rest period, you may change to which defense this applies.

Silence
2008-05-29, 08:09 PM
Well, there's some questions in my mind about where you draw the line with racial abilities... do human's extra feet (or skill points, for that matter) count? There's a lot of those that couldn't be explained well (gnome's innate illusion ability).

Vadin
2008-05-29, 09:30 PM
Ok...is there a better name for these guys than shifter?

Without access to 4e myself, I must ask: is disguise still a skill in 4e?

How can I word it so that racial features that function like class powers will work but racial features that function like class features won't? Or should it allow for both of those with a clause about bonus feats and skill points not being applicable?

Again, Xefas, thank you. Ability added.

Xefas
2008-05-29, 10:41 PM
Without access to 4e myself, I must ask: is disguise still a skill in 4e?

I think Disguise has been rolled into Bluff, but I'm not sure. Is that what you were going for?

It'll be a lot easier to make races next week. There are at least 3 races I want to do but I can't without info from the books.



How can I word it so that racial features that function like class powers will work but racial features that function like class features won't? Or should it allow for both of those with a clause about bonus feats and skill points not being applicable?

How about just making a list? Dragonborn Breath, Fey Step, Second Chance, Elven Accuracy, Infernal Wrath, Cloud of Darkness, Darkfire, <Whatever the Gnome Power is Called>, Warrior's Surge, <anything else we find out when the Monster Manual comes out>.

You don't have to write out what all the abilities do; just list them and maybe when the books come out put an addendum (see page X of the MM for Cloud of Darkness under the Drow entry, See page X of the MM for Warrior's Surge under the Orc entry, etc) or something.

Vadin
2008-05-29, 10:50 PM
Yes, it was to be about their ability to blend in and act like members of other races.

After much deliberation, I think that by simply saying it has to be a racial power usable on a per encounter basis, it works. With a list of abilities, there's too much listing and book keeping, not enough allowing homebrew material in easily.

Vadin
2008-05-30, 12:39 AM
Added some racial feats.

Vadin
2008-07-24, 02:15 PM
Interest and balance gauge bump.

JackMage666
2008-07-24, 02:28 PM
Looks decent and balanced, but I'm not so sure about the name, either. If I may, I suggest Chameleon, or something along those lines, after the 3.5 prestige class that, similarly, allowed you to change alot of things on a daily basis.

Alernatively, you could change the fluff around a bit, and you have Mongrelfolk. Though it's a tad more mystical, it still fits the ideas.

Vadin
2008-07-24, 02:43 PM
Interesting you'd mention the name Mongrel. That's what I ended up changing the name to on another forum.

Ceiling009
2008-07-25, 06:59 AM
I think I'm little late to point out... but there's the doppleganger, and *two* shifters (razorclaw and longtooth) in the Monster Manual as possible races. I think it's a little to versatile as a race, sort of blowing all other races out the water.

JackMage666
2008-07-25, 08:50 AM
I think I'm little late to point out... but there's the doppleganger, and *two* shifters (razorclaw and longtooth) in the Monster Manual as possible races. I think it's a little to versatile as a race, sort of blowing all other races out the water.

See, the thing is, this is a 4e race. Versatility is not always a great thing in 4e, because the MAD is so high that you're normally going to want to stick all your points into that ability. The mutable +2 Ability Bonus is nice, but if you consider that you'll be keeping it in your key stat 95% of the time, the ability to change it is a unique, though mostly unusable, idea.

The +1 to a single defense is nice, but even compared to humans it's not great, because humans get a total of +3, every day, +1 to each defense. Might give you a tad more of an edge than you'd normally have going into fight Ghosts when you put the +1 into Will defense, or give you a bit of protection from the Wizard when you put it in Reflex, but it's not that great in the long run.

Bonus feats are always nice, but feats are so toned down in 4e, it's only a minor benefit.

Emulate ability, though, might be a touch too strong. Instead of giving him the racial power as an encounter power, maybe considering giving it as a Daily power, recharged when you hit a milestone. It's a bit less usable, but also means the Elf still has his special thing more times than you do, y'know?

And we've all discussed the name change.

Ceiling009
2008-07-25, 09:43 AM
Well, that's what I'm pointing out, in fact the change to ability score is better than you think it is; especially if you look at the multi-classing possibilities. That means you never worry about MAD, since you can per day, change which part of the class you want to be better than the rest. The racial emulate I think is also a huge way-too-good-to-be-true type ability, since that means per day, you can either use the elf, the dwarf, the dragonborn, and more, essentially having the possibility of eclipsing other races fairly easily. This is what I mean about versatility, this lets you make your versatility nearly as good as your specialization, which then sort of makes it I think too strong.