Shapeshifter Warlock [3.5]

[kamikasei]

This idea sprang from a discussion here, and a suggestion by GryffonDurime that you could make a shapeshifting warlock by replacing eldritch blast with something like the unlimited-shifting option for druids from PHB2.

The floor's open on how best to accomplish this. At the moment the basic thinking is to change a ranged damage-dealer with a melee monster by swapping eldritch blast for a shapeshifting progression that increases in power at something like the same rate, with invocations to grant special abilities and/or attributes as well as cover the sort of things invocations already cover.

[kamikasei]

Goals:

The core of the class is shapeshifting. The base shapeshifting ability should scale about as well as eldritch blast (how to compare them will be an interesting question). It can be supplemented with the equivalent of blast essence and blast shape invocations to grant special abilities. Then, other invocations can be used for buffing and utility.

Forms should have a degree of customizability, but should ultimately each look like an actual animal, not a mish-mash of creatures. Alternatively, we could make a mix-and-match capability something that increases with level, so that forms can get more outlandish over time.

Desirable abilities (which should be granted by what can be decided later):

• Scaling damage from natural attacks, possibly with a choice between increased damage dice and increased number of attacks.
• Enhancement bonuses - should scale with level automatically.
• The ability to add bonuses to attacks - energy types, the ability to bypass DR, etc.
• The question of DR is an interesting one. Do we want to allow natural attacks which can bypass material DR? Do we want to tie alignment-based DR to the warlock's own alignment, so that a warlock cannot bypass the DR of his own alignment - or do we want to allow that, perhaps with a penalty to damage to compensate?
• Enhanced mobility - greater speed, different movement modes (fly, swim, climb, burrow), ability to survive in different environments to complement.
• Scaling natural armor while shifted.
• Enhanced senses - certain forms can grant keener senses and perhaps sense-boosting feats.
• Ability to change size - stealth and scouting would benefit from an ability to take on Small- and smaller-sized forms.

[Te'Shen]

Well, a few things spring to mind. Filing off the serial numbers of the PHBII shapeshift ability could work. It grants a lot of ability. I'd add in a few more forms...

Another way would be to take various features and give them point values and let the warlock tailor his forms as he makes them... which would be a lot of bookkeeping.

You could also raid some of the self buff invocations from the dragon shaman.

[Owrtho]

Well, not sure if the class is ment to be a shapeshifting warlock or just a shifting class based off the warlock, but I'll assume the former. As such, considering that warlocks get their powers from demons and that in essense the eldritch blast stays pretty much the same, I'd think it should only have one base form it turns into and it should be of a feindish appearence. Then the blast shapes (which would have to be chosen in human form) would change the more physical aspects of it (such as faster movement, multiple attacks, etc.) while the essences would modify the supernatural aspects of it (such as if it does fire damage or is invisible, etc.). Then the other invocations could provide various buffs and have regular abilities like they do now. Thats just my thoughts on it at a glance anyways.

Owrtho

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Personally, I did Aspects as a class of Invocations when I redid the druid as the Wylder. This lets them take aspects of beasts which are pretty much always-on, but individually aren't as powerful. Many of them were, I admit, inspired from the PhB II variants and the Wild Shape feats in Complete Divine.