Transcendent Shifter (3.5 PrC, Wild Shape based)

[Zaydos]

Transcendent Shifter

Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class!

A Transcendent Shifter is a master of transformation, changing forms as easily as clothing. A Transcendent Shifter learns the secrets of wild shapes like no other creature, gaining esoteric powers of transformation.

BECOMING A TRANSCENDENT SHIFTER

One becomes a transcendent shifter by understanding Wild Shape completely, learning how to eke more out of it than a normal druid or even Master of Many Forms.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Wild Shape: Ability to assume Huge forms and Wild Shape at least 5 times per day.
Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 16 ranks, any 2 of Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Local), Knowledge (Religion), and Knowledge (the Planes) 8 ranks.
Feats: Any one Wild Feat.
Special: You must have spent at least 24 hours continuously wild shaped.
Special: You must have killed a creature while Wild Shaped into a member of its species.

Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (any) (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (the Planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (any) (Wis), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Survival (Wis).
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d10

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|

+1

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Beast Tongue, Mastery of Form, Wild Shape +1/day

2nd|

+2

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Mastery of Forms, Shifting Features

3rd|

+3

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Mastery of Form, Wild Shape +1/day

4th|

+4

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Mastery of Form, Timeless Body

5th|

+5

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Mastery of Form, Wild Shape +1/day and +1 max size[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A Transcendent Shifter gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Beast Tongue (Su): A Transcendent Shifter gains the ability to speak with plants when Wild Shaped into the form of a plant, and to speak with animals when Wild Shaped into the form of a plant or animal. When wild shaped into the form of an outsider a Transcendent Shifter can speak with creatures as if affected by a Tongues spell.

Mastery of Forms: Transcendent Shifter's understanding of Wild Shape continues to improve granting them certain abilities and powers while Wild Shaped. At each level a Transcendent Shifter selects one ability from the list below. Each ability can only be selected once unless otherwise noted.

Spoiler

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Mass Wild Shape: By expending a use of your Wild Shape ability you may change the forms of creatures nearby as if they had used your Wild Shape ability. You are considered to have 5 less effective druid levels for determining the maximum Hit Dice of forms and are considered to not have access to the largest and smallest size category available to you for use of this ability. You may target up to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1) in willing creatures of the same type within 60-ft of you with a single use of this ability, and they never gain the Extraordinary Qualities or any Supernatural abilities of the new form, nor may they gain a benefit from any Mastery of Forms abilities you possess other than those which dictate what forms are available to you for Wild Shape. All creatures affected become the same species of creature. Targets remain in the new form for 1 minute per effective druid level.

Powerful Wild Shape: Prerequisites: Transcendent Shifter Level 2+. The physical abilities of any form you assume with Wild Shape are increased by your Transcendent Shifter class level -1.

New Type Prerequisites: Knowledge relevant to type 11+ ranks. You gain the ability to use Wild Shape to obtain the form of a type of your choice. You may take this ability multiple times.

Swarm Wild Shape: Prerequisites: Ability to assume Diminutive forms. You gain the ability to use Wild Shape to take on the form of a creature with the Swarm subtype. Gaining all benefits and penalties of the subtype when doing so (you are considered to be a hive mind).

Incorporeal Wild Shape: Prerequisites: Ability to assume Undead forms or Swarm Wild Shape. You gain the ability to use Wild Shape to take on the form of a creature with the Incorporeal subtype. Gaining all benefits and penalties of the subtype when doing so.

Enhanced Wild Shape: When you assume a form with Wild Shape you retain your racial Extraordinary abilities unless they are tied to a body part you no longer have (no eyes mean no extraordinary eyesight), in addition you gain the Extraordinary special qualities of your new form.

Supernatural Wild Shape: Prerequisites: Character Level 18+, Enhanced Wild Shape or the Extraordinary Wild Shape class feature. When you assume a form with Wild Shape you gain the Supernatural special attacks and qualities of the new form. Warning: This ability has the potential to be much stronger than their other abilities (effectively copying one of the strongest parts of the Shapechange spell) and while it should still be weaker than the Shapechange spell consult your DM before taking it. I would not allow it in any game not including full casters capable of casting Shapechange or any game which bans Shapechange.

Reactive Wild Shape: Prerequisites: Ability to Wild Shape as a Swift action. You may use your Wild Shape as an immediate action.

Miniature Wild Shape: When you use Wild Shape you may assume the form of a creature 1 size category smaller than normal (to a minimum size of fine). You may take this ability multiple times.

Enlarge Form: When you use Wild Shape to assume the form of a creature less than your maximum size you may increase the form's size by one category. If you do so you gain modifiers to your form's stats as shown below. In addition your reach and natural weapon damage increase as appropriate. This is not considered a size changing effect. You may not combine this ability with Reduce Form.

{table=Header]Old Size| New Size| Str| Dex| Con|Natural Armor|AC/Attack
Fine| Diminutive| Same| –2| Same| Same| –4
Diminutive| Tiny| +2| –2| Same| Same| –2
Tiny| Small| +4| –2| Same| Same| –1
Small| Medium| +4| –2| +2| Same| –1
Medium| Large| +8| –2| +4| +2| –1
Large| Huge| +8| –2| +4| +3| –1
Huge| Gargantuan| +8| Same| +4| +4| –2
Gargantuan| Colossal| +8| Same| +4| +5| –4[/table]

Reduce Form: When you use Wild Shape to assume the form of a creature greater than your minimum size you may decrease the form's size by one category. If you do so you gain modifiers to your form's stats as shown below. In addition your reach and natural weapon damage decrease as appropriate for your new size. This is not considered a size changing effect. You may not combine this ability with Enlarge Form.

{table=Header]New Size| Old Size| Str| Dex| Con|Natural Armor|AC/Attack
Fine| Diminutive| Same| +2| Same| Same| +4
Diminutive| Tiny| -2| +2| Same| Same| +2
Tiny| Small| -2| +2| Same| Same| +1
Small| Medium| -2| +2| -2| Same| +1
Medium| Large| -4| +2| -2| -1| +1
Large| Huge| -4| +2| -2| -1| +1
Huge| Gargantuan| -4| +2| -2| -2| +2
Gargantuan| Colossal| -4| +2| -2| -2| +4[/table]

Eternal Form: Your Wild Shape has no duration when used on yourself.

Recuperative Form: While in a form assumed through Wild Shape you gain Fast Healing equal to your class level, in addition you may expend a use of your Wild Shape ability as a Standard action to activate a Heal spell on yourself. This is a spell-like ability and your caster level for this effect equals your character level minus 5.

Planar Return: Prerequisites: Ability to assume elemental or outsider forms with Wild Shape. You may open planar portals as a standard action by expending a use of your Wild Shape ability. These portals remain open for 1 round and are large enough for you to pass through and any creatures smaller than you. To open a portal you must currently be wild shaped into the form of a creature native to the target plane, and these portals are only accurate to within 5 to 500 miles (5d%).

Breath Weapon Prerequisites: Ability to wild shape into the form of a dragon. You gain a breath weapon in a 30-ft cone dealing 1d6 damage per character level of any energy type other than sonic. Once you have used this breath weapon you must wait 1d4 rounds before using it again.

Feel free to suggest more.

Wild Shape: Levels in Transcendent Shifter stack with levels in other classes for determining the maximum Hit Dice of forms you can assume through Wild Shape and for determining its duration and other directly level based variables. In addition at every odd level of Transcendent Shifter you gain an extra daily use of Wild Shape and at 5th level you gain the ability to Wild Shape into forms 1 size category larger than you otherwise would be able to.

Shifting Features (Su): A Transcendent Shifter can transmute their body like clay. Beginning at 2nd level they gains the ability to change their appearance at will, as if using the disguise self spell, but only while in a form assumed through Wild Shape. This affects the transcendent shifter’s body but not their possessions. It is not an illusory effect, but a minor physical alteration of the transcendent shifter’s appearance, within the limits described for the spell.

Timeless Body (Ex): After attaining 4th level, a Transcendent Shifter no longer takes ability score penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any penalties they may have already incurred, however, remain in place.

Bonuses still accrue, and the Transcendent Shifter still dies of old age when their time is up.

[Amnoriath]

All in all very good and definitely a better choice than the current PrC for dedicated Wild Shape expansion. However your shifting features abilities kind of forgets the conditions of wild shape. If they only can use this while wild shaping their items are already gone, so that clause is pointless to mention. It really only saves them a use of wild shape if they get away and the enemies are looking for an exact x. Honestly though I think many DM's would have these enemies not care having exact x.

[Zaydos]

All in all very good and definitely a better choice than the current PrC for dedicated Wild Shape expansion. However your shifting features abilities kind of forgets the conditions of wild shape. If they only can use this while wild shaping their items are already gone, so that clause is pointless to mention. It really only saves them a use of wild shape if they get away and the enemies are looking for an exact x. Honestly though I think many DM's would have these enemies not care having exact x.

Wilding Clasps allow retention of items, and if you Wild Shape into a humanoid form (as Master of Many forms already allows you to) it is simple to remove and re-equip items or equip new items.

That and it was based off of a druid ability that only works in your natural form and it was easier to leave it in just in case someone does get items than remove it

[Amnoriath]

Wilding Clasps allow retention of items, and if you Wild Shape into a humanoid form (as Master of Many forms already allows you to) it is simple to remove and re-equip items or equip new items.

That and it was based off of a druid ability that only works in your natural form and it was easier to leave it in just in case someone does get items than remove it

If the item is already exempt from normal wild shape effects didn't you already achieve what the clause allows? I mean that specific option isn't a polymorph effect, so why bother to mention it? It just seems confusing without a reason.

[bekeleven]

If the item is already exempt from normal wild shape effects didn't you already achieve what the clause allows?

exempt from wild shape effects != exempt from disguise self.

As a side note, this class is going to allow for some hilarious beholder-based builds with the supernatural ability.

I would specify whether certain wild shape abilities (like miniature) can be taken multiple times.

I'll do a more thorough read in a bit.

[Amnoriath]

exempt from wild shape effects != exempt from disguise self.

Disquise self isn't a polymorph effect, it is illusory. The only difference with Shifting Features is that it isn't illusory, but it doesn't say it is a polymorph effect. It really just seems to be the Changeling feature except just for wildshape and one species, which makes it less useful.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/disguiseSelf.htm

[bekeleven]

Disquise self isn't a polymorph effect, it is illusory.

Right, so we're in agreement that it doesn't have any special interactions with wilding clasps.

With regards to the class:

1. Recuperative Form: Incredibly powerful. There is also no such thing as an X-level spell-like ability. Either you're casting it as a spell, or you're using a (Sp) (which means no spell components required, etc).

2. Interesting that you apply different modifiers when using enlarge form and recuperative form. Would it be possible to apply both at once and buff stats? If no, why not? Can one (or both) be used with mass wild shape?

3. Enhanced wild shape is incredibly powerful (not as good as supernatural, obviously). However, wild shape already retains (Ex) racial qualities not based on body parts. The main difference from that to what you have is that you allow body part substitution, e.g. someone with a gaze attack can use it with their new eyes, which is not normally allowed.

4. Assuming entry from Druid 15, a character could take diminutive shaping at level 16, swarm at 17, incorporeal at 18, enhanced wild shape at 19, and supernatural at 20. Fitting in all those prereqs is a challenge, and also doesn't leave room for learning outsiders (which have specific keyed class abilities).

5. A player can take enhanced and supernatural wild shape and never need to take incorporeal wild shape - Subtype abilities are generally special qualities. This is why/how MoMF 7 gives plant immunities. The same may be true for swarm, swarm rules are incredibly counterintuitive.

6. Can a player take miniature wild shape multiple times?

7. Powerful wild shape's bonus is untyped?

8. This is a really odd question that I have about the core rules as well. If a size increase would drop dex to 0 can you still apply it?

[Zaydos]

I mention not affecting items because the druidic version does and with Master of Many Forms (this class's intended entry) or this class it is easy to don items after using Wild Shape that do not use Wilding Clasps. Also because I don't really want them disguising their cloak now cape that is flapping around on their dog back as just part of their fur.

Also if I hadn't found the druid ability I'd have referenced the changeling one, but Amnoriath you're wrong about it being one species. You cannot change your body type but it is still within the limits of Disguise Self to make a dire wolf look like a lion or an ogre look like a hill giant. Also you could use it while Wild Shaped into a humanoid form at which point you can look like pretty much any other humanoid.

Right, so we're in agreement that it doesn't have any special interactions with wilding clasps.

With regards to the class:

1. Recuperative Form: Incredibly powerful. There is also no such thing as an X-level spell-like ability. Either you're casting it as a spell, or you're using a (Sp) (which means no spell components required, etc).

2. Interesting that you apply different modifiers when using enlarge form and recuperative form. Would it be possible to apply both at once and buff stats? If no, why not? Can one (or both) be used with mass wild shape?

3. Enhanced wild shape is incredibly powerful (not as good as supernatural, obviously). However, wild shape already retains (Ex) racial qualities not based on body parts. The main difference from that to what you have is that you allow body part substitution, e.g. someone with a gaze attack can use it with their new eyes, which is not normally allowed.

4. Assuming entry from Druid 15, a character could take diminutive shaping at level 16, swarm at 17, incorporeal at 18, enhanced wild shape at 19, and supernatural at 20. Fitting in all those prereqs is a challenge, and also doesn't leave room for learning outsiders (which have specific keyed class abilities).

5. A player can take enhanced and supernatural wild shape and never need to take incorporeal wild shape - Subtype abilities are generally special qualities. This is why/how MoMF 7 gives plant immunities. The same may be true for swarm, swarm rules are incredibly counterintuitive.

6. Can a player take miniature wild shape multiple times?

7. Powerful wild shape's bonus is untyped?

8. This is a really odd question that I have about the core rules as well. If a size increase would drop dex to 0 can you still apply it?

1. Spell-like abilities retain the spell level of the spell they are copying (for save DCs, Concentration checks, overcoming Globes of Invulnerability, etc), warlock invocations have spell levels, as does a mind flayer's mindblast (the only Core SLA I can think of that doesn't copy a specific spell). Spell-like Abilities have spell levels still. Did remove the level specification because it copies Heal spell (I should have only specified Spell-like Ability for that reason). I might make it cost multiple Wild Shape uses because Heal is a very powerful spell even at significantly higher levels. I might go with the 2nd version of the ability I had on the list which just gave higher Fast Healing.
2. I did size increase straight from the MM (maybe with some Dex mod changes) but I had to modifier size reduction because it is not as inherently beneficial as a size increase and a more niche ability so I reduced some of the penalties. I will note that they may not be used together, and probably note that they can't be used with Mass Wild Shape but I'm not sure whether I need to.
3. Wild Shape copies Alternate Form which specifies you lose all Ex racial abilities and any SUPERNATURAL racial abilities dependent upon body parts (it's a common house rule that Sage Advice in Dragon Magazine advised using because it's annoying to figure out which skill points/feat are the human bonus ones). Everything else is actually the effect of a 4th level druid spell (that has other options and it is named after) or 7th level Master of Many Forms ability.
4. And you'd be better off taking 2 levels in Druid and casting Shapechange. I'm going to modify my note on Supernatural Wild Shape, but the only reason it exists is for games with Shapechange because Shapechange does both this class and MoMF better than they do and this is my attempt to give a MoMF an advancement option that makes up somewhat for that lost in a game that allows Shapechange (I myself use 3.0 Shapechange which does not grant Su abilities and I'd probably not use Supernatural Wild Shape either).
5. I will have to check, I've always assumed that there was something that specified you couldn't take swarm forms as a druid. With Incorporeal you're completely right about that and I have to decide what to do about that or regulate it as existing for games where Supernatural Wild Shape wouldn't be allowed. I'll think about this.
6. I will add a note that you cannot take them more than once unless specified, but Miniaturized is one of the two I intended to allow multiple times.
7. Yes
8. As a DM I would grin evilly and remind my players that it is for me to decide. Ultimately, though, unless it was some combination I saw as game breakingly powerful I'd rule that it stops at 1 (without Dex drain/damage) but that's just my on the fly ruling.

[Amnoriath]

I mention not affecting items because the druidic version does and with Master of Many Forms (this class's intended entry) or this class it is easy to don items after using Wild Shape that do not use Wilding Clasps. Also because I don't really want them disguising their cloak now cape that is flapping around on their dog back as just part of their fur.

Also if I hadn't found the druid ability I'd have referenced the changeling one, but Amnoriath you're wrong about it being one species. You cannot change your body type but it is still within the limits of Disguise Self to make a dire wolf look like a lion or an ogre look like a hill giant. Also you could use it while Wild Shaped into a humanoid form at which point you can look like pretty much any other humanoid.

It said you can only use it in the assumed form through wild shape. So it doesn't make it clear on whether or not can you actually look like another species because it mentioned assumed form. It just seems to qualify the spell effect.