Shifter Class - BETA 2!
Added 2024-12-10 18:18:35 +0000 UTCHey all!
I've been on a Shifter Class kick lately - so here's an update based on a lot of the (really solid) feedback I got last week. Thanks to all who contributed, I think this is shaping up to be a solid addition to the official 5e class roster!
It's still in BETA, so no official change log, but here are some of the updates:
Feral Physique // Feral Form renamed. Is now a permanent set of features.
Wild Shape // You now explicitly gain the skill proficiencies of your Beast Shape.
Mystical Strikes // NEW feature which basically brings the Proficiency Bonus of your Beast Shapes up to match your Shifter Proficiency bonus (without a bunch of math).
Adrenaline Rush // NEW 6th level feature to increase survivability and encourage you to get up on the front lines and take some hits.
Primal Resilience // You can expend Adrenaline Rush to gain a saving throw bonus.
Primeval Resurgence // Primeval Form bonus now at-will at 17th level.
Force of Nature // Unlimited CR 5 and 6 Beast Shapes!
The subclasses have all had a bunch of changes as well, but there are too many to list out here. Best just to re-read them and treat them as total reworks of the subclasses.
Stay Wild (and let me know what you think),
~laserllama
Comments
Given the work done to bring your own alternate classes more options to use resources in play, it feels strange that this class operates without resources until 6th level, notwithstanding some of the subclass features, and even then, it's only used to grant THP equal to damage taken until 10th level, which itself seems a little swingy, though I do appreciate that it's standing in for the effective extra HP the 2014 druid wild shape gets - most features of the same type grant a fixed number or a die or two of THP, and that before damage is actually taken. For a class that focuses on the non-casting portion of a caster class, I think it would be well served by a resource pool that allowed for tweaking of the beast shapes into something above and beyond what a moon druid can do, e.g. increasing movement speeds, improving damage dice, adding one or more wisdom skill proficiencies, or adding creature features like darkvision, keen smell, or echolocation, or maybe even more specialized monster features at higher levels and with greater costs? You could even tie some of the options to subclass features to help differentiate them a little more?
Kenneth D Laird
2024-12-11 00:15:26 +0000 UTCI've got ideas beyond those 7 - fear not!
laserllama
2024-12-10 20:05:38 +0000 UTCOops! I rewrote that paragraph and forgot to include you KEEP your hit points (you don't gain the beast's)
laserllama
2024-12-10 20:05:16 +0000 UTCIt would be nice to see a subclass that focuses on (a subtype of) magical beasts or limited chimeric forms to showcase how this class could be expanded in the future. Limiting it to only 7 subclasses ever seems to pigeon-hole this a bit.
jimbotherisenclown
2024-12-10 19:49:22 +0000 UTCSo as it reads now, you gain the beasts HP, then when you become incapacitated as the beast, you revert to your normal form with your own hp? Without the limit to wild shapes (which I quite like), it seems like you can infinitely shift without going down. Maybe tie it to your own HP? Or put a clause that you also become incapacitated when your beast form does
Dayon Staniger
2024-12-10 19:00:16 +0000 UTCSo excited that this is getting closer to a v1.0! Now just waiting with baited breath for an Ancients bloodline!
Kelly Mitchell
2024-12-10 18:32:36 +0000 UTC
