Wildshifter -- Wild Shape as a base class [3.5] PEACH

The Wildshifter

level	fort	ref	will	bab	special	wildness points
1	2	2	2	0	wild skill (1), wild sound (1)	1
2	3	3	3	1	wild weapons (2), wild defenses (1)	2
3	3	3	3	2	wild senses (1), wild instincts (2)	3
4	4	4	4	3	wild power (3)	4
5	4	4	4	3	wild shape (2)	5
6	5	5	5	4	wild movement (3)	6
7	5	5	5	5	wild special attacks (3)	7
8	6	6	6	6	size: one larger or two smaller	7
9	6	6	6	6	wild reach (1)	8
10	7	7	7	7	combine forms	8
11	7	7	7	8	wild qualities (1)	9
12	8	8	8	9	type: magical beast	9
13	8	8	8	9	wild immunities (2)	10
14	9	9	9	10	size: two larger or three smaller	10
15	9	9	9	11	wild sustenance (1)	11
16	10	10	10	12	triple forms	11
17	10	10	10	12	wild familiarity (1)	12
18	11	11	11	13	type: elemental	12
19	11	11	11	14	greater forms (2, 4 or 6)	13
20	12	12	12	15	wild spell-like ability (4)	13

Hit die: d8
Skills: 6+int
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Search, Sleight Of Hand, Spot, Survival, Swim, Tumble
Proficient with: club, quarterstaff, sling, unarmed strike and all natural weapons. No armor or shields.

Wildshifting

As a wildshifter, you select a creature you know within certain limits and mystically attune yourself to it. Then you transform your body and mind to take on the creature's attributes. As you advance, you can take on more attributes and attune to more powerful creatures.

The number of simultaneous attributes you can take on is limited by your wildness points, which you gain as you progress in the class. There is no limit to how long you can keep them, or how many times you change them in a day. Changing your inspirational creature is a standard action, but changing your attributes is a swift one.

Note that these transformations are physical, and you cannot transform the same organ twice. For example, if you use Wild Movement to turn your arms into eagle's wings, you cannot also turn them into bear's claws.

You can never select a creature with more hit dice than your wildshifter level (except by the greater forms power, see its description). Also, at first level, the creature must be an animal of either your size category or one category smaller. These restrictions are gradually lifted as you progress.

Equipment and Wildshifting

If you are wearing nonmagical clothing on a transformed body part, the clothing and anything in the pockets merges with your body. Armor (magical or otherwise) and things further out, such as backpacks, are unaffected and are now around your new anatomy. If they do not fit, your transformation makes a strength check of 25 to break them, and you cannot transform if this fails. Note that this means chains can limit your shifting abilities, and you will almost never want to wear armor.

Magic items, besides armor, resize to your new form if possible, and if impossible fall safely to the ground. For example, a ring of protection will adjust to fit a bear's finger but not the right fifth of a horse's hoof. Note that birds have no hand-like anatomy. An eagle can no more put a magic ring on a toe than a human can -- despite the agility, the chi meridians are simply wrong for the ring to tap into.

wild skill (1 point) -- Gain all racial bonuses to skills and may take 10 on any checks the creature could.

wild sound (1 point) -- Make all the sounds of the creature. You understand what these sounds mean and how to use them properly (though for many species, the messages that can be conveyed are extremely limited). Also, if you have transformed your mouth, this power allows you to make your normal sounds.

wild weapons (2 points) -- Gain the natural weapons of the creature. If you are currently of a different size than the creature, adjust damage dice accordingly.

wild defenses (1 point) -- Gain the natural armor and damage reduction of the creature.

wild senses (1 point) -- Gain any special means of perception, such as a bat's echolocation or a wolf's sense of smell.

wild instincts (2 points) -- Gain any feats of the creature. Also, you may use the creature's skill ranks instead of your own. Note that these are the feats and skills of a typical example of the species.

wild power (3 points) -- Replace any racial bonuses or penalties to strength and dexterity with those of the creature (to compute its bonuses, subtract 10 from the scores given and round down to an even number).

wild shape (2 points) -- Take on the overall appearance, size and shape of the creature. Also, you now breath like the creature (e.g. hold breath, gills). This does not grant you any of the creatures abilities. To see that you are not this creature, an observer must exceed your knowledge(nature) check with both a spot check and a knowledge(nature) check.

wild movement (3 points) -- Gain any special movement modes and speeds, with any restrictions. This includes the base speed.

wild special attacks (3 points) -- Gain the special attacks.

size: one larger or two smaller -- The creature you choose may be one size category larger or two smaller than you are.

wild reach (1 point) -- Gain the creature's reach. If you are not the same size as the creature, adjust the reach proportionally.

combine forms -- You may select two creatures at once, but any powers inspired by the second creature cost twice as many wildness points.

wild qualities (1 point) -- Take on the extraordinary special qualities of the creature.

type: magical beast -- The creature may be a magical beast.

wild immunities (2 points) -- Become immune to any form of harm the creature is immune to (e.g. petrification, fire). Also gain any energy resistances.

size: two larger or three smaller -- The creature you choose may be two size categories larger or three smaller than you are.

wild sustenance (1 point) -- You may eat and sleep in the manner of the creature and sustain yourself healthfully.

triple forms -- You may select a third simultaneous creature. Powers based on this creature cost three times normal.

wild familiarity (1 point) -- Gain a +4 on knowledge nature checks related to the creature's normal habitat and what lives there, and a +8 bonus for the creature's most common prey and predators.

type: elemental -- The creature may be an elemental.

greater forms (2, 4 or 6 points) -- You my pick a creature with 1, 2 or 3 more hit dice than your level. This costs 2, 4 or 6 points.

wild spell-like ability (4 points) -- Gain a single SLA of the creature.


EDIT: gave all good saves

Interesting concept, but I think it needs a little more clarity. For example, as a first level human wildshifter do I put my one wildness point into one special ability forever? Or could I put it into wild skill for 3 hours, then take it out and put it into wild sound for 20 minutes to talk to an animal? Or do I select what special ability to put it in the morning and it stays there until I get a full rest?

Also, maybe include an ability that gives a bonus to saves. All animals (to my understanding) have high fort and ref, and low will. Maybe let them spend wildness points to increase their fort and/or ref saves.

For however long you like. Changing the abilities is a swift action, changing the creature a standard one. That was explicit.

Not sure about saves, since there's only two progressions. Maybe I should just give this all good saves -- would that be too much?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dspeyer

For however long you like. Changing the abilities is a swift action, changing the creature a standard one. That was explicit.

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Derp! I need to read stuff more carefully.

And going all high saves would actually probably suit this class quite well. This class is supposed to be attuned to animals and all animals have high fort and ref (I think). Also, as has been stated, using armour with this class it tricky. The highest AC bonus it can get at 2nd level (with wild defenses) would likely be +6 and that is only if the boar is chosen. Otherwise its around +2 or +3. So this class should at least have high ref so it isn't killed too easily by magic.