Post/Author/DateTime

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Werebat 03-20-07, 04:36 PM

As has been pointed out several times, the Swiftwing shifter trait is pretty poo as written. Pinky's Brain has noted rightly that if you're going to go WTM with a shifter, there is no reason other than roleplaying to NOT go with tiger -- it's simply the best choice by far, and much of that because of Pounce. While it could be argued that the problem is with tiger WTM being OVERpowered, and I think that would be a reasonable viewpoint, I still think Swiftwing is a crummy shifter trait. At first I proposed a "fix" involving the creation of a "Bat" based WTM progression... I'll repost it here quickly: Weretouched I: +2 Dex and +10 to flight speed while shifting Weretouched II: Blindsense 40' while shifting Alternate Form stat mods at WTM5: +2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Con I still like this setup for Bat WTM, and it CAN be used with Swiftwing and Swiftwing Elite, but it's still pretty poo as Pinky's Brain has rightly pointed out. Not being able to use your hands while flying is a massive hit to the utility of flight, and your speed is 40 at best even if you max it out. So. Here's a proposal with an explanation. Flight, by itself, is generally accepted as a +1 LA modifier. This is usually flight that is generally equal to the Fly spell, and leaves your arms free to do stuff like attack or cast spells while you are flying. So, if you took a +1 LA hit for flight, and restricted your ability to fly to "only while shifting" and also took on the added penalty of being unable to use your arms while flying, you'd expect to get some extra stuff in exchange. A very reasonable expectation, I think. A proposed "template" for shifters: Camazotz (+1 LA): Your arms elongate into leathery, batlike wings while shifting, giving you a flight speed of 40 (Good). You can grasp one item in each hand while flying, but you cannot use your hands to perform actions such as attacking or casting spells while flying. In addition, your Dexterity score is increased by +4 while you are shifting, and you are treated as if you had one more shifter feat than you actually do for purposes of the duration and number of your shifts allowed per day. If you are using the optional LA buyoff from Unearthed Arcana, you might as well take a +1 LA, and this frees up a lot of room for other stuff with a werebat-based build. Observe, a Camazotz Shifter with the Longtooth trait, using the Bat WTM proposal above: 1. Ranger 1 * Shifter Instincts 2. Barbarian 1 3. Barbarian 2 * Longtooth Elite 4. Barbarian 3 5. Barbarian 4 6. WTM 1 * Extra Shifter Trait (Razorclaw) 7. WTM 2 * Shifter Savagery 8. WTM 3 9. WTM 4 * * Shifter Multiattack, Razorclaw Elite 10.WTM5 11.Barbarian 5 12.Barbarian 6 * Great Bite Now I'll admit this is not as high-powered as the optimized tiger build, but again I think the optimized tiger is a bit over the top. By 12th level you can shift 5 times per day, and rage twice (more if you burn AP). Your flight speed is 50 (Good), not QUITE as good as the Fly spell but I'm sure there's an item or two out there that could bump it up to 60 without too much cost. Blindsense is useful as always, and you've got stat mods of +8 Str, +8 Dex, and +6 Con while raging and shifting (+4 Str +6 Dex +2 Con while shifting alone). You can't quite pounce but you can do a swooping charge to hit with two claws if you land at the end of it (if the DM is going to be a twit about this, just go for Flyby Attack and Con-draining bites, which will usually do more damage at higher levels anyway). There's other stuff you could play with this, taking Shifter Defense and Greater Shifter Defense for example at the cost of Great Bite and Shifter Multiattack, but... It looks pretty decent to me. What do you think? Too weak? Too powerful? Peach me! - Ron ^*^