[New Class] The Morphomancer [Archive] - Wizards Community

[New Class] The Morphomancer [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DireHawk
04-10-07, 08:50 PM Ok, so I never saw any class which specifically focuses on shapeshifting. A lot can be done in the way of shapeshifting with druids and spellcasters, but I don't really wanna go those routes. So I made my own class for shapeshifting. Now I borrowed pretty heavily from the Warshaper and the Master of Many Forms. Still, I'd greatly appreciate any comments and criticsm anyone may have, especially concerning the mechanics and the format. Also, I know this lacks any flavor text, which is not usually normal for me. I'll try and rectify this soon. I just needed to get the mechanics out because I'm trying to beta test this guy in a game my friend is running. In the meantime, any suggestions to improve the balance or how this could flavorfully fit into Eberron (since it's the setting I use most) would be appreciated.

Morphomancer

Hit Die: d8
BAB: 3/4 level
Saves: Fort and Will good

Class Skills

The morphomancer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) ×4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Table

1 - Morph (Small, Medium, Animals, Humanoids)
2 - Morpher's Speech, Advanced Morph Form
3 - Morph (Monstrous Humanoid)
4 - Quick Morph (Standard Action), Advanced Morph Form
5 - Morph (Tiny, Vermin)
6 - Advanced Morph Form
7 - Morph (Aberration)
8 - Quick Morph (Move Action), Advanced Morph Form
9 - Morph (Large, Giants)
10 - Advanced Morph Form, Morphic Immunities
11 - Morph (Magical Beast)
12 - Quick Morph (Swift Action), Advanced Morph Form
13 - Morph (Diminuitive, Plants)
14 - Advanced Morph Form, Extraordinary Morph
15 - Morph (Fey)
16 - Quick Morph (Immediate Action), Advanced Morph Form
17 - Morph (Huge, Elementals)
18 - Advanced Morph Form, Morphic Immunities
19 - Morph (Dragons)
20 - Metamorphosis, Advanced Morph Form

Class Features

Armor and Weapon Proficiency: A morphomancer is proficient with all simple weapons, as well as any natural attacks they possess in a morph form. A morphomancer is proficient with light armor, but not proficient with any kind of shield.

Morphs (Su): A morphomancer has the ability to assume one or more specific alternate forms, called morphs. A true seeing spell or ability reveals the morphomancer's natural form. A morphomancer using a morph reverts to its natural form when killed, but separated body parts retain their shape. A morphomancer cannot use a morph to take the form of a creature with a template.

A morphomancer's selection of morphs is extremely limited. A morphomancer begins play knowing 1 + charisma modifier morph forms (Minimum of 1). At first level, these forms must be either animal or humanoid type and are limited to small or medium size. At each new morphomancer level, he gains one more known morph form. At every odd level after level 1, a morphomancer is able to chose forms from more creature types and sizes. At level 3 a morphomancer can become a monstrous humanoid, at level 5 he can become tiny creatures and vermin, at level 7 an aberration, at level 9 large creatures and giants, at level 11 magical beasts, at level 13 diminuitive creatures and plants, at level 15 fey, at level 17 huge creatures and elementals, and finally at level 19 a morphomancer can become a dragon type creature. A morphomancer can never chose a form whose HD is greater than his morphomancer level.

A morphomancer can perform a morph a number of times per day equal to his morphomancer level plus the constitution modifier of his natural form. The effect lasts for 1 minute per morphomancer level, or until he changes back. A morphomancer does not have to return to his natural form in order to take on a new form, but doing so counts as a morph use and resets the duration limit. For example, if a human morphomancer becomes a dog, the next round he can become a wolf without becoming a human first. Changing form (or back) is a full round action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

Assuming an alternate form results in the following changes to the morphomancer:

The morphomancer retains the type and subtype of his original form. He gains the size of his new form. If the new form has the aquatic subtype, the morphomancer gains that subtype as well.

The morphomancer loses the natural weapons, natural armor, and movement modes of his original form, as well as any extraordinary special attacks of his original form not derived from class levels (such as the barbarian’s rage class feature).

The morphomancer gains the natural weapons, natural armor, movement modes, and extraordinary special attacks of his new form.

The morphomancer retains the special qualities of his original form. He does not gain any special qualities of his new form.

The morphomancer retains the spell-like abilities and supernatural attacks of his old form (except for breath weapons and gaze attacks). He does not gain the spell-like abilities or attacks of his new form. Apply any changed physical ability score modifiers in all appropriate areas with one exception: the morphomancer retains the hit points of his original form despite any change to his Constitution.

The morphomancer gains the physical ability bonuses or penalties (Str, Dex, Con) of his new form. To figure out the physical stat bonuses or penalties granted by a morph form, take the physical stats given in the creature's stat entry and subtract 10 (if the number is even) or subtract 11 (if the number is odd). The morphomancer retains the mental ability scores (Int, Wis, Cha) of his original form.

The morphomancer retains his hit points and save bonuses, although his save modifiers may change due to a change in ability scores.

The morphomancer retains all other game statistics of his original form, including HD, hit points, skill ranks, feats, base attack bonus, and base save bonuses.

The morphomancer retains any spellcasting ability he had in his original form, although he must be able to speak intelligibly to cast spells with verbal components and he must have humanlike hands to cast spells with somatic components.

The morphomancer is effectively disuised as a creature of his new form, and he gains a +10 bonus on Disguise checks if he uses this ability to disguise himself as a member of that kind. However, he cannot assume the form of a specific creature of that kind.

Any gear worn or carried by the morphomancer that can’t be worn or carried in his new form instead melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. When the morphomancer reverts to his true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on his body that they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items worn in the assumed form fall off and land at the morphomancer's feet. If the morphomancer changes size, any gear he wears or carries that can be worn or carried in his new form changes size to match the new size. (Nonhumanoid-shaped creatures can’t wear armor designed for humanoid-shaped creatures, and vice versa.) Gear returns to normal size if dropped.

A morphomancer may lose his ability to speak while in his alternate form because he is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained creature can make, but he can communicate normally with other creatures of the same general grouping as his new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)

Morpher's Speech (Su): At level two a morphomancer gains the ability to speak as normal, even in forms that would not normally allow him to do so, so long as the form has the ability to produce vocal sounds.

Advanced Morph Form (Su): At second level and every even level after that, a morphomancer can choose an Advanced Morph Form ability. In order to learn an Advanced Morph Form ability, a morphomancer must meet any prerequisites for the ability. Many advanced morph form ability require the expenditure of additional morph form uses. Expending a morph form use in this way, a character can spend any number of morph form uses as a free action, but may only do so while transforming into one of his known morph forms. Advanced Morph Form abilities do not stack unless otherwise specified.

Quick Morph (Su): A morphomancer becomes more efficient at changing his form, becoming much faster. At 4th level a morphomancer can morph as a standard action. At 8th level as a move action. At 12th level as a swift action. Finally, at 16th level, a morphomancer can morph as an immediate action. No matter how quickly a he can change his shape, a morphomancer cannot morph more than once per round.

Morphic Immunities (Su): A morphomancer can instantly shift around vital organs in response to danger. At level 10 a morphomancer becomes immune to stun, critical hits, and sneak attacks. At level 18, he also becomes immune to ability damage and ability drain that targets physical stats.

Extraordinary Morph (Su): At level 14, a morphomancer gains all extraordinary abilities of the form he takes.

Metamorphosis (Ex): At level 20, a morphomancer has reached the pinacle of his ability. He gains the shapechanger subtype. His morphs no longer have a duration (though there is still a limited number of uses per day) and he no longer suffers the penalties of aging. Any aging penalties he may have received before reaching this level remain, and any aging bonuses still apply as normal. Though he no longer ages, a morphomancer still dies of old age.

*************

Advanced Morph Form Abilities

Armor - A morphomancer can increase the natural armor bonus of his morph by +3. Cost: 1 Morph.

Dexterity - A morphomancer can increase the dexterity score of his morph form by +4. Cost: 1 Morph.

Constitution - A morphomancer can increase the constitution score of his morph form by +4. Cost: 1 Morph.

Natural Weapon - A morphomancer can increase the damage of his morph's natural weapons, dealing damage as if the morph form were a creature one size category larger. If his morph form does not have natural weapons, he may use this ability to give his morph form two claw attacks (1d4 damage each for a medium sized morph form) or a bite attack (1d6 damage for a medium sized morph form). Cost: 1 Morph.

Speed - A Morphomancer can increase the speed of all movement modes in his morph form by +10ft. Unlike other Advanced Morphic Abilities, this one can be applied multiple times and the bonuses stack to a maximum of +50ft to all movement modes. Cost: 1 Morph per 10ft bonus.

Stealth - A morphomancer can give himself a racial bonus of +4 to both Hide and Move Silently while using a morph form. Cost: 1 Morphs.

Strength - A morphomancer can increase the strength score of his morph form by +4. Cost: 1 Morph.

Reach - A morphomancer can give his morph form reach for the duration of his morph. This adds 5ft to the natural reach of any natural weapons the morphomancer has in his morph form. Prerequisites: Morphic Weapon, Morphomancer Level 6; Cost: 1 Morph.

Healing - A morphomancer heals 5 HP anytime he morphs. If the morphomancer pays the listed cost, he can also get Fast Healing 2 for the duration of his morph. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 8; Cost: 1 Morph.

Improved Armor - When using Morphic Plate, a morphomancer can increase the natural armor bonus of his morph by +6, rather than +3. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 10.

Improved Natural Weapon (Su): When a morphomancer uses Morphic Weapon, the damage of his natural attacks are increased two steps, rather than one. If he is using Morphic Weapon to add natural weapons to a morph form without them normally, the morph form is treated as one size category larger for determining claw or bite damage. Prerequisites: Morphic Weapon, Morphomancer Level 10.

Tenacious Morph - A morphomancer in an antimagic area or similar effect can still use his morphing powers. The duration of the morphs while in an antimagic area or similar effect is reduced to 1/round per level and the cost other Advanced Morphic Abilities are doubled. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 12; Cost: 3 Morphs.

Greater Constitution - When using Constitution, a morphomancer can increase the constitution score of his morph form by +8, rather than +4. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14.

Greater Dexterity - When using Dexterity, a morphomancer can increase the dexterity score of his morph form by +8, rather than +4. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14.

Greater Strength - When using Strength, a morphomancer can increase the strength score of his morph form by +8, rather than +4. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14.

Multiattack - A morphomancer is granted the multiattack feat while in his morph form. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14; Cost: 3 Morphs.
Magicianguy131
04-10-07, 09:35 PM Why is this in Eberron?
DireHawk
04-10-07, 10:02 PM First of all, because everything fits in Eberron... supposedly. Secondly, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I have a couple ideas, perhaps those with this class are creatures of Khyber touched by Xoriat and given some of its power so as to reshape their form. Maybe its a way for changelings to regain the powers of their heritage, lost to thinning bloodlines, and then some. Maybe this is the secret of the dragons, who have the power to transform their likeness into that of the lesser races, and a very select few have discovered this power (which makes sense as the ultimate form this class can become is a dragon). Maybe these are disciples of Mordain the Fleshweaver, or perhaps it is from an ancient race, long lost to the face of Eberron, that he obtained his power.

So there are lots of reasons this can fit in Eberron and why this belongs here. I just haven't figured out which avenue I wanna take with it.
goblin_pride
04-10-07, 11:35 PM Wouldn't a wizard schooled in Alteration magics fit your idea?
DireHawk
04-11-07, 12:20 AM No, not really. There are soooo many problems with the polymorph spells, not too mention too few options early on in levels and too many overpowered options later on. This way it spells things out and makes it much more reasonable, and gives the class the focus I desire.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DireHawk 04-10-07, 08:50 PM	Ok, so I never saw any class which specifically focuses on shapeshifting. A lot can be done in the way of shapeshifting with druids and spellcasters, but I don't really wanna go those routes. So I made my own class for shapeshifting. Now I borrowed pretty heavily from the Warshaper and the Master of Many Forms. Still, I'd greatly appreciate any comments and criticsm anyone may have, especially concerning the mechanics and the format. Also, I know this lacks any flavor text, which is not usually normal for me. I'll try and rectify this soon. I just needed to get the mechanics out because I'm trying to beta test this guy in a game my friend is running. In the meantime, any suggestions to improve the balance or how this could flavorfully fit into Eberron (since it's the setting I use most) would be appreciated. Morphomancer Hit Die: d8 BAB: 3/4 level Saves: Fort and Will good Class Skills The morphomancer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str). Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) ×4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier Class Table 1 - Morph (Small, Medium, Animals, Humanoids) 2 - Morpher's Speech, Advanced Morph Form 3 - Morph (Monstrous Humanoid) 4 - Quick Morph (Standard Action), Advanced Morph Form 5 - Morph (Tiny, Vermin) 6 - Advanced Morph Form 7 - Morph (Aberration) 8 - Quick Morph (Move Action), Advanced Morph Form 9 - Morph (Large, Giants) 10 - Advanced Morph Form, Morphic Immunities 11 - Morph (Magical Beast) 12 - Quick Morph (Swift Action), Advanced Morph Form 13 - Morph (Diminuitive, Plants) 14 - Advanced Morph Form, Extraordinary Morph 15 - Morph (Fey) 16 - Quick Morph (Immediate Action), Advanced Morph Form 17 - Morph (Huge, Elementals) 18 - Advanced Morph Form, Morphic Immunities 19 - Morph (Dragons) 20 - Metamorphosis, Advanced Morph Form Class Features Armor and Weapon Proficiency: A morphomancer is proficient with all simple weapons, as well as any natural attacks they possess in a morph form. A morphomancer is proficient with light armor, but not proficient with any kind of shield. Morphs (Su): A morphomancer has the ability to assume one or more specific alternate forms, called morphs. A true seeing spell or ability reveals the morphomancer's natural form. A morphomancer using a morph reverts to its natural form when killed, but separated body parts retain their shape. A morphomancer cannot use a morph to take the form of a creature with a template. A morphomancer's selection of morphs is extremely limited. A morphomancer begins play knowing 1 + charisma modifier morph forms (Minimum of 1). At first level, these forms must be either animal or humanoid type and are limited to small or medium size. At each new morphomancer level, he gains one more known morph form. At every odd level after level 1, a morphomancer is able to chose forms from more creature types and sizes. At level 3 a morphomancer can become a monstrous humanoid, at level 5 he can become tiny creatures and vermin, at level 7 an aberration, at level 9 large creatures and giants, at level 11 magical beasts, at level 13 diminuitive creatures and plants, at level 15 fey, at level 17 huge creatures and elementals, and finally at level 19 a morphomancer can become a dragon type creature. A morphomancer can never chose a form whose HD is greater than his morphomancer level. A morphomancer can perform a morph a number of times per day equal to his morphomancer level plus the constitution modifier of his natural form. The effect lasts for 1 minute per morphomancer level, or until he changes back. A morphomancer does not have to return to his natural form in order to take on a new form, but doing so counts as a morph use and resets the duration limit. For example, if a human morphomancer becomes a dog, the next round he can become a wolf without becoming a human first. Changing form (or back) is a full round action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. Assuming an alternate form results in the following changes to the morphomancer: The morphomancer retains the type and subtype of his original form. He gains the size of his new form. If the new form has the aquatic subtype, the morphomancer gains that subtype as well. The morphomancer loses the natural weapons, natural armor, and movement modes of his original form, as well as any extraordinary special attacks of his original form not derived from class levels (such as the barbarian’s rage class feature). The morphomancer gains the natural weapons, natural armor, movement modes, and extraordinary special attacks of his new form. The morphomancer retains the special qualities of his original form. He does not gain any special qualities of his new form. The morphomancer retains the spell-like abilities and supernatural attacks of his old form (except for breath weapons and gaze attacks). He does not gain the spell-like abilities or attacks of his new form. Apply any changed physical ability score modifiers in all appropriate areas with one exception: the morphomancer retains the hit points of his original form despite any change to his Constitution. The morphomancer gains the physical ability bonuses or penalties (Str, Dex, Con) of his new form. To figure out the physical stat bonuses or penalties granted by a morph form, take the physical stats given in the creature's stat entry and subtract 10 (if the number is even) or subtract 11 (if the number is odd). The morphomancer retains the mental ability scores (Int, Wis, Cha) of his original form. The morphomancer retains his hit points and save bonuses, although his save modifiers may change due to a change in ability scores. The morphomancer retains all other game statistics of his original form, including HD, hit points, skill ranks, feats, base attack bonus, and base save bonuses. The morphomancer retains any spellcasting ability he had in his original form, although he must be able to speak intelligibly to cast spells with verbal components and he must have humanlike hands to cast spells with somatic components. The morphomancer is effectively disuised as a creature of his new form, and he gains a +10 bonus on Disguise checks if he uses this ability to disguise himself as a member of that kind. However, he cannot assume the form of a specific creature of that kind. Any gear worn or carried by the morphomancer that can’t be worn or carried in his new form instead melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional. When the morphomancer reverts to his true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on his body that they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items worn in the assumed form fall off and land at the morphomancer's feet. If the morphomancer changes size, any gear he wears or carries that can be worn or carried in his new form changes size to match the new size. (Nonhumanoid-shaped creatures can’t wear armor designed for humanoid-shaped creatures, and vice versa.) Gear returns to normal size if dropped. A morphomancer may lose his ability to speak while in his alternate form because he is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained creature can make, but he can communicate normally with other creatures of the same general grouping as his new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.) Morpher's Speech (Su): At level two a morphomancer gains the ability to speak as normal, even in forms that would not normally allow him to do so, so long as the form has the ability to produce vocal sounds. Advanced Morph Form (Su): At second level and every even level after that, a morphomancer can choose an Advanced Morph Form ability. In order to learn an Advanced Morph Form ability, a morphomancer must meet any prerequisites for the ability. Many advanced morph form ability require the expenditure of additional morph form uses. Expending a morph form use in this way, a character can spend any number of morph form uses as a free action, but may only do so while transforming into one of his known morph forms. Advanced Morph Form abilities do not stack unless otherwise specified. Quick Morph (Su): A morphomancer becomes more efficient at changing his form, becoming much faster. At 4th level a morphomancer can morph as a standard action. At 8th level as a move action. At 12th level as a swift action. Finally, at 16th level, a morphomancer can morph as an immediate action. No matter how quickly a he can change his shape, a morphomancer cannot morph more than once per round. Morphic Immunities (Su): A morphomancer can instantly shift around vital organs in response to danger. At level 10 a morphomancer becomes immune to stun, critical hits, and sneak attacks. At level 18, he also becomes immune to ability damage and ability drain that targets physical stats. Extraordinary Morph (Su): At level 14, a morphomancer gains all extraordinary abilities of the form he takes. Metamorphosis (Ex): At level 20, a morphomancer has reached the pinacle of his ability. He gains the shapechanger subtype. His morphs no longer have a duration (though there is still a limited number of uses per day) and he no longer suffers the penalties of aging. Any aging penalties he may have received before reaching this level remain, and any aging bonuses still apply as normal. Though he no longer ages, a morphomancer still dies of old age. ************* Advanced Morph Form Abilities Armor - A morphomancer can increase the natural armor bonus of his morph by +3. Cost: 1 Morph. Dexterity - A morphomancer can increase the dexterity score of his morph form by +4. Cost: 1 Morph. Constitution - A morphomancer can increase the constitution score of his morph form by +4. Cost: 1 Morph. Natural Weapon - A morphomancer can increase the damage of his morph's natural weapons, dealing damage as if the morph form were a creature one size category larger. If his morph form does not have natural weapons, he may use this ability to give his morph form two claw attacks (1d4 damage each for a medium sized morph form) or a bite attack (1d6 damage for a medium sized morph form). Cost: 1 Morph. Speed - A Morphomancer can increase the speed of all movement modes in his morph form by +10ft. Unlike other Advanced Morphic Abilities, this one can be applied multiple times and the bonuses stack to a maximum of +50ft to all movement modes. Cost: 1 Morph per 10ft bonus. Stealth - A morphomancer can give himself a racial bonus of +4 to both Hide and Move Silently while using a morph form. Cost: 1 Morphs. Strength - A morphomancer can increase the strength score of his morph form by +4. Cost: 1 Morph. Reach - A morphomancer can give his morph form reach for the duration of his morph. This adds 5ft to the natural reach of any natural weapons the morphomancer has in his morph form. Prerequisites: Morphic Weapon, Morphomancer Level 6; Cost: 1 Morph. Healing - A morphomancer heals 5 HP anytime he morphs. If the morphomancer pays the listed cost, he can also get Fast Healing 2 for the duration of his morph. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 8; Cost: 1 Morph. Improved Armor - When using Morphic Plate, a morphomancer can increase the natural armor bonus of his morph by +6, rather than +3. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 10. Improved Natural Weapon (Su): When a morphomancer uses Morphic Weapon, the damage of his natural attacks are increased two steps, rather than one. If he is using Morphic Weapon to add natural weapons to a morph form without them normally, the morph form is treated as one size category larger for determining claw or bite damage. Prerequisites: Morphic Weapon, Morphomancer Level 10. Tenacious Morph - A morphomancer in an antimagic area or similar effect can still use his morphing powers. The duration of the morphs while in an antimagic area or similar effect is reduced to 1/round per level and the cost other Advanced Morphic Abilities are doubled. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 12; Cost: 3 Morphs. Greater Constitution - When using Constitution, a morphomancer can increase the constitution score of his morph form by +8, rather than +4. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14. Greater Dexterity - When using Dexterity, a morphomancer can increase the dexterity score of his morph form by +8, rather than +4. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14. Greater Strength - When using Strength, a morphomancer can increase the strength score of his morph form by +8, rather than +4. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14. Multiattack - A morphomancer is granted the multiattack feat while in his morph form. Prerequisites: Morphomancer Level 14; Cost: 3 Morphs.
Magicianguy131 04-10-07, 09:35 PM	Why is this in Eberron?
DireHawk 04-10-07, 10:02 PM	First of all, because everything fits in Eberron... supposedly. Secondly, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I have a couple ideas, perhaps those with this class are creatures of Khyber touched by Xoriat and given some of its power so as to reshape their form. Maybe its a way for changelings to regain the powers of their heritage, lost to thinning bloodlines, and then some. Maybe this is the secret of the dragons, who have the power to transform their likeness into that of the lesser races, and a very select few have discovered this power (which makes sense as the ultimate form this class can become is a dragon). Maybe these are disciples of Mordain the Fleshweaver, or perhaps it is from an ancient race, long lost to the face of Eberron, that he obtained his power. So there are lots of reasons this can fit in Eberron and why this belongs here. I just haven't figured out which avenue I wanna take with it.
goblin_pride 04-10-07, 11:35 PM	Wouldn't a wizard schooled in Alteration magics fit your idea?
DireHawk 04-11-07, 12:20 AM	No, not really. There are soooo many problems with the polymorph spells, not too mention too few options early on in levels and too many overpowered options later on. This way it spells things out and makes it much more reasonable, and gives the class the focus I desire.