Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 That_Blasted_Somoflange Apr 03, 2009 7:50:10	I don't normally cross post, but thought the Eberron crowd might give me a bit more feedback on this. Let me start by saying that I'm a fan of shifters. Back in 3.5, I really liked them but never got to play one, so I was excited when I first opened the MM and saw them there.. "Cool!", I thought, "I can make that character I wanted." But then I saw how their 'shifting' worked... I was disappointed. Really disappointed as a matter of fact. I had to let my character have the snot beat out of him to use that lycanthropic heritage.. So, that got me down for a while, but then I started reading The Doom of Kings again, and was inspired by Geth. Obviously a beasthide shifter, but he convinced me to do a conversion of the 3.5 shifter to 4e, with different mechanics than the official. So, here it is, my version of the shifter. P.E.A.C.H. is now in effect. Shifter Ferocious heirs of the wild, the perfect fusion of civilized race and wild beast RACIAL TRAITS Average Height: 5´ 7˝–6´ 0˝ Average Weight: 130–180 lb. Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Wisdom Size: Medium Speed: 6 squares Vision: Low-light Languages: Common, choice of one other Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics, +2 Endurance Lycanthropic Heritage: You may choose one shifting trait (you can choose others with the Metis shifting feat) that you display when you use the Bestial Shifting power. You gain the Bestial Shifting Power Bestial Shifting You tap into your lycanthropic heritage, releasing the inner beast Encounter Minor Action Personal Effect: Spend a healing surge you do not gain hit points instead you can now use one of the following shiftings (chosen at first level). If you have multiple shifings you can use them all at once, but you must spend a healing surge for each bonus. You gain 5 temporary hit points for each healing surge to used to activate a shifter trait. Traits activated by Bestial Shifting last until the end of your next turn Sustain Minor Shifter traits Longstride: You increase your speed by 2. This increases to 3 at 11th level and 4 at 21st. Razorclaw: Your claws elongate and sharpen, giving you a natural weapon with +2 to hit, 1d8 damage. The bonus to hit increases to +4 at 11th level, and +6 at 21st You must have at least one free hand to use this power. Beasthide: You gain resist all 5. At level 11 this increases to 10, at 21st 15 Longtooth: You teeth elongate giving you a natural weapon that is +2 to hit, 1d6 damage and if you hit, the opponent is grabbed. If the opponent breaks free from the grab they take another 1d6 damage. The bonus to hit increases to +4 at 11th level, and +6 at 21st level. Cliffwalk: You gain a climb speed equal to your speed, as well you can reroll any athletics checks made to climb. You must take the second roll regardless if better or worse. Wildhunt: You ignore the penalties for concealment and total concealment, also you may reroll any perceptions checks, but you must keep the second result regardless. Truedive: You gain a swim speed equal to your speed, as well you gain a +5 bonus to all endurance checks made to hold your breath. Gorebrute: You grow horns and can your strength bonus to charge attacks, as well as knock the target prone. Dreamsight: You gain blindsight 2. This increased to blindsight 4 at 11th level, and blindsight 6 at 21st. Swiftwing: You grow leathery wings similar to a bats. You treat all jump checks as well as you had a running start, as well you may use the acrobatic checks as if you were trained to avoid falling damage. If you are trained in acrobatics you gain a +5 bonus to checks made to avoid falling damage. Feat: Extra Shifter trait - you may choose another shifter trait. You may take this feat multiple times. So, there it is, this is my take on the shifter - I tried to keep all the shifter types as close to 3.5 as possible, the only real exception was the dreamsight, and that was because they got the ability to speak to animals, which is now a ritual and didn't work for an encounter power.
#2 Alex_ Apr 06, 2009 22:40:49	Does the Healing Surge used count as your Healing Surge for the encounter? The natual attacks could use some damage increases at the paragon and epic levels. The ability to shift and stay shifted throughout every single fight seems a bit much though. As iconic as shifting is for the Shifter, if it's that easy to do it all the time, the drama is kind of lost, you know? I know I'll probably get hung for suggesting this, but how about making it a Daily power?
#3 That_Blasted_Somoflange Apr 07, 2009 5:21:53	Does the Healing Surge used count as your Healing Surge for the encounter? As in for second wind? No. The spending of a healing surge is there as a mechanic to limit how many/how often you activate shifter traits. The natual attacks could use some damage increases at the paragon and epic levels. The ability to shift and stay shifted throughout every single fight seems a bit much though. As iconic as shifting is for the Shifter, if it's that easy to do it all the time, the drama is kind of lost, you know? Understandable, what your saying about how easy, but that is why I used a number of mechanics to limit how often you can do the shifting. I tried to make it more of a 'should I do this now, or wait till later power?' instead of 'I do this at the beginning of every fight' as a standard option. That is why I used a healing surge and a sustain minor to maintain the power. Spending the healing surge and sustaining the power means that it is NOT easy. My take on shifter shifting is that it lets you tap into a more primal state, that drains a lot out of you (the healing surge) and puts you in a state where you act more on instinct then on intellect (the sustain minor). Most sustain powers require concentration, something that I figure would be lacking if you are becoming a more aggressive creature while shifting. Think of it like the Hulk's rage. When he get's really angry, he doesn't think about what he's going to do, he just does it and totally ignores what's around him to focus on smashing things. This is the state which the shifter's shifting seems to represent to me. While you are shifted, and you want to stay shifted, you can't do things like drink a healing potion, let alone draw one without using up a standard or move action - to use in character reasoning, you just wouldn't consider it you're too busy fighting tooth and nail, literally actually. I have some ideas for shifter feats, as the ones printed by WotC the books will generally be made void if I use my version, which I currently plan to when Eberron comes out. One of which is a feat that increases natural weapon damage by one die step, another is one that lets you heal a number of hit points when you come out of shifting. I know I'll probably get hung for suggesting this, but how about making it a Daily power? No, I did consider that. My first thought was to make it a stance, and thus, I also considered making it a daily power that has the caveat that you can use it as many times as you have shifter feats - similar to how shifter shifting worked in 3.5, but figured that would severely force you to take shifter feats in order to make your character useful as a shifter. Trust me, I appreciate the feedback, even if I doesn't seem like I've used it. Like the show House, sometimes, somebody says something that triggers me to try something else or come up with a solution on how to implement a power.