Legendary Animals+Shifter

[Kwalish Kid]

Hey! I said lay off the sauce...

There is no distinction in the shifter greater wild shape ability between animal, dire animal and legendary animal. There is only the distinctions of size and HD. The animal lord specifically mentions dire and legendary animals because it is a helpful guide to distinguish between the one form of wildshape that they get. A 13 HD shifter can change into any animal with 13 HD or less, be it an elephant, dire elk or legendary ape.

 

[ConcreteBuddha]

mmmmmmmm...sauce....

 

[rushlight]

So, exactly how long does Wild Shape last? I haven't been able to find a duration anywhere....

 

[Kae'Yoss]

AFAIK, Wild shape lasts until you shift back. You could practically wander around as a fox for days, but that won't help you if you want to cast a spell, so you have to change back then, in order to do magic!

 

[wolff96]

Originally posted by KaeYoss:
AFAIK, Wild shape lasts until you shift back. You could practically wander around as a fox for days, but that won't help you if you want to cast a spell, so you have to change back then, in order to do magic!

Duration: Correct.

And if you're a Shifter who doesn't take the "Natural Spell" feat, which lets you cast while shifted, then you're missing out!

The real fun comes in if you don't mind a bit of a ruse: Pretend to be another party member's familiar. Nobody will be surprised when you deliver spells -- until you deliver a spell that the "master" can't cast.

Or take a page from the Simpsons: "No one EVER suspects the butterfly!"

 

[NeuronRider]

Just a quick side note about legendary creatures...
MotW states:

In fact, they are never even created until they are needed. ... created from normal animals of their kin through the power of nature (or a deity) whenever a character of appropriate level needs such a companion.

Since Wild Shape (or GWS) requires familiarity with the form assumed, this at least makes it fairly unlikely that a Shifter will have many options in terms of legendary animals to turn into, if any at all.

That aside, the type of a legendary animal is just Animal , so I don't see a reason that a Shifter couldn't assume the form (otherwise you'd also have to eliminate Dire forms for them) assuming that the HD, familiarity, and type restrictions are all met.