D&D 5E D&D's official twitter feed is giving previews of art and contents from Monsters of the Multiverse

[Weiley31]

why would gnomes be were rabbits?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'd like them to just make shfiters controlled lycanthropes. Full Crinos shifted form. Stop trying to hold back just because they have lesser stats; they're going to get PC powers on top anyway.

Eh, I'd rather make lycanthropes a separate thing, and push shifters further away from the idea of theriomorphism. I'm vastly more interested in a humanoid shapeshifting animalistic race that is an expression of nature, than a race of controlled werewolves.

Give them all increased speed, and give each a different special movement like being able to climb at normal speed and cling to most vertical surfaces, or a charge attack with increased movement, etc, plus improved senses and at level 5 they each get some special move. Use races that get a suite of spells as a balancing comparison.

Then, give them the ability to speak to animals, maybe with a limited scope of some kind, and a few feats for extra fun that really take their whole deal up to 11.

That, or put out some more animal races and collectivelycall them shifters in Eberron.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Eh, I'd rather make lycanthropes a separate thing, and push shifters further away from the idea of theriomorphism. I'm vastly more interested in a humanoid shapeshifting animalistic race that is an expression of nature, than a race of controlled werewolves.

Give them all increased speed, and give each a different special movement like being able to climb at normal speed and cling to most vertical surfaces, or a charge attack with increased movement, etc, plus improved senses and at level 5 they each get some special move. Use races that get a suite of spells as a balancing comparison.

Then, give them the ability to speak to animals, maybe with a limited scope of some kind, and a few feats for extra fun that really take their whole deal up to 11.

That, or put out some more animal races and collectivelycall them shifters in Eberron.

Yeah. Shifters are probably the worst race from Eberron. Changelings are awesome, Warforged are amazing, and Kalashtar are cool. Shifters are cool in concept . . . but the concept isn't super clear.

I like the idea of them as lycanthrope-people, but they are so vague and strangely designed (asthetically and mechanically) that it doesn't really fit all that well. I like the idea of them just being a group of animal-folk, but that kind of negates the need for all the other types (Aarakocra, Kenku, Owlin, Harengon, etc).

I love Eberron, but Shifters are probably my least favorite part of it.

 

[Parmandur]

I like Shifters as being similar to the Wessen from the TV show Grimm.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Yeah, if I want to play a game as a Shifter of some kind, I will go with the old Werewolf: the Apocalypse Changing Breeds sourcebook and all the different Were-races that it had. I still fondly remember playing Bastet, with my were-lynx and a friend's were-tiger in a campaign from about 15 years ago.

 

[CleverNickName]

I don't want to be That Guy^TM but I also think it's worth mentioning that Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has a rules framework for creating your own were-race.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The idea for the shifters as "theriantouched" is interesting, but the design could need more work. They can't be only kemonomimi ("animal ears"). The 3PPs can create lots of new animal-folk as PC races. My suggestion is to add racial feats, and the return of the racial parangon classes, and the alternate class features. They can't be only the furry cousins of the orcs (from Warcraft). A trait I would add would be thanks their theriantrope blood the effect of the zombie bite is different, becoming berseker for a short time, and like this become natural enemies of the undeads (and a really bad relation with the dhampirs, bad vibes among both lineages). Maybe the right character in a Ravenloft story and these become enoughly popular.

 

[cbwjm]

I like Shifters as being similar to the Wessen from the TV show Grimm.

That's actually a cool take on shifters.

 

[Azuresun]

Shifter art is the hardest thing in D&D to find. Every artist draws them differently, and most of it is bad. I like the idea of shifters, and they have a cool place in Eberron, but they need an urgent redesign.

Another thing is that there's never been a definite "before and after" image that shows the difference between a shifter using shifting and one not. So for any given image of a shifter, you have to take a guess as to whether that's what they usually look like.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I'm fine with Shifters being subtly bestial humanoids, who only get slightly more bestial when shifting. Like it's an actor in some light prosthetic makeup, that's maybe 1 to 2 hours of work and shifted form is the same actor with some CG post-production enhancements.