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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DreadArchon" data-source="post: 3515217" data-attributes="member: 49449">...You realize that you can get the same effect (and more) from A ONE-LEVEL DIP in Dragon Shaman, right?  I mean, granted, you never implied that you'd get within a hundred miles of a Dragon Shaman, but that's been out for a while now, you know.Well, no, actually.  They give a whole column on how easy it should be, including rules for various limiting situations (such as time constraints).  Basically, "If they have more than half a day, and the town's GP limit is high enough, they find the item."All kinds.  It's really nifty as a full Druid (though I agree that it moves Druids from "Druids win, thanks for playing" to merely "Druids are hardcore awesome and will probably win"), but it also makes the Druid more modular.  With a Wild Shape Druid, you're generally punished if you multiclass because your Animal Companion stops advancing and your Wild Shape stays limited ("punished" = "better than other party members, but no longer better than all other party members combined").  With Shapeshift, Druid becomes a very viable dip class.  ("Hey guys, my Halfling in Dragonhide Full Plate can go from 15 feet per round to 50 feet per round as a Swift action, at will, and I lose all of the massive Armor Check Penalties from my Full Plate + Tower Shield, thus making me a tank-ninja, and all it took was a single level of Druid!")  They're also more useful for taking a little farther then moving out of (infinite flight at level 5, etc.) and, while I doubt you personally care, changing form and appearance at will is a freaking sweet thing from a fluff perspective.  (And an infiltration perspective.)Yes, this really hit home for me in my last few games.  My players have reached the point of having numerous useful Move and Swift actions to take, and it's making them think.Case in point: Today, a Skirr dropped the party Barbarian from a height of ~300 feet.  Now, as a level 10 Barbarian, he should normally be able to brush off a fall from orbit (literally).  Thing is, he had taken some damage, and wanted to (1) heal 4d8 with his belt of everyonetakesthis from the MIC (Swift action), (2) activate Rage to get an HP boost (Immediate action), (3) and swing at the Skirr as he fell (ideally activating his Flaming Surge, a Swift action).  Of course, he only had time for two Swift or Immediate actions.Naturally he chose to let off on the Surge, but that was just the most recent example.  this kind of thing comes up all the time, and it's not always so easy.Personally, I'd like to see that as the primary balancing factor of the magic system.  It certainly works well in MMO's--sure the mage can cast most spells infinitely, even the really powerful ones, but does he have the time and freedom to do so?</blockquote>

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