Zardnaar
Legend
This thread is to have a look at the EN5ider class the Morph.The class might get overhauled in the new A Tough of Class book coming out soon so we will see. I was a bit harsh on the Alchemist review but Ithink the Morph is one of the better EN5ider classes in design and playablility.
What is a morph? Basically its based off the moon druids shapechanging ability but instead of gaining spells as well you can take a variety of talents enhancing the shapechanging including being able to shape change into things that a not beasts such as Dragons and Elemental s. You can shapechange more often than a Moon Druid (3/short rest lvl 8, 4/SR lvl 15, unlimited lvl 20).
So why play one over a Moon Druid who also gets spells? Well some of those talents are very very powerful. Any issues the class will have will be in the later stages of your career as shapechanging doesn't scale that well and you completely suck at range as a Moon Druid for example can cast call lightning and wildshape into something.
There are 2 subclasses the Doppleganger and Primordial Beast. I think they are kind of your expert and warrior paths to go down and ta few of the talents are restricted to one subclass or the other. Apart from the talents you get as you level up you only get 2 subclass abilities- at level 1 and level 17. The doppleganger gets two bard cantrips while the Primordial Beast gets to create another natural weapon that can be used to make a bonus action attack when not shapechanged. At level 17 the Primordial Beast gets to play with various Power Word Spells (while shapechanged), as a long rest ability while the Doppleganger gets to play with major images (short rest) and project image (long rest).
Otherwise they both get to Shape change as a Moon Druid except more often and they get to modify that with the talents. The Primordial Beast looks very nasty at combat while the Doppleganger seems to be a lot weaker. The class also gets simple weapons, lt and medium armor and 3 skills (+2 off backgrounds). Interestingly it is also proficient in constitution and dexterity saves.
Now there is a view online that the Moon Druid is very broken at low levels due to being able to turn into a Brown Bear along with various other things such as the great cats. Well whats better than being a Brown Bear at level 2 with 2 attacks and 34 hit points? How about being a Brown Bear that gets a 3rd attack for 1d6+4 and takes half damage from nonmagical piercing and slashing damage with the Ancestral Beast and Embody the Elements (Earth) ability? Your average DPR is 27. At level 2. So you have a probably broken moon Druid ability made even worse at level 2. The bonus action attack does not scale well at higher level though but is still worth taking due to a lack of better things to do with your bonus action.
At level 6 your attacks are also treated as magical attacks a'la Moon Druid.
However as previously mentioned Shapechange does not scale well and at level 6 your forms become a bit weaker relative to what you are likely facing and at the higher levels your shapeshift ability fall off a cliff and unlike a Moon Druid you do not have spells to fall back on. Unlike a Moon Druid you do not get to change into a CR 5 elemental at level 10 either although there are talents available that let you change into Dragons, Elemental, Oozes, and maybe a construct (its unclear) but you are still limited by level/3 in terms of CR. Sp you can became a CR5 elemental at 15 but there is a big difference in power being able to do that at level 15 vs 10 compared with a Moon Druid. It doesn't get much better with the weaker CR elemental's either or CR 3 and 4 Dragons which mostly limits you to Wrymlings or a Wyvern at level 18.
The combat forms generally lack a range and take a bit accuracy hit and progressively creep up to huge and gargantuan size which often limits their ability due to space constraints or you hinder your own parties movement sometimes. Tanking around as an Ankylosaurus at level 9 while kewl is not really all that. The Tome of Beasts and Volo's Guide to monsters also has some new beasts in it and you could in theory turn into a Brontosaurus at level 15 (gargantuan though).
You can also take various talents that let you some pre selected spells and you are proficient in con saves which is nice. You can pick up polymorph at level 5 (upgrades to true polymorph at level 17) and turn someone else into a Brontosaurus, a T Rex at level 7 or a Savager at level 8 (Tome of Beasts) or even a Spinosaurus (Tome of Beasts) at level 13. Getting access to polymorph 2 levels earlier than everyone else may not be the best idea in the world in terms of game balance and doesn't help with the OP nature of the class in the early levels however.
So overall I think I like this class or at least I would want to play one in the tank/beat stick/skirmisher role. You have 2 strong saves, are probably very overpowered early game, and you can select your own class features form a list as you level up. Expect to suck at range though even if you can shapechange into a weak flyer (no CR5 air elementals at level 10 for you) and a few of the talents have a bit of utility outside combat. I expect its late game power to drop drastically off a cliff however. Finding a DM to say yes to the class might also be problematic but if you want to unleash your inner munchkin in a low level or new campaign this is really the class for you and it can make the Moon Druid cry. The main drawback to the class may not even matter in the real world (playing at high level say 12+). At least the class is good at something (beating face).
Pros
Strong early game
Build your own class abilities
You can be batman (literally)
Cons
Higher level gameplay
lack of ranged attacks/abilites.
Abuse Potential Very High (low levels, ability score dumping due to shapechange)
What is a morph? Basically its based off the moon druids shapechanging ability but instead of gaining spells as well you can take a variety of talents enhancing the shapechanging including being able to shape change into things that a not beasts such as Dragons and Elemental s. You can shapechange more often than a Moon Druid (3/short rest lvl 8, 4/SR lvl 15, unlimited lvl 20).
So why play one over a Moon Druid who also gets spells? Well some of those talents are very very powerful. Any issues the class will have will be in the later stages of your career as shapechanging doesn't scale that well and you completely suck at range as a Moon Druid for example can cast call lightning and wildshape into something.
There are 2 subclasses the Doppleganger and Primordial Beast. I think they are kind of your expert and warrior paths to go down and ta few of the talents are restricted to one subclass or the other. Apart from the talents you get as you level up you only get 2 subclass abilities- at level 1 and level 17. The doppleganger gets two bard cantrips while the Primordial Beast gets to create another natural weapon that can be used to make a bonus action attack when not shapechanged. At level 17 the Primordial Beast gets to play with various Power Word Spells (while shapechanged), as a long rest ability while the Doppleganger gets to play with major images (short rest) and project image (long rest).
Otherwise they both get to Shape change as a Moon Druid except more often and they get to modify that with the talents. The Primordial Beast looks very nasty at combat while the Doppleganger seems to be a lot weaker. The class also gets simple weapons, lt and medium armor and 3 skills (+2 off backgrounds). Interestingly it is also proficient in constitution and dexterity saves.
Now there is a view online that the Moon Druid is very broken at low levels due to being able to turn into a Brown Bear along with various other things such as the great cats. Well whats better than being a Brown Bear at level 2 with 2 attacks and 34 hit points? How about being a Brown Bear that gets a 3rd attack for 1d6+4 and takes half damage from nonmagical piercing and slashing damage with the Ancestral Beast and Embody the Elements (Earth) ability? Your average DPR is 27. At level 2. So you have a probably broken moon Druid ability made even worse at level 2. The bonus action attack does not scale well at higher level though but is still worth taking due to a lack of better things to do with your bonus action.
At level 6 your attacks are also treated as magical attacks a'la Moon Druid.
However as previously mentioned Shapechange does not scale well and at level 6 your forms become a bit weaker relative to what you are likely facing and at the higher levels your shapeshift ability fall off a cliff and unlike a Moon Druid you do not have spells to fall back on. Unlike a Moon Druid you do not get to change into a CR 5 elemental at level 10 either although there are talents available that let you change into Dragons, Elemental, Oozes, and maybe a construct (its unclear) but you are still limited by level/3 in terms of CR. Sp you can became a CR5 elemental at 15 but there is a big difference in power being able to do that at level 15 vs 10 compared with a Moon Druid. It doesn't get much better with the weaker CR elemental's either or CR 3 and 4 Dragons which mostly limits you to Wrymlings or a Wyvern at level 18.
The combat forms generally lack a range and take a bit accuracy hit and progressively creep up to huge and gargantuan size which often limits their ability due to space constraints or you hinder your own parties movement sometimes. Tanking around as an Ankylosaurus at level 9 while kewl is not really all that. The Tome of Beasts and Volo's Guide to monsters also has some new beasts in it and you could in theory turn into a Brontosaurus at level 15 (gargantuan though).
You can also take various talents that let you some pre selected spells and you are proficient in con saves which is nice. You can pick up polymorph at level 5 (upgrades to true polymorph at level 17) and turn someone else into a Brontosaurus, a T Rex at level 7 or a Savager at level 8 (Tome of Beasts) or even a Spinosaurus (Tome of Beasts) at level 13. Getting access to polymorph 2 levels earlier than everyone else may not be the best idea in the world in terms of game balance and doesn't help with the OP nature of the class in the early levels however.
So overall I think I like this class or at least I would want to play one in the tank/beat stick/skirmisher role. You have 2 strong saves, are probably very overpowered early game, and you can select your own class features form a list as you level up. Expect to suck at range though even if you can shapechange into a weak flyer (no CR5 air elementals at level 10 for you) and a few of the talents have a bit of utility outside combat. I expect its late game power to drop drastically off a cliff however. Finding a DM to say yes to the class might also be problematic but if you want to unleash your inner munchkin in a low level or new campaign this is really the class for you and it can make the Moon Druid cry. The main drawback to the class may not even matter in the real world (playing at high level say 12+). At least the class is good at something (beating face).
Pros
Strong early game
Build your own class abilities
You can be batman (literally)
Cons
Higher level gameplay
lack of ranged attacks/abilites.
Abuse Potential Very High (low levels, ability score dumping due to shapechange)
Last edited:
