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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dagredhel" data-source="post: 4550677" data-attributes="member: 3421">Soulshifter A Soulshifter is a shapeshifter, able to alter his appearance and form either fully or in part.  The Soulshifter may take a single other form or many.  He may create powerful natural weapons or defenses, grow larger or smaller, develop new senses or modes of movement, or enhance his existing abilities.  A Soulshifter's powers may be primarily combat focused or a means of subterfuge instead, and range from the spectacularly obvious to the cunningly subtle.  A soulshifter has the potentially to be a powerful warrior or an undetectable spy.  The Soulshifter may mimic actual creatures, combine the attributes of several, or become the embodiment of his wildest imagination, assuming shapes both wondrous and bizarre or mundane and familiar.Soulshifters are incredibly diverse, often having in common only the ability to change their shapes.  Esoteric scholars classify those who follow this path as "psychomorphs", because they seemingly possess the power to magically alter their physical bodies merely by adjusting their mental self-image.  By reshaping their essential sense of who and what they are, their basic self-concept or "soul", Soulshifters actually resculpt their material forms to match.  For some, the ability to change shape seems to come almost as naturally as breathing; for others, it is the result of rigorous training, intense spiritual devotion, or strict mental discipline.This scholarly theory aside, Soulshifters individually find many different explanations for their morphic traits.  The potential to become a Soulshifter sometimes seems to run in families, giving rise to the notion of hereditary gifts or curses.  Soulshifters whose powers mimic those of a specific type of creature often feel a deep affinity and sense of kinship, hinting at an actual or mystical relationship.  Some Soulshifters believe they are descendants of the the  creature to whose form they aspire.  Others believe that their powers come from a special connection to a particular spirit creature, or a spiritual archetype that mystically represents all creatures of that type or kind.  The belief in spiritual totems is relatively common both among Soulshifters whose abilities are keyed to a single alternate form and those who take many shapes.  Another explanation sometimes offered, perhaps with a touch of paranoia, is that Soulshifters may share descent from Dopplegangers or another race of natural shapeshifters.Belying these explanations are those Soulshifters whose abilities are apparently derived from a different type of connection to divine or mystical forces.  Many Soulshifters are not only drawn to the worship of a particular deity, they actually emulate their god's or godess' form and attributes and act as their deity's champion and avatar.  If accepted by religious authorities and confirmed formally in this role, they may act as the strong arm or defenders of the faith or simply as exemplars of that qualities that they embody, much the same as Clerics.  Other Soulshifters are similar to Monks, both in their ascetic discipline and pursuit of self-perfection.  At the other extreme, there are Soulshifters who, for good or ill, see their abilities simply as a means to power, a magic different from any other only in its effects. Starting Gold:  3d4 x 10 gp. (average 75 gp.)Starting Age: as Barbarian. Alignment: Any.Hit Die: d8.BAB: as Fighter.Saves:  Good Fortitude, Poor Reflex and Will.Class SkillsThe Soulshifter's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4.Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.CLASS FEATURESWeapon and Armor ProficiencyA Soulshifter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons. Soulshifters are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).Soulshifters seldom rely overmuch on their equipment.  They generally favor the attack forms their powers grant them, and seldom find armor worth the bother.   Armor suitable for one form is unlikely to be of any use for another.  If they wear armor in their natural form, they may need to remove it to change shape.  In order to don or remove armor when shapeshifted, they may need assistance.Except for those Soulshifters who stick to forms of very nearly the same size and shape, wearing armor is seldom a very practical option.  And many of those who appear to wear artificial armor or swing manufactured weapons are actually wielding weapons they have shaped from the stuff of their own psyches.Natural Arsenal:  <The original name I had in mind for this was "Somatic Weaponry".>  A Soulshifter's body is his primary weapon.  Depending on the forms he is able to assume, a Soulshifter may be capable of shaping his body into an amazing array of natural weaponry.  Conversely, a Soulshifter may rely on a single potent form of attack.  Options vary with the forms a Soulshifter has mastered, and increase with the diversity of his shapeshifting repetoire.Even in their natural form, a humanoid Soulshifter is a potent combatant, capable of making a Slam attack which may represent a punch, kick, elbow or knee, straightarm, gouge, headbutt or any other sort of unarmed fighting manuever or combination of blows.  The Soulshifter's body is a deadly weapon regardless of the shape it wears.  The Soulshifter is always considered armed, and may threaten any squares within his reach.While a Soulshifter's attacks take the form of natural weapons of one sort or another, they follow seperate mechanics.  Regardless of the number or combination of natural weapons a particular form has, the Soulshifter's attacks are adjudicated by a single attack roll and damage.  This damage may represent the sum effect of multiple natural weapons brought to bear or the result of a single, more powerful attack, but is treated a single attack for all mechanical purposes.  A Soulshifter does not receive extra "iterative" attacks from a high BAB when attacking in this fashion, and cannot normally combine this type of attack with a manufactured weapon attack, unarmed strike, or natural weapon attack from some other source.The Soulshifter's attack can be used as a standard action, full attack, or attack of opportunity, in a grapple (normally with a -4 penalty) or at the end of a charge.  The Soulshifter's Natural Arsenal is considered a natural weapon for the purpose of adjudicating the effects of spells, feats, or class abilities that affect natural weapons.Beginning at 1st level, a Soulshifter's attacks do 1d6 points of damage plus 1-1/2 times his Strength modifier (if any.)  This damage increases by an additional 1d6 points at 6th, 11th, 16th, and 20th levels.<Shapechanging Abilities></blockquote>

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