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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 4808531" data-attributes="member: 19675">Good idea, but what about making each of those a separate sub-specialty?  IOW, someone who masters regular animal forms, someone who masters swarms, etc.  Its a little more work, but the benefits could be worth it.I'm not clear as to what you mean by "hybrid"- is that hybrid (aka magical) beasts?  Or is that a Skinchanger who can't do a complete change, but only mixes human form with animal simultaneously- a quasi-lycanthrope?Agreed, for the very things you mentioned.Good.Looks good- probably a similar list to the "nature-boy" classes would be in order.  Or, if you have the time, check out what kind of skill sets you find in the fuzzy monsters from the various MMs.Agreed.I think that both of those saves should be good.  Leave the Will save as the weak point...their animal nature, repressed and controlled in most of us, wars with the higher minds in those who practice this art, leaving them vulnerable.    Absolutely.That makes sense.  Despite the crazy fluff of the class, it is, at its heart, a melee class.  If it helps, think of it as sort of a Barbarian (the HD & ferocity) with a touch of Ranger or Scout (stealthiness & subtlety) and the Druid (shapechanging, natch).You might want to peek at the geomancer PrCl for some ideas.Personally, I'm thinking low-light or darkvision should be a standard 1st level power for Skinwalkers- double range if they already have that benefit from another race or class.Other benefits you might want to base on the particular kind of animal forms the Skinwalker learn.Overall, as a potential GM, my personal take on this class is that I'd be more comfortable with the class if there were a clear tradeoff in its abilities between power and flexibility.(I'm just throwing this out there...)IOW, I could see one Skinwalker mastering many forms, but none of them are particularly powerful, whereas another might master a single form, but be able to improve on it constantly.  Yet another might be a master of verminous swarms.The first might have no form bigger than his natural size, some of which could swim, others could fly, some of which could burrow, one of which might regenerate (slowly).The second might have a single (probably predatory) creature as his basic form- perhaps equivalent to a "juvenile."  Eventually, he could become the equivalent of an "adult."  Then he might be able to add in things we think of as templates- Feral, for instance, then Dire.The third would start off with a number of creatures in its swarm equivalent to his HD (or something), with the swarm growing in size over time.  Because of the relative power of his creature form, perhaps, like the first kind of skinwalker, he can master a few different kinds of vermin forms, and perhaps, like the second kind, he can improve his verminous swarms with templates.Another thought- perhaps this class has options that only open up with multiclassing.For instance, a Skinwalker with divine caster levels could choose to add Fiendish or Celestial elements to their forms, depending upon their alignment.(OTOH, this might also be something for a shapechanging PrCl.)</blockquote>

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