D&D 5E What about a Shapeshifter class?

[Jester David]

A "shapesmith" would be a fun class. There's room for a shapeshifting specialist, like a spellless druid.
But it's not a generic concept. It's not something that fits effortlessly into every campaign setting.

It'd be a fun addition to a campaign setting. But not a D&D splatbook.

 

[The Human Target]

Upon further thought, I'm in it.

A shapeshifter is if anything more represented in fiction/myth than a guy who plays magic guitar or shoots magic missiles.

 

[Minigiant]

[h=2]SHAPESHIFTER[/h]
[h=4]Hit Points[/h]
Hit Dice: 1d12 per shapeshifter level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 6) + Constitution modifier per Shapeshifter level.
[h=4]Proficiencies[/h]
Armor: Light Armor
Weapons: Simple Weapons
Tools: None

Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
Skills: Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Performance, and Stealth.
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500"] [TR] [TD]Level[/TD] [TD]Proficiency Bonus[/TD] [TD]Features[/TD] [TD]Invocations known[/TD] [TD]Harden Arms[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]1[/TD] [TD]+2[/TD] [TD]Minor Shapeshifting, Transform Arms[/TD] [TD]---[/TD] [TD]1d4[/TD] [/TR]
[TR] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]+2[/TD] [TD]Eldritch Invocation[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1d4[/TD] [/TR]
[TR] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]+2[/TD] [TD]Major Shapeshifiting, Master of Form[/TD] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]1d4[/TD]
[/TR] [TR] [TD]2[/TD] [TD]+2[/TD] [TD]Ability Score Improvement[/TD] [TD]4[/TD] [TD]1d4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]5[/TD] [TD]+3[/TD] [TD]Arcane Weapon[/TD] [TD]3[/TD] [TD]2d4[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
[h=4]Minor Shapeshifting [/h]
At 1st Level, you can make yourself—excluding your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different. You are now a shapechanger.. As an action,you can transform this way. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller and can appear thin, fat, or in between. You can’t change your body type, so you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs. You new form lasts until you use your action to dismiss it or die.
The changes brought my this magic is very real. It fools inspection by touch as you fully become your new form. However it is still a magical effect. You glow with a strong aura when someones attempts to detect you via the detect magic spell and they can see your true form when looking at you with truesight.
To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your Charisma (Deception).

[h=4]Transform Arms[/h]
At the 1st level, you can turn you arms, from hand to elbow, into hard blunt weapons. As a bonus action, you can transform one or both of your arms. You have the following benefits and penalties when you transform one of your arms.

1. You cannot use that arm for any action which requires your fingers.
2. You can add you Constitution modifier to damage rolls of your unarmed attacks
3. You gain a +1 bonus to AC if both your arms are transformed
4. You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage for an unarmed strike using your transformed arms. This damage changed with shapeshifter levels, as shown in the Tranform Arms column in the shaeshifter table.

[h=4]Eldritch Invocation[/h]
(As Warlock PHB 107)

Arms of Blades: Your unarmed strike when using transformed arms can deal slashing damage and when the do so, deals an additional 1d8 damage on a critical hit.
Beast Tongue: While using Major Shapeshifing as a beast, you can speak normally.
Beguiling Influence
Devil's Sight
Eldritch Sight
Master of Size: Prerequisite: Master of the Mimic Forms When you minor shapeshift, you can take the form of a humanoid of the Small or Medium size or a Large Giant.
Skin of Steel: Prerequisite: Master of the Hulking Forms When you take the Dodge action, you have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the start of your next turn.
Wings and Fins: Prerequisite: 8th level While using Major Shapeshifing as a beast, you can use the beast form's flying or swimming speed.
Witch Sight


[h=4]Major Shapeshifting [/h]
At 3rd level, your master of the self transmutation increases. As an action, you can transform in a greater way. You can use this feature twice at the 3rd level. You regain expended usages when you finish a short or long rest. When you use major shapeshifting, choose one of the following options:

1. 
   [*}Aquatic Adaptation: You adapt your body to an aquatic environment, sprouting gills and growing webbing between your fingers. You can breathe underwater and gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.
2. Bestial Appearance: You can transform into the shape of beast of the same size or smaller than you of the challenge rating of 1/4. If the beast has a flying or swimming speed, you do not get it. You cannot cast spells, and your ability to speak or take an action is limited to the capabilities of of your beast form. Your game statistics is replaced by the beast's except for hit points.
3. Change Appearance: You transform your appearance. You decide what you look like, including your height, weight, facial features, sound of your voice, hair length, coloration, and distinguishing characteristics, if any. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race of the same type, though none of your statistics change. You also can’t appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same.
4. Change Clothing: You can produce clothing and change it into any form you wish. At any time, you can use your action to change your clothing again in this way. This clothing is part of you. If it is ever removed from you and not longer touching your body, your maximum hit points are lowered by 1d10 until the clothing returns to your touch or you take a long rest.

[h=4]Master of Forms[/h]
Starting at the 3rd level, you choose which forms to master.

[h=4]MASTER OF THE HULKING FORMS[/h]
[h=4]HULKING FORM[/h]
When you choose this mastery at the 3rd level, you can choose to take on a slightly larger and brutish form when you use major shapeshifting instead of one of your normal options. If you do so, you have advantage on Strength checks and saving throws but have disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saving throw.
In addition, your unarmed strikes gain a +4 bonus to damage rolls when in hulking form.

[h=4]Unarmed Defense[/h]
As the Barbarian (PHB 48)

[h=4]Arcane Weapon[/h]
Starting at the 5th level, your unarmed strike and natural weapons with in major shapeshifting count as magical for the purpose of overcoming Resistance immunity to nonmagical weapons, attacks, and damage.

 

[Arcshot]

Voted no. Generally I feel that any additional class seems like pouring ale into an already filled mug. If the new class design turns out to be rather good, it could maybe appear in a specific fantasy world book rather than the generic PHB rules.

 

[Li Shenron]

Way too narrow concept for my tastes to be a class.

 

[Azurewraith]

As much as i would love a shapeshifter class i had to vote no as certain classes niches are all ready closing in around them with all the backgrounds and super easy MCing. Maybe a subclass of druid as a shifter he gives up his spells and gets full shifting (akin to 3.5s shifting but at maybe 75% heck maybe 75% is still to op maybe 35%)

 

[SailorNash]

I like it. Would provide an alternative to the problematic Wild Shape feature. True, shapeshifting feels more race-y than class-y, but Wild Shape is example enough that it can be a class feature. In 3rd ed, we similarly had the Shifter and War Shaper among others. I think you'd have to be careful with the flavor, though...it could be done with a mad scientist or heavy Polymorph theme to counter the natural Druid flavor, but may be better off as a Druid subclass that allows for greater shifting (such as with the previous PrC examples).

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[ZickZak]

So many cool options to go for with the new class concept (not that it s necessary) and you would chose shapeshifter... There are already spells, item and race to disguise yourself and the shapeshifting itself steals from a Druid and Alter self.
Nope

 

[Minigiant]

So while I disagree with the class concept, I have this specific criticism of the implementation..
...
In short, you've created Barbarian that can shapeshift instead of Rage.

Well its the subclass. It needed survivability.

It is the subclass one of my players.

His PC is a Jekyll/Banner sage who found a transmuter's secret recipe for a potion, made it, and drank it. But he sucked in combat too much so I had to beef up his HP. So we decided that his skin is all rubbery and some of a weapon's force bounces off and upped his HD from d8.

The other subcless do other things.