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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lancelot" data-source="post: 6713568" data-attributes="member: 30022">I voted "No" for a different reason: races represent innate abilities with which you are born, while classes represent learned talents that you develop over time. For me, shapeshifting seems like something that better suits a racial ability... something that your average fighter or rogue can't dip into for a couple of levels. It suggests a fey spirit that can shift forms, or something with lycanthrope (shifter) or doppelganger (changeling) blood.I know that sounds a bit ludicrous, but you did ask for my opinion. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" />I have a hard time seeing a typical fighter dip into shapeshifting for a couple of levels. "Yeah... I can now turn into a wolf. No, it's not magic. I don't cast spells or get blessed by the gods. It's just this knack, you know? I hold my thumbs a certain way, and twist my neck like this, and... presto! Wolf. But I need to learn some more before I become a bird. The feathers are real tricky."Yes, same problem with multiclassing into other things. However, I can (reluctantly) justify that in my own mind as either learning a few wizard incantations or clerical prayers to augment your current career, or deciding to change career altogether. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around learning a few non-magical shapeshifts to add to your rogue, or suddenly deciding to change your career to become a doppelganger. It seems more likely as a race, to me.One final reason why I don't like it: it's redundant with a 5e class that doesn't exist yet. The psion. Nearly everything mentioned above is right in the psion's wheelhouse, since 1e. Body weaponry (arms into swords), body equilibrium (change mass of body), psionic growth or polymorph, connection to the Far Realm (suggested by your Chimera subclass; add weird bits to current body). If psionics are truly to be distinguished from magic, then they need to focus on mental powers and the ability to influence the character's own body. I could see a shapeshifter subclass of a psionic base class, that focuses primarily on body forms. However, I think that a full shapeshifter class is going to rapidly get made redundant by the psion when it is finally released.</blockquote>

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