Shifter
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Requirements for this PRC
Description: A shifter has no form they call their own. Instead, they clothe themselves in whatever shape is most expedient at the time. While others base their identities largely on their external forms, the shifter actually comes closer to their true self through all of their transformations. Of necessity, their sense of self is based not on their outward form, but on their soul, which is truly the only constant about them. It is the inner strength of that soul that enables them to take on any shape and remain themselves within.
To qualify as a shifter, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:
- Feats: Alertness
- Spellcasting: level 3 or higher
- Other: must have a natural, alternate form (like Druid wildshape)
Note: Only druids can become shifters in Neverwinter Nights
Druids and Shifters
The first i want to say is that my main character is a shifter by itself, i have ran along with alot of people to check out how they role play a shifter. It is strange because there is no steady guideline of how to, atleast that is what most think but they forget one tiny line of the Amia lore. You have to think, the only way to become a shifter is by starting as a druid and it is clearly stated in the lore:
If a Druid multiclasses, they are still bound by oath to use the same weapons they had proficiency via their druid levels
Any druid that acts against the cycle of nature will be either punished by a high council of druids, or be stripped of their title and druidic connections and abilities
This will mean if you ingame as a shifter decline the ways of the druid oath, you ill -not- be able to cast any druid spells anymore.
The act of shape shifting
As it is said in the game itself:
It is the inner strength of that soul that enables them to take on any shape and remain themselves within.
So in role play's as a shifter, you should watch the confusion of your character. Let's say your character is emotionally scarred and has some kind of trauma. It will be very hard for him to shift since his soul is quite unstable ad that moment. A tip how to use this in the role play and in the hunt may be that you -can- change forms but! when you are getting fully buffed you become unstable and your form drops. But evantually you can use your own immagination on how your character will react but just keep in mind that an unstable shifter is quite weak as a shifter ad that moment.
On the oposite a very stable shifter would be a rather strong shifter then, to get more stable a shifter could have a purpose infront of himself. Like his deity or his love for shifting, evantually the will of a shifter is his power, in a role play my tutor once said to me:
You must remember four things as a shifter: The love for shifting Your will Your Heart Your Focus And your wisdom
The mind holds your focus, your love holds the heart. The shifting love is your heart,the wisdom shows your will. But the will is the wisdom itself....
That is a example of where your shifter can live by, it shows the main scources of your power and can make you a more stable shifter.
The shifter and his personality
The thing with the shifters personality is rather hard, the thing is no shifter is the same since their power comes from their soul and no soul of any beeing is the same. But on the other side a shifter ALWAYS has atleast 5 levels in druid wich means he has to live by a certain oath atleast a part of it. This will mean:
You will always hold a grudge against Undead You can only use certain weapons You are a keeper of ballance
Now that you are these doesn't always mean you have to be the serieus responsible type of person. I mean look ad it like this:
Even the most powerfull mages can be comedians but still know when to step up, even the greatest druids can be a bastard as personality but knows his responsibilities. That you are bound to certain rules does not mean you have to act like it you only have to live by them.
Now it gets even harder to role play a shifter when you put one extra class to it, il give an example:
You are a druid partly wich means you live by the oath's of the druid. You are a shifter wich means you have to have a stable soul to use your powers ad the best.
Now i will ad a monk ad it, since this makes a strong shifter but it will be very hard to role play let me show you the description of a monk:
Monks are versatile warriors skilled at fighting without weapons or armor. Good-aligned monks serve as protectors of the people, while evil monks make ideal spies and assassins. Though they don't cast spells, monks channel a subtle energy, called ki. This energy allows them to perform amazing feats, such as healing themselves, catching arrows in flight, and dodging blows with lightning speed. Their mundane and ki-based abilities grow with experience, granting them more power over themselves and their environment. Monks suffer unique penalties to their abilities if they wear armor, as doing so violates their rigid oath. A monk wearing armor loses their Wisdom and level based armor class bonuses, their movement speed, and their additional unarmed attacks per round.
This will also give you the power off Ki to controll and deep concentration. Here the personality of your character will matter, because monks can only have any lawfull alignment. But that is not all since the monks swear off to wear armour and rather no to some weapons. The problem here is that alot of your forms will have weapons and or armour. So as a monk you will then dispose of the oath's and get great penalties. This is why people frown upon the build of, Druid-Shifter-Monk. Because it is almost impossible to role play, i do however do not discourage of trying to ad the Monk class to your build since it is a real challenge to try and role play it!
I will keep this updated after more research, Naj
