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Shifter Class Details | Aspects | Archetypes

Aspects

Description Source: Ultimate Wilderness
A shifter draws her primary strength from an association with a specific type of animal. As a result, when a shifter uses her shifter aspect or wild shape class features, she can assume only the forms of her chosen aspects. Until reaching 5th level, a shifter has only a single aspect, but as she increases in level, she gains more control over her metamorphosis, allowing her to take on multiple aspects and even merge aspects.

All shifter aspects have a minor form and a major form. The minor form grants a shifter a few of the animal’s physical traits, while the major aspect is the form she takes on when she uses wild shape to fully transform into an animal. The list of abilities gained with the major aspect include those gained from the wild shape class feature, but the benefits gained from any resulting changes to size are not listed here (see beast shape II).

The following options represent only the most common choices used by shifters. Other aspects based on different animals certainly exist, and might grant similar powers or entirely new abilities based on the animal’s themes and nature. You can use the following aspects as guides for developing aspects of your own design, but if you wish to do so, you must secure your GM’s permission.

Description Source: Wilderness Origins
Shifters with a vermin aspect, such as dragonfly or spider, assume these major aspects with vermin shape II rather than beast shape II.

Alternate Natural Attacks

A shifter can draw on her chosen animal aspect to transform her hands into deadly weapons, as represented by the shifter’s claws class feature, but not every animal has prominent claws. The following list provides alternate natural attacks for the shifter claws class feature. Each time the shifter activates her shifter’s claws ability in her natural form, she can manifest one of the alternate natural attacks listed below for any of her chosen aspects, or those that relate to her archetype. Each alternate natural attack replaces one of the shifter’s claw attacks. The shifter can gain up to two different alternate natural attacks with this method. These alternate natural attacks modify only the damage type of the shifter’s natural attacks and otherwise function exactly as the shifter claws class feature.

Peafowl

Source Heroes of Golarion pg. 13
Peafowl are popular ornamental birds due to their spectacular colors, and they are often symbols of royalty or the divine. A shifter using the alternate natural attacks rules on page 8 of Pathfinder Player Companion: Wilderness Origins can select a bite (B, P, S) or tail slap (B) attack.

Minor Form: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Charisma score. At 8th level the bonus increases to +4, and at 15th level it increases to +6.

Major Form (beast shape II): Your shape changes to that of a Small peafowl. While in this form you gain low-light vision, a fly speed of 40 feet (clumsy), two talon attacks (1d3 damage), and a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks. A peafowl can’t use its fly speed to hover and must end any flying move action by landing or perching on a solid surface. A peafowl can perform a captivating dance targeting all creatures within a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the cone that can see your dance must succeed at a Will save (DC = 10 + half your shifter level + your Charisma modifier) or be stunned for 1 round. At 8th level, the stunned effect lasts for 2 rounds, and at 15th level the duration increases to 4 rounds. Whether or not it succeeds at the initial save, a creature cannot be affected by this ability again for 24 hours.

Alternate Natural Attacks: Bite (B, P, S), tail slap (B)