I like the concept of turning into other creatures on my own volition. There’s a prestige class in third edition called the Shifter which allows for changing into various forms far more than a regular wild shape would allow, such as humanoids, oozes, plants, constructs, dragons, and outsiders (I could turn into an Achaierai if I wanted to). It also comes with full talking capabilities in any form provided by wild shape so I can be a talking animal temporarily. Version 3.5 has a nerfed version of it called the “Master of Many Forms” which has less available form groups to turn into (no outsiders means no turning into an Achaierai) and no unlimited form shifting at max level.
The closest official option in fifth edition is the Druid’s Circle of the Moon which provides slightly more powerful forms to choose form, but doesn’t allow for anything other than slight humanoid changes, elemental forms, and stronger beast forms, and doesn’t provide the ability to speak in wild shape. Unofficial classes such as EN World’s Morph class try to replicate that Master of Many Forms experience.
What’s your favorite prestige class?
I always wanted to play a Malconvoker, but my group would not have been comfortable with it. It’s a class whose core conceit is that they summon demons and make pacts with them that trick the demons into serving good causes. The demons are convinced that the Malconvoker is a traditional evil cultist or self-serving wizard, but it turns out all the favours they grant them are twisted to good ends and all the prices they demand get paid in unexpected ways that turn out to be not as costly as intended.
The key stat is charisma and bluff is the most vital of skills, of course.
This sounds like a lot of fun ngl
Jade Phoenix Mage was pretty cool. The capstone ability was that you literally explode, dealing a huge amount of damage to everything nearby and literally vaporising yourself. Then you reform on the same spot 1d6 rounds later completely healed of damage and most conditions, with all your gear.
I have dreamt of having a druid with all levels of Warshaper and at least 1 level of Master of Many Forms. The possibility of always being in wild shape with all of the benefits of Warshaper sounds so much fun.
The Chameleon and the Thousand faces were some of my favourites in concept because of their flexibility, though I never had a chance to play them. Gish builds in general were a lot of fun. There also was a Sand mage in a desert theme manual that was very interesting.
Came here to say Chameleon. I also didn’t get to play it, but I dreamed about it often.
The “chose what you are good for for today” dynamic looked so much fun
