Wild Shapers

[Infernis]

Wild Shapers

The world of Belariath has long been a place of warfare and destruction, with the rise and fall of Empires across its expanses. One side-effect of this constant warfare is the subsequent creation of new magics as well as the destruction and loss of other magics.

One of the older magics that had remained, stubbornly, forgotten was that of Shaper magic, a subset of Nature magic, blessed by Gaea and the older Gods that favored a wilder, more feral, magic.

Wild Shapers are either born that way, or go or are approached by Gaea herself or one of her avatars to offer to infuse them with Nature magic and elevate them to something of a Chosen being, her guardians and protectors of the wilds.

Much like Morpheus, Gaea has been know to 'adopt' adherents and devotees who catch her eye and impress her. In this case, the ritual is not needed and the adoptee simply is visited by Gaea or an avatar and given the option of becoming a Wild Shaper. This is ENTIRELY based on the person's mindset toward Gaea and nature itself.

These forms are innately chosen at certain levels of experience and personal growth. They are intricately connected to each other. Wild Shapers instinctively choose one of three different branches of shape shift. Wolves, cats or bears and it is based entirely on the Wild Shaper him or herself.

Those starting off as a Cat Shaper will begin life with a single form, that of a slightly oversized cat. This form is not strong enough for combat, forcing the Shaper to make use of weapons and armor in their non-wild form. They will eventually learn how to instinctively take on a new form, that of a large Panther, also called Mountain Lion or Cougar. Eventually, they will learn to adopt the form of a large raven and eventually even the form of a Dire Panther, a much larger and formidable form of Panther. As they grow in power still, they learn to adopt a Dire Raven form, capable of engaging in aerial combat. And later still, their Dire Raven will grow large enough to carry a single person without issue. Lastly, they will learn to adopt their pinnacle of forms, their Paragon Shape. The Cat Shaper is now larger than their Dire Shape and can, at will, shroud itself in a magical haze that lets the Cat Shaper vanish from sight, allowing them to attack from behind without warning, allowing the Cat Shaper to rip and tear at tremendous advantage, equating to a 50% damage bonus per successful attack for 3 successful attacks per encounter.

A Wolf Shaper will start off with the ability to take the shape of an average sized wolf or hound. With time, they will learn to take on the full form of a large wolf, and later a large hawk, and eventually the form of a Dire Wolf, a far larger and more lethal wolf. As they gather more experience, they gain the ability to become a Dire Hawk capable of engaging in combat in the air. Later still, their Dire Hawk form will grow large enough to be able to carry a single normal sized individual without issue. Lastly, they learn to adopt their Paragon Shape. The Wolf Shaper will be larger than the largest Dire Wolf and will have glowing red eyes. During combat, the Wolf Shaper in Paragon Shape will have the ability to attain a state of mindless bloodlust, allowing them to attack at terrifying levels of ferocity. This translates into a +5 bonus to his next attack, followed by +10 to his following attack and then a terrifying +15 to his next attack before the bonuses reset to +5 again, only to build back up to +10 and then +15 again. This will continue until his enemy is defeated or dead, or he himself is defeated or dead.

A Bear Shaper will start off with the ability to take the form of a badger. In time, they'll learn how to transform into a black bear, and in time, a large eagle. Lastly, they will learn how to transform into a Dire Bear, a much larger and dangerous bear. As their power grows, they will learn to adopt a Dire Eagle form, capable of engaging in aerial combat without issue. Later, that form will grow in size enough to carry someone without issue. Lastly, he will attain his Paragon Shape. In this shape, the Bear Shaper attains a truly monstrous size, equal to the tallest trolls and ogres. He is a furry mountain of muscle and claws and teeth. He can, in combat, choose to go defensive and draw upon Gaea's power for defensive purposes. What this means is that any damage done to him is halved automatically, while allowing him to attack at normal strength.

Mindset: Wild Shapers are NOT city people. At all. They are, at their hearts, creatures of the wild and innately in touch with Gaea on a personal level, loving nature in all its brutal glory. Most consider themselves Guardians of the wild and the more malicious ones will go looking to purge farmers who encroach too far into the woods, or go in groups to wipe out new colonies or towns springing up too deep in the wilds.

Most, however, only respond to provocations of an extreme nature. Clear cutting, or poisoning a river, deliberate targeting of wild animals far beyond what is needed for personal survival.

They have no cities of their own and will often live on the outskirts of a town, or within walking distance of a Temple of Gaea. Bear Shapers will often seek out caves for dwelling, while Cat Shapers will adopt a large tree and call it home. Wolf Shapers will rarely 'ever' settle down even in the midst of winter.

Once they attain their first form, they will spend much time in that shape, learning it and learning to see the world through new eyes. They will, however, instinctively take their original bipedal form around others.

Shapers retain a limited form of Telepathy that they use to communicate with OTHER SHAPERS only. They do not have the ability to Mind Talk to non-Shapers and must take bipedal humanoid form in order to converse with others.

Wolf Shapers will, occasionally, form packs with other Wolf Shapers. They do not join with other normal wolves, ever. Bear Shapers are solitary creatures at the best of times and Cat Shapers prefer the company of humanoids whenever possible as they actively DISLIKE other Cat Shapers.

OOC NOTES HERE. VERY IMPORTANT.

No sexual RP is ever ever ever EVER allowed while in Wild Shapes. EVER. This class is designed for casual and non-sexual RP. Period.

Allowable Races: Cat Person, Chirot, Dark Elf, High Elf, High Human, Sylvan Elf, The Tribe, Wolven, Vulpine, Amahiel

Combat details: Their initial shapes and flying shapes may not be used in combat. However, their second and fourth tier shapes may be used in combat. For each time that the Shaper class is taken, they gain a +1 to their natural attacks, maxing out at +7. These are magically enhanced attacks making them the equivalent of blessed magical weapons with an attack bonus of +7. They also attain a +2 DEF bonus per time that Shaper is taken, to a max of +14 to all defensive rolls, counting as magical armor.

Edit: Gaea chooses her Wild Shapers based on how devoted and impressive they are to her in terms of defending Nature itself. So, the Mindset of being a protector and guardian of nature is paramount. This is the IC reasoning behind the OOC process of class/race reset to Wild Shaper.

Armor: Unique, based on Wild Shaper level. May not wear armor.

Weapons: Unique, based on Wild Shaper level.

Class Type: Magical/Physical Combination.

Spell Sphere Allowed: None. They lose all access to all magic when they become a Wild Shaper

Class Bonuses: Agility +10, Strength +10. Stamina +10.

[CallieO]

Very interesting! I have some questions.

1. Are there set level requirements to learn First Form, Second Form, and Third Form? (Perhaps levels 10, 25, and 40 would be appropriate? Those are new-tail tiers for vulpines).

2. What is the range of their telepathy?

[Infernis]

Very interesting! I have some questions.

1. Are there set level requirements to learn First Form, Second Form, and Third Form? (Perhaps levels 10, 25, and 40 would be appropriate? Those are new-tail tiers for vulpines).

2. What is the range of their telepathy?

1) Level 1 for First Form, level 5 for Second Form, level 10 for Flying Form, Level 15 for Dire Form. Levels 20, 25, 30 are bonuses to their combat only, and their ability to delve into a second Shape family.

2) Eyesight and line of sight.

[CallieO]

1. Are the forms they can assume, in *addition* to their standard humanoid forms? At level 1, a vulpine Wolf Shaper can assume the form of a vulpine *and* the form of a medium-sized wolf?

2. Do Wild Shapers have their own separate religion?

[Infernis]

1. Are the forms they can assume, in *addition* to their standard humanoid forms? At level 1, a vulpine Wolf Shaper can assume the form of a vulpine *and* the form of a medium-sized wolf?

2. Do Wild Shapers have their own separate religion?

1) Yes, they'd get to add these forms to their own normal form. Elf/human/vulpine/whatever and their initial 'small wolf/badger/cat' form at level 1, with 'large wolf/cat/bear form' at lvl 5, etc etc etc. As a collection, meaning they all exist as an option at any given moment.

2) They're super into Gaea and nature worship, akin to the levels of Paladins and Priests, but they don't preach at others, they're just super into their beliefs. Like the Magi are with Morpheus.

[Gabriel Storm-Dancer]

I NEED this in my life. Where has this been!? Infernis! You are a genius (despite what everyone says).

What does a guy need to do to make this happen? This is literally Gabriel. The constant internal struggle he has within himself. Man against beast. The wilder and more primal way he lives life. And much more that I do not want to reveal on an OOC thread!

Sign me up. Reset me. Whatever!! Do need. Do want.

Seriously. I will reset right now!

[Gabriel Storm-Dancer]

I guess the only real technical things to work out are skills:

Can they gain skills as normal? To be used either in or out of the wild shape? Hard for a bear to make a map. Unless he's in non-wild form. If this is skill-limiting, it would need to be better defined.

Can they hold jobs? Not like money really matters to them? (Some maybe, but not all).

Since they can't wear armor or wield the weapons of men, can they get their natural weapons enchanted even further? Do rings, necklaces, earrings, other trinkets and accoutrements still suit them?

A few things to define here.

[Naomi]

i like this. if it goes thru i would create a char for it. at this time i do not have any questions but will post as i think of them.

[Dante_Ambrogio]

I would totally make a character for this class; its super cool