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.
Source Ultimate Wilderness pg. 30
The aspect of the owl is one of silence. This predator glides through the night unheard, a master of stealthy attacks.
Minor Form: You gain a +4 competence bonus on Stealth checks. This bonus increases to +6 at 8th level and +8 at 15th level.
Major Form (beast shape II): Your shape changes to that of a Medium owl (see page 181). While in this form, you gain a base speed of 30 feet, a fly speed of 60 feet (average), two talon attacks (1d6 damage), darkvision with a range of 60 feet, and a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks. At 8th level, you gain Flyby Attack (Bestiary 315) as a bonus feat, and the range of your darkvision increases to 120 feet. At 15th level, you can take the form of a Large owl and gain the benefits of the Snatch feat (Bestiary 316), but you can use it only to grab a creature at least one size category smaller than yourself, and you can squeeze a creature grappled with this ability no matter what size it is.
Alternate Natural Attacks: Bite (B, P, S), talons (S)
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