Shapeshifter Kit for Fighters

semiticgoddess

I've always felt that the Shapeshifter druid kit is underrated. A lot of people have called attention to the fact that Shapeshifters don't get immunity to normal weapons or regeneration, like a normal werewolf is supposed to. But I always felt they were balanced because they had spells, unlike a normal werewolf, and that giving them all of the normal werewolf powers would make them overpowered.

So I took away all the spells and gave werewolf stuff to a fighter class, with a few tweaks for the sake of balance. The werewolf form scales with levels, so you start out only as strong as some dumb little furry puppy critter, but then you get to level 20 and you can only be hit by +3 weapons like a freaking iron golem or something. I made it in like an hour.

Kit Description:

SHAPESHIFTER: The Shapeshifter is a fighter who has willingly allowed him or herself to become infected with lycanthropy, but due to intense training has learned to control his or her affliction and gained the ability to transform into a werewolf.

Advantages:
- May shapeshift into a werewolf at will. While in werewolf form, the Shapeshifter gains a set of abilities that scale with level:

Level 1:
15 Strength, 16 Dexterity, 17 Constitution
6 AC, 10% magic resistance, +2 movement rate
+1 to hit and damage, 1d6 damage at 1.5 attacks per round
Regeneration: 1 HP per 60 seconds

Level 4:
17 STR, 18 DEX, 19 CON
4 AC, 20% MR, +4 movement rate, 10% resistance to elemental damage
+2 to hit and damage, 1d8 damage at 1.5 attacks per round (strikes as +1)
Regeneration: 1 HP per 30 seconds

Level 8:
18/50 STR, 20 DEX, 21 CON
2 AC, 30% MR, +6 movement rate, 20% resistance to elemental damage
+3 to hit and damage, 1d10 damage at 2 attacks per round (strikes as +2)
Regeneration: 1 HP per 12 seconds

Level 12:
18/00 STR, 22 DEX, 23 CON
0 AC, 40% MR, +8 movement rate, 30% resistance to elemental damage
+4 to hit and damage, 1d12 damage at 2.5 attacks per round (strikes as +3)
Regeneration: 1 HP per round
Immune to nonmagical weapons

Level 16:
20 STR, 24 DEX, 25 CON
-2 AC, 50% MR, +10 movement rate, 40% resistance to elemental damage
+5 to hit and damage, 1d12 damage at 3 attacks per round (strikes as +4)
Regeneration: 1 HP per second
Immune to +1 weapons and below

Level 20:
20 STR, 24 DEX, 25 CON
-4 AC, 50% MR, +10 movement rate, 50% resistance to elemental damage
+6 to hit and damage, 1d12 damage at 3.5 attacks per round (strikes as +5)
Regeneration: 1 HP per second
Immune to +2 weapons and below

Disadvantages:
– May not use any armor, helmets, or shields
– May not use missile weapons
– May only become proficient (one slot) with any weapon or weapon style
– Does not gain an extra half attack per round at levels 7 and 13

Necromanx2

Minor item. The shapeshift ability icon is blank.

EDIT:
I can also wear any armor and use helmet and shields.

I can use any missile weapons as well.

semiticgoddess

@Necromanx2: I'm guessing it's because I designed the kit in BG2:EE and the icon for the vanilla Shapeshifter kit's shapeshifting ability has a different name between BG1 and BG2, so when BG1 tries to display it, it doesn't have the right reference for the icon. I'll probably just have to copy the icon.

Necromanx2

Did you see my edits about missile weapons and armor not being restricted?

semiticgoddess

@Necromanx2: I fixed it using the same method I used in the Seducer kit. Both should now be compatible with your numerous kit mods.

Necromanx2

I uninstalled every mod and cleared my override folder. I just installed this mod only and I still can equip missile weapons (though I cannot put pips in them) and wear any armor, shield, and helmet.

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~SHAPESHIFTERFIGHTERKIT/SHAPESHIFTERFIGHTERKIT.TP2~ #0 #0 // Shapeshifter Kit for Fighters: 1.0

semiticgoddess

@Necromanx2: I failed to copy over a .2da table and missed some opcodes. It should be fixed now.

Ludwig_II

This kit is exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks a lot semiticgod. Finally I can play shapeshifter without losing motivation quickly

Necromanx2

@semiticgod, been playing this a bit and it is really nice. I do have a question about shapeshifting back to normal form. I see when the CON HP bonus is removed, it takes it from both the Max HP and existing HP. This means if you SS back with not enough HP you die. Typically SS should just take from MAX HP and only touch current HP if it would be greater then max.

Am I remembering correctly or am I off base?

semiticgoddess

@Necromanx2: I think that's how it works, now that you mention it. But there's not really any way for me to prevent that without either removing the Constitution bonus or adding a 1-second immortality effect to the Shapeshift Natural Form spell.

TheArtisan

@semiticgod

How about a weak healing effect upon shapeshifting back to natural form?

semiticgoddess

@Artemius_I: That might get a little extreme at higher levels. A Shapeshifter with no CON bonus will eventually hit 25 Constitution when in werewolf form, which translates into 63 extra HP. So I would need to make it a leveled effect that healed 3 HP at level 1 and then healed 63 HP at level 16... which seems excessive.

Currently the kit uses the normal Shapeshift Natural Form spell, which means I'd have to figure out how to patch pre-existing spells with multiple spell caster levels while copying over all of the existing effects. Alternatively, I could make a custom shapeshifting spell to imitate that effect and construct it myself. But the first option is very complicated and could introduce incompatibilities or inconsistencies with other mods. As for the second option, the workings of shapeshifting spells are kind of arcane to me and I'm not sure if it would work correctly with other item-based shapeshifting spells like the Cloak of the Sewers and Slayer Change. Another option would be to patch the vanilla spell so it casts a separate spell with a 1-second immortality effect that also applies an on-hit contingency that casts another spell that removes the immortality spell effect.

All of these fixes are very complicated, easy to screw up during implementation, and risk introducing weird side effects to the vanilla game and especially other mods. Using an unpatched vanilla spell is the safest option.

I think it might be best just to rely on the kit's innate regeneration to stay healthy before returning to humanoid form. It makes sense for a werewolf to avoid attempting a physiologically grueling act like transforming one's entire body when he or she is just barely clinging to life.

[Deleted User]

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Necromanx2

There are reasons (like needing to talk to someone after a fight in town), but I am fine as is. Just wanted to ask.

One more thought though, can shapeshiting be given a cooldown time? I have literally shapeshift to get better strength so I can carry heavier loot, walk next to a merchant, change back to sell and then shapeshift into wolf again. I like the no limit to shifting, but a cooldown between use of a turn or so might help. After all I thought shifting would take some effort.

semiticgoddess

@Necromanx2: I made the ability usable at will so the player wouldn't have to budget the uses of the spell. I wanted to make it more user-friendly. I could add a delay so that you could use it only every 10 rounds or something, but the disadvantage of that method would be that if an NPC Shapeshifter died before those 5 rounds were over, he or she could not shapeshift afterward until they had rested (and players who didn't know they had to rest first might think a bug had stolen their shapeshifting permanently).

You can actually move loads of any weight regardless of STR simply by using the quick loot feature: drop everything on one spot, walk away, use the quick loot feature to pick them up, and repeat. I've used this to cart ankheg shells down to Beregost on more than one occasion.

Necromanx2

OK. Thanks for your thoughts.

PS - I use that method already. I also use the cascading inventory swap (one person is burdened down while the rest of the party walks and then swap the item in inventory to an advanced member). This allows for constant walking while hauling over heavy loot.