Formless Master

The body is a plaything of the mind. This is a lesson that any shapeshifter is familiar with, but for most it remains only an interesting bit of philosophy. Not so for the formless masters, the peerless masters of their own body. Formless masters forsake their original appearance in exchange for nearly unparalleled skill at modifying their form. They adopt new personas and forms with the ease which most people change clothing. No matter the form they take though, a formless master always remains true to himself.

Alignment: any.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a formless master, a character must fulfill all the following criteria

Base attack bonus: +4.
Feats: Three shifting feats.
Special: Must be able to change shape in one of the following five ways:
Change shape supernatural ability (aranea, hound archon, barghest, doppelganger, rakshasa, etc.).
Shapechanger subtype.
Polymorph as a spell-like ability (astral deva, planetar, solar, couatl, marilith, bronze dragon, gold dragon, silver dragon, efreeti, night hag, ogre mage, pixie, etc.).
Able to cast the Polymorph spell.
Wild shape or similar class feature (druid).

Class Skills

The class Skills for the formless master are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Fly (Dex), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Survival (Wis) and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: Formless Master
Level BAB Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Class Features
1st +0 +1 +1 +0 Bonus shifting feat, minor change shape
2nd +1 +1 +1 +1 Sudden reach +1 level of previous class
3rd +2 +2 +2 +1 Bonus shifting feat +1 level of previous class
4th +3 +2 +2 +1 Unbounded ability +1 level of previous class
5th +3 +3 +3 +2 Bonus shifting feat, truth of form

Class Features

The following are the class features of the Formless Master.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Formless masters gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Class Feature

At 2nd, 3rd and 4th level, the Formless master advances class features just as if she had gained a level in a class she belonged to previously. She does not, however, gain any other benefit that a member of that class might have gained (such as Hit Dice, base attack bonus increases, or skill points). This essentially means that she adds those levels of Formless master to her levels of the previous class and determines her class features (such as power points, initiator level, and bonus feats) accordingly. If the Formless master had more than one class before she became a Formless master, she must choose one of them to augment with this benefit; once made, this choice cannot be changed.

Bonus Shifting Feat (Ex)

At 1st level and every odd level, the Formless Master gains a bonus shifting feat. He must meet the prerequisites for these feats as normal.

Minor Change Shape (Su):

The formless master takes whatever shape he desires, even that of another person. As a standard action, the formless master can assume the appearance of another person as if using a disguise self spell, except that the changes are entirely physical in nature rather than illusory (and thus not subject to will saves to disbelieve the appearance), and he may not alter his clothing or equipment. His ability scores do not change when he uses this ability, although he may lose access to natural attacks (such as claws) if he does not include them in his alternate appearance. The formless master can disguise himself as specific individuals with this ability, and receives the normal bonus for magical alteration when using it to make disguises.

Sudden Reach (Su):

A formless master of 2nd level or higher can suddenly stretch his limbs, neck, or other appendages outward, increasing his natural reach by 5 feet. Unlike most creatures, formless masters don’t appear to have a longer reach until they actually use it.

Unbounded Ability (Ex):

At 4th level, the formless master’s unchecked mastery over his personal physique is so great that he can precisely alter his form to better suit his immediate needs. Whenever the Formless Master activates a shift, he gains a +4 bonus to his choice of Strength, Dexterity or Constitution for the duration of the shift. If the formless master activates a new shift while still under the effects of his current shift, he can choose to alter his ability score bonus from unbounded ability. He does not gain additional ability score increases from having multiple shifts active at one time.

Truth of Form (Su):

The formless master has achieved perfect mastery of self, and thus through his ability to change his appearance at a whim, stumbled across a part of his true nature. At 5th level, the formless master selects one shifting feat he possesses with a 1 hour duration shift. He may increase the duration of that shift’s ability to 24 hours, and may maintain it even through alternative shifts.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Lords of the Wild, © 2018, Dreamscarred Press, LLC; Author: Written by Anthony S. Altovilla and Patrick C., based on material by Owen K.C. Stephens

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