Editing Shifter

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[[File:4e Shifter PHB2.jpg|300px|thumb|right|A Longtooth and Razorclaw Shifter.]]
'''Shifters''' are one of the races to come out of the [[Eberron]] setting, alongside the [[Changeling]] and [[Warforged]] and oft-forgotten [[Kalashtar]]. The basic idea is that they are [[werewolf|werebeasts-lite]], having similar shapeshifting into beast powers without being as utterly broken as true lycanthropes. It's commonly believed that they are the descendants of humans and lycanthropes, hence the watered down shapeshifting power. In truth it's the other way around: Lycanthropes of Eberron are corrupted shifters created by either Dealkyr or one of the Overlords, depending on whom you believe (or maybe both). As usual with Eberron, there's no hard canon on that, only speculations and researches of characters in-setting, with actual truth left for each DM to set.

On their own world, they suffer from something of a bad reputation; this is because Eberron has twelve moons (and used to have 13), which means that, originally, werebeasts were A Big Fucking Problem. It got so bad that the [[Church of the Silver Flame]], the resident "uber-good church", led a genocidal anti-lycanthrope crusade that pretty much wiped them all out. However, since this is Eberron and thusly squeaky-clean black 'n' white alignment isn't a thing, the Silver Flame also got trigger happy and massacred thousands of innocent, harmless shifters in the process. The shifters have never really forgiven the Silver Flame for this and tend to be some of its most zealous criticizers, if not full-fledged anti-church terrorists in the most hard-up cases. And in case you think you could be bros with werewolves tough luck, because were-creatures were even bigger dicks than the church and actively set Inquisition on shifters in order to get them involved in the war and get some heat off themselves, so to these days there's a lot of bad blood between shifters and lycanthropes.

Initially, they weren't very popular, perhaps because the art made them absolutely butt-fuck ugly. Seriously, even your typical [[furry]] wouldn't bang the Eberron corebook shifters. Perhaps noting the attempts by fans to redraw them as [[monstergirls]], [[WoTC]] prettied them up in subsequent art and they steadily grew more popular, though [[Warforged]] have always beaten them out.

Shifters are known to be native to two settings; [[Eberron]], which is where they started, and the [[Nentir Vale]]. They also became a thing in the [[Forgotten Realms]] during the post-[[Spellplague]] era, but presumably they've been retconned out of the setting with how much fans hated that edition.

On Eberron, shifters are divided into many different subraces, with the precise number based on edition. Subraces are based on which "element" of their therianthropic ancestors they are able to manifest, although certain manifestations are generally considered more associated with specific ancestries than others. For example, Beasthides are able to manifest therianthropic durability and resilience, but are likely to be descended from or associated with werebeast strains particularly known for their toughness, such as [[werebear]]s, [[wereboar]]s and [[werebadger]]s.

In the Nentir Vale, only two shifter subraces are known to exist; longtooths and razorclaws, who are explicitly descendants of [[werewolf]] and [[werecat]] ancestry respectively.

===3e Stats===
::Humanoid (Shapechanger)
::+2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Medium
::Base land speed 30
::Shifting (SU): 1/day for 3 + Con modifier rounds, a shifter can enter a transformed state superficially similar to a [[barbarian]] rage, gaining a benefit and a +2 bonus to one ability score based  on their shifter subrace. For every Shifter feat, their transformation time per day increases by +1 round, and for every 2 such feats, they can transform +1 time per day.
:::Beasthide: +2 Constitution, +2 natural AC
:::Longtooth: +2 Strength, bite attack 1d6+1/4 levels damage
:::Cliffwalk: +2 Dexterity, Climb speed 20 feet
:::Razorclaw: +2 Dexterity, 2 claw attacks 1d4+1/4 levels damage
:::Longstride: +2 Dexterity, +10ft speed
:::Wildhunt: +2 Constitution, Scent
::Low-light Vision
::+2 racial bonus on Balance, Climb, and Jump checks.
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Ranger]]

===3.5 Variant===
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====Saurian Shifters====
Although Shifters kind of got ignored for most of Eberron's publication, ''[[Dragon Magazine]]'' did throw them a few bones. Perhaps the biggest of which was the Saurian Shifter variant race in ''Dragon'' #328, which replaces the mammalian traits/origins of the classic shifter with saurian ones. Or, in other words, it turns the shifter race into a way to play your choice of were-[[dinosaur]]s, which is either [[awesome]] or [[derp|the stupidest thing you ever heard of]], depending on who you ask.

::Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Racial Classification: Humanoid (Reptilian, Shapechanger)
::Size: Medium
::Base Land Speed: 30ft
::Low-Light Vision
::Racial Skill Bonus: +2 to Balance, Climb and Jump checks.
::Shifting (Su): Each saurian shifter has one dinothropic lineage, chosen from the list of seven below. This choice is set at character creation and cannot be changed afterwards. Once per day, the saurian shifter can tap into this lineage, gaining bonuses dependent on their lineage. Shifting is a free action and lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the saurian shifter's Constitution bonus (using the increased bonus caused by any Constitution boost gained from shifted form, if appropriate). As with normal shifters, a saurian shifter can increase this duration and how readily it may take shifted form by taking Shifting Feats; shifting duration increases by +1 round per Shifting Feat taken, whilst every 2 Shifting Feats taken increases the amount of times a saurian shifter can shift each day by +1. If shifting grants a natural attack option, a saurian shifter may only make one natural attack each round, even if they have a base attack bonus high enough to grant multiple attacks.
::Favored Class: [[Ranger]]

Saurian Shifter Lineages:
* '''Beasthide:''' +2 Constitution and +2 natural armor bonus.
* '''Broadwing:''' +2 Dexterity, ignore the first 40 feet of a fall.
* '''Junglerunner:''' +2 Dexterity and increase base land speed by +20 feet.
* '''Longtooth:''' +2 Strength, grow fangs that bestow a natural attack (bite) that inflicts 1D6 + 1 per 4 character levels damage. A shifted Longtooth can make its bite attack as a secondary attack with a -5 penalty.
* '''Raptorleap:''' +2 Strength, +4 to all Jump checks, always counts as having a running start for Jump checks.
* '''Razorclaw:''' +2 Strength, grow claws that bestow a natural attack (claw) that inflicts 1D4 + 1 per 4 character levels damage. A shifted Razorclaw can make an attack with one claw as a standard action or with both claws as a full-round action (in both cases as a primary natural weapon). They can also use their claw as a secondary attack (light off-hand weapon), with a -2 penalty.
* '''Widetail:''' +2 Constitution, grow a powerful tail that bestows a natural attack (tail slap) that inflicts 1D6 + 1 per 4 character levels damage. A shifted Widetail can make its tail slap attack as a secondary attack with a -5 penalty.

===4e Stats===
::Ability Scores: Longtooths get +2 Strength/+2 Wisdom, Razorclaws get +2 Dexterity/+2 Wisdom - they didn't even get flexible stats in Dragon #397!
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 6 squares (30 feet)
::Vision: Low-Light
::Skill Bonuses: +2 Athletics and +2 Endurance for Longtooths, +2 Acrobatics and +2 Stealth for Razorclaws
::Racial Power - Shifting: When bloodied, as a minor action, you can Shift into a more bestial form until the end of the encounter. The precise bonuses you get from your shifted form depend on your subrace. Longtooths gain +2 damage and Regeneration (2/4/6) whilst bloodied, and Razorclaws gain +2 Speed, +1 AC and +1 Reflex.

===5e===
Shifters first made it into 5e in the early "Eberron Update" [[Unearthed Arcana]], before [[Keith Baker]] put out his own glorified playtest version in the ''Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron''. The final version appeared in ''Eberron: Rising From The Last War'', and was mostly identical to Baker's version... save for replacing his "+1 Dexterity is the shifter core racial trait" so the Beasthide shifter could have a +2 Constitution/+1 Strength racial ability modifier, and stripping out all racial traits other than the Shifting feature and the subrace-based skill bonus.

::Ability Scores: Depends on subrace.
::Size: Medium
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Shifting:As a bonus action, you can assume a more bestial appearance. This transformation lasts for 1 minute, until you die, or until you revert to your normal appearance as a bonus action. When you shift, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level + your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 temporary hit point). You also gain additional benefits that depend on your shifter subrace, described below. Once you shift, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
::Laguages: Common
::Subraces
:::Beasthide
:::*Ability Scores: +2 to Constitution, +1 to Strength
:::*Natural Athletee: You have proficiency in Athletics.
:::*Shifting Feature: Whenever you shift, you gain 1d6 additional temporary hit points, and while shifted, you have a +1 bonus to your AC.
:::Longtooth
:::*Ability Scores: +2 to Strength, +1 to Dexterity
:::*Fierce: You have proficiency in Intimidation.
:::*Shifting Feature: While shifted, you can use your elongated fangs to make an unarmed strike as a bonus action. If you hit with your fangs, you can deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
:::Swiftstride
:::*Ability Scores: +2 to Dexterity, +1 to Charisma
:::*Graceful: You have proficiency in Acrobatics.
:::*Shifting Feature. While shifted, your walking speed increases by +10 feet. Additionally, you can move up to 10 feet as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.
:::Wildhunt
:::*Ability Scores: +2 to Wisdom, +1 to Dexterity
:::*Natural Tracker: You have proficiency in Survival.
:::*Shifting Feature. While shifted, you have advantage on Wisdom checks, and enemies within 30 feet of you can't attack you with advantage unless you're incapacitated.

==Pathfinder==
[[Pathfinder]] has two versions of the Shifter. The first, literally the same thing as the Shifter here, is the [[Skinwalker]] race. Secondly, just to make things more confusing, the [[splatbook]] Ultimate Wilderness introduced the Shifter as a Pathfinder ''class''. This is a kind of hybrid [[fighter]]-[[druid]], and has some vague similarities to the [[Warden]]; a melee warrior character whose identity revolves around its ability to shapeshift at will, invoking animal "aspects" that grant different abilities. Unlike the druid, it gains only a few different "aspects" - 5 in total, by 20th level. Initially, it can only invoke Minor Forms, but at 4th level it gains its own version of the Wild Shape feature, which lets it invoke a Major Form - that's shifting into the animal into the animal in question. For example, the Bat Aspect grants Darkvision as a Minor Form, and the form of a Dire Bat as a Major Form. In all cases, the potency of both Minor and Major Forms increases as the Shifter levels. It can combine minor forms with its Chimeric Aspect class feature, produce Shifter Claws as a defensive weapon, and its Defensive Instinct ability encourages it to embrace its theme of forsaking metal armor by letting its [[Wisdom]] modifier affect its Armor Class and CMD.

For the full run-down, see '''[[Shifter (Pathfinder)]]'''.

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{{D&D4e-Races}}
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[[Category:Eberron]]