shed your skin, don’t be afraid to evolve (GlitterGLOG class: WITCH)

It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that you lived in a world teeming with unmatched biodiversity, with quintillions of animals in every beautiful shape, and here you were stuck with just one.

There was a time you would have lamented this injustice, cursed your obdurate flesh. But you've learned, since then, that a little larceny can even the scales.

You are envy realized, a lesson in fluidity, a tribute to evolution, and you can turn into a goddamn moose whenever you want so they'd better not fuck with you.

 

witch

“Let no shape bind you. Transcend the limits of your given form. Go apeshit.”

Starting Equipment: 

-one taglock from an animal of your homeland (see below) (1 slot);

-a skinning knife (light sharp) (1 slot);

-a ragged outfit (light armor) (1 slot);

-big stompy boots (1 slot);

-3 rations worth of jerky, nuts, and candy (3 slots)

Big Stompy Boots: Helps you walk through difficult terrain, negating the extra step cost. If a witch is wearing big stompy boots, they move through squares of difficult terrain for zero steps.

Level 1: envious, wildshape
Level 2: witchmark, shed skin

Level 3: ever-shifting, sheep’s clothing

Level 4: chimeric

Envious: You have a collection of taglocks taken from beasts, whether living or dead. You decide what each one looks like – perhaps a jangling necklace of bone, a taxidermied insect, or a braided scrap of hair. These items are what allow you to wildshape – You may only become a beast if you have an appropriate taglock. You can gain new taglocks by taking them from beasts, though if they are alive and unwilling you will likely be met with resistance. A witch’s Glitter spoils a corpse that a taglock has been taken from, rendering it unable to be harvested for food, additional taglocks or most other purposes. Only a witch knows how to harvest and use taglocks, but they can be traded between witches. Most taglocks are 1-slot items.

Wildshape: Use one of your taglocks to shapeshift into the corresponding animal as a one-point action, trading your physical abilities for its own. You keep your own attributes, but for each witch level you can increase any combination of your STRONG, STURDY, SLICK, attack, or defense by 1. You lose all your nonmagical abilities and gain all of the nonmagical abilities of the animal you become, and trade all your tags for its tags, plus the magical and person tags. Your wildshapes are obviously unnatural in a way associated with your identity, such as by retaining your hairs or your eyes, or some aspect of your aesthetic.

Witchmark: You can partially wildshape as a two-point action, using one of your taglocks to gain the chimera tag, one obvious animal feature and an appropriate ability while retaining your natural form and whatever abilities it may have. You may only ever have one witchmark active at a time.

Shed Skin: When you take damage while wildshaped, you may choose to revert to your natural form to negate the damage. The corresponding taglock becomes inert if you do this, and you may not use it to wildshape until your next long rest.

Ever-Shifting: You can wildshape as a reaction. Additionally, you can forgo your reaction to wildshape on your turn instead of spending an action point.

Sheep’s Clothing: When wildshaping, you can choose to become a natural-seeming animal instead of adjusting your attributes. You are able to pass for a normal animal unless you blow your cover, though thorough inspection may still give you away. While using Sheep’s Clothing you may drop the disguise and immediately adjust your attributes accordingly as a free action.

Chimeric: When you wildshape, you may use two taglocks to create a merged form of those animals, gaining the chimera tag and all of the tags and abilities from both. If you Shed Skin while in a chimeric form, revert to your natural form as usual but choose which of the two taglocks becomes inert. In the Glitterverse, you might be able to convince people this chimeric form is a naturally-occuring monster, so you can use Sheep’s Clothing and Chimeric at the same time.

When you retire a level 4+ witch, you may choose to give up one of your taglocks – Maybe you give it to an ally, or hide it away somewhere. That single taglock can be used to invoke Witchmarks whether or not its wearer is a witch themself.

 

devnotes

 i dont like the way many rpgs do druids. aside from the fact that the image codified into stock fantasy is drawn from conquering cultures' misconceptions of historical druids far more than it is actual celtic practice, i think the gygaxian model is just messy and unfocused. this is why i split their kit into three separate classes with tighter focuses -- the princess is a beastmaster who speaks to animals, the witch is the shapeshifter who becomes animals, and the botanist harnesses plants.

 

i borrowed a lot from princess in yellow's own shapeshifting witch, but i decided to make them feel more earthly and physical by having their shapeshifting require fetishes taken from animals -- which also makes them a tiny bit like a psuedo-prepared class, needing to manage their inventory of taglocks before setting off. shed skin borrows from dungeon world's druid, but i've overhauled its cost to fit my model better.

 

this is actually the first class i ever finished statting up for the glitterglog, and i'm especially fond of it. what do yall think?