Shifter
Shifters are sometimes called the weretouched, as they are the survivors of the Death Curse of Dranlegoritha. Recovered from their ordeal, either through the blessings of Oolene or some other process, they are now Soulborn with a bestial aspect; while they cannot fully change shape they can temporarily enhance their animalistic features — a state they call shifting that is similar to a werecreature's transformation.
Stoic and solid, a beasthide shifter draws strength and stability from the beast within. Beasthide shifters are typically tied to the werebear or the wereboar, but any creature known for its toughness could apply.
Longtooth shifters are fierce and aggressive, but they form deep bonds with their friends. Many longtooth shifters have canine traits that become more pronounced as they shift, but they might instead draw on weretigers, werehyenas, or other predators.
Swiftstride shifters are graceful and quick. Typically feline in nature, swiftstride shifters are often aloof and difficult to pin down physically or socially. They tend to result from werecats, wererats, and others.
Wildhunt shifters are sharp and insightful. Some are constantly alert, ever wary for possible threats. Others focus on their intuition, searching within. Wildhunt shifters are excellent hunters, and they also tend to become the spiritual leaders of shifter communities. They are the survivors of attacks by werecrocodiles, wereowls, and the like.
Basic Information
Anatomy
In their base form, shifters are outwardly very similar to the Soulborn forms they are rooted in. Their features may tend toward their animal form, but they rarely overwhelm their root humanoid shape - their teeth may be sharper, their eyes odd colors or shapes, their hair may be closer to animal fur, etc. When they shift to their werecreature form, they outwardly resemble a monstrous were-animal of the type they were infected by.
Genetics and Reproduction
A shifter mating with another shifter of the same werecreature type can have offspring that has a 25% chance of being a shifter of the same base animal form. Only shifters of the same base animal form can have shifter offspring.
Otherwise, shifters can mate with any other Soulborn resulting in normal children.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Shifters have similar dietary needs to their base humanoid form, except they tend to need up to 50% more calories. Their diet is also influenced by their animal form. For example, a werewolf shifter would tend to prefer meat, the rarer the better.
Civilization and Culture
History
When Dranlegoritha, Whose Fangs Rend, was destroyed through the annihilation of it's last Emanation, a terrible curse spread throughout all of Edras, weaving its way into the very fabric of the plane's reality. This curse turned Soulborn, and only Soulborn, into terrible, monstrous versions of various beasts - beasts that had once been within Dranlegoritha's domain.
Once effected by this curse, the victims would uncontrollably change into these were-forms and devour any and all Soulborn that they could find in a whirlwind of fury and ravenous, beastial hunger. These werecreatures terrorized both the progeny and the culled for centuries, with no regard for loyalties or sides, until eventually a temporary alliance was formed between the deities of the Brisingelion and the Emanations of the Primordials.
Led by Oolene, this convocation worked together to eradicate the fallen primordial's death curse, but after many years failed to make any progress. The powerful arcana of a primordial's death curse simply proved too ingrained into the plane of Edras to undo. So, instead, they undertook a sorcerous working that would introduce a key weakness into the werecreatures - namely silver (a suggestion made by Oolene). They also managed to develop a ritual called 'the Moon's Kiss' that could allow a Soulborn affected by the curse to regain their faculties and maintain control over their beastial affliction - a new shifter is born.
Satisfied with their success, but disagreeing about how to proceed, the convocation's temporary alliance immediately disintegrated into open hostilities. Both sides abandoned their research into the Death Curse of Dranlegoritha and retreated to their domains and realms, feeling that what they had accomplished was enough to combat the problem.
As a result, werecreatures still stalk the wild lands of Edras, feasting upon culled and progeny alike. There are those that hunt them, those that capture them so that they can be healed, and in some twisted outlands those who worship them as the will of the dead primordial come to bring about a new age.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Shifters are usually distrusted and feared by the races they live among. While no longer effected by the Death Curse of Dranlegoritha, the resemblance to werecreatures is unnerving, and the stigma remains. However, some communities recognize the potential value of shifters and embrace them, if cautiously. While they form powerful bonds to friends and kin, shifters place great value on self-reliance and freedom. It’s a shifter proverb to “always be prepared for the journey yet to come,” and most shifters strive to be ready for change or opportunity.
Origin/Ancestry
See Original Race
Racial Stats
Shifter(Beasthide)
Shifter (Beasthide)
Ability Score Increase +2 Con, +1 Str
Size Medium
Speed 30ft
Languages. Eolian and one other of your choice
Shifter(Longtooth)
Shifter (Longtooth)
Ability Score Increase +2 Str, +1 Dex
Size Medium
Speed 30ft
Languages. Eolian and one other of your choice
Shifter(Swiftstride)
Shifter (Swiftstride)
Ability Score Increase +2 Dex, +1 Cha
Size Medium
Speed 30ft
Languages. Eolian and one other of your choice
Shifter(Wildhunt)
Shifter (Wildhunt)
Ability Score Increase +2 Wis, +1 Dex
Size Medium
Speed 30ft
Languages. Eolian and one other of your choice
Comments