Importance to Society

Shapers might be revered or hated for their studies of ancestry and blood that are used to alter the atrributes of individuals. Though how questionable their research may be, nobody can argue with the results of said research.

Role in Combat

In combat, the Shaper's unique knowledge of manipulating ancestry, blood and chemical formulas to alter the outcome of battle. They also go into battle with a creature of their own creation called a Synthetite.

Connection to their Synthetite

The connection between a Shaper and their Synthetite is profound and multifaceted, akin to a familial relationship. They share experiences, challenges, and growth that enrich both of their lives. This bond may not just be based on combat effectiveness but could also be emotional and spiritual, providing both characters resilience against adversity and distinguishing their shared identity. The Shaper has a unique bond with their Synthetite that was formed as soon as they delved into altering ancestry and blood.

Relationship with Adventurers

Adventurers often seek the help of Shapers to help with combat, diagnosing and treating dieseases, or just helping with overcoming mother nature's natural limitations. Druids are known to hate Shapers for their manipulation of the natural order and Druid Circles. Wizards and Artificer appreciate their study of genetics to help alter society; although, Wizards wish they delved into Magic and Artificer's hoping they would pick up a hammer.

Multiclassing into and out of Shaper

Ability Score Minimum. As a multiclass character, you must have at least an Intelligence score of 13 to take a level in this class. Proficiencies Gained. If Shaper isn’t your initial class, here are the proficiencies you gain when you take your first level as a Shaper:

• Proficiency with simple weapons
• Proficiency with light armor

Quick Build

You can make a Shaper quickly by following these steps. First make Intelligence your highest score, followed by Constitution and then Dexterity. Last have Sage be your background.

Class Features

As a Shaper you gain the following class features: Hit Points Hit Dice: 1d8 per Shaper Level Hit Points at 1st level: 8 + your constitution modifier Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your constitution modifier per Shaper level after 1st.

Proficiencies

Armor: Light Armor

Weapons: Simple Weapons, Shortswords

Tools: none

Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence

Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Arcana, Deception, Medicine, Perception, Survival

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted to you by your background:

• (a) Leather Armor and Shortbow and 20 arrows (b) Studded Leather Armor and Dagger
• (a) Simple Weapon (b) Shortsword
• Shaper Trinket

Shaper Trinket

Your Trinket serves as a biological conduit for your creations. This Trinket can take any form you choose like a scalpel or doctor's mask. If the Trinket is lost or destroyed, you can create a replacement by performing a 1-hour ritual during a short or long rest. The Trinket has the following properties:

• Biological Link. While within 120 feet of your Synthetite, you can communicate with it telepathically.
• Modification. While within 60 feet of your Synthetite, you can use the Trinket to apply your known Grafts or modify its physical form. Additionally, whenever you finish a long rest, you can use the Trinket to calibrate the Synthetite's glands, choosing Acid, Cold, Fire, or Lightning for its Dismantle Breath damage type. This choice lasts until you finish your next long rest.
• Reconstruction. If your Synthetite dies, or to replace it, you can spend 1 hour using your Trinket and your Shaper level worth of organic material (non construct or undead medium or large corpses) to create a new one.

Synthetite

At 1st level, you create a biological companion known as a Synthetite. It is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your commands. See the Synthetite Stat Block for its statistics, which use your Proficiency Bonus (PB) in several places.

In combat, the Synthetite shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the Synthetite can take any action of its choice, prioritizing protecting you and itself.

Path of Evolution. Choose one of the following paths for your Synthetite: Deep Sweel, Earth Vermin, Ghost Stalker, Iron Husk or Sky Hunter. If you wish to change your Synthetite's Path, you must spend 8 hours of downtime and 1 times your Shaper Class Level in rare biological components to "re-sequence" its DNA, during which the old form dissolves and the new one takes shape.

Deep Swell

Your Synthetite has taken the DNA of aquatic creatures.

Earth Vermin

Your Synthetite has taken the DNA of plant like creatures.

Ghost Stalker

Your Synthetite has shown to take on attributes of other worldly creatures.

Iron Husk

Your Synthetite' skin hardens to the liking of a statue.

Sky Hunter

Your Synthetite has taken the genetic path of flying creatures below are your features:

Fledgling Spike

At level 11 your Synthetite has learned to use its wings or membranes to fly. It gains 30 feet of flight movement. Additionally your Synthetite' creature type becomes Elemental (Air).

Apex Predator

At level 17, your Synthetite can cast Warding Wind at will (no material components required).

Diagnostic Touch

At 1st level, your anatomical knowledge allows you to instantly gauge a creature's vitality. As an action, you can touch a creature and worldlessly sense its physical condition. You learn if the creature currently has more, fewer, or equal hit points than your own hit point current total.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Grafts Known and Active Grafts

At 2nd level, your biological research allows you to manifest physical mutations known as Grafts. You know two Grafts of your choice from the "Genetic Modification" list, and you learn more as you advance in this class, as shown in the Grafts Known column of the Shaper table. During a long rest, you can use your Shaper Trinket to apply a number of these Grafts as active Grafts to yourself or your Synthetite, up to the limit shown in the Active Grafts column. These Grafts remain active until you finish a long rest, at which point you can redistribute them. If an Graft Known requires a saving throw, your Biohazard Save DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier. You can replace one Graft you know with another whenever you gain a level in this class.

Studies

At 3rd level each Shaper chooses an archetype that demonstrates their interest of study. Choose between Fuser, Bioknight or Chemist.

Biological Intuition

Additionally at level 3 your deep study of anatomy and chemical structures allow you to sense imbalances in the world around you. You gain the following benefits:

• Medial Mastery: You gain proficiency in the Medicine skill. If you already have proficiency, you gain Expertise in it (adding double your Proficiency Bonus to checks).
• Internal Compass: You can cast Detect Poison and Disease at will, without expending a spell slot or requiring material components.
• DNA Mending: As an action, you can touch your Synthetite and perform a DC 10 Medicine check. On a success, the Synthetite regains hit points equal to 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier. This healing increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6). Even works when your Synthetite' creature type would not receive healing. Usable equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1) once per long rest.

Intellect Strike

At 5th level, your Synthetite adds your intelligence modifier to their damage rolls when using Dismantle Breath after landing a successful hit.

Extra Attack

You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Additionally, you have developed a seamless combat rhythm with your creation. You no longer need to use a bonus action to command the Synthetite to take an action. Instead, when you take the Attack action on your turn, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow the Synthetite to use its Dismantle Breath or Slam action as part of that same action

Potent Evolution

Starting at 6th level, your attacks and your Synthetite' Dismantle Breath count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage

Protective Bond

At 9th level, you and your Synthetite share a protective bond. As a reaction when one of you takes damage while within 30 ft of each other your received damage is decreased by your Intelligence modifier. Usable equal to your intelligence modifier oncer per long rest.

Synergy Strike

At 10th level, you and your Synthetite learn to exploit distractions in a target’s defenses. Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can deal an extra 1d6 force damage to the target if your Synthetite is within 5 feet of the creature and isn't incapacitated.

Spell Eater

At level 13 as a reaction when you or a creature you can see within 5 feet is targeted by a spell, your Synthetite can attempt to "eat" the magic. Make an Intelligence check against a DC of 10+ the spell's level. On a success the spell fails as though the counterspell spell has been cast. Once you use this feature it cannot be used until you finish a short or long rest.

Resistance Attuenment

At 14th level, your constant exposure to mutagenic energy has permanently altered your cellular structure and that of your Synthetite.

At the end of a Long Rest, choose one of the following damage types: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder. Both you and your Synthetite gain resistance to that damage type. This resistance lasts until you choose a different one at the end of your next Long Rest.

Biological Overclocking

At 17th level your experimentation with genetic makeup hits new heights. As a bonus action, once per long rest, you and your Synthetite enter a state of overclocking wnhich lasts 1 minute. While in an Overclocked state you and your Synthetite have the following attributes:

• Movement speeed is doubled and does not provoke opportunity attacks.
• AC increases by +1

Apex Evolution

At 20th level, you have reached the pinnacle of biological manipulation, allowing you to rewrite your own genetic code and that of your Synthetite in an instant. You gain the following benefits:

• Infinite Adaptation: You no longer need a Long Rest to swap your Grafts. You can redistribute your Active Grafts at the end of a Short Rest.
• Master's Resilience: Your maximum number of Active Grafts increases to 5 once per long rest.

Bioknight

Bioknights are Shapers that have practiced wearing armor and martial weaponry to support their allies in battle.

At level 3 you are able to wield and use martial weapons, medium armor and shields.

Chemist

Some Shapers study the art of making potions and toxins to alter the outcome of different circumstances. These can be mad scientists, doctors, or combat medics.

Serums

On this page includes the different types of vials you can create:

Exploding Potion

You may throw a pressurized glass vial at a point you can see within 30 feet, which shatters and explodes on impact. Each creature within a 5-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Biohazard Save DC.

On a failed save, a creature takes damage equal to 1d6 at level 1, 2d6 at level 5, 3d6 at level 11 and 5d6 at level 17.

On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage.

When you craft this vial, choose one of the following damage types for the explosion: Acid, Cold, Fire, or Lightning.

Liquid Courage

This vial has a range of 15ft and makes a user immune to the frightened condition for 1 minute once administered.

Experimental Weapons

At level 7, as an action, you coat the weapons of up to 5 creatures within 30 feet with a volatile catalyst. For the next minute, the first time each turn a creature hits with a weapon attack, they deal extra damage equal to your Intelligence modifier rounded down (minimum of 1).

Unstable Resistance

At level 11 you have experimented on yourself so much you have advantage against spells and effects that would alter your appearance. For example, you roll against the spell Polymorph with advantage.

War Medic

At level 15, as an action, you use 500gp of stabilizers to revive a creature dead for up to one hour. The target returns with 1 hit point but suffers a -4 penalty to all rolls. This penalty decreases by 1 after each long rest. You can use this feature once per long rest. It cannot restore limbs or revive those dead of old age.

Molecular Dissolution

At 18th level, you can create a single vial of universal solvent. As an action, you throw the vial at a point you can see within 60 feet. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Constitution saving throw against your Biohazard Save DC.On a failed save, a creature takes 10d10 acid damage and begins to liquefy, granting it disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws for 1 minute. An affected creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and suffers no further effects.If this damage reduces a creature to 0 hit points, it is disintegrated into a pool of chemical sludge. The solvent deals double damage to structures and objects, and any non-magical object in the area that isn't being worn or carried is destroyed.Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest.

Fuser

Fusers are Shapers that have combined bodies with their Synthetite. You gain one extra Graft that is passive and can be swapped on a short rest. At level 3, as a bonus action you can fuse with your Synthetite to temporarily increase your stats. Fusing lasts for 1 minute or until you decide to diffuse. When fused you gain the following:

• You take on the typing of your Synthetite including the resistances and vulnerabilities.
• You gain Temporary Hit Points equal to 2 times your Shaper Level.
• You gain access to the Synthetite' Dismantle Breath attack.

The fusion may be used once per long rest.

Predator Strain (Offense)

Make yourself or your Synthetite a primary damage dealer.

The Aegis Strain (Defense)

Make yourself or your Synthetite the ultimate tank

The Explorer Strain (Utility and Movement)

For those that want something more than combat.