As mentioned, I'm more than happy using it as a travel and recon spell. It doesn't need any other uses for me to be more than happy with it. Levitate, Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, and Awesome Flavor all rolled up into one.

At risk of causing a flame-war about the FAQ I should point out that the most recent one lists Human as a viable 'non-paranormal' animal for Critter Form and presumably also for Shapechange.

It does mention that Meta-humans are para-normal and therefore not viable forms.

Shift somenoe against their will into a tiny weak creature.
Use levitation to fling them far up into the air. Let them drop.
Question: if it's dead, does it still shift back when the spell is lifted?
And if it does, how would the result look in th aforementioned case for example?

Gorillas are just large. Until you've been face to face (as much as you can be face to face with something on the other side of plexiglass) you can't really appreciate the fact that NO YOU ARE THE SQUISHY.

I suppose you could shapeshift into the form a biodrone takes and try to seduce the biodrone in question. Now that would be an unsettling experience for all concerned.

Have you ever heard of barding? I wonder how all those horses put on plate armor without any fingers, let alone opposable thumbs.


We've been down this road before on the forums here. It turns into a "No it isn't!" - "Yes it is!" discussion where nothing really gets answered. The best compromize would be a (Metahuman) Form spell that uses the same stats as (Critter) Form that possibly does not add any hits to stats like Shapechange does.

Well in the latest FAQ HUMANS are a valid form for shapeshifting.
META-Humans are not, because they are paranormals.

My general opinion of shape change is I wish it weren't in the game. Like virtually every other shape change spell in every other game it either works out to be too good or sucks ass. In this case if your GM lets you turn into a small unobtrusive whats it and cast spells willy nilly or other "creative" uses it ends up being too good, if the GM pays attention to the you don't bring your gear line it end sup being too weak because the first time anyone looks at you in the astral you are soaking a crap ton of damage without your armor. There really isn't an in between, you are either splattered or wrecking havoc without anyone threatening you.

Of course I have heard of barding, but the horses don't put on their barding themselves. The same goes for someone wishing to be armored while under the influence of the regular shapechange spell.

Isn't that mostly the case in Shadowrun, especially with mages?

I usually survive getting shot a few times in SR4. Now without armor my mages would usually be close to dead or dead in the first shot, I am not getting that many successes on 4-5 dice. (but 16 dice i usually do okay with)

If my PC Shapechanges into Critter x (we'll go with Great Cat), does the character get the critter's Skills?

Also, the caster's Body sets the "base" Body you can change into, but can the net hits allow a caster to go beyong that? I'm guessing yes. Example, my 4 Body Shaman wants to change into a 6 Body Great Cat and gets 3 net hits. So my Great Cat form has physical attributes at stat block +3 ?

What source materials have additional critter stat blocks?

Thanks all!

Nope. The mage should get the powers though.

Yes the mage in cat form would have BOD 9.

Running Wild. But even this list is quite short.

So what about changing into a bird? Do you get the Flight skill?

Are athletics/unarmed combat for animals the same skills as for (meta)humans?



I'm inclined to call metahumans mundane-enough; it's possible to create bioware for them, so they're not all that magical all the time. It's mostly a matter of high enough ambient mana to express the genes, I think.

Maybe Shapechange would benefit from some variants; "Doppleganger" to turn into a specific person for example.

No. But this does not hinder flying much. The Flight skill works exactly as the Running skill but in the air. It is only used to increase the movement above the "running" rate

For simplicity's sake I'd say yes.



Me too.

That's (Physical) Mask.

I guess that was my thought exactly...are animal skills meant to be innate? Same with a horse's running. Unfortunately, the rules for the spell only cover attributes and excluding powers would just be ridiculous.

So my completely unathletic mage turns into a horse and...can't run as well as other horses (but still runs ok do to higher str and muuuuuuch higher number stat). Wow, I can see that working either way.

Or my mage turns into a tiger, introspectively considers his plate-sized paw, and thinks, "what the hell do I do with this?" OR is a great cat's Unarmed 4 supposed to be innate?

A mage who turns into a critter gets the base stat plus bonuses dependent on the net hits. That's plenty of dice for normal defaulting, so the mage shouldn't be helpless in a new form. For things like locomotion, attacking, and so forth, I would rule that the mage can default if lacking the skill in question.

Also, I would use the normal assumption for skills - that you don't need a skill roll for mundane actions. So just as you don't need the Pilot Ground Vehicle skill to drive to the supermarket, you don't need the Flight skill if you change to a bird - although you will have to make a test, defaulting to (Attribute - 1), for things like power dives or dodging a pursuing helicopter.

Physical mask is an Illusion that can be resisted/needs to overcome Object Resistance. I'm talking physical transformation; the possibilities for transgendering are significant (and I doubt Physical Mask really suffices for that.)

I am aware that phyiscal mask is an illusion and shapechange a physical manipulation. The problem with creating a spell is that magic is not intelligent. With an illusion it is lot easier to fool the subjects of the spell and let their minds/sensors fill in the blanks so that the ensemble makes sense. With Manipulation spells the caster has to get everything right.

True, you'd have to know the target very well to manage an accurate reproduction. But stuff like simsense can help you with that..

Actually, since octopus is a Greek word, it should be octopodes.

Octopussies.
*runs for his life*

ok heres my next question

Mage with bioware to increase logic,


Turns into a bird

Does he lose the logic bonus as the body (physical brain) has changed or keep it because mental stats stay the same?
I'm assuming it gets covered under losing access to cyberware but the question brings up what happens to the mind when he shifts