Dragonfire Adept Humanoid Shape question

[SpeedDevil]

I'm curious if there is a way to store shapes on a dragonfire adept. The Humanoid Shape Options 'invocation' suggests so, but I still haven't found a way to do it. Same for the use of quickslots that appear in the same invocation. I've been looking into this for a while now but with no luck. I'm concerned whether it's my fault, since it's long since I was fiddling with haks (actually it's been long since I had anything to do with NWN 1), and PrC installation has its quirks.

I have PrC 3.4 installed, along with CEP on the OC.

[xwarren]

I haven't played this class much. If this ability works like Alter Self spell than it should be possible to store shapes and assign them to quickslots. I'll have to test that

[SpeedDevil]

Just tried a bit the Alter Self spell on a sorcerer. I think it more or less works the same, with respect to appearance and feats gained from the target shape. The big difference, as far as I can see, is that the Alter Self spell actually has a 'Learn Shape' part (and no way to revert to original shape if you haven't already stored it), whereas the Dragonfire adept's humanoid shape will only assume the form and won't store it upon casting the invocation (and has a 'Return to True Shape' or something like that). Also, with Alter Self I had trouble assuming high level forms (though still lower than mine), while humanoid shape shows no problem as long as the target is the same or lower level I think (possibly even a few levels above mine, though I doubt that). From what I can tell, both 'spells' share the same options dialogue 'Shifter Options', but only with Alter Shape you can actually do something there. Humanoid Shape shows no stored shapes, no way to store the current shape, only the true shape, and that's useless since there is already the 'Return to True Shape' in the invocation menu.


PS: I'm starting to think my installation if messed up. Unless there is something I should have done to enable it, the Shifter (PnP) PrC can only be taken as a druid (so far, I have tried to take the class with both a sorcerer with Polymorph Self or Dragonfire Adept with Humanoid Shape, as stated in the class' description). I'll get the pack installed on a clean module, see what happens.

[CapnQ]

PS: I'm starting to think my installation if messed up. Unless there is something I should have done to enable it, the Shifter (PnP) PrC can only be taken as a druid (so far, I have tried to take the class with both a sorcerer with Polymorph Self or Dragonfire Adept with Humanoid Shape, as stated in the class' description). I'll get the pack installed on a clean module, see what happens.

Druid is not required. I frequently play a Shaman/PnP Shifter, getting the "You must be able to assume an alternate form" prerequisite from my race.

Looking at the code, Sorcerer with Polymorph Self should work (assuming you meet all the other prerequisites), although I've never actually done it myself. As far as I can see, Humanoid Shape doesn't work, however, except for the special case of Warlock with the Humanoid Shape invocation. Not sure why that is. For a detailed list of what should work, see the "Requirements" section of http://nwnprc.com/manual/index.html if you haven't already.

[SpeedDevil]

I stand corrected. After I tried it again, I was able to take the class with a sorcerer, but only as my level 10 class, although I fulfilled the requirements after level 8 (ie not as my lvl 9 class). As for the Dragonfire Adept, it is possible to select Shifter, as long as you are able to cast 3rd level spells (I took levels as Sorcerer to do so), a requirement that I either failed to notice initially, or I did and thought that picking DFA would qualify me for it, as the Lesser invocations count as 3rd and 4th level spell (at least that's what the descriptions on the manual and ingame say and Humanoid Shape counts as 3rd level spell, as is Warlock's Mask of Flesh), but I guess it doesn't work that way.

In any case, I posted this because of my concerns that something had gone wrong during the installation. My original question is whether or not the DFA's Humanoid Shape is supposed to work as Alter Self, ie assuming a form and storing it, or just assuming the form, in which case the options and quickslots have no use being there (and if it's so, it is what misled me in believing that DFA can store his assumed shapes).

[CapnQ]

I stand corrected. After I tried it again, I was able to take the class with a sorcerer, but only as my level 10 class, although I fulfilled the requirements after level 8 (ie not as my lvl 9 class).

You have to actually be able to cast Polymorph Self when you level up to take PnP Shifter. Perhaps when you took level 9 you had used up all your level 4 spells, so you couldn't actually cast Polymorph Self, so you couldn't take PnP Shifter. If that was the problem, sleeping would have fixed it. That's not the way we'd like it to work: due to scripting limitations, it's the best we can do.

As for the Dragonfire Adept, it is possible to select Shifter, as long as you are able to cast 3rd level spells (I took levels as Sorcerer to do so), a requirement that I either failed to notice initially, or I did and thought that picking DFA would qualify me for it, as the Lesser invocations count as 3rd and 4th level spell (at least that's what the descriptions on the manual and in game say and Humanoid Shape counts as 3rd level spell, as is Warlock's Mask of Flesh), but I guess it doesn't work that way.

I'm pretty sure the Shifter description used to say "3rd level arcane or divine spells", but that must have gotten lost when I worked on the description a while ago. I'll fix that. In any case, that's how it actually works, so warlock invocations don't count toward the Shifter "3rd level spells" requirement. This means that a warlock needs to have an alternate form through invocations and also be able to cast 3rd level arcane or divine spells though another class. I expect the same applies to Dragonfire Adept.

In any case, I posted this because of my concerns that something had gone wrong during the installation. My original question is whether or not the DFA's Humanoid Shape is supposed to work as Alter Self, ie assuming a form and storing it, or just assuming the form, in which case the options and quickslots have no use being there (and if it's so, it is what misled me in believing that DFA can store his assumed shapes).

Sorry, I don't know the answer to this, and I'm not in a position to investigate at the moment.

[SpeedDevil]

Fair enough. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.