Shepherd = Cleric. This is actually something I didn’t want to say. I feel like when someone creates something they’re always trying to do something new. Of course, the “cleric” trope is so widely thought of as healer, that any real healing class will be seen as the Cleric. In Pugmire, the ability to heal someone is a trick skill, not just a spell. I’m actually noticing that a lot in some OGL games and I like it. It opens up for more spells and more versatility in clerics.

Birds have the potential to be just as family oriented as Dogs and can very easily fit this class with little alteration. But I’m gonna do it anyway. With the following tricks, I’m looking to bring a more “druidic” approach to the cleric. In classic “D&D” the druid is a “divine” caster meaning that they draw their power from other sources rather than their own skill, so this made the most sense to me. Now how does one use “beast form” to change from an animal to another animal?

The Google Doc is here to share

Shepherd Tricks:

Beast Form:

The Shepherd who takes this trick can become stronger and larger. Your Str becomes 16 and you gain 5 temporary HP. You may not use weapons or spells in this form but you gain one extra attack with your unarmed strike. You may do this once per day. Each time this trick is refined you gain 5 more HP, your STR goes up by one more, and you may do it one more time each day – this is on top of other refinements. This trick can only be refined 4 times.

Refinements:



You may choose a non-insect beast to transform into that is not a sentient race in Pugmire. This refinement can be taken multiple times and you may choose another beast to transform into. This does not grant any special abilities but you gain advantage on deception checks to appear to be that animal.

Realm Knowledge:

The Shepherd who takes this trick gains advantages in certain terrain. While on the Terrain of their choice, they gain advantage on Survival, History, Nature, Medicine, and Stealth. While on your terrain of choice you also regain one extra spell slot whenever you would gain spell slots. This can exceed your max spell slots by one after sleeping. Each refinement can add another Terrain to the Shepherds repertoire.

Terrains:

Arctic

Coast

Desert

Forest

Grassland

Mountain

Swamp

Elder:

A shepherd with this trick transcends age and strength. You may gain a new proficiency and increase an ability score by 1. You may also reach level 11.

Refinement:

You may take another calling trick, refine another trick, take a 2nd breed trick, or refine a relic trick. You may also reach level 12. You may only take this refinement once.

So what do you think? I’m fairly certain that the Elder ability won’t see much use, but it could be fun to play a game where the elder gets that little bit more juice. Furthermore, I think it could really be thematic for birds since they live to be much longer on average than dogs.

Happy Gaming :)