Through a magical "plot device" a Big Bad in my campaign world is going to capture some human barbarians with levels in the Berserk PrC from Deities and Demigods, and turn them into Dolghasts (the Big Bad is a cultist of Hel). To represent these individuals in this gestalt campaign, I intend to make Gestalt Barbarian/Ranger//Dolghast/Berserks.
The Berserk gets a Beast Shape ability that is somewhat like Wildshape, but not really. Here is the important bits:
Beast Shape (Su): At 3rd level, the berserk selects a totem animal from the following list: bear (brown), boar, eagle, raven, whale (cachalot), or wolf. A number of times per day determined by level, the berserk may change shape into a hybrid creature with features that combine human and animal, or into the animal itself. A hybrid retains the use of human arms, hands, and intelligence, but loses the power of speech. A hybrid cannot use skills or abilities that require patience and concentration, such as moving silently or casting spells (the only class skills he can’t use are Animal Empathy and Wilderness Lore). He can use any feat he might have except for Expertise, item creation feats, metamagic feats, and Skill Focus (if it’s tied to a skill that requires patience or concentration). Hybrids also gain +2 Strength and +2 Constitution. ...
I would assume when the Dolghast Berserk actually takes on the form of the totem animal, he would fully transform (he "gains the abilities and movement speeds of the animal") much like Wildshape, though it isn't explicit.
However, my interest regards the interaction of the hybrid form with some of the Dolghast's interesting racial qualities. For one, he has two claw attacks and a bite attack. Does he retain these in hybrid form?
Second, does he retain the special attacks and qualities that are unique to a Dolghast?
Dissolution (Ex): If a dolghast hits with both claw attacks, a living opponent must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or its flesh begins to boil away. The target takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage and is stunned for 1 round. On a successful save, the target takes only 1 point of Constitution damage and is not stunned. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Stench (Ex): The fracture line bisecting a dolghast’s living half from its dead half roils with rot and putrescence, as the dead half constantly seeks to overcome the living half’s healing power. The stench is overwhelming, and living creatures within 10 feet must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1d6+4 minutes. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same dolghast’s stench for 24 hours. A delay poison or neutralize poison spell removes the effect from a sickened creature. Creatures with immunity to poison are unaffected, and creatures resistant to poison receive their normal bonus on their saving throws. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Half-Dead (Ex): Half-dead creatures are aberrations, in that they share some of the traits of both living and undead creatures (though they cannot be turned as undead). Half-dead creatures have the following traits (in addition to the normal aberration traits):
—Immunity to fatigue, exhaustion, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
—50% chance to ignore the extra damage dealt by a critical hit or sneak attack.
—A half-dead creature can be healed by both negative energy (such as from an inflict spell) and positive energy (such as from a cure spell), but only if it successfully saves against the spell (using the spell’s normal DC). If the save fails, the spell deals damage as if the half-dead creature were living (for inflict spells) or undead (for cure spells).
Can I legally have a half-dead hybrid running around, dissoluting things with his claw attacks? Will he retain his Fast Healing?
