Question About Changelings & Their Shapeshifting Limits So, I have a question about changelings and their abilities, and I’d love to hear different takes on it!
For a little context, my character is a changeling, and I started thinking—if changelings can alter their appearance in so many ways (skin color, hair, eye color, body shape, height, etc.), could they, in theory, create the illusion of clothing? like the example of mystique in X-Men she clearly stated in comic and I think the movie that she is always naked and she merely makes her skin look and feel like other materials to fool others.. Could changelings do something similar?
Obviously, they can’t create actual fabric, but could they manipulate their appearance enough to make their skin look like it? Could they create textures or patterns that resemble clothing? Would it be a convincing illusion, or would it still look unnatural up close? Because if changelings can change their hair and hair is like a solid kind of Thing and hair like sticks up and like sticks out why can’t they morphing abilities do the same with fake clothing?
What do you think? Have any sources or interpretations on how this would work in a game? I’d love to hear your though
Since the trait does not specifically say otherwise, I would rule that the Shapechanger only affects you, not your gear or equipment. If you are wondering if a naked Changeling could create the appearance of clothing, I would again rule no, since the ability just says you alter your own appearance and voice, but says nothing about mimicking clothing.
This won't be allowed according to the trait (emphasis mine):
Shapechanger. As an action, you change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and sex. You can also adjust your height between Medium and Small. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change. You can't duplicate the appearance of an individual you've never seen, and you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs that you have. Your clothing and equipment aren't changed by this trait.
EDIT: @jacksonhopps There are some recent threads that might help with new ideas:
Ok, thank you, but what if my character was, for example, wearing no clothes, and the rules do say you can make your appearance as another race, so my logic is, sorry if this is confusing, but hair, if she could grow hair all over her body, why not an illusion of clothing? It wouldn’t be any different, and she’s not overlapping on top of anything; she’s just using what she has. Or is it possible to do pull a bayonetta move and youse her hair ? Hair is and small extensions of someone so ?
You can try and split semantic hairs, but RAW says nothing about being able to create the appearance of clothing and RAI is clearly not supposed to allow you to get nearly the full range of Disguise Self from the feature. A DM might be willing to humor this interpretation, or they might not. Rules-wise you're really getting into the Air Bud territory, which is usually an implicit "no" in D&D.
You might (ask your GM; I would say no) be able to get the appearance of clothing, but it wouldn't act or feel like cloth, so would make you stand out except at very long range.
Edge cases like this are almost always "ask your GM" in practice.
Question About Changelings & Their Shapeshifting Limits So, I have a question about changelings and their abilities, and I’d love to hear different takes on it!
For a little context, my character is a changeling, and I started thinking—if changelings can alter their appearance in so many ways (skin color, hair, eye color, body shape, height, etc.), could they, in theory, create the illusion of clothing? like the example of mystique in X-Men she clearly stated in comic and I think the movie that she is always naked and she merely makes her skin look and feel like other materials to fool others.. Could changelings do something similar?
Obviously, they can’t create actual fabric, but could they manipulate their appearance enough to make their skin look like it? Could they create textures or patterns that resemble clothing? Would it be a convincing illusion, or would it still look unnatural up close? Because if changelings can change their hair and hair is like a solid kind of Thing and hair like sticks up and like sticks out why can’t they morphing abilities do the same with fake clothing?
What do you think? Have any sources or interpretations on how this would work in a game? I’d love to hear your though
Since the trait does not specifically say otherwise, I would rule that the Shapechanger only affects you, not your gear or equipment. If you are wondering if a naked Changeling could create the appearance of clothing, I would again rule no, since the ability just says you alter your own appearance and voice, but says nothing about mimicking clothing.
This won't be allowed according to the trait (emphasis mine):
EDIT: @jacksonhopps There are some recent threads that might help with new ideas:
Ok, thank you, but what if my character was, for example, wearing no clothes, and the rules do say you can make your appearance as another race, so my logic is, sorry if this is confusing, but hair, if she could grow hair all over her body, why not an illusion of clothing? It wouldn’t be any different, and she’s not overlapping on top of anything; she’s just using what she has. Or is it possible to do pull a bayonetta move and youse her hair ? Hair is and small extensions of someone so ?
You can try and split semantic hairs, but RAW says nothing about being able to create the appearance of clothing and RAI is clearly not supposed to allow you to get nearly the full range of Disguise Self from the feature. A DM might be willing to humor this interpretation, or they might not. Rules-wise you're really getting into the Air Bud territory, which is usually an implicit "no" in D&D.
Ok I was just seeing thank you
You might (ask your GM; I would say no) be able to get the appearance of clothing, but it wouldn't act or feel like cloth, so would make you stand out except at very long range.
Edge cases like this are almost always "ask your GM" in practice.