Skinwalkers resemble humans much of the time, but they possess the uncanny ability to transform into bestial humanoids who combine the most fearsome aspects of flesh and fur.
Most people believe skinwalkers are half-breeds of lycanthropes, or that they share some slight version of the curse of those creatures. Skinwalker shamans say they are chosen by nature or the gods to be a bridge between the world of humanity and the animal world. The truth may lie somewhere between these two ideas. For indeed, skinwalkers are those with a lycanthrope crouching somewhere in the branches of their family tree. These distant progeny of monstrous werewolves and other creatures of the night have special talents unlike those of most civilized peoples, and they arise randomly among remote humanoid populations as well as within their own secretive sects. A pair of humans may give birth to a skinwalker—the dormant lycanthropic ancestry making itself known in a child neither beast nor human—or a pair of skinwalker parents may produce a skinwalker child, though these couplings can sometimes produce human children as well.
Physical Description: Outwardly human, skinwalkers are virtually indistinguishable from others of the ethnic group into which they are born. Those rare skinwalkers who have bred true for generations tend to have dark eyes, straight dark hair, and richly colored skin. Skinwalkers' features vary greatly when they shapechange. They gain a bestial visage evoking the creatures they emulate; teeth become more prominent, claws emerge from fingertips, and skin toughens into hide however they do not take a full beast form like their lycanthrone kin and are still distinguishable from them.
Society: Skinwalkers sometimes weave themselves into other societies, hoping their peculiar talents go unnoticed. They may also be nomads found in lands with wide-open spaces. Groups of skinwalkers hidden among a larger community of non-skinwalkers may regularly gather for lunar rituals or nocturnal pack hunting.
Relations: Skinwalkers mostly populate human settlements and communities. They tend to get along with Beastfolk, and members of other animal-like races (including lycanthropes), and are comfortable taking their animalistic forms in the company of these fellows. However, many natural lycanthropes see skinwalkers as weaker, inferior versions of their own kind, and some lycanthropes even take to infecting or even hunting their distant kin.
Alignment and Religion: Skinwalkers tend toward neutral alignments, but may be of any. Many follow the Green Faith or venerate deities with close ties to nature and the animal world, as well as those connected with hunting, transformation, travel, and trickery.
Adventurers: Often on the move, skinwalkers make for excellent adventurers. Once they become comfortable in a group, most skinwalkers come to see their adventuring allies as their pack or herd.
Names: Skinwalkers born in human and humanoid societies share the naming conventions of the surrounding culture. Skinwalkers born in their own packs typically have names similar to their overarching ethnicities appended with flavorful, animal-inspired appellations such as Bearmaw, Wolftamer, Fangblood, or Owlmarked.
Non-Human Skinwalkers
Skinwalkers are found mostly in human populations. However, because of the nature of lycanthropy, skinwalkers can feasibly be found to be from the following races Vada , Elf, Half-Elf.
Non-human skinwalkers perhaps more closely resemble their non-lycanthropic parent race, but possess the same statistics as human-descended skinwalkers with the exception of size, age and effects dependent on size, such as the damage die of natural attacks.
Regardless, skinwalkers of non-human descent are typically raised in the same culture as their parent race, and thus usually have the same cultural understanding and education that anyone in their community possesses. So while a half-orc skinwalker raised in an orc tribe might not gain automatic proficiency with the orc double-axe, that doesn't necessarily preclude him from honing his aggressive battle tactics and learning how to fight like an orc.
you do not get stacking racials so don't try.
Skinwalker Types
| Heritage | Ability Modifiers | Skill Modifiers | Spell-Like Ability | Typical Alignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Werebear-kin (Coldborn) | +2 Con, -2 Cha (+2 Wis while shapechanged) | Climb, (Wild Empathy) | Calm Animal | Lawful Good |
| Wereboar-kin (Ragebred) | +2 Wis, -2 cha (+2 Con while shapechanged) | Handle Animal, Perception | speak with animals (pigs and boars only) 3/day | Chaotic Neutral |
| WereCrocodile-kin (Scaleheart) | + 2 I nt, -2 Wis (+2 Str while shapechanged) | Stealth, (Wild Empathy) | Scare | Neutral Evil |
| Weretiger-kin (Fanglord) | +2 Dex, -2 Wis (+2 Cha while shapechanged) | Acrobatics,Perception | Jump | Neutral Evil |
| Werewolf-kin (Witchwolf) | +2 Con, -2 Int (+2 Wis while shapechanged) | Perception, (Wild Empathy) | Magic Fang | Chaotic Evil |
| Wereshark-kin (Seascarred) | +2 Wis, -2 Int (+2 Con while shapechanged) | Perception, Swim | charm animal (aquatic animals only) 3/day | Neutral |
Note: All skill modifiers provide a +2 bonus and spell like abilities unless otherwise noted, can be used once a day,they are charisma based and a spell like ability.
Racial Benefits
Size: Skinwalkers are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Skinwalkers are humanoids with the skinwalker and shapechanger subtypes.
Base Speed: Skinwalkers have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision (Ex): Skinwalkers can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Languages: varies on their heritage ( Vada , Elf, Half-Elf)
Skinwalker Race Traits
Mastery of Form: You've never had trouble changing shape between beast and humanoid, and your ability to control your form is unparalleled. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against polymorph effects.
Traumatic Shift: Your first transformation was in a public place, observed by loved ones who later shunned you or townsfolk who chased you away. You have become good at hiding your nature. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff checks, and Bluff becomes a class skill for you.
Alternate Racial Benefits
Beast Talker: Some skinwalkers' ability to communicate with animals is stronger than their ability to transform. Such skinwalkers can only use their change shape ability once per day for 1 minute per level, but they can use their speak with animals spell-like ability at will. This racial trait alters the change shape and spell-like ability racial traits.
Age and Height
Varies depending which of the races you used.