non-Druid with Wild Shape? (Master of Many Forms)

All,

The old Shifter prestige class from masters of the wild used to require
that the player had access to wild shape, the polymorph spell, or some
natural racial ability to alter form. I notice that the replacement in
the Complete Adventurer (Master of Many Forms, or something like that)
requires "Wild Shape Class Ability."

I find that pretty darned irritating. I always (personally) think of
shape-shifting as an arcane thing, so the elimination of alternate
paths for this prestige class is kind of annoying. More to the point, I
dont really like Druids, and so I dont want to "waste" a bunch of Druid
levels just so I can get to the prestige class I like.

I am wondering, are there any other full classes or prestige classes
that get access to Wild Shape?

The only way I can think of to get to Master of Many Forms without
being a druid is to play a Hegenyokai (or however it is spelled) from
the Oriental Adventures book, take 7 levels of something I actually
want to play (so i can get the OA shapeshifter requirement of 10 ranks
in concentration), then take 1 level of Shapeshifter from the OA so
that I can get the level 1 ability Class Ability "Wild Shape (3/day"),
then from there I could take Master of Many Forms. The down side is
that I'll have 9 levels worth of stuff spent to get to MOMF 1
(Hegenyokai ECL +1, 7 levels of other, 1 of Shapeshifter).

So, I'm hoping someone can tell me a faster way to get to Master of
Many Forms without having any Druid levels at all.

I also may go to my GM and ask to simply be allowed to play a class I'm
*actually* interested in. Instead of being a Druid for 7 levels (or
whatever it is to get to Wild Shape), I'd take an ECL +1 penalty and be
a 6th level warrior or ranger or something and thanks to my ECL +1 I'd
tack on Wild Shape as a class ability once I got enough XP to hit level
7 (but I'd be level 6 in all other ways). That way I wouldnt get to it
"too soon" but I could actually play a non-Druid Master of Many Forms.

I would consider just going with the OA Shapeshifter but it is a lot
weaker in the shapeshifting department than Master of Many Forms.

Thanks for any help!

Lewis

Ben,

> The Abolisher, from Lords of Madness, gains a somewhat restrictive form
> of Wild Shape (which is still good for getting into MoMF) at level 1.
> It's primarily intended for aberration-hating ranger/spellcaster types,
> and you can get into it without any druid levels.

Hmm. What are the requirements for the Abolisher? If they seem simple
enough, I might go out and pick up Lords of Madness.

I would love to be the Hegenyokai, except their ability technically
isnt Wild Shape, is it? And its not a class-granted Wild Shape.

Oh well.

Thanks,

Lewis