Noah Ivaldi
First Post
Here is a Wild Shape sheet! This was made in 5.98, but that shouldn't matter. Ideally, morepurplemorebetter could extract the single page that has the Wild Shape info and host it as an individual file. MPMB, in case it wasn't obvious, you have my permission to do so, if you would be so kind.
Purpose: Having a list of relevant beast forms is terribly invaluable to a druid. Having them organized in a way that helps one to make decisions on a per-situation basis is even better. Having them all on one page is just the bee's proverbial knees.
Scope: Currently, this only confers the beasts from the online DM rules. Users are free to add their own content, of course, but I will not be adding more to the public version unless someone specifically points me to an entry that I can write by borrowing my DM's book. Eventually, I may even add third-party content. Frog God Games is pretty well-regarded.
The idea is not to list every beast that is available, but every beast that one would feasibly wish to transform into. That doesn't narrow down choices all that much (They couldn't take a page out of Pathfinder's book and rework polymorphing to work so fluidly, and with balance . . .?), but it's the scope of this item to help you decide between good choices, not just reiterate what's already available online.
I don't seek to cover absolutely everything, of course. I'm not going to bother you about the Quipper for accurate, deep-sea combat with tiny navigation because it doesn't deal enough damage to matter. If you're going to go deep, bring a Light cantrip and either fight or compress, but don't try to do both in one form. It would defeat the purpose to give too many examples, but the point is that, if someone says that something should be added for some purpose, that person is free to suggest it, but don't be surprised when the answer to many such suggestions is, "No. Irrelevant."
How to read: The entries have an order to them. This is the main part that helps you make decisions. Combat forms come first, then sensory verisimilitude (currently, just weasels), then climbers, burrowers, swimmers (lv4 on), and finally fliers (lv8 on). Forms that fit into an earlier category, but are unlocked later due to CR have a "LvX" statement before their names. Each entry has the same order of information to it, found below.
Situational dissection:
Early combat - Wolf hits the second-hardest, gives a free "knock you prone" attempt with each hit, and has Pack Tactics for extra accuracy, to say nothing of its other benefits. If Pack Tactics are not available or not important, Draft Horse wins the DPR race, though Elk wins if you have free range to charge between distant enemies all the time. If you're going for a quick "ambush and clean up" move, Panther will climb well and pounce. It's not as hard-hitting as the Elk charge, but it's a lot more subtle, more mobile, and isn't crippled by Ray of Enfeeblement. Also, see the Swimming and Flying sections, once available. In fact, as long as flying is an option, the Giant Vulture negates most other arguments, later.
Later combat - Warhorse immediately outclasses everything except free-range Elk for obvious reasons. Eventually, Giant Hyena takes the spotlight for scrappy situations in which you would be Wolf because harder hitting and the potential for bonus attacks are a little more important than trip attempts, unless the latter plays into some team synergy well. For the "charge to kill" tactic, Elk still hits the hardest, but Lion and Tiger have more HP to burn before they go, aside from other neat add-ons. Tiger is clearly better than Lion, but Pack Tactics may have a point to say otherwise, and the Running Leap deal could be useful for crossing chasms and killing dudebros in one transformation. Don't overlook the Giant Spider, whose webs provide another tactic.
Note: I'm not discussing poison combat because it should go without saying: If you're willing to gamble on CON saves, poisons sound great, but, in consistency, face-beating wins.
Mount/Packmule assistance - Trying to get your allies out of danger or help push the treasure onto the Floating Disc? Elk can carry a lot and get a move on, and Draft Horse can carry more with less strain, though the effect should be the same in the "variant" encumbrance rules. Remember: To get accurate calculations, plug in double the scores because you're large. If you need the most speed and are not yet Lv4, look up the Riding Horse. As soon as you hit that level, Warhorse wins at everything.
Senses - Being Weasel in order to ferret everything out is a good idea. Giant Weasel moves faster, has darkvision, and defends itself better, but, when out of stealth, isn't as subtle in as many situations. Plus, tiny Weasel squeezes through areas more easily. Also, you can totally reskin this, turning into an adorable, loveable ferret that won't invoke most people's ire like a weasel would, just using the Weasel template.
Climbing- Panther and Giant Wolf Spider are tied for climbing speed, Panther is the fastest on land, Cat is a land step ahead of the others, and Giant Lizard slightly wins out on carrying others while climbing. Giant Spider ties with Panther, once you have access to it, but with better combat capacity. Some of these entries are here more on subtlety points than other merits.
Burrowing - Be a giant badger, or be a regular one if
Swimming - Again, some are here for stealth in addition to swimming. Giant Frog is terrifyingly good at one-on-one battles against appropriately-sized opponents, and you're good on land. Giant Poisonous Snake should be used whenever you would be Giant Centipede, but don't need 30' of Blindsight and a climb speed. Giant Sea Horses are the "charge to kill" guys of the sea, and Reef Sharks are speedy hard-hitters with Pack Tactics. It all fades once you can go Giant Octopus, though. Even on land (for an hour), long reach, repositioning allies, locking down a problematic enemy, and solid, consistent damage make arguments for the best fighter. In the water, the highest speed and stealth supremacy are gravy.
Flying- Giant Wasp takes over as the supreme poison dispenser, except that Flying Snake has a little more accuracy. It's also the "go everywhere" form. Bat (Giant) and Owl (Giant) have some of the best senses. Blood Hawk is there for the rare "need a guaranteed hit right now situation in which "large" is "too large," but Giant Vulture is your go-to attack form, now. When you need to make swooping attacks without provoking opportunities, though, look for "Flyby" and grab the biggest size that your terrain can afford. Ravens and Stirges are there for gimmicks that should be kept in mind for their own niches, which Wild Shape should have more of.
There are lots of considerations to make, no? Can you see why a sheet that helps to organize them is a boon?
Notes on "What do I get?":
Because this works off a totally different mentality for polymorphing than Pathfinder, you get absolutely everything that is listed in the bestiary, including the capacity for Pack Tactics, unless your DM rules elsewise. The exception is that you use your own mental stats and skill proficiencies, though you get the beast's skill proficiencies when they're greater.
Oddly, the perception skill of a giant owl and the grapple DC for a giant octopus are calculated with a +1. I'm not sure whether these are supposed to represent halved proficiency bonuses, flat +1s, perhaps a +DEX on the grapple, or miscalculations. Personally, I'd think them to be a miscalculation and a flat +1, respectively, but, ultimately, ask your GM as to what (s)he counts.
It's safe to assume that the ability checks are intended to scale by the beast, as far as I'm concerned. Poisons have classically been CON-based (my CON to determine their potency, not just yours to determine whether you resist or not), and everything else is pretty clearly STR-based, so I would argue that, if you were wearing a magic item that boosted your CON or STR while transformed, the appropriate DCs would rise. There's no text to say anything one way or another on this matter, because WotC is classically as clear as a mud elemental, but, hey, you have my input, for whatever that matters.
Some beasts have 4 + their appropriate ability modifier on a given skill. By a strict RAW reading, you would count your proficiency bonus as +4 from levels 2-12, then increase it to 5 and 6 at 13 and 17 as normal. If your DM hates you, (s)he'll make it only count as your normal proficiency. Logically, this should work as short, pre-selected bursts of the Rogue Expertise class feature, counting double your proficiency bonus. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.
Purpose: Having a list of relevant beast forms is terribly invaluable to a druid. Having them organized in a way that helps one to make decisions on a per-situation basis is even better. Having them all on one page is just the bee's proverbial knees.
Scope: Currently, this only confers the beasts from the online DM rules. Users are free to add their own content, of course, but I will not be adding more to the public version unless someone specifically points me to an entry that I can write by borrowing my DM's book. Eventually, I may even add third-party content. Frog God Games is pretty well-regarded.
The idea is not to list every beast that is available, but every beast that one would feasibly wish to transform into. That doesn't narrow down choices all that much (They couldn't take a page out of Pathfinder's book and rework polymorphing to work so fluidly, and with balance . . .?), but it's the scope of this item to help you decide between good choices, not just reiterate what's already available online.
I don't seek to cover absolutely everything, of course. I'm not going to bother you about the Quipper for accurate, deep-sea combat with tiny navigation because it doesn't deal enough damage to matter. If you're going to go deep, bring a Light cantrip and either fight or compress, but don't try to do both in one form. It would defeat the purpose to give too many examples, but the point is that, if someone says that something should be added for some purpose, that person is free to suggest it, but don't be surprised when the answer to many such suggestions is, "No. Irrelevant."
How to read: The entries have an order to them. This is the main part that helps you make decisions. Combat forms come first, then sensory verisimilitude (currently, just weasels), then climbers, burrowers, swimmers (lv4 on), and finally fliers (lv8 on). Forms that fit into an earlier category, but are unlocked later due to CR have a "LvX" statement before their names. Each entry has the same order of information to it, found below.
- Name (Size) or Name (Size, Giant Size) - All entries afterward may have parenthetical notes. If there is a giant form listed, the items in parentheses refer to the stats for the giant form.
- extraordinary senses - blindsight, darkvision
- keen senses - You have advantage on these kinds of senses. Remember that this adds 5 to your passive perception for relevant sensations!
- stealth proficiency (+ Expertise?) - You get to add your proficiency bonus on stealth checks in this form. I didn't list perception proficiency because, as a druid, you absolutely should be picking perception proficiency on your own, but, for those few that will insist otherwise, I guess that I'll get around to listing that, too . . . eventually. In the meantime, I guess that you'll have to look at the DM rules page, if it really matters to you. For the expertise note, see the last few lines of the "What do I get?" section.
- speeds - listed as #' with the words "swim" or "fly" after different mobility forms
- STR
- DEX
- CON
- AC
- HP
- attacks - If they're little, mundane animals, assume that they're not proficient unless I say "prof." If they're built to be threats, they're proficient.
- special abilities/qualities
Situational dissection:
Early combat - Wolf hits the second-hardest, gives a free "knock you prone" attempt with each hit, and has Pack Tactics for extra accuracy, to say nothing of its other benefits. If Pack Tactics are not available or not important, Draft Horse wins the DPR race, though Elk wins if you have free range to charge between distant enemies all the time. If you're going for a quick "ambush and clean up" move, Panther will climb well and pounce. It's not as hard-hitting as the Elk charge, but it's a lot more subtle, more mobile, and isn't crippled by Ray of Enfeeblement. Also, see the Swimming and Flying sections, once available. In fact, as long as flying is an option, the Giant Vulture negates most other arguments, later.
Later combat - Warhorse immediately outclasses everything except free-range Elk for obvious reasons. Eventually, Giant Hyena takes the spotlight for scrappy situations in which you would be Wolf because harder hitting and the potential for bonus attacks are a little more important than trip attempts, unless the latter plays into some team synergy well. For the "charge to kill" tactic, Elk still hits the hardest, but Lion and Tiger have more HP to burn before they go, aside from other neat add-ons. Tiger is clearly better than Lion, but Pack Tactics may have a point to say otherwise, and the Running Leap deal could be useful for crossing chasms and killing dudebros in one transformation. Don't overlook the Giant Spider, whose webs provide another tactic.
Note: I'm not discussing poison combat because it should go without saying: If you're willing to gamble on CON saves, poisons sound great, but, in consistency, face-beating wins.
Mount/Packmule assistance - Trying to get your allies out of danger or help push the treasure onto the Floating Disc? Elk can carry a lot and get a move on, and Draft Horse can carry more with less strain, though the effect should be the same in the "variant" encumbrance rules. Remember: To get accurate calculations, plug in double the scores because you're large. If you need the most speed and are not yet Lv4, look up the Riding Horse. As soon as you hit that level, Warhorse wins at everything.
Senses - Being Weasel in order to ferret everything out is a good idea. Giant Weasel moves faster, has darkvision, and defends itself better, but, when out of stealth, isn't as subtle in as many situations. Plus, tiny Weasel squeezes through areas more easily. Also, you can totally reskin this, turning into an adorable, loveable ferret that won't invoke most people's ire like a weasel would, just using the Weasel template.
Climbing- Panther and Giant Wolf Spider are tied for climbing speed, Panther is the fastest on land, Cat is a land step ahead of the others, and Giant Lizard slightly wins out on carrying others while climbing. Giant Spider ties with Panther, once you have access to it, but with better combat capacity. Some of these entries are here more on subtlety points than other merits.
Burrowing - Be a giant badger, or be a regular one if
Swimming - Again, some are here for stealth in addition to swimming. Giant Frog is terrifyingly good at one-on-one battles against appropriately-sized opponents, and you're good on land. Giant Poisonous Snake should be used whenever you would be Giant Centipede, but don't need 30' of Blindsight and a climb speed. Giant Sea Horses are the "charge to kill" guys of the sea, and Reef Sharks are speedy hard-hitters with Pack Tactics. It all fades once you can go Giant Octopus, though. Even on land (for an hour), long reach, repositioning allies, locking down a problematic enemy, and solid, consistent damage make arguments for the best fighter. In the water, the highest speed and stealth supremacy are gravy.
Flying- Giant Wasp takes over as the supreme poison dispenser, except that Flying Snake has a little more accuracy. It's also the "go everywhere" form. Bat (Giant) and Owl (Giant) have some of the best senses. Blood Hawk is there for the rare "need a guaranteed hit right now situation in which "large" is "too large," but Giant Vulture is your go-to attack form, now. When you need to make swooping attacks without provoking opportunities, though, look for "Flyby" and grab the biggest size that your terrain can afford. Ravens and Stirges are there for gimmicks that should be kept in mind for their own niches, which Wild Shape should have more of.
There are lots of considerations to make, no? Can you see why a sheet that helps to organize them is a boon?
Notes on "What do I get?":
Because this works off a totally different mentality for polymorphing than Pathfinder, you get absolutely everything that is listed in the bestiary, including the capacity for Pack Tactics, unless your DM rules elsewise. The exception is that you use your own mental stats and skill proficiencies, though you get the beast's skill proficiencies when they're greater.
Oddly, the perception skill of a giant owl and the grapple DC for a giant octopus are calculated with a +1. I'm not sure whether these are supposed to represent halved proficiency bonuses, flat +1s, perhaps a +DEX on the grapple, or miscalculations. Personally, I'd think them to be a miscalculation and a flat +1, respectively, but, ultimately, ask your GM as to what (s)he counts.
It's safe to assume that the ability checks are intended to scale by the beast, as far as I'm concerned. Poisons have classically been CON-based (my CON to determine their potency, not just yours to determine whether you resist or not), and everything else is pretty clearly STR-based, so I would argue that, if you were wearing a magic item that boosted your CON or STR while transformed, the appropriate DCs would rise. There's no text to say anything one way or another on this matter, because WotC is classically as clear as a mud elemental, but, hey, you have my input, for whatever that matters.
Some beasts have 4 + their appropriate ability modifier on a given skill. By a strict RAW reading, you would count your proficiency bonus as +4 from levels 2-12, then increase it to 5 and 6 at 13 and 17 as normal. If your DM hates you, (s)he'll make it only count as your normal proficiency. Logically, this should work as short, pre-selected bursts of the Rogue Expertise class feature, counting double your proficiency bonus. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.
