Druid's Wildshape

Moriarty · Jul 26, 2005

When a druid wildshapes, do they retain their hit point total? Or do they gain or lose hit points when they change to an animal with a higher or lower CON score respectively?

I thought I remember reading somewhere that their hit points didn't change but that might be a hold-over from 3rd edition.

I have a character in my game who is a druid and hasn't used his wildshape much. He's done a good job of using the wildshape to scout out areas as birds and such but he's not done much with wildshape concerning combat. Does anyone have any tips on how to best use this ability? Either in or out of combat?

Thanks for help in advance!

shilsen · Jul 26, 2005

Moriarty said:
When a druid wildshapes, do they retain their hit point total? Or do they gain or lose hit points when they change to an animal with a higher or lower CON score respectively?

I thought I remember reading somewhere that their hit points didn't change but that might be a hold-over from 3rd edition.

They gain or lose hit points based on the new Con score. This has been clarified in the FAQ (I think) and in the Rules of the Game articles on the WotC website.

I have a character in my game who is a druid and hasn't used his wildshape much. He's done a good job of using the wildshape to scout out areas as birds and such but he's not done much with wildshape concerning combat. Does anyone have any tips on how to best use this ability? Either in or out of combat?

Thanks for help in advance!

What level is he? There are a lot of useful animal forms for combat purposes and the availability depends on his level.

mikebr99 · Jul 26, 2005

shilsen said:
They gain or lose hit points based on the new Con score. This has been clarified in the FAQ (I think) and in the Rules of the Game articles on the WotC website.

I'll 2nd that...

Remove your old CON bonus from your current HP total... and add your new CON bonus.

Mike

Mark Chance · Jul 26, 2005

mikebr99 said:
I'll 2nd that...

Remove your old CON bonus from your current HP total... and add your new CON bonus.

And don't forget that additional hit points from a boost in Constitution are not temporary hit points. They aren't used first the way temporary hit points are. Consider a druid that gained 10 extra hit points from a higher Constitution in animal form. If he's sitting on 9 hit points and then changes back to normal form, he loses those extra 10 hit points, immediately dropping him to -1 hit points.

Which also makes a targeted dispel magic on an injured target with bear's endurance a potentially devastating act.

Goolpsy · Jul 26, 2005

For taking Damage and dealing out plenty too... a bear is the strongest solution.. but it all depend on the situation

mikebr99 · Jul 26, 2005

Goolpsy said:
For taking Damage and dealing out plenty too... a bear is the strongest solution.. but it all depend on the situation

The Fleshraker (MM3) is probably better at low levels... YMMV

Mike

glass · Jul 26, 2005

Moriarty said:
When a druid wildshapes, do they retain their hit point total? Or do they gain or lose hit points when they change to an animal with a higher or lower CON score respectively?

A lot of people will tell you otherwise, but hit point do not change when you wildshape.

Wildshape is based on polymorph, which is based on alter self, which says:

The SRD said:
Your class and level, hit points, alignment, base attack bonus, and base save bonuses all remain the same. You retain all supernatural and spell-like special attacks and qualities of your normal form, except for those requiring a body part that the new form does not have (such as a mouth for a breath weapon or eyes for a gaze attack).

(empasis mine)

That is not overridden anywhere in the chain, so still applies.

glass.

Moriarty · Jul 26, 2005

Thanks! I was pretty certain that HP didn't change but I couldn't find the info anywhere. I guess I should have followed the spell chain back further.

For the other questions above, the druid in question is 7th level. The player was looking at dinosaurs as a possibility to transform into but should he be able to transform into one if he's never seen one? The wildshape ability says you can't transform into a polar bear if you've never been outside of the temperate forrest. So how can a DM determine if a dinosaur would be okay. Or a elk. Or a buffalo. Or a etc, etc, etc.

foxwick · Jul 26, 2005

Oy - no one has it completely right.

From the SRD for Polymorph:
"Upon changing, the subject regains lost hit points as if it had rested for a night (though this healing does not restore temporary ability damage and provide other benefits of resting; and changing back does not heal the subject further). If slain, the subject reverts to its original form, though it remains dead."

So in addition to any adjustment due to CON*, you will heal your character level (not druid level) in HP upon making each change to a new form. These are normal HP.

*e.g. a character with a +3 CON modifier who wildshapes into a Dire Bear (+4 CON) will gain a HP per character level; a character with a +5 CON modifier who wildshapes into a Dire Bear will lose a HP per character level. This is a temporary HP adjustment.

So, assuming your 7th level Druid had a +2 CON modifier and wildshaped into a Dire Bear, he/she would gain 7 normal HP and 14 temporary HP. If he/she consequently wildshaped into an Eagle, they would gain another 7 normal HP, but lose the 14 temporary HP plus an addition 7 temporary HP (Eagle has +1 CON).

Essentially a 7th level druid (Wildshape 3/day) gets 21 free healed HP a day.

mikebr99 · Jul 26, 2005

glass said:
A lot of people will tell you otherwise, but hit point do not change when you wildshape.

Wildshape is based on polymorph, which is based on alter self, which says:

(empasis mine)

That is not overridden anywhere in the chain, so still applies.

glass.

But Polymorph overrides the "keeps all abilities" (from Alter self) by giving you the forms standard physical abilities: STR, DEX, & CON... which you then get to use to their fullest.

Mike

Druid's Wildshape

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