D&D 5E Tortle Druid

[jgsugden]

Wildshape says:

• You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any of your special senses, such as darkvision unless your new form also has that sense.

Tortle Says:

• Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.

I think RAW, it is pretty clear that a wildshaped tortle druid will not have a minimum AC of 17 for their wildshaped forms.

However, I'm trying to think about how 'broken' it would be to "tortle" the wildshapes of a PC druid and allow them the claws (damage adjusted for size), natural armor and shell defense when wildshaping. I'd accomplish this by given the PC a magic item that allows them to retain these benefits when wildshaped if they elected to do so at the time of wildshaping, rather than making it a rule change - an item that their parents left to them when the orphaning happens (see the tortle description).

I was thinking that the wildshaped form would have some adjustments (can't fly, speed reduced by 5 for every 10 above 30, disadvantage on stealth).

Anyone see a way that this causes unexpected troubles?

 

[Oofta]

Two things. First, all tortles must be teenaged ninjas.

Second, I do think it's a pretty big benefit for that one race. If an elf druid shape changes into something that doesn't have darkvision, they lose darkvision. I don't see this as any different.

 

[jgsugden]

Two things. First, all tortles must be teenaged ninjas.

Second, I do think it's a pretty big benefit for that one race. If an elf druid shape changes into something that doesn't have darkvision, they lose darkvision. I don't see this as any different.

First - The tortles hate that stereotype. They complain about it whenever they gather in the sewars to train with their Nezumi master.

Second - Without some adjustment, a tortle druid loses all benefits of their race expect perhaps hold breath and the survival skill proficiency - which is kind of boring. A wood elf (the elf with the best wisdom) still gets +5 speed from fleet of foot, mask of the wild, perception proficiency, fey ancestry, and (although it is of limited benefit) trance. As a DM, I tell my players that there are no suboptimal choices.

It is a very solid benefit, certainly. That is intended. I do 'charge' them an attunement slot for it, although that doesn't really matter until they get access to 3 more attuned items.

What I am asking is whether there are any unintended things I might need to worry about. For example, is there some sneaky interaction with AC and a beast form that I am not thinking about... not whether a brown bear with an AC 17 is too strong at level 2.

 

[BookTenTiger]

First - The tortles hate that stereotype. They complain about it whenever they gather in the sewars to train with their Nezumi master.

Second - Without some adjustment, a tortle druid loses all benefits of their race expect perhaps hold breath and the survival skill proficiency - which is kind of boring. A wood elf (the elf with the best wisdom) still gets +5 speed from fleet of foot, mask of the wild, perception proficiency, fey ancestry, and (although it is of limited benefit) trance. As a DM, I tell my players that there are no suboptimal choices.

It is a very solid benefit, certainly. That is intended. I do 'charge' them an attunement slot for it, although that doesn't really matter until they get access to 3 more attuned items.

What I am asking is whether there are any unintended things I might need to worry about. For example, is there some sneaky interaction with AC and a beast form that I am not thinking about... not whether a brown bear with an AC 17 is too strong at level 2.

I can't think of anything sneaky, but the low AC of most beasts is definitely one drawback to Wild Shape.

If I were to allow this at my table, I would definitely require all the Wild Shape forms to have cute turtle shells!

 

[jgsugden]

I can't think of anything sneaky, but the low AC of most beasts is definitely one drawback to Wild Shape.

If I were to allow this at my table, I would definitely require all the Wild Shape forms to have cute turtle shells!

Yes - the tortle shell will be obvious. Not necessarily cute, though.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

First - The tortles hate that stereotype. They complain about it whenever they gather in the sewars to train with their Nezumi master.

Second - Without some adjustment, a tortle druid loses all benefits of their race

You are taking a very narrow view of druids. Basically you mean MOON druids - druids who fight whilst wildshaped. Druids are quite common in our campaigns, but wildshaping in combat is rare. Our players simply don't play druids that way. If you are wading into combat with a magic stick or casting spells a tortle shell is a vast improvement on hide armour.

 

[Oofta]

First - The tortles hate that stereotype. They complain about it whenever they gather in the sewars to train with their Nezumi master.

Second - Without some adjustment, a tortle druid loses all benefits of their race expect perhaps hold breath and the survival skill proficiency - which is kind of boring. A wood elf (the elf with the best wisdom) still gets +5 speed from fleet of foot, mask of the wild, perception proficiency, fey ancestry, and (although it is of limited benefit) trance. As a DM, I tell my players that there are no suboptimal choices.

It is a very solid benefit, certainly. That is intended. I do 'charge' them an attunement slot for it, although that doesn't really matter until they get access to 3 more attuned items.

What I am asking is whether there are any unintended things I might need to worry about. For example, is there some sneaky interaction with AC and a beast form that I am not thinking about... not whether a brown bear with an AC 17 is too strong at level 2.

Some races make slightly better moon druids than others. Most races don't get much benefit from racial features when shifted.

It's your game but that brown bear getting a +6 to AC does seem pretty significant to me, potentially more significant than the benefits of the wood elf IMHO.

 

[aco175]

I would likely rule that the new shape normally doesn't have a shell, then no AC benefit. If you are talking about letting the druid shape into a t-rex with a shell to get this benefit- then it is your game to play the way you want.

This was all I found when I searched for the t-rex with turtle shell. Even Google likes the stereotype.

 

[Oofta]

Besides, this whole discussion is moot. Who would name a druid Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello or Leonardo? Horrible names for druids, required naming convention for tortles.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Easy solution: shapechange into a Turtle.