Carrying cargo using wildshape

[Gansk]

The party in my campaign needs to swim in a lake for a long distance, but some of them have armor that will weigh them down and they won't be able to take 10 on the swim check and succeed automatically.

The druid wants to have an Enlarge Person cast on herself, then pick up the two of the party member's armor, then wildshape into a porpoise or shark. Presumably the armor would merge with the new form, so even if the Enlarge Person duration ran out, the two suits of armor would be transported successfully across the lake.

The druid would not be able to wear the armor, because it is metal and would cancel her wildshape ability, but she would have enough strength to carry the armor only due to the Enlarge Person.

Should I allow this combo? Can it be abused to transport massive amounts of goods under any circumstances?

 

[ForceUser]

I'd allow it. It's clever, and it takes prep time. I wouldn't worry too much about druids becoming pack mules - as a group they are generally too independant to do this sort of thing except in the odd circumstance.

On the other hand, it is a flagrant game mechanics manipulation, and I wouldn't be bothered by a DM who decided not to allow it because it could be considered cheesy from a roleplaying perspective. You might have a hard time justifying that, though, and your players might feel unduly penalized for creative thinking.

 

[shilsen]

I'd allow it. It's clever, and it takes prep time. I wouldn't worry too much about druids becoming pack mules - as a group they are generally too independant to do this sort of thing except in the odd circumstance.

On the other hand, it is a flagrant game mechanics manipulation, and I wouldn't be bothered by a DM who decided not to allow it because it could be considered cheesy from a roleplaying perspective. You might have a hard time justifying that, though, and your players might feel unduly penalized for creative thinking.

By the RAW, it's perfectly fine. As ForceUser said, it's an example of creative thinking and it doesn't exactly look very abusable, so I'd allow it.

 

[mikebr99]

The party in my campaign needs to swim in a lake for a long distance, but some of them have armor that will weigh them down and they won't be able to take 10 on the swim check and succeed automatically.

The druid wants to have an Enlarge Person cast on herself, then pick up the two of the party member's armor, then wildshape into a porpoise or shark. Presumably the armor would merge with the new form, so even if the Enlarge Person duration ran out, the two suits of armor would be transported successfully across the lake.

The druid would not be able to wear the armor, because it is metal and would cancel her wildshape ability, but she would have enough strength to carry the armor only due to the Enlarge Person.

Should I allow this combo? Can it be abused to transport massive amounts of goods under any circumstances?

Enlarge person doesn't function on a porpoise or shark... that is what Animal Growth is for.

So, no... this combo doesn't work exactly as you stated.

Mike

 

[kigmatzomat]

Enlarge person doesn't function on a porpoise of shark... that is what Animal Growth is for.
So, no... this combo doesn't work exactly as you stated.

True, but I'm not sure what they need the Enlarge for. Plate armor's heavy but you can wildshape at max encumberance so unless you've got a halfling druid it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[mikebr99]

True, but I'm not sure what they need the Enlarge for. Plate armor's heavy but you can wildshape at max encumberance so unless you've got a halfling druid it shouldn't be an issue.

I'm sure they were trying to get the extra STR (+2), so they didn't overburden Flipper. The Druid's equipment still weighs him down, even though it may have melded into a new form.

Mike

 

[Gansk]

True, but I'm not sure what they need the Enlarge for. Plate armor's heavy but you can wildshape at max encumberance so unless you've got a halfling druid it shouldn't be an issue.

The druid is a gnome with low strength trying carry two suits of medium sized armor, so the Enlarge Person was used to increase the carrying capacity of the gnome. The druid turned into a medium-sized shark after the Enlarge Person was cast, so Animal Growth should not be required.

I guess the thing that nags me a little bit is the idea of a character carrying two suits of armor without dropping anything. Is 'carrying' defined as lifting and walking a few steps or having the items secure enough so that they don't fall off for an extended period of time? Or does that even matter since the items would merge into the form almost immediately?

For example, let's say the item was a 10 foot by 10 foot box of feathers.
Could the druid get her arms around it, lift it up and merge with the box?

 

[heliopolix]

For example, let's say the item was a 10 foot by 10 foot box of feathers.
Could the druid get her arms around it, lift it up and merge with the box?

Yes. But only when wildshaping to a Dire Goose.

While using the druid's wildshape to carry stuff is [ab]using the rules a little bit, there's really nothing to dissallow a character from doing just what your druid is wanting to, although some supporting roleplaying will probably help make it go from "cheesy metagaming" to "intriguing creative thinking in character".