D&D 5E custom wildshape forms

[pukunui]

Hi folks,

I have a player who has been deliberately limiting his druid's wildshape ability to bears. So, for instance, at 8th level, he ignored the fact that he could technically turn into creatures with a flying speed. His druid only turns into bears. Up until now, that hasn't been an issue. But he's just hit 9th level, which gives him access to CR 3 beasts. The thing is, there are no CR 3 bears.

I am thinking that I will just "level up" the cave bear to be CR 3 and let him wildshape into that.

Can anyone think of any good reason(s) not to do that? I feel like it's a reasonable thing to do since he is gimping himself out of so much of wildshape's utility.


Thanks in advance!


Cheers,
Jonathan


EDIT: Another thing I'm thinking about is for when he hits 11th level and unlocks elemental shapes. I'm wondering if it might work to say that his elemental forms come in the shape of a bear (rather than their normal vaguely humanoid shapes) and, where applicable, have bite and claw attacks instead of (or in addition to) their normal attacks.

 

[Horwath]

look at the difference from CR1 to CR2 bear and add that to CR2 bear.

Maybe add improved grab: if you hit with claws you cat attempt a grab as a bonus action.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

Why not allow him to use stats of other beasts, but reskin them as new or unusual types of bears?

I've run games and allowed wildshaping to be described as werecreature hybrid transformations. The statistics and abilities don't change, just how it's described.

 

[GMMichael]

Hawk is on it. Just reskin. And judging by the D&D jargon, this player is due for an inspiration bonus for solid roleplaying.

 

[pukunui]

Yeah, reskinning is a possibility. It's not that difficult to just add some hit points and such and rejig the CR using the guidelines in the DMG, though. This is what I've come up with for a CR 3 "greater" cave bear, for instance:

GREATER CAVE BEAR
Large beast, unaligned

AC 13 (natural armor)
HP 60 (7d10 + 21)
Spd 40 ft., swim 30 ft.

STR 22 DEX 10 CON 16 INT 2 WIS 13 CHA 7

Skills Perception +3
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 (18 w/ scents)
Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Keen Smell. The bear has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. The bear makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 10 (1d8 + 6) piercing dmg.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 13 (2d6 + 6) slashing dmg.



For the elementals, I'm thinking I'll just reskin them slightly:

*Air elemental = spirit bear
*Earth elemental = stone bear
*Fire elemental = burning bear
*Water elemental = water bear

With all but the fire elemental, I can just replace their slam attack with a claw attack that deals the same damage but is slashing instead of bludgeoning.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

You can also create direbears, werebears, bearowls (bears with wings that actually fly, not to be confused with owlbears), ManBearPig... man, the possibilities are endless!

 

[pukunui]

You can also create direbears, werebears, bearowls (bears with wings that actually fly, not to be confused with owlbears), ManBearPig... man, the possibilities are endless!

I'm not sure all of those would qualify as beasts but yes, I can do that. The player is happy with my "greater cave bear" for now, though, and we won't have to worry about anything further until he gets to 12th level and unlocks CR 4 forms.

 

[pukunui]

On a related note, while I've created a statblock for a "greater cave bear" as an ordinary beast, I'm having a little trouble figuring out what the specific wildshaped druid version would look like.

The druid is a 9th level goliath moon druid. His stats are: Str 15, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 10. He's proficient in Athletics (+6), Medicine (+8), Nature (+5), Religion (+5), and Survival (+8).

When I combine his stats with the bear's, I get Str 22, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 7. So far so good. He isn't proficient in Perception, but the bear is. Normally the bear has a Perception of +3 (proficiency +2, Wis +1). But the druid's Wisdom is much higher. Does his Perception in bear form stay at +3, or do I recalculate it to take into account his higher Wisdom modifier?

In addition, do I leave his Athletics score at +6, even though the bear has a higher Strength score?

 

[Hawk Diesel]

If the bear form has proficiency in a skill, then you use your proficiency bonus or the bear's, whichever is higher. If the bear has proficiency in a mental skill but your mental stat is higher, apply your proficiency bonus with your ability modifier.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

If you have proficiency in a physical skill, you use the bear form's ability modifier.

So basically, you use the higher of the two proficiency bonuses, but you use the ability modifier you have in the form you take.