D&D 5E Druid Gender Change?

[Sunseeker]

I would say for simplicity's sake, no. But it raises an additional question: the females of many deer-like species do not have horns. The MM lists the Giant Elk as having a "ram" attack, though it does not specifically mention horns, it's sort of implied when you look at a female elk:

The same is true for the Elephant, as females don't have tusks, but the MM entry has a gore attack.

So I'd probably say that wild shaping allows you to take on the sex of the animal as well, if you choose, or make some kind of weird mashup. As long as the statistics don't change and you're not planning to do anything indecent with that ability I don't really care.

 

[FuelDrop]

This could be really useful for crime and disguises. Neat idea.

 

[Jennifer Creek]

One of the reasons i'm asking about this is for situations in which a female might be needed. For example let's take Final Fantasy 7 where Cloud and Aeris need to get into a place to save Tiffa, granted I could do what Cloud did and simply dress the part to "sneak" in but if this actually worked through wildshape I wouldn't have to go through all the trouble of finding the clothes and ability to pull it off (a perform/deception check). Pretty much it would be able to help with infiltration missions.

 

[Sacrosanct]

This could be really useful for crime and disguises. Neat idea.

How so, unless your disguise is an animal lol. You go back to your normal form. It is not the equivalent of a permanent 2nd level spell (alter self).

 

[Eltab]

If you really WANT to change genders via wild shape, yah I guess you can.
Question: Are you ready to set yourself up to be the target of rude jokes for the next month?

As a DM, I've had to squash some in-game tomfoolery when it began bleeding out-of-game to become double-entendre and insults. Unless your group is (1) unusually mature and (2) very circumspect with their speech - each and every member - I recommend you just let this idea fade into the background.

 

[ad_hoc]

If you really WANT to change genders via wild shape, yah I guess you can.
Question: Are you ready to set yourself up to be the target of rude jokes for the next month?

As a DM, I've had to squash some in-game tomfoolery when it began bleeding out-of-game to become double-entendre and insults. Unless your group is (1) unusually mature and (2) very circumspect with their speech - each and every member - I recommend you just let this idea fade into the background.

That is an entirely different problem.

I wouldn't play with anyone who couldn't respect another player's gender or their character's gender.

As for the actual question, you don't need to be able to shape shift to be genderfluid. Just have that be part of your character.

 

[Pssthpok]

I have a hard time interpreting it as anything other than a big RESET button -- back to how you were before shifting.

That said, I don't see any way another interpretation could "break" the game, so I wouldn't break a sweat if a player wanted to use it as some sort of girdle of femininity and masculinity. It would never have occurred to me, and I'd say "no" if told I had to interpret the rules as written to the best of my ability, but whatever.

Seconded. There's zero question with regard to what "normal form" means, but it doesn't break the game to allow this sort of Ranma 1/2 stuff because neither sex nor gender has much - if any - impact on the game from a mechanical standpoint.

 

[Pauper]

The only problem with asking the DM is that this is a tiny game (3 people) and we all take turns being the DM so everyone gets a chance to actually play their characters (we need a bigger group lol). So I have two DM's and I am a DM as well.

Sounds like you either need to come to a consensus with the other DMs, or just accept that, when you're not DMing, your character might not be able to do that thing you would be able to do if you were DMing.

In Adventurers League, it's called 'expect table variation' -- though it's a good thing to keep in mind for any situation where DMs might change.

--
Pauper

 

[Lanliss]

If you really WANT to change genders via wild shape, yah I guess you can.
Question: Are you ready to set yourself up to be the target of rude jokes for the next month?

As a DM, I've had to squash some in-game tomfoolery when it began bleeding out-of-game to become double-entendre and insults. Unless your group is (1) unusually mature and (2) very circumspect with their speech - each and every member - I recommend you just let this idea fade into the background.

Does it really take "unusually mature" players to not mock someone? Considering the age we live in, I think most people would be able to gloss over that pretty easily, unless they are unusually immature. I know that, while I have no gender issues irl, I play a character of whatever gender I feel like. Of course, I have always prided myself on my thick skin when it comes to joking around, so I may be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[GSHamster]

One of the reasons i'm asking about this is for situations in which a female might be needed. For example let's take Final Fantasy 7 where Cloud and Aeris need to get into a place to save Tiffa, granted I could do what Cloud did and simply dress the part to "sneak" in but if this actually worked through wildshape I wouldn't have to go through all the trouble of finding the clothes and ability to pull it off (a perform/deception check). Pretty much it would be able to help with infiltration missions.

I was going to say it's fine, but then I saw this and I change my answer to No. The purpose of Wildshift is to shift into an animal form and do stuff that only that animal can do. It's not act as an Alter Self spell or similar disguise ability. The double-shift into female is out of the spirit of the ability, and should not be encouraged.

Basically, if you can't shift directly into a humanoid female form, it's probably a bad idea to allow someone to double-shift into a humanoid female form.