Level Up (A5E) Druid Skinchanger AC 22 with shield +1 when wild shaped at level 8

[lichmaster]

Also note that as Skinchanger, wild shaping is a bonus action.

True, good point

Regarding A5E vs. 5E monsters and game balance for wild shape, I have looked through a lot of the options from both sources, particularly up to CR 3. Both in A5E and 5E there are some examples that appear unbalanced vs. other options of similar CR (e.g., Black Talon Spider from A5E To Save a Kingdom vs. A5E Monstrous Menagerie's Giant Spider).

Good point, this is always a concern. That's why in the end I'd rather have an a-la-carte menu of options one could take (climb speed, fly, poison damage, etc) rather than having the possibility of fishing for a particularly op creature in some manual, somewhere.

In the case of Vegepygmy, our concern is whether the regeneration capability is too good.

That is my main concern too. Consider that Regenerate (which is 7th level spell!), only regens 1hp at the start of each turn, and 4d8+15hp initially. Also the spell has a 1m casting time.
Regen abilities may be ok for monsters, eventually PCs will find a way around them and in any case they only prolong the encounter a little bit, but a PC being permanently shapeshifted into something that regens 7hp/round is a wholly different story.

 

[Tessarael]

I tend to agree. I'd be happy to use the Vegepygmy forms as an option without regenerate.