Druid wildshape and size

[robberbaron]

robberbarron, you'll need to look over the CRs of the large and huge anmials available, before you go house-ruling that. There are balance issues that you'd have to work out. (Besides.....name a huge animal besides elephant....the rest are all Dire.)

I agree, but equally a Giant Druid should be able to change into something his own size.
And, anyway, you can always advance standard animals, rather than use Dire ones.

 

[Li Shenron]

Doesn't the whole thing suck? A Colossal Druid and a Fine Druid can wildshape into the same small/medium animals? Good grief...

 

[robberbaron]

Looking into this a bit deeper: a Hill Giant Druid 5 is a 17 dice monster with an ECL of 21.
Why shouldn't he be able to wildshape into a Crocodile, Elephant, Giant Squid or an advanced Tiger? Their CRs are equal to or below his.
Granted advanced Dire Boars and Bears are 17 dice with CRs of, I guess, around 13, but a 15th level Human Druid would be allowed to use their shapes (Wild Shape - Huge).
Certainly it is bizarre that a 10' half-ton Giant Druid could become a German Shepherd but not a Lion.

Similarly, why shouldn't a Halfling Druid 5 only be able to change into a Tiny or Small creature?

I don't think the basic rule is broken, just needs tweaking for different-sized races. And I'm not saying my way is the "right" one, just that it makes sense to me.

 

[RangerWickett]

In one game, a magical curse shrunk the whole party down to just an inch tall. The druid tried to wildshape back to medium size. I had to nix that one. It would have been a bit overpowering since the main boss of the adventure was a stray cat.

 

[Planesdragon]

I'm playing the halfling druid in MarauderX's game.
The biggest downside that I'm concerned with is losing the halfling saving throw bonus, but I believe that is what happens when you polymorph, so it is what happens when you wild shape.
I've seen various threads about what happens to magic gear, but that isn't a concern at the moment (only 2nd level).

PCs don't lose any of their abilities at all, with the exception of a mouth to speak, when they wildshape or polymorph.

 

[Krafen]

PCs don't lose any of their abilities at all, with the exception of a mouth to speak, when they wildshape or polymorph.

You keep all extraordinary special attacks and qualities derived from class levels, but you lose any from your normal form that are not derived from class levels.

I believe racial bonuses to skills and saves would be considered extraordinary qualities not derived from class levels, so you would lose them when wild-shaped.

 

[MarauderX]

PCs don't lose any of their abilities at all, with the exception of a mouth to speak, when they wildshape or polymorph.

Halfling polymorphing to a Medium critter loses the associated AC bonus for size.

The subject of houseruling it to be same size plus one size catagory smaller becomes more sticky, as a halfling WSing into a Tiny critters loses capacities in battle, such as AoOs. For powerhouse battle purposes, you are removing a whole effective size catagory away from the character. Granted, she could use it as an escape plan or to gain the advantages thereof, which would be nice to see more frequently. Hmmm... I smell another thread brewing...

 

[robberbaron]

The subject of houseruling it to be same size plus one size catagory smaller becomes more sticky, as a halfling WSing into a Tiny critters loses capacities in battle, such as AoOs. For powerhouse battle purposes, you are removing a whole effective size catagory away from the character. Granted, she could use it as an escape plan or to gain the advantages thereof, which would be nice to see more frequently. Hmmm... I smell another thread brewing...

Yep, it would certainly make Druid less attractive to Halflings.
Perhaps, allow Small and Medium Druids shape into Small and Medium Creatures. After all, a tall halfling isn't that much smaller than a small human.

 

[Darklone]

Halflings are the best druids. Better: Druid is the best halfling class. Flameblade? One handed weapon with 1d8 and no strength penalty ?

 

[Felix]

You think allowing Halflings to wildshape into Tiny animals is a drawback? While they might not have any combat potential, a halfling spellcaster wasn't trying to be a combat beast in the first place. It is an insignifigant loss for them.

Look at the schedule of abilities for a Druid. Tiny wildshape comes 3 levels after Large, and 6 levels after you can start doing it. And yet a halfling druid is able to enjoy wildshaping into inconspicuous animals (like the Rat) at 5th level? Who wouldn't play a sneaking halfling druid?

What would happen if a druid had Enlarge cast upon him? Would he be able to Wildshape into the next largest size category on the basis that his is Large sized? Same question stands for Reduce.

While it sounds like it might be a reasonable house rule, the mechanics really don't support it. At least, I would not impliment it without very serious concerns over what could happen.