Druid Wildshape?

[Mercy]

When a Druid wildshapes does he gain the feats and/or skills of the form?

For example: A druid wildshapes into a Baboon which has a Climb speed of 30-ft, does the druid gain the Baboon Climb skill? (Note the Baboon doesn't actually have any ranks in Climb, but does have a +8 racial bonus to Climb)

Does it matter if a feat is a bonus feat or not on if the druid gains the feat of the new form?

thanks

 

[taliesin15]

As far as I can tell, the Druid gets the feats and skills as long as s/he is in the Wildshape...

 

[Sejs]

When a Druid wildshapes does he gain the feats and/or skills of the form?

Feats and skill ranks - no. Those are things the animal took with its own hit dice advancement, which wild shape has nothing to do with. For example, a horse has Run and Endurance as its feats, and has 3 hd. It took (say) Run at 1hd, and Endurance at its 3rd hd. Same idea with skill ranks. Now, seperate from that are racial bonus feats, such as the Weapon Finesse possessed by a Monkey. They're noted with a . You do get those. Likewise, certain animals have a racial bonus to a skill check, such as the +4 racial bonus to hide checks that Toads have. Like racial feats, you'd get those.

For example: A druid wildshapes into a Baboon which has a Climb speed of 30-ft, does the druid gain the Baboon Climb skill? (Note the Baboon doesn't actually have any ranks in Climb, but does have a +8 racial bonus to Climb)

That's actually something different. The thing you're talking about here is a movement mode (climb, in this case). You get those. Certain movement modes (climb and swim being the two that spring to mind) also come with a bonus to the associated skill check.

Does it matter if a feat is a bonus feat or not on if the druid gains the feat of the new form?

Yep, it does matter indeed. You get racial bonus feats, and racial bonuses to skills. You do not get non-bonus feats, or skill ranks.

The easy way to tell is the feats you get have a , and the skill mods you get are listed in the Skills entry at the bottom of the creature's stats, after the Combat entry.

 

[Mercy]

The easy way to tell is the feats you get have a , and the skill mods you get are listed in the Skills entry at the bottom of the creature's stats, after the Combat entry.

Thanks Sejs.

Does this change if you are using the latest errata to use the Alternate Form (Su)?

 

[Sejs]

Thanks Sejs.

Does this change if you are using the latest errata to use the Alternate Form (Su)?

No problem.

I'm almost certain the answer is no, it does not, but let me check real quick.

[edit/additional] Hmm, depends on how you'd want to cut it. In a nutshell: racial modifiers to skills, etc arn't mentioned in either capacity in the entry, with the exception of movement modes. So a creature with a swim speed of 30 would still grant the attendant +8 bonus to swim checks, etc., but anything else is left up in the air. Racial bonus feats arn't mentioned at all.

My personal inclination would be to leave racial skill bonuses alone. You get those. A rat that has to use its str mod to climb is a really hosed rat. An octopus that is the only octopus in the entire ocean who doesn't have reactive skin just feels wrong. A tiger whose stripes for some mystical reason don't help it hide in undergrowth where other tigers' does just doesn't make sense.

I'd argue that racial bonus feats fall generally in the same category: a reflection of the creature's gross physical abilities. Creatures with a sharp nose tend to get Track as a bonus feat, and a racial bonus to Survival checks made to track by scent. Creatures with Weapon Finesse tend to be very small, with an appropriately low strength. Personally I'd let those stay also.