Druids - Beast Form Rules

[SigmaX0]

Greetings, apologies if this has been covered, I couldn't find a thread that did.

We're about to start a new campaign, one of our PCs is going to play a Druid psuedo-striker, focusing on beast form melee powers.

He's planning on taking a staff as his Druid Implement, and the rules seem a little unclear on how this will affect his damage from his Druid powers in terms of feat choices.

Firstly, I assume he gains the +1 attack from Implement Expertise.

From threads i've seen on these boards, it appears he can take Weapon Focus Staves and gain the bonus to damage on his druid powers. Is that correct as per RAW?

Further, can he take and make use of Power Attack with his druid powers? If he does, does he count as using a 2-handed weapon?

It all seems a little ambiguous to me to say the least, any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Oompa]

+1 to his attacks from impl. expertise only applies to attacks with the implement keyword.

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21. I am using a weapon as an implement, like a long sword for a Wizard of the Spiral Tower or a staff implement held in two hands, do I gain the extra damage from feats like Weapon Focus?

Yes, you do gain this bonus to damage.

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Power Attack can be used with melee attacks, and if he uses a 2-handed weapon to make the attack he gains the extra damage..

I could be wrong in any of the accounts, please tell me..

 

[SigmaX0]

Sorry just to be clear, i'm talking about the druid Beast Form Melee powers (Which do have the Implement Key word, but lack the Weapon Key word).

My question was pertaining to the fact that in beast form, you're not 'wielding' any weapon, you continue to gain the benefit of the implement you hold in humanoid form when you transform, but can you say, 'oh, I was holding that in two hands i humanoid form, therefore give me +1 damage from power attack in beast form'?

 

[Oompa]

You have me there..

Can't find a clear answer but i as a DM would say no..

 

[TheLordWinter]

In this situation, I'd leave it up to the player to find a way to justify it. If he transforms into a wolf and wants to have his implement in two-hands, it'd simply be impossible. After all, wolves have four legs and none of them would be effective if they grew together. I'd say if the player can come up with a creative form that would swing a powerful attack (like an anklyosaur, but medium sized) then go to town.

 

[SigmaX0]

Well again, it's more ambiguous than that unfortunately. The druid in beast form doesn't actually hold or swing the implement, they simply continue to gain the benefit of it while in beast form where they would not continue to gain the benefit of a weapon.

Their actual attacks are made by their claws or teeth or whatever they fancy when they turn into beast form.

 

[Phaezen]

From what I can see (and how I play it for my druid) is the druid in beast form continues to gain the benefits of the implement in beast form (implement expertise) but not the weapon benefits.

 

[Mengu]

From what I can see (and how I play it for my druid) is the druid in beast form continues to gain the benefits of the implement in beast form (implement expertise) but not the weapon benefits.

This would be my interpretation as well. So no, the druid is not wielding a quarterstaff in two hands while in beast form.

 

[babinro]

I would say it is all based on the keyword of the power.

If the power has the keyword of implement...all implement bonuses that would apply to a strict caster such as a wizard apply include its related feats.

If the power has weapon, only those related feats and bonuses apply including power attack in this instance.

If the power has both implement and weapon keywords (I don't know if that even exists), you'd likely just to the highest of bonuses/feats to apply rather than stack anything.

 

[Akaiku]

'oh, I was holding that in two hands i humanoid form, therefore give me +1 damage from power attack in beast form'?

Can you power attack with a fireball? All beast form attacks are implement. Also, whilst in beast form, you CAN'T use any attack that isn't a beast form attack. So you can't make a weapon attack in beast from via that.

The question is if they have staff fighting to make it a double weapon, do they get +1 to ac, or +2 to ac and +1 to ref if they have two weapon defense?