Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 6005404" data-attributes="member: 50987">I disagree.  Druids in the BECM edition of the game were exactly what you describe--clerics with different spell lists--and they were incredibly fun to play.  They didn't suffer for lack of flavor or identity...in fact, I thought they were one of the most nuanced and colorful character classes available.Again, I disagree.  I think the barbarian and ranger are even better choices for wildshaping characters.  Changing into an animal in combat makes me think of the "totem" warriors of the North American tribes, who called upon the spirits of animals to imbue them with strength and prowess on the battlefield.  The Druid's schtik seems to be more of a spiritual, earthy-magicky character to me...not necessarily a feral combat specialist.Unless it works differently, and druids do not actually turn into the animals they emulate.  For battlefield wildshape, I would much prefer the druid to be imbued with the spirit of the animals instead, and keep their own forms.  Something along these lines:[SBLOCK="Warning - Large Images Inside"]<img src="http://blog.buymorecards.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/11.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://www.wizards.com/mtg/images/daily/ftl/ftl94_boar.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://howardlyon.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/magic-the-gathering/eland-totemic.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://howardlyon.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/magic-the-gathering/hyena-totemic.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://www.fanfare-se.com/Images/Category_2/subcat_266/MoellerMTGRiseOfTheEldraziSnakeUmbraN.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><img src="http://howardlyon.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/magic-the-gathering/bear-totemic.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />[/SBLOCK]Actually turning into an animal can be problematic for your gear, your size category, your ability to communicate with your companions, your ability to drink a potion or cast other spells while in animal form, and so forth...but if it were to work like these Umbra here, it would prevent a lot of that mess.  You get all of the combat prowess of the animal, without any of the mess.Don't get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with wildshaping druids.  I like them a lot.  I will be very sad if druids can't turn into animals, whether it be on or off the battlefield.  And I don't want wildshape to be the new iconic ability for rangers or barbarians; it would just be a nice option for them.  (As a spell, you could brew up a few potions of wildshape and hand them to the barbarian.)</blockquote>

Verification