Items for a 9th level Druid?

[Quidam]

I've got a druid that's entering play at 9th level- an NPC going PC as our game picks up a player.

He just got 5th level spells, so I'm picturing his moment of glory involving wild-shaping into a Deinonychus- matching his animal companion- summoning another couple, and then casting Animal Growth. Pouncy goodness.

I've got feats picked out- the chain to karmic strike + combat reflexes & natural spell. There are no lack of 'wow' spells on the druid list.

But what about items? If his shining moments are going to be in an alternate form, where does his gold go? What can he benefit from in alternate forms? I was considering magic tattoos- are there any core rules regarding them? Or close to core?

Are there other items that could be useful in wild shape?

Any other tips for a 9th level druid are more than welcome. For example- I just realized recently that faerie fire give no save and requires to roll. All of a sudden all those foggy cloud spells look much more enticing.

And you can pick the color!

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

It depends how your DM interprets the wildshape/polymorph rules with respect to magic items.

My personal opinion is that if the DM allows "almost all" magic items to be working/available while wildshaped, wildshaping becomes too powerful -- the classic example is highly minmaxed Dire Ape sometimes mentioned on this board. Likewise wildshaping is too weak if you have the benefit of "almost zero" of your items -- consider how lousy your AC and saves will be.

 

[shilsen]

What Ridley's Cohort said. The "Playing the Game" articles have almost every kind of magic item remain usable in wildshape, which pushes a powerful ability way over the top.

You can use the Wilding Clasp magic item from MotW, which would allow an amulet, vest or similar item to remain usable in wildshape form.

 

[Quidam]

what works and what doesn't

Wilding Clasp is just the sort of suggestion I was looking for, but I didn't see anything like that in the Complete Divine. Is that an indication of the 'pretty much all of it works' mindset WotC has on wildshape?

I'm the DM in question, so I make the call- and it sounds like it's somewhere in between the 'nearly all' and 'nearly none' views. I suppose I'll let everything work unless there's an obvious reason why not- boots on a snake, for example. A bipedal dinosaur could wear, for example, rings, but boots might be stretching it- as would shirts & whatnot.

Where do you other DM's draw the line? Is there more info in the article you refer to that might help me judge this fairly?

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I have a 4th level Druid, so we are going to try this stuff out soon enough. I have chatted with the DM and he basically agrees with me. We will attempt to split the difference of the extremes.

The tact we are going to take is that everything meld's into the wildshaped form, but I will only gain benefits from "continuous" magical effects. So, yes, to Resistance, Enhancement, Deflection, Insight, Luck, many Competence, etc. No to armor, weapons, scrolls, wands, potions, anything that require's an action to activate, etc. (Of course, an explicitly "Wilding" item would be an exception, but those would be very rare. And I can drink a potion or use an item in my normal form, then wildshape.)

On one hand I am getting some reasonable latitude to minmax, and I can get my AC, stats, and saves up to healthy values. OTOH I am stuck with all the boring stuff, much of which I could cast on myself if I really wanted it (e.g. Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Londstrider, Spider Climb, etc.). It is doubtful that any character in the party will craft a non-scroll magic item, so the DM will have a lot of control (if necessary).

I think this is both fair and very playable. We would both want to avoid the headache of form specific haggling. ("If I am in Ape form, I can use X & Y & Z. But if in Bear form I only get Y & Z. Y only in Octopus form. Z only as a Snake." Blech!)

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Out of curiousity, why the dinosaur form? Lion and tiger forms also have pounce (although for tiger I think you have to scale down the damage because you don't get its Improved Natural Attack feat). Dire Ape is also great with Animal Growth - reach out (15') and rend someone.

As to what items stay... you could take Craft Misc. Item and add a bunch of features to a collar. Maybe some sort of "Collar of Speech, +2 Wis, +2 Nat. Armor, +2 Con, Greater Magic Fang 2/day." That would seem reasonable. Sure, it costs twice as much to add features to an existing item, but you get the 50% discount for making it yourself, so it's a wash. I think my druid might go that route.

Another guideline is "what items would the DM let a dragon use"? If the DM would let a dragon wear a ring, then many animal forms should likewise be able to wear a ring.

 

[Quidam]

why a dino?

The first reason I chose a deinonychus as his primary wildshape (and as his animal companion) was because the party had already encountered some that had been tamed by the baddies. The pounce is nice- but so are all those racial skill bonuses. "A deinonychus has a +8 racial bonus on Hide, Jump, Listen, Spot, and Survival checks." There's also the +5 NA, the speed of 50 and the extra natural weapon.

But as this is an NPC which is about to pass into the hands of a player, I've no doubt other forms will be used to great effect.

Insofar as that collar you mention, BM- I, as a DM, would set a mighty high price for something so crunchy. I'd rather see the character use tattoos or ioun stones or rule wildshaped items the way RC suggests than start going down that road.

I like the method you outline, RC, and will likely use that myself. I'm curious to hear how other DM's have ruled this issue and how they've felt it effects class balance with the druid.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Insofar as that collar you mention, BM- I, as a DM, would set a mighty high price for something so crunchy. I'd rather see the character use tattoos or ioun stones or rule wildshaped items the way RC suggests than start going down that road.

*shrug* your call. But I think it has a nice mythic flavor. A few magic items with multiple powers rather than many with one power each. If the issue is "crunch," give them a more thematic unity. For example, the Collar of Dragonform might bestow some of the benefits of the half-dragon template on a wildshape form, giving numerous bonuses at once. Or the Torc of the Cloud Elk might give Air Walk 2/day, +10 ft speed, and +2 Dex.

As to the price, the DMG says "double cost to add unrelated powers to an existing item" so that's what I was going by. Halve the cost if you're making it yourself means you break even (at the cost of the feat and the XP). I'd certainly pay the cost for the coolness of having a few unique multi-function items rather than a collection of by-the-book things. Though I've done magic tattoos before, and it does seem to fit the druid concept.