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Message: <blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 7587520" data-attributes="member: 6704184">Backstory, for anyone who hasn't messed around with Monk/Druids. Mechanically, it's very good. A level 2 Moon Druid can turn into a Brown Bear or a Lion, and retains all class and race features, so long as their new form can physically do them. A Monk with Wildshape can use all of their unarmed stuff, Unarmored Defense, Unarmored Movement, Deflect Missiles (minus the redirect missile part in most forms), Evasion, Stunning Strike, etc, all work just fine in animal form. On the Other Hand, the Monk isn't gaining anything that other subclasses don't gain from Wildshape itself. It's situational damage boosts, durability boosts, and utility stuff like being small enough to get into places others can't or move super fast, etc. Now, if it costs Ki to use Wild Shape, there is a little more room to play with, here. Gotta be careful with the cost of it, lest we make another Four Elements Monk. I'd look more to the Shadow Monk and the Sun Soul monk in terms of balancing cost. It should have something that is added value, as well as new things to do with ki. I think that gaining a roughly 1/4 monk level CR beast form 2/rest at the cost of 1 ki, and Alter Self at 1 ki, is probably good? That feels equal, to me, with what the Shadow Monk gets at level 3, or what the Sun Soul monk gets. I'd add the vine whip idea as a special use of ALter Self, or something you can do when you use Flurry of Blows, essentially equal to gaining a cantrip. I'd be fine with starting at 1/2 CR at level 3, and then switching to 1/4 your monk level, rounded down, starting at level 6, and the ability to cast Enlarge/Reduce on yourself for 2 ki?  Maybe the lvl 11 ability is Alter Self while in Animal Form? level 17 is hit or miss with monk subclasses, so I'm just going to ignore any subclass with a bunk endcap, tbh. We're talking a balance range from Shadow to Open Hand. Some cool Fey forms? No more 2/rest limit? I'd also be fine with less powerful wildshape, and instead have more druid spells, especially ones that aren't really making the monk more powerful, like Magic Stone. Definately not Shillelegh, bc a straight Wis/Con monk is powerful enough that adding it on top of a bear monk is too much. But spells like magic stone, alter self, enlarge/reduce, jump, longstrider, enhance ability, and classics like spike growth and entangle, which are fun, but come with the trade off of not being able to cast them AND make unarmed strikes. Some would come online at a later level than one might expect, like if Haste is on the table, it should be later tier than speak with plants, for instance. Either way, Guardian of Nature would be a great spell for the subclass in the end tier.</blockquote>

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