Monstrous Druid AC...

[Ruvion]

Do i have this right:
one of my party is a 12th level druid (+1 level of warshaper from the Complete Warrior) that has 'wild' wood armor (crafted to be like a plate mail) and 'wild' tower shield (has the feat). He has enhanced both armor and shield with +2/+5 enhancement bonus respectively. It's as the following:

dire bear's AC: +1 Dex, -1 size, +7 natural = 7
barkskin: +5 natural armor (added) = 5
wild plate and tower shield (/w ironwood spell): +10 armor, +9 armor = 19

total: 10 + 7 + 19 + 5 = 41 AC (36 without barkskin)

apparently he also has going for him another spell from Complete Divine that boosts his AC even higher than he would with barkskin (tortoise something). He believes also that ring of deflection stacks, but since it is melded in when wildshaping I pointed it out that it wouldn't (right? correct me if i'm wrong).

my preconceived notion that the druid was sorely lacking in the AC department was sorely disabused with this build. of course i have find it weird that a direbear shaped creature can tank as well as if not better than a fighter equipped with tower shield and wearing plate...nevermind that this bear benefits from a tower shield...how does that work (or look): is the bear going "talk to the hand...err paw!"

and does it also mean that the druid gains cover (which 'wild' property does not explicitly mention so I would guess no) from a tower shield? Can't he not attack with that paw (the paw holding the tower shield), because the description of tower shield says one cannot use the hand equiped with the tower shield for any purposes including bashing?!

so many interesting questions!

 

[Diirk]

Er, thats a 64, 000 gp shield, and 25,000 gp armour. For that price, it better be giving him decent protection ! And tortoise shell doesn't stack with barkskin, its basically just an upgraded barkskin that also slows your movement like heavy armour does (so his 40ft bear speed would be 30? 25? I forget).

I'm not sure I'd let him use his 2nd paw with a wild shield, but on the other hand its not really spelled out in the rules one way or the other. He definately wouldn't get any cover bonuses from his shield tho.

 

[Jdvn1]

Does Barkskin say it increases natural armor or it grants natural armor? Natural armor bonuses don't stack. And... I didn't know a tower shield could be used that way (especially since it's not acting as a shielf if it's absorbed in your body). But that is a lot of money he dropped on two +4 items. 16,000 gp each, about? He must not be good for much else.

 

[Ruvion]

Diirk: I was aware of the non-stackable nature of tortoise shell spell with barkskin but since it is an improvement on barkskin (wasn't aware of the speed reduction however)...it does not help the others catch up the druid in the AC race...heh

Jdvn1: wild property is a +3 armor/shield property so Diirk's pricing is right on the money.

a tower shield wielding plate mail wearing bear (well the armor is not visible per wild property...where does that leave the shield i wonder?)...it hurts the sensibilties don't you think?

 

[Asmo]

Does the druid have the feat for carrying a full plate, since the druid can only wear light and medium armor?
Or I´m missing something here?

Asmo

 

[Thanee]

Yep, shield and wild property doesn't mix well "logic"wise.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Majere]

Not to be a rules lawyer but:
"Wild: The wearer of a suit of armor or a shield with this ability preserves his armor bonus (and any enhancement bonus) while in a wild shape. Armor and shields with this ability usually appear to be made covered in leaf patterns. While the wearer is in a wild shape, the armor cannot be seen."

As far as I understood shields dont give an armor bonus, they give a shield bonus. So only the shield enhancement bonus would work in the wildshape
Also the rules imply that the shield still can be seen, therefore the "paw" must be in use and therefore not available for attacks.
I would NOT go down the line of "It says hand and this is a paw", because otherwise your PC's should start meeting alot of towershield wielding deamons/devils/xavarts etc.. all of which have claws not hands. This would be rules lawyering at its worse (even worse than the above example) and one which will bite the PC's in the ass because there are far more monsters that dont have "hands" than NPCs. Its also open to abuse by, for instance, a PC fighter who cuts off his hand, and replaces it with a hook. Now the player has a hook not a hand, can he use the tower shield limb to attack ?
Clearly not.

Though to be honest, I personaly dont like the image of a bear using a shield and so I wouldnt allow this but that is a house rule.
Other than that, yeah sure it looks shiney, but the druid doesnt have the BAB or feats of a fighter so I wouldnt be too worried. To be honest if the party is losing a good spell caster for a half-cocked fighter then thats not really over powered.

Majere

 

[shilsen]

Considering he spent 89,000 gp of the baseline 110,000 gp a 13th lvl character should get, it looks just fine to me. By the way, I hope you noticed that his touch AC is a whopping 10

 

[Voodoo]

As far as I understood shields dont give an armor bonus, they give a shield bonus. So only the shield enhancement bonus would work in the wildshape

Though the above might just be a hang over form the 3.0 version when armour and shield both gave 'armour' bonus's. (Lets face it WoTC could do with a good proof reader) I'd personally allow the shield to grant its shield bonus with its enhancement bonus, though not anyother property of the shield, like its ability to grant cover or if it was later enchanted with light light fortification for example.

As to how this 'works' i'd say that the shield is merged with the body of the bear and forms another layer of protection under the skin, either that or i'd try not to think about it too much and just say 'it's magic'.

 

[Ruvion]

Well, I guess I can be a rule stickler use Majere's advice and say shield bonuses to AC and shield properties do not apply...i just don't see dire bears with tower shields or bucklers enhanced with heavy fortification running around. Maybe it's just me. Heh.