PHII druid shifter variant experiences

[Piratecat]

Love it, love it, love it. There's no doubt it's a little bit of a power-down from the wildshaping druid, but the bookkeeping reduction is so worth it.

My opinion exactly.

 

[frankthedm]

Very very good nerf. Solves a lot of problems.

No need to constantly explain that wildshaping does not give scent.
No need to flip through the monster manual.
No need to lose hours of wild shape so the druid can talk to the party.
No more needing to be stat-savvy to make good wildshape choices
No more Natural spell shenanigans.
No more gnome druids getting to hide their STR penalty.
Monstrous druids STAY monstrous.

I really like it because the Druid no longer has to wait for the fun. 5th level can be a long ways off when starting at 1st. Being able to unleash the furry fury with a half orc druid at first level IMHO more than makes up for the hit in power the gnome druid now suffers in the early to mid teens. I was going to play a half orc Shifter Druid/Barbarian in a gestalt game, though since someone else went Shifter Druid/Ranger I took up the classic Elf Fighter/Wizard.

 

[atomn]

I'm playing a PHB Druid who just levelled to get Wildshape. One thing that seemed neat would be the strategic use of some of the extraordinary Special Attacks that the different forms have. Do the Shifter Variant players miss that sort of thing or is the easier bookkeeping worth not getting a boar's Ferocity?

 

[frankthedm]

I'm playing a PHB Druid who just levelled to get Wildshape. One thing that seemed neat would be the strategic use of some of the extraordinary Special Attacks that the different forms have.

The many stratigic [ab]uses of wildshape lead to the creation of the shifter varient.

Do the Shifter Variant players miss that sort of thing or is the easier bookkeeping worth not getting a boar's Ferocity?

Many folks have to spend 2 feats to get a weaker version of that called Die Hard.

 

[F5]

I like the sound of it, and I'll second the opinion that this could be a nice final resting place for the poor, tortured Polymorph spell. I haven't actually seen the variant, though.

Could anybody post some more specifics on how it works? Instead of replacing the Druid's stats with an animal's stats, it gives a specific set of stat bonuses, and the Druid can say the shifted form looks like whatever they want it to? Do the bonuses granted ever change? Can it ever grant abilities like Flight, Swim, Constrict, Etc?

 

[frankthedm]

I like the sound of it, and I'll second the opinion that this could be a nice final resting place for the poor, tortured Polymorph spell. I haven't actually seen the variant, though.

Could anybody post some more specifics on how it works? Instead of replacing the Druid's stats with an animal's stats, it gives a specific set of stat bonuses, and the Druid can say the shifted form looks like whatever they want it to? Do the bonuses granted ever change? Can it ever grant abilities like Flight, Swim, Constrict, Etc?

New forms are gained over levels. Most forms get a upgrade a few levels later. A form at 5th level gains flight. No form gives swim, so no skimping on the swim skill. Constrict? hell no. This varient was to stop players from easily getting monster only abilities.

PHB2 has a few spells designed to replace Arcane polymorphs. Trollshapeat 4th and Dragonshape at 9th. Trollshape is swift, actually gives regeneration and 30 bonus HP. Now it ends when you get KO'ed, but since most of the damage you will take is subdual, you can mix it up in melee and get healed pretty damned quick after the fight. I think Trollshape is the New Tenser's Transformation.

 

[Agamon]

One of my players recently wanted be a druid. I told him to have a look at the varients in the PHBII. I'm glad he liked it as much as I did. I have a funny feeling the core druid is about to become the variant in my games...

 

[Enkhidu]

New forms are gained over levels. Most forms get a upgrade a few levels later. A form at 5th level gains flight. No form gives swim, so no skimping on the swim skill. Constrict? hell no. This varient was to stop players from easily getting monster only abilities...

I wouldn't mind a permanent swap out of the aerial form for a aquatic form, or even for a constricting form. But it would have to a a permanent fix from the first level the form is available.

EDIT: As an aside, I played a couple sessions as a half-orc druid that turned out to be a combat monster - however I found that a lot of the power of the build came from Nature's Warrior. Making the (seemingly obvious) change to allow Nature's Warrior to work with the new shapechange in the same way it would wildshape ended up granting some powerful bonuses when in Slayer form. In the end, the druid ended up being a better damage dealer than the front line fighter, an AC that rivaled the best in the party, better mobility, etc. Throw in spells on top of the build and it looks like the druid had lost very little "oomph."

 

[Wrathamon]

I play a Gnoll Druid (shapeshifter) warshaper and it is very effective with spring attack since I only get one bite attack.

I would recommend feats that give waterbreathing and a swim speed and constriction to enchance the druid forms.

 

[fafhrd]

I would recommend feats that give waterbreathing and a swim speed and constriction to enchance the druid forms.

Spells like water breathing and swim can handle those events well enough.