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Message: <blockquote data-quote="satori01" data-source="post: 2059502" data-attributes="member: 7859">Summoned Monsters  do not actually die when killed during a summoning.  As flavor I have ruled that when summoned via a spell, the creature summoned is actually asleep and dreams the encounter.  Thus when you see that dire bear asleep and leg twitching and "chasing rabbits", it might actually be summoned and fighting.Having DM'd a Druid for a year now, the class is not that uber.  Wildshape is a very open ended power, that an inventive player can use to good effect.  As a DM I find that very intresting. Having a player cast water breath on the party and then wildshape into a baleen whale and swallow the party and swim them across a watery obstacle is cool in my book.Animal Companions can get slaughtered very quickly and what I find is most druids spend at least a part of their monies making items or buy armor for their Animal Companions as much as themselves.  Wildshape can signifigantly hurt a druid in the AC department.  Untill one gets armor with the wild quality, ones AC will routinely drop 5 points or so.  Being an animal with 16 AC at 8th level is just not going to cut it, no matter how much damage one might do.The great balancing factor for Druids, is while Druids are versatile, there is only so much one can do in one round.  If an average combat lasts 4-6 rounds and it is going to take you 3 rounds to turn yourself into the ultimate fighting champion, by the time the druid unleashes his bad a$$ self, either the mob will be close to dead, or his companions will and he will have to scrap the idea for the wand of cure X wounds he or she has as auxillary or primary healer.Awaken will be the bane of any DMs exsitance however.  First the druid player will want to awaken their animal companion.  Now you have to decide does the companion become a cohort or remain an animal companion or does it become both.  Then you have to decide does it get advance in character levels or receive Animal companion abilities or both, ad infinitum ad naeusum.The druid in my campaign has used the Awaken spell to make a cadre of intelligent trees, shrubs, rats and pidgeons.  I play in a centralized gigantic city, and she uses these Awakened friends to act as an information gathering network.It has proven exceptionaly effective, even with me trying to drive her insane with the Trees and rats unusual requests or mal adjustment to their enlightened state.All in all a blast, a very fun character to DM for, if you are willing to role with the punches.</blockquote>

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