D&D 5E Would you allow this if you were the DM

[Black_Staff]

I do agree that druid multiclasses make great fodder for npc tribes if you limit the forms they can use. For instance, druid barbarian might be referred to as a Bear Sark. This would be an interesting way to play it. But I feel you would have to have a story that justifies it.

 

[SkidAce]

D&D is not a universal fantasy kitchen sink.

Sure it is, just not in your campaign, which is cool.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Sure it is, just not in your campaign, which is cool.

Certainly, there's always room to add more to your game world. I know that 3E had rules for playing anthropomorphic animals, and it wouldn't be too hard to convert those for 5E.

Of course, an anthropomorphic bear is still not a bear. It has hands, and true bipedalism, among other things. An anthro-bear could become a monk, even if a bear-shaped bear could not. (Nor could a druid/monk turn into an anthro-bear, since it's a humanoid rather than an animal.) It just comes down to what you're trying to model.

Edit: One of the huge selling points for any edition is that it resets the content in the world back to a manageable level. The world of D&D 5E isn't assumed to contain anthro-bears, Goliaths, or even Genasi! At least, not just yet. Since there are only the core books, the world is a much more core-oriented one. It's a refreshing change of pace.

 

[Black_Staff]

Certainly, there's always room to add more to your game world. I know that 3E had rules for playing anthropomorphic animals, and it wouldn't be too hard to convert those for 5E.

Of course, an anthropomorphic bear is still not a bear. It has hands, and true bipedalism, among other things. An anthro-bear could become a monk, even if a bear-shaped bear could not. (Nor could a druid/monk turn into an anthro-bear, since it's a humanoid rather than an animal.)

It just comes down to what you're trying to model.

In dnd terms, you are referring to a werebear. There is a lot of info in the DMG and the MM on this subject. I would not be opposed to working that scenario into my campaign if a player expressed an interest in becoming a werecreature.

 

[Duskdreamer]

I'd totally allow a kung fu panda! It would create a lot of funny moments.

 

[BoldItalic]

You mean, he'd be a...yogi?

View attachment 67311

Smarter 'n the average bear

 

[Kikuras]

Not to further degrade the original discussion (which I find very interesting), but when did pandas become bears again?! Don't you think they should have had a press conference or something to alert all us old folks who were always told they were like a large raccoon?

 

[abelmort]

As far as I know, all beast attacks are melee weapon attacks, not unarmed. However, I would allow the unarmored defense: either normal AC or wis + dex, whichever is higher.

 

[Kikuras]

As for the rules, a natural weapon is something that doesn't quite have any rules to it. What we have is:

Non-Improvised
-Melee Weapons
--Simple
--Martial

-Ranged Weapons
--Simple
--Martial

Improvised Weapon
-Melee
-Ranged

The MM only says that a natural weapon is a weapon, and refers the reader back to the PHB. So the question is, does a natural weapon fall within the classification system I outlined, or do we create a new classification that segregates the natural weapon out? I agree that basing the concept off of the wording of Alter Self is not a great place to start, but at the same time, is there enough text elsewhere in the books to say that a natural weapon isn't classified as a non-improvised simple weapon, be it melee or ranged?

The other question we have to ask ourselves is whether or not we would be having the same discussion if Multiattack were not involved.

I've seen a lot of "it doesn't make sense" arguments, and some "it's not balanced" comments, which are all valid... but there is still a RAW hole that I'd like to see filled. And no, I didn't mean for that to be gross.

 

[Sunseeker]

Unfortunately, I can't seem to come up with a good reason not to allow this. I do agree with an earlier post however, that when shapeshifted, your stats must stay high enough that you remain eligible per the base multiclass requirement, if they dip below that, you lose access to any features from that class. So if you're dipping Monk, that's Dex 13 AND Wis 13, depending on if the player's intent was to break the game or just make an interesting combo, i might tack on for the former that if your wis drops below 13, per the druid requirements, you lose access to those features as well, essentially becoming a level 3 bear.