TheThan
2006-08-10, 10:40 PM
Most people agree that Druids are far more powerful than they should be, so many people have taken steps to keep them from getting out of control. Many people also say that polymorph is broken due to its vague rules. Below I present my house rules concerning wild shape/polymorph and alters self. Please feel free to comment and criticize them (constructive criticism)
wild shape
The druid’s wild shape ability is restricted to five different animals the druid is familiar with. The player can choose five animals he can wild shape into. These creatures can be of any size but he doesn’t get to wild shape into small, large or huge creatures until he reaches the appropriate level.
For example
1. leopard
2. dire bear
3. shark
4. hawk
5. dire rat
The druid can wild shape into the leopard and the shark at 5th level, he can turn into a dire bear at 8th level. At 11th level he can turn into a hawk or dire rat. But he can’t turn into any huge sized animals (T Rex anyone) because he has not chosen any as a familiar animal. Consider these animals he is intimately familiar with. He might have grown up around them or kept them as pets. This give the player plenty of options for his wild shape form but also restricts him to only five shapes. Which helps reign in the power of the druid.
Polymorph
Upon acquiring the polymorph spell a wizard or sorcerer may choose five different creatures of the following types; aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, plant, or vermin. A spell caster may also choose the target’s own type. The spell otherwise function just like the standard polymorph spell.
If polymorph is learned through a scroll or cast from a scroll, the creatures that the target transforms into is chosen by the DM, which is free to us any sort of discretion he deems appropriate.
Baleful polymorph
Follow the same rules for the polymorph spell given above
wild shape
The druid’s wild shape ability is restricted to five different animals the druid is familiar with. The player can choose five animals he can wild shape into. These creatures can be of any size but he doesn’t get to wild shape into small, large or huge creatures until he reaches the appropriate level.
For example
1. leopard
2. dire bear
3. shark
4. hawk
5. dire rat
The druid can wild shape into the leopard and the shark at 5th level, he can turn into a dire bear at 8th level. At 11th level he can turn into a hawk or dire rat. But he can’t turn into any huge sized animals (T Rex anyone) because he has not chosen any as a familiar animal. Consider these animals he is intimately familiar with. He might have grown up around them or kept them as pets. This give the player plenty of options for his wild shape form but also restricts him to only five shapes. Which helps reign in the power of the druid.
Polymorph
Upon acquiring the polymorph spell a wizard or sorcerer may choose five different creatures of the following types; aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, plant, or vermin. A spell caster may also choose the target’s own type. The spell otherwise function just like the standard polymorph spell.
If polymorph is learned through a scroll or cast from a scroll, the creatures that the target transforms into is chosen by the DM, which is free to us any sort of discretion he deems appropriate.
Baleful polymorph
Follow the same rules for the polymorph spell given above