Grillons Blessing

[Leencalron]

I'm currently DMing a campaign and our druid 7 came to me after as session and expressed concerns that he was not a very powerful caster compared to our Warmage 7. We then opened up the spell compendium (SC) and looked through his options and found the spell Grillons blessing (106 SC) which seemed to open up a can of worms. So here's a few questions about the spell itself and natural wildshape. I have never played or had a player actualy pick a druid so I'm very unfamiliar with the mechanics of wildshape even after reading some FAQ's on the web.

1) does a shifted druid with wild shape still have access to material components for the spell if their shifted.

2) Are the claw attacks granted by Grillons blessing primary or secondary, the books states 1d4+str which seems to indicate primary

3) Shifting into leopard form I ruled the player would gain 2 more claw attacks at 1d4 and the old claws become 1d4 but was unsure if they would be able to qualify for 4 rake attacks since they now had 4 claws.

4) Does Thornskin (219 SC) add a 1d6 to the leopards claws?

I'm rather concerned because in leopard form with the above spells and bulls strength the math says the druid will do 4 1d4+1d6+5 claw attacks, 2d6+5 bite and possible 4 rakes -on a charge of 80ft- from pounce. This seems a bit high for a druid 7. Am I getting a few rules wrong or is wild shape with buffs really this powerful?

[Darrin]

I'm currently DMing a campaign and our druid 7 came to me after as session and expressed concerns that he was not a very powerful caster compared to our Warmage 7.


Sounds like a "You're doing it wrong" problem. Some of my standard advice on spell selection for druidzillas (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12183941&postcount=4).



1) does a shifted druid with wild shape still have access to material components for the spell if their shifted.


If the druid took the Natural Spell feat, yes he does. Otherwise, probably not. Your equipment is either "melded" and thus not available, or you can drop your spell component pouch first, shift, then "wear" the pouch on your new form... which probably doesn't have arms/hands. However, I tend to ignore any material components under 100 GP. I've got more interesting things to do with our limited playing time than browbeat my players over spell components.



2) Are the claw attacks granted by Grillons blessing primary or secondary, the books states 1d4+str which seems to indicate primary


Claws = four primary attacks, but per the Rules Compendium, any primary natural attack can become a secondary attack. However, there is a restriction about not being able to use manufactured weapons + claws.



3) Shifting into leopard form I ruled the player would gain 2 more claw attacks at 1d4 and the old claws become 1d4 but was unsure if they would be able to qualify for 4 rake attacks since they now had 4 claws.


The rake from girallon's blessing triggers whenever 2 or more claws hit on the same turn. That damage is only applied once per turn, once the triggering conditions are met.

The Rake (Ex) ability from the Leapord stats only triggers during a grapple... and I think only when you use the "attack your opponent" option from the Grapple rules. You can attack once with a natural weapon at a -4 penalty, and then you get two rake attacks with a +6 BAB (and I have no idea if the -4 penalty still applies). These two rake attacks are the "hind" claws on the leapord's back legs. I don't see how girallon's blessing would affect those in any adverse way.

The rules for Rake are really wonky and never adequately explained. It doesn't help that the designers apparently changed their mind on how it worked after the MM was printed.



4) Does Thornskin (219 SC) add a 1d6 to the leopards claws?


No. Thornskin adds +1d6 piercing damage to your unarmed strike, which is a natural weapon (well... sorta) but distinctly different from claws. A druid in leopard form could use unarmed strikes as his iterative attacks and then add all his secondary natural attacks with a -5 penalty, but only his unarmed strikes would get the +1d6 piercing damage.

If you want to add +1d6 damage to your claw attacks, you can use produce flame with the "holding a charge" rules to add +1d6 fire damage to a natural attack (each successful hit reduces the duration by 1).



I'm rather concerned because in leopard form with the above spells and bulls strength the math says the druid will do 4 1d4+1d6+5 claw attacks, 2d6+5 bite and possible 4 rakes -on a charge of 80ft- from pounce. This seems a bit high for a druid 7. Am I getting a few rules wrong or is wild shape with buffs really this powerful?

If you think that's bad, try a Fleshraker + venomfire spell.

A druid who chooses to attack in an animal form is actually probably nerfing himself. They can do considerably more pwnage just by casting spells. Wildshape allows them to do it while flying/swimming/burrowing, gives them some better natural armor, and discourages enemies from getting close enough to grapple.

"More damage" is not nearly as overpowered as most people seem to think it is (particularly when the DM gets to pick how many HP his monsters get). The real game-breakers are battle-field-control, save-or-lose effects, and no-save effects where the other side loses the battle before you even have time to roll for damage. So if the druid is ripping through your encounters by wildshaping into a leopard, just throw in a few more chew-toys to keep him busy in melee for a couple of rounds, and just be glad he's not trying to break your planet in half.