PHBII : Druid shifting varient

[silverwolfer]

HAd a friend ask me if i knew any feats or abiltys for it. I just came up with the wild clasp, and maybe a necklace of natural armor, and maybe natures warrior prc, anyone have thoughts on such?

[Kelb_Panthera]

The variant is generally considered pretty sub-par by optimizers. I don't think wilding clasps work, since it's not wild-shape. The amulet of NA would get folded into the new form too. AFAIK, it's pretty close to impossible to expand on this particular variant.

[silverwolfer]

The variant is generally considered pretty sub-par by optimizers. I don't think wilding clasps work, since it's not wild-shape. The amulet of NA would get folded into the new form too. AFAIK, it's pretty close to impossible to expand on this particular variant.



aww sorry, forgot to add the dm is waving his magic wand and counting it as such, he suggested natures warrior I believe also

[GenghisDon]

It seemed obvious to me that the shifting variant was simply to nerf druids into "playability" again. Yeah, they pretty much made it up as a thumb in optimiser's eyes (which they often need).

Regardless, any of the stuff that created the wild shape problems in the first place like feats, clasps, whatever, certainly COULD be allowed by any DM to work in (bull****) form, although personally I think they are then just missing the point.

I can't say I care for the shifting variant at all...or rather: loathe it.

Keeping druid's from getting out of hand can be done pretty easily via feat bans (natural spell, ect) or item bans, ect.

[eggs]

Surrogate Spellcasting from Savage species allows the Druid to keep casting.
Aspect of the X spells, Animal Shapes and Shapechange allow the druid to keep replacing its physical stats, before adding Shapeshifting stat bonuses. Dipping into a Wild Shape PrC also works (Shapeshifter is notable for its character-level-based shape caps).
Both completely miss the point of the nerf.

And there are a couple homebrew (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74362) PrCs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74521) floating around. They might be useful.

But generally speaking, Shapeshift Druids don't have a whole lot going for them in melee, so investing resources to put them in that position isn't usually a great call.

[Igneel]

As to be expected of Variants, there isn't alot of complimentary material to go for it, as most material for Druids of course assume you have Wildshaping. But if your Dm is allowing the Clasps and certain PrCs to count your Shapeshifting ability as Wildshaping might as well see if the ones that progress your 'druid level' for allowed forms might go as well.

One homebrew thread I like to use is the New Form Feats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78186) as they give you a bit more flexibility. Most notably of course being the Swarm form :smallwink:

Despite it not being as OP as a normal Druid, its quite useful in campaigns like the Largest Dungeon where you have little to not time to rest and restore your uses of Wildshape. I'm currently playing in a game like that as a 14th lvl Druid and have little to no problems with it despite my Dm isn't giving me as much leeway as you are getting.