Ways to make Wild Shape more time-managable

[LordotheMorning]

Last session I had my problem player scrolling through books for about an hour looking for a small creature with a good flyspeed so he could try to solve a specific puzzle that I had set before the party. He continued doing so even after the rest of the party had moved on and he almost got himself killed do to miscommunication and not realizing that the rest of the party was on a different page. It ended up derailing a good portion of the session, and he was unhappy with everyone else for moving on without him while he was still looking for animals, despite the fact that I've told him twice before that I want him to have a list of animals he was likely to wildshape into at the ready to reduce problems like this and not slow the pace of the game.

The other concern I have is that this campaign is designed to be extremely low magic. One of my primary reasons for doing so was that I wouldn't have to deal with people poring through books for just the right spell to nullify the next encounter. I'm beginning to think that allowing a full wild-shaper was a mistake, because he's still doing that now.

Right now, I'm considering just telling this playing to pick somewhere between 8-12 animal shapes that he wants to use, and simply restrict him to those. I believe this will bring wildshape in line with the heavily limited magic of my campaign, and also completely eliminate any problems with having stats for animals at the ready. Any other things I should consider?

(Before anyone comments on it, restricted magic access has been extremely beneficial to the health of my campaign thus far, and it is not what I am posting to talk about. Keep it to the question of wild-shape please.)

[Fax Celestis]

Replace his wildshape with a more abstract feature, like Shapeshift from PHB-II or Aspect of Nature from UA (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/classFeatureVariants.htm#wildShapeVariantAspectOfN ature)

[HunterOfJello]

Set a time restriction and use a stopwatch. Turns in combat shouldn't last more than 3 minutes tops and out of combat the person should hurry up because everyone else should be moving on.


For quick reference, the d20 index had a list of Wild Shape forms and their minimum accessible level in the creatures pdf. I don't know if that list is still hosted anywhere though.

[eggynack]

I'd just require him to have the stat blocks of anything he wants to use prior to the session in question. If he writes out 8-12 forms, in a manner allowing easy access, that's the amount he gets. If he writes out 20 forms, he gets 20 forms. If he ever wants to use a form that he hasn't written out beforehand, tell him that he'll have to wait till next session. I don't see the point in creating both a numerical and writing restriction at once. In any case, if you do decide to limit the amount of forms he can access, you might want to let it scale. Otherwise, he'll end up with 20 medium forms written out, and have access to huge forms that he just can't use. Offhand, two forms per level should work out, though you can go with pretty much any scaling method.

[Piggy Knowles]

Some time ago I saw a wild shape fix that was based off of the rules for Astral Construct (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/astralConstruct.htm). You would select abilities and stats from various options, and appear as a suitable animal.

So, for example, let's say I was high enough level to take a fourth-level animal shape. That would mean I could become small or medium, and pick one menu B option or two menu A options. If I wanted to become a small-sized flying bird, I could just go ahead and pick Improved Fly for a 40' fly speed off menu B, or I could go for regular Fly off menu A (only a 20' fly speed) and also pick up Deflection off menu A for a slight defensive boost. I could appear as any suitable animal, so I choose to look like an eagle.

Thus it's still insanely flexible, but it's their level of wild shape that dictates what abilities they have access to, rather than the number of Monster Manuals they own. I'll try to dig it up, but it seemed pretty reasonable, and would streamline things a lot in this sort of situation.

[Fax Celestis]

Some time ago I saw a wild shape fix that was based off of the rules for Astral Construct (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/astralConstruct.htm). You would select abilities and stats from various options, and appear as a suitable animal.

So, for example, let's say I was high enough level to take a fourth-level animal shape. That would mean I could become small or medium, and pick one menu B option or two menu A options. If I wanted to become a small-sized flying bird, I could just go ahead and pick Improved Fly for a 40' fly speed off menu B, or I could go for regular Fly off menu A (only a 20' fly speed) and also pick up Deflection off menu A for a slight defensive boost. I could appear as any suitable animal, so I choose to look like an eagle.

Thus it's still insanely flexible, but it's their level of wild shape that dictates what abilities they have access to, rather than the number of Monster Manuals they own. I'll try to dig it up, but it seemed pretty reasonable, and would streamline things a lot in this sort of situation.

This is sort of like a more flexible Aspect of Nature system.

[sleepyphoenixx]

If he wants to use Wild Shape have him look up and write down the stats before the game. If he doesn't have a sheet ready he's out of luck. Holding up the game for hours is just rude. That's the price you pay for the massive versatility of WS.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd just require him to have the stat blocks of anything he wants to use prior to the session in question. If he writes out 8-12 forms, in a manner allowing easy access, that's the amount he gets. If he writes out 20 forms, he gets 20 forms.
This. It's simpler for everyone, and almost more importantly, it sounds a bit more positive than "you can only access [level] different forms, period." It's still a bit of a nerf, but it gives the player the power to set his own limits.


In any case, if you do decide to limit the amount of forms he can access, you might want to let it scale.
Also a good idea. 1 form per Druid level, 1 form per rank of Knowledge (Nature), something to that effect wouldn't hurt.