How exactly does wildshape work?

[JanusofZeal]

I'm DMing a game in which there is a druid level 5 with 1 level of master of many forms and the extra wild shape feat.

As far as I can tell, he should have 4 wild shapes per day, but he claims he gets 6.

Also he claims that he heals when entering and leaving a shape, since the rules say 'each time you use wild shape, heal...' but I can't find any evidence that it actually heals you twice.

Also he claims that going in and coming out both allow him to move 5 feet, not subject to AoO, which I actually can't find anything that would suggest that.

I knew wild shape had errata changing the healing to as a night and not giving any temp health, so that wasn't an issue.

Am I missing something here?

[kardar233]

I'm DMing a game in which there is a druid level 5 with 1 level of master of many forms and the extra wild shape feat.

As far as I can tell, he should have 4 wild shapes per day, but he claims he gets 6.

Also he claims that he heals when entering and leaving a shape, since the rules say 'each time you use wild shape, heal...' but I can't find any evidence that it actually heals you twice.

Also he claims that going in and coming out both allow him to move 5 feet, not subject to AoO, which I actually can't find anything that would suggest that.

I knew wild shape had errata changing the healing to as a night and not giving any temp health, so that wasn't an issue.

Am I missing something here?

I can't see why he would think he would get 6 wild shapes per day; I can only account for four: one from Druid, one from MoMF1, and two from Extra Wild Shape.

I don't know the answer to the healing question, but FYI, the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/) is fully up-to-date with errata.

The only way I could see Wild Shape getting you movement is if you are shaping into a creature that's larger than you are, in which case you could effectively gain movement by shaping into the square you want to be in.

[Sir Pippin Boyd]

druid level 5 with 1 level of master of many forms and the extra wild shape feat.

As far as I can tell, he should have 4 wild shapes per day, but he claims he gets 6.

This could be an innocent math error. Some feats that grant extra uses of a class ability, such as extra turning, grant 4 more uses, while Extra Wild Shape grants 2. The correct number for the build you described is 4 uses per day.



Also he claims that he heals when entering and leaving a shape, since the rules say 'each time you use wild shape, heal...' but I can't find any evidence that it actually heals you twice.
It doesn't heal you twice. He is only activating the ability when he takes the form of an animal, letting its duration expire or ending it early is not considered a 'use'. If it did, it would require one of his four daily uses to do so, and reminding him of this might make him less argumentative on the matter.


Also he claims that going in and coming out both allow him to move 5 feet, not subject to AoO, which I actually can't find anything that would suggest that.
A druid does not get free movement as part of the action used to assume wild shape.



Am I missing something here?
If your player is extremely knowledgeable on game rules, he might be trying to play you. If he isn't extremely knowledgeable, I would politely encourage him to read the players handbook to potentially resolve a host of other rules misunderstandings he may have if he has so many misconceptions about wild shape.

[JanusofZeal]

Thank you very much, both of you.

[hymer]

As far as I can tell, he should have 4 wild shapes per day, but he claims he gets 6.

Break it down, ask him to break it down, and then compare notes. Where is the mistake? I think you'll find that you're right, but lending your ear is part of the DM's job description.


Also he claims that he heals when entering and leaving a shape, since the rules say 'each time you use wild shape, heal...' but I can't find any evidence that it actually heals you twice.

He only has so many wild shapes per day. If leaving wild shape heals him, then it also uses up a wild shape, since it's 'each time you use it'. That bit of sophistry aside, you're right.


Also he claims that going in and coming out both allow him to move 5 feet, not subject to AoO, which I actually can't find anything that would suggest that.

It would be up to him to find the ruling and present it to you (he won't, by the way, as there's no such rule). You can't be expected to look through numerous books to find a negative. It's the one saying 'this is a rule' who should find the rule and show it.
He does still have his five-foot step.


Am I missing something here?

I don't think you are. :smallsmile: But keep an eye on that player. Some people make an astonishing amount of mistakes that tend to greatly benefit them, while almost none that disadvantages them.

Edit: Swordsaged.

[Rejusu]

One other possible explanation is that they believe the two additional uses of wild shape from the feat apply to both their normal druid wild shape and the improved wild shape from MomF. It doesn't work like that though, they're the same ability with a shared pool of uses, EWS only adds to that once.

Best bet is to sit down with your player and the rulebooks and tell him he can continue doing these things if they can show you where in the rules it says that he can. The healing might be a bit of contention but just explain that entering and leaving wild shape is considered a single use, not two.

I sometimes overlook mistakes by players that benefit them. But often that's because they've chosen to play something silly like samurai. Your player is playing a druid, he doesn't need any extra benefits.