Druid Guide & Discussion [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

hymer

2014-09-05, 02:28 PM

@ Cyberthread: Thanks! I’ve put drow on top of my to-do list (and I’ve made a to-do list!). :smallwink:

@ Grynning: You definitely get some fun spells there. May your fun never cease. :smallbiggrin:

@ Demonic Spoon: How many saves do you make out of combat?
I guess if you’re into casting offensive concentration spells, you may find a buff round to cast Resistance, or when you’re hanging back as Grynning says. Even so, once you want to open up your good spells, the Resistance effect goes. I guess it can be argued to be red rather than a big red rating, it is after all merely a cantrip.
As for how many concentration spells, I'm not sure. There are, what, 120 druid spells? Off the top of my head, Entangle, Faerie Fire and Fog Cloud are concentration at level 1, Barkskin, Heat Metal and Hold Person at level 2.

CyberThread

2014-09-05, 09:29 PM

hymer

2014-09-06, 08:26 AM

Hmm Drow

+2 Dex +1 Cha
proficiency in perception skill
advantage on charm and immunity sleep
120 dark vision
Farie fire, darkness, and dancing lights.

Rapiers , shortswords, and hand crossbows weapons the druid don't have access to.

Hmm....doesn't offer as much as the other races obviously could, more aligned for the

Yeah, the main thing reason to pick drow (or mountain dwarf for that matter) could be to give a reason to get Underdark as a Land druid. Anyway, dark elf is added to the guide. :smallsmile:

Person_Man

2014-09-12, 09:27 AM

My 2cp:

Although Variant Human would be my first choice of race for any Druid, Gnome is worth considering as well. Although +2 Int is basically worthless, Advantage vs. magic Int/Wis/Cha Saves combined with your Int/Wis Save proficiency and high Wis basically makes you 95%ish likely to pass the Saves of the most powerful spells (Hold Person, Dominate, Command, etc). When combined with the "onion druid" hit point mechanic, it's ridiculously difficult to take you down.
Druids probably have the most resources of any class in the game. They're full casters, but when they run out of spell slots, they can just use Wildshape to turn into a useful and hard to kill melee form instead of just having to rely on just Cantrips and Rituals. So you can burn through all your spells slot without worrying about it (and maybe just hold onto a couple of your highest level slots in case of a boss battle).
If you pick up Expertise in Stealth and Perception from Rogue or Bard or Ranger, Druids really are the ultimate sneaky class. Even if you're spotted, how many enemies are actually going to suspect a bird or rat is really a PC?
If you're not playing a 20 level game, Druids are often an ideal choice to multi-class with. Rogue 1 or 3 for Expertise/Sneak Attack/Cunning Action/Assassinate, Barbarian 1 or 3 for martial weapons, Rage, Trapsense, and Resistance to almost everything Rage, Bard for Expertise and spell stacking, Paladin for Smite (which given the multi-class spell slot stacking rules, gives you lots of spell slots), etc.
Note that Shillelagh can be used with two clubs (light weapons) for two weapon fighting (use Bonus Action for a second attack, but both weapons must be light). Although not amazing, d8 + Wis with 2 attacks is pretty useful at low levels when you're not in Wildshape form.

Demonic Spoon

2014-09-12, 09:38 AM

Druids probably have the most resources of any class in the game. They're full casters, but when they run out of spell slots, they can just use Wildshape to turn into a useful and hard to kill melee form instead of just having to rely on just Cantrips and Rituals. So you can burn through all your spells slot without worrying about it (and maybe just hold onto a couple of your highest level slots in case of a boss battle).

This is more true of moon druids. Land druid wildshape is more of a utility thing than anything else. Though, land druids do get spell recovery.

hymer

2014-09-12, 01:05 PM

@ Person_Man: Thanks very much!

Notes or disagreements:
I think the variant human is a lot better at low levels than at high. Land druids are only really hungry for two feats. Moon druids would like two or so more, but they are much less dependent on stat increases.
With regards to gnomes, well, they're gnomes. That outweighs any advantage as far as I'm concerned. The only worse race is kender. :smallbiggrin:
I haven't dealt with multiclassing. For a druid, I think it's dicey business, as it delays both casting and wild shape, your main mechanics. I don't think I'd do it until I had level 9 spells anyway, at which point I'd be too close to level 18 and 20 to turn away. But to each their own. A stealth-based druid in particular could do well, but it may be better for them to take druid as the dippy class and run instead with rogue high. Getting Pass Without Trace up is +10 to stealth to the whole group, big deal for surprise-hungry asassins.
As for shillelagh, well, if you can get it to work, it's a good low-level thing. But it's a bonus action to cast, and you need to enchant two sticks to make it really work, and then you get to attack with a bonus action. And that's if you can get them both up and running, needing both to hold on to them as well a have a free hand for casting. If you get the latter problem sorted (via talking to the DM or more RAW safe with War Caster) and you manage to buff your sticks just before combat really starts, you still need to spend two bonus actions every ten rounds recasting rather than attacking. There are some bumps on that road.
Edit: Actually, I've been made aware that shillelagh specifies you can only have one active at any time. So maybe as a combo with Flame Blade when that comes up, but now we're talking even more bumps.

Demonic Spoon

2014-09-12, 05:09 PM

Worth noting with thorn whip: presumably you could use this to give your melee allies opportunity attacks

Iolo Morganwg

2014-09-12, 09:03 PM

Pretty sure you can only have one instance of Shillelagh running at a time. Now, if someone else casts it on the club in your off-hand...

hymer

2014-09-13, 01:18 AM

Worth noting with thorn whip: presumably you could use this to give your melee allies opportunity attacks

Unfortuneatly, opportunity attacks are only provoked when you're moving under your own power: "You also don't provoke an opportunity attack when [...] someone or something moves you without using your movement, action or reaction." (PHB p. 195)

Pretty sure you can only have one instance of Shillelagh running at a time. Now, if someone else casts it on the club in your off-hand...

With the Warcaster feat, there is nothing in the rules against having two shillelaghs up at one time. But the spell does require you to hold the weapon you enchant, and says the effect is lost if you let go of the weapon. So you can't enchant other people's sticks.

MeeposFire

2014-09-13, 01:26 AM

Remember that it takes two bonus actions to get two of those spells going and they only last a minute each. That means many times you have to wait two rounds to be fully buffed and that means two rounds you are not using your bonus action for anything else. NOt saying don't do it but it is certainly a cost.

Iolo Morganwg

2014-09-13, 02:05 AM

How does the warcaster feat get around "the spell ends if you cast it again..." part of the Shillelagh spell?

hymer

2014-09-13, 02:06 AM

How does the warcaster feat get around "the spell ends if you cast it again..." part of the Shillelagh spell?

Excellent point. It doesn't, of course.

edge2054

2014-09-13, 11:59 AM

Was just reading this thread as I'm building a Druid for an AL game of HotDQ.

Since you guys are talking about Shillelagh what are your thoughts on Polearm Master with this spell?

I'm figuring if I go human I can pick up the feat and push Wisdom up to 16.

First turn open with Faerie Fire + Shillelagh. Second turn I get two attacks at +5 to hit with advantage that deal 1d8+3 and 1d4+3 damage while also giving advantage to my fellow party members. Frosting on the cake is an AoO on anyone that tries to get in melee with me.

The biggest drawbacks I see is not being able to use a shield without blowing an action, potentially low AC, and concentration checks. So a bit of a glass cannon but I've always wanted to play a Little John type character (ala Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves).

Giant2005

2014-09-13, 12:06 PM

edge2054

2014-09-13, 12:55 PM

Yeah, but I can't cast Shillelagh and Faerie Fire while holding a Quarterstaff and a Shield. It would be a good option though when I don't want to use a spell on my opening action, i.e. Shillelagh + Equip Shield vs. Shillelagh + Spell.

The d4 vs. d8 thing was addressed by Jeremy Crawford on twitter.

The bonus attack would use a d4. I like it: druid master of polearms!

I'm mostly worried about ranged attacks as the AoO from the Quarterstaff should help discourage enemies from closing with me.

I'll probably keep Faerie Fire and Fog Cloud both memorized and use the one that the situation most calls for. Goodberry for out of combat healing. Not sure what with the last slot.

Shillelagh and probably Thorn Whip for cantrips.

hymer

2014-10-10, 05:06 PM

Finally done with the beast comparisons. In the writing and looking up, there's plenty of room for error on my part, so if you see any mistakes, please point them out so I can deal with them.

MaxWilson

2014-10-10, 06:18 PM

If for some reason you end up being a healing battery (something to be avoided generally), you can of course cast both Healing Word and Cure Wounds in one round. But if you can avoid spending more than one prepared spell on healing, you probably should.

Nitpick: you can't cast a Bonus Action spell and another spell in the same turn unless the second spell is a cantrip. But you probably weren't planning on actually doing this anyway.

edge2054

2014-10-11, 09:49 AM

First of all, great guide :)

I've been wanting to play a land druid and have been disappointed with how focused most guides have been on moon druids.

Anyway my question is why rank Melf's Acid Arrow red? I'm wanting to do a swamp druid, mostly for fluff, and Melf's seems like a solid spell, especially on a class that so sorely lacks nukes. So I'm curious what your reasoning is and if I'm missing something.

hymer

2014-10-11, 11:24 AM

@ MaxWilson: Excellent and pertinent nitpick, thanks! I'll get that straightened out right away.

@ edge2054: Thank you!
As for MAA, well... It has one thing going for it, its rare damage type. Unfortunately, around the time you're casting 2nd level spells at your enemies, you are not very likely to need acid damage.
But compare it to the staple second level damage dealer, scorching ray: MAA deals less damage (and a third of it comes after the enemy gets to act), it does it with less versatility (only one target), forces fewer concentration checks (2 vs. 3 potentials), and finally it has less range.
I usually rate the basic damage spells as green, because they're usually quite well balanced. It's fairly simple math, so it's easy to get it right. But if Scorching Ray is green, MAA needs to be red if only to point out that it is something of a niche attack spell, generally performing poorly compared to SR. I'd much rather spend a second level slot on Heat Metal or Hold Person, e.g.

MaxWilson

2014-10-15, 04:59 PM

Steam Mephit: Cast blur 1/day. You can get eight blur spells this way, with someone to cast and concentrate on them for you, which of itself could well be reason enough to pick steam over other options in this tier. Steam mephits are very easily destroyed, and should probably only be sent into the fray after they’re done concentrating on their blur spell. Don’t expect them to do well

Blur is caster-only, and with Steam Mephits' AC 10 disadvantage to attack isn't much of a bonus--most creatures with +4 or more to hit will hit in spite of disadvantage. I'd argue that Mud Mephits are the best choice at this tier for most purposes, or Smoke Mephits when you need more mobility. I see no real reason to ever summon Steam Mephits.

Rummy

2014-10-16, 01:04 AM

For Moon Druids, one level of monk allows them to add their Wis mid to their beast form. Also, they may be able to get a get a bonus action unarmed attack while in beast form, depending on the DM.

Strill

2014-10-16, 01:14 AM

Guidance: If it weren’t for the need for concentration to use this, it would be a must-have. It grants a small bonus to skill checks, giving it some out-of-battle use. Better for Land druids who do not use concentration on long duration spells so often.
Guidance is literally hands-down the most powerful cantrip in the entire game. You get +1d4 to EVERY SINGLE out-of-combat skill check for your ENTIRE PARTY. You don't think that's useful?

In summary, you’ll likely come to rely more and more on Cure Wounds for healing both in and out of battle as you advance through middle levels.This is a foolish conclusion. Your amount healed is not nearly as important as keeping allies in the fight. Your first priority should be to defeat the enemy. To that effect, you need to kill enemies, and keep your party in the fight. The only things that can revive an unconscious party member are spells and the Healer feat. You should therefore save your spell slots to bring back unconscious party members, not to worry about how much HP they're recovering. Healing Word is perfect in this respect because it's a bonus action and has a 30' range. It allows you to continue to attack enemies while you bring party members back. Both of these contribute to ending the fight.

hymer

2014-10-16, 01:22 AM

@ MaxWilson: Another good catch, thanks! Those 3.5 assumptions would be easier to check up on if they announced themselves. :smallredface:

@ Rummy: One of the reasons I hesitate to make a multiclass section is that so much will be saying 'ask your DM how these things interact'. Does natural armor count as being armoured? Do the defensive techniques of the monk carry over to an ape? A snake? A bird in flight? I'm afraid these things will differ from table to table.
That said, I probably will make a section on multiclassing at some point, and the monk-discussion will of course be included there. If it works, it's something to consider in most campaigns for moon druids.

@ Strill: I don't grant the premises. :smallsmile: It's not hands-down the most powerful (that's probably Eldritch Blast, but it's up for debate, so less certainty in the statement is needed), nor does it apply to every single out-of-combat skill check. Many druids will either be wild shaped and/or be concentrating on a summoning or buff, and they can't drop them for a little bonus to some checks. Furthermore, there will be plenty of checks you can't usefully help with Guidance. Stealth, for instance, would be in trouble if you cast a spell in the middle of it. You also can't be next to everyone, nor have it up for everyone when the party all make the same check. And then there are checks you make on the fly (the DM calling out 'Make an X check', noticing stuff, remembering stuff, and such.
As I said up there, if it weren't for Concentration, it would be a must-have, so it is pretty good. I gave it a green rating for land druids who can actually cast it, which is generous as far as cantrips go. It will probably be among the first three ones you pick if you follow my advice as a Land Druid.

As for your point about healing (and please don't call me 'foolish'), if there are opponents after you and before the ally you heal, you want to heal them up more than just to consciousness. In a battle with multiple foes, this would be the norm. Druids are also not too great at making standard actions count for a lot in combat and in caster form, unless they are actually casting a spell (which they can't if they've used their bonus action to do so). Their attack cantrips are subpar, they don't get extra attacks, and they are highly unlikely to have the strength to grapple someone. Getting the warlock or the barbarian up and making attacks is higher priority than making them yourself.
Do note that I'm not saying you will always use cure wounds, merely that you will come to rely more on it (which you may, of course, disagree with). Since you are unlikely to be using too many prepared spells on cure spells (or at least so we hope), you'd want one that gives you decent bang for your slotbuck, and yet can be used in combat and on unconscious allies. For sure, you hope there are other options for healing than spending spell slots on it, but there isn't always someone with the healer feat and time enough to spend short rests to use it multiple times.

Invader

2014-11-06, 05:16 PM

MaxWilson

2014-11-06, 05:46 PM

I don't have the book yet but we're starting a campaign next week and I'm going with a variant moon druid. Can you explain war caster a bit more and it's usefulness. Currently for my feat I chose mobile which my dm ruled to work on all my animal speeds as well which makes me rank it a bit higher. If I'm planning on spending the majority of my time in animal form is war caster still worth it over mobile?

Mobile is awesome for animal form, since your highest-level form (Mammoth) needs to charge in order to make get its full slam + trample damage. Gore + Trample + turn around and move back (without provoking an attack of opportunity due to Mobile, unless there are other foes around) is twice as good as Gore by itself.

War Caster gives you the option of being an elemental/mammoth/whatever who is also surrounded by a flock of giant owls or wolves. However, you're only really interested in War Caster for the advantage-on-concentration benefit, you're ignoring the other 2/3 of the feat, which IMHO makes Resilient (Constitution) about as good and with better fringe benefits. Neither one is absolutely vital depending on your party makeup, but it's annoying to have your wolves go poof just because the mammoth takes a hit, which means that if you don't have War Caster/Resilient, you will probably not change into a mammoth until your wolves are depleted, and vice-versa. It affects the size of your animal-damage nova. :)

Invader

2014-11-06, 07:42 PM

Mobile is awesome for animal form, since your highest-level form (Mammoth) needs to charge in order to make get its full slam + trample damage. Gore + Trample + turn around and move back (without provoking an attack of opportunity due to Mobile, unless there are other foes around) is twice as good as Gore by itself.

War Caster gives you the option of being an elemental/mammoth/whatever who is also surrounded by a flock of giant owls or wolves. However, you're only really interested in War Caster for the advantage-on-concentration benefit, you're ignoring the other 2/3 of the feat, which IMHO makes Resilient (Constitution) about as good and with better fringe benefits. Neither one is absolutely vital depending on your party makeup, but it's annoying to have your wolves go poof just because the mammoth takes a hit, which means that if you don't have War Caster/Resilient, you will probably not change into a mammoth until your wolves are depleted, and vice-versa. It affects the size of your animal-damage nova. :)

So you have to maintain concentration on summoned animals while they're up?

MaxWilson

2014-11-06, 07:50 PM

So you have to maintain concentration on summoned animals while they're up?

Yes, almost all the summoning spells require Concentration. Simulacrum and Animate Dead don't require Concentration, but they're not really summoning spells. Planar Binding removes the Concentration requirement but requires expensive material components.

Here's more tips on Conjuration: http://community.wizards.com/forum/player-help/threads/4148541

I assume you have access to Player's Handbook and Monstrous Manual, even if you don't personally own one. You can look at that link to pick out things you want to examine further, and then ask your DM/whoever owns the MM for details.

Invader

2014-11-06, 08:22 PM

Yes, almost all the summoning spells require Concentration. Simulacrum and Animate Dead don't require Concentration, but they're not really summoning spells. Planar Binding removes the Concentration requirement but requires expensive material components.

Here's more tips on Conjuration: http://community.wizards.com/forum/player-help/threads/4148541

I assume you have access to Player's Handbook and Monstrous Manual, even if you don't personally own one. You can look at that link to pick out things you want to examine further, and then ask your DM/whoever owns the MM for details.

I don't have them actually that's why I'm trying to get a handle on a couple things before next Tuesday so the help is appreciated.

MaxWilson

2014-11-06, 08:27 PM

I don't have them actually that's why I'm trying to get a handle on a couple things before next Tuesday so the help is appreciated.

No problem. I figured you didn't personally own one or you wouldn't be asking, but what I meant is just "that link won't have everything you need, you'll still have to look up details in the books." I hope the link was useful though.

Also, here is a useful list of spells by level and which ones take concentration: http://salty-ridge-7989.herokuapp.com

Invader

2014-11-06, 08:58 PM

No problem. I figured you didn't personally own one or you wouldn't be asking, but what I meant is just "that link won't have everything you need, you'll still have to look up details in the books." I hope the link was useful though.

Also, here is a useful list of spells by level and which ones take concentration: http://salty-ridge-7989.herokuapp.com

That is useful.

It seems like I can get away with taking mobile at 1st and picking up war caster later.

Although sentinel and savage attacker also look fun for a moon druid.

hymer

2014-11-07, 03:27 AM

I don't have them actually that's why I'm trying to get a handle on a couple things before next Tuesday so the help is appreciated.

I see MaxWilson has already been. :smallsmile: But let me add a few things:
Firstly, you can get access to the basic rules here (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules?x=dnd/basicrules) for free and perfectly legal. That doesn't include feats, I'm afraid, which is the main reason I can't go into specific details about the feats. But it does detail the Concentration mechanic among other things.

It seems like I can get away with taking mobile at 1st and picking up war caster later.

Although sentinel and savage attacker also look fun for a moon druid.

You can get away with doing just about anything you want with feats. They're optional extras, so feel free with going with what looks good to you.
The longer you wait with taking Warcaster/Resilient, the more sense it makes to take Resilient first. The main reason I rate Warcaster higher is that advantage is near to +5 to a check. Resilient adds proficiency as the big thing, which starts out at +2. In the end, though, I'd try to get both.

MaxWilson had some good comments about Mobile (and you don't have to wait for Mammoth to get charger forms; I'd love to play a Giant Goat for one :smallbiggrin:), but I think it's important to point out that you risk opening a can of worms with that manoeuvre. The whole 'charge-in-move-out' is possible throughout 5e, and makes it very hard for a fighter to block a doorway, e.g. If six goblins are in the room the fighter is blocking, they can all melee the fighter as long as the first is willing to take an Opportunity Attack. And why wouldn't he be? If he stays in front of the fighter, he'll get attacked anyway. Moving away at least gets him cover from the fighter's allies.
I'd check with the gaming table before the situation comes up. They may be fine with it, especially if you invest a feat in it. But if the NPCs are going to do the same to you that you do them, this may not be worth it. If the NPCs are going to be doing it anyway, you better stick the tactic to the solo monsters too.

Invader

2014-11-18, 07:59 PM

I see MaxWilson has already been. :smallsmile: But let me add a few things:
Firstly, you can get access to the basic rules here (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules?x=dnd/basicrules) for free and perfectly legal. That doesn't include feats, I'm afraid, which is the main reason I can't go into specific details about the feats. But it does detail the Concentration mechanic among other things.

You can get away with doing just about anything you want with feats. They're optional extras, so feel free with going with what looks good to you.
The longer you wait with taking Warcaster/Resilient, the more sense it makes to take Resilient first. The main reason I rate Warcaster higher is that advantage is near to +5 to a check. Resilient adds proficiency as the big thing, which starts out at +2. In the end, though, I'd try to get both.

MaxWilson had some good comments about Mobile (and you don't have to wait for Mammoth to get charger forms; I'd love to play a Giant Goat for one :smallbiggrin:), but I think it's important to point out that you risk opening a can of worms with that manoeuvre. The whole 'charge-in-move-out' is possible throughout 5e, and makes it very hard for a fighter to block a doorway, e.g. If six goblins are in the room the fighter is blocking, they can all melee the fighter as long as the first is willing to take an Opportunity Attack. And why wouldn't he be? If he stays in front of the fighter, he'll get attacked anyway. Moving away at least gets him cover from the fighter's allies.
I'd check with the gaming table before the situation comes up. They may be fine with it, especially if you invest a feat in it. But if the NPCs are going to do the same to you that you do them, this may not be worth it. If the NPCs are going to be doing it anyway, you better stick the tactic to the solo monsters too.

I ended up switching out mobile for warcaster and I've been opening with moonbeam or bark skin and immediately changing to to animal form. So far I haven't had to much trouble keeping either of up due to the rather easy concentration checks and advantage. Having moonbeam up really seems to help supplement damage.

I'd rank Guidence at least green if not blue. It basically an unlimited free d4 to every check outside of combat for your whole group, it's all upside.

Do you have plans to add ratings for all druid spells Hymer? Or if I did it would you want it to add to your guide?

hymer

2014-11-19, 01:37 PM

I ended up switching out mobile for warcaster and I've been opening with moonbeam or bark skin and immediately changing to to animal form. So far I haven't had to much trouble keeping either of up due to the rather easy concentration checks and advantage. Having moonbeam up really seems to help supplement damage.

I'd rank Guidence at least green if not blue. It basically an unlimited free d4 to every check outside of combat for your whole group, it's all upside.

Do you have plans to add ratings for all druid spells Hymer? Or if I did it would you want it to add to your guide?

If you can keep the enemies in the moonbeam, it should be pretty good. If your DM allows you to grapple an enemy inside the beam without taking the damage yourself, combining MB with something like Giant Constrictor might be pretty strong.
As for Guidance, I'll quote what I said to Strill a while ago:

[Guidance]'s not hands-down the most powerful (that's probably Eldritch Blast, but it's up for debate, so less certainty in the statement is needed), nor does it apply to every single out-of-combat skill check. Many druids will either be wild shaped and/or be concentrating on a summoning or buff, and they can't drop them for a little bonus to some checks. Furthermore, there will be plenty of checks you can't usefully help with Guidance. Stealth, for instance, would be in trouble if you cast a spell in the middle of it. You also can't be next to everyone, nor have it up for everyone when the party all make the same check. And then there are checks you make on the fly (the DM calling out 'Make an X check', noticing stuff, remembering stuff, and such.
As I said up there, if it weren't for Concentration, it would be a must-have, so it is pretty good. I gave it a green rating for land druids who can actually cast it, which is generous as far as cantrips go. It will probably be among the first three ones you pick if you follow my advice as a Land Druid.

To expand slightly: If you play almost always in wild shape and/or with a buff or summon active (and the higher level you are, the more tempting does this become I find), then Guidance may hardly ever be cast in actual adventures. Thus I've rated it as 'could be a waste'. In my playing (which is less than I'd like, but still something) I've found I use it much less than I'd hoped, and mostly on things that can just be retried if they fail because we're not in danger. When we are in danger, I tend to have better uses for Concentration.

As for my plans on spells, I was thinking of making a list of spells that should be called attention to, whether for being good, bad or very DM-dependent. But it won't be this month, and it won't be every spell (at least I hope it won't). I'd be happy to link to your spell discussion, provided I feel I can vouch for it, of course. :smallsmile: And in any case, I'd love to see your take on the whole thing.

Invader

2014-11-19, 04:50 PM

If you can keep the enemies in the moonbeam, it should be pretty good. If your DM allows you to grapple an enemy inside the beam without taking the damage yourself, combining MB with something like Giant Constrictor might be pretty strong.
As for Guidance, I'll quote what I said to Strill a while ago:

To expand slightly: If you play almost always in wild shape and/or with a buff or summon active (and the higher level you are, the more tempting does this become I find), then Guidance may hardly ever be cast in actual adventures. Thus I've rated it as 'could be a waste'. In my playing (which is less than I'd like, but still something) I've found I use it much less than I'd hoped, and mostly on things that can just be retried if they fail because we're not in danger. When we are in danger, I tend to have better uses for Concentration.

As for my plans on spells, I was thinking of making a list of spells that should be called attention to, whether for being good, bad or very DM-dependent. But it won't be this month, and it won't be every spell (at least I hope it won't). I'd be happy to link to your spell discussion, provided I feel I can vouch for it, of course. :smallsmile: And in any case, I'd love to see your take on the whole thing.

That's fair. I probably over estimated the amount you'd be using it out of combat though even as a moon druid I use it as much as possible lol.

Maybe I'll work on the druid spells in the near future and we'll compare notes.

Perseus

2014-11-19, 05:54 PM

For Moon Druids, one level of monk allows them to add their Wis mid to their beast form. Also, they may be able to get a get a bonus action unarmed attack while in beast form, depending on the DM.

Well this is tricky.

As per Mike Mearls tweet at some point... You would take the beast AC or 10 + Dex + Wis mod whichever is higher.

You can probably boost your AC that way no doubt but it isn't just a straight up adding of the wisdom modifier.

However I haven't checked the beasts all that much yet so I'm not sure if any of them have odd numbers that reflect some sort of bonus to AC.

Demonic Spoon

2014-11-19, 06:04 PM

Most beasts get AC from dex and natural armor. Natural armor is almost certainly a formula like other kinds of armor, not a flat bonus.

If you were a monk with 20 WIS, your AC might in fact be better with unarmored defense than without. However, it is certainly don't just add your WIS to AC

Invader

2014-12-14, 08:09 PM

Are there any druid centric magic items in the DMG or are they taking the 3.5 stance that wild shaped animals shouldn't get magic bonuses.

hymer

2014-12-16, 04:50 AM

Are there any druid centric magic items in the DMG or are they taking the 3.5 stance that wild shaped animals shouldn't get magic bonuses.

Good question!
There are a few magical items that could be said to cater to druids, though others could use them too. Dragon scalemail, for instance, is the best medium armour I've seen that a druid can wear. Most of the magical staffs are also useful to druids, and the Woodland one is druid-only. But I've not seen anything that relates specifically to wildshaping.
To be clear, this doesn't mean that wildshaped druids need go without magical items. As part of the basic ability, you choose what becomes of your equipment when you shift. It can be incorporated into your form and cease to function; it can fall to the ground; or it can be worn by the form if the form can wear it. What exactly the form can wear is up to the DM. But the DMG has something to say about many/most magical items being adjustable, often magically, to suit various builds and sizes (p. 140). So most forms should be able to wear some sort of amulet at least, even if it will look silly. I'll probably DM this to mean that the item is working, but is just as incorporated into the form as the rest.
As always, it'll mostly be up to the DM, so be sure to ask yours.