Druid Wild Shape Eating

[Dr. Cliché]

Part 2 of my series on Wild Shape Pedantry. :smallwink:


Let's say a druid turns into a bear, and then eats something (doesn't really matter what). When said druid reverts to his human form, will he still have eaten it?

To put it another way, could a druid live by only ever eating/drinking in his Wild Shape form(s)?

Also, if the answers to the above are 'yes', what happens if the druid turns into a large animal and eats more than his human stomach could accommodate?



And before anyone asks: no, this isn't about nerfing Wild Shape. I've just been messing around with some druid ideas, and they've made me curious about some of the implications of the Wild Shape mechanic.

[TundraBuccaneer]

Let me add a few:

Does a druid that transforms in a elephant starve when he turns from human to elephants since it would need more food to survive?

Is the fat percentage the same when a druid transforms into a animal, would you be a fat cheetah, or a skinny walrus.

[Regitnui]

Er... Considering chyme (half-digested food) is a body fluid and that druids trapped temporarily or permanently in wild shape have no recorded problems surviving, I'd say that no, they won't starve.

[MustacheManny]

In my mind when the Druid changes from man to beast or the other way around he maintains relative size. So a fat guy would be a fat animal and a skinny guy would be a skinny animal. So any food that gets eaten in animal form is changed to a relative size back in normal shape. I wonder if eating raw meat should make you sick in normal form though...

[Dr. Cliché]

Is the fat percentage the same when a druid transforms into a animal, would you be a fat cheetah, or a skinny walrus.


In my mind when the Druid changes from man to beast or the other way around he maintains relative size. So a fat guy would be a fat animal and a skinny guy would be a skinny animal.

I now want to play a fat druid.
Fighter - "They're getting away!"
Druid - "Don't worry, I'll catch them!"
*Druid wild shapes into a cheetah, with a belly that sags to the ground.*
Druid - Oh, right.


Er... Considering chyme (half-digested food) is a body fluid and that druids trapped temporarily or permanently in wild shape have no recorded problems surviving, I'd say that no, they won't starve.

How did druids get trapped in wild shape?


So any food that gets eaten in animal form is changed to a relative size back in normal shape.

Dammit, why is everyone so opposed to exploding druids?

[Douche]

Even better question: since a druid wildshape has it's own hit points, does that mean that you can wildshape into a deer & cut off a fresh flank steak? Then when he goes back to human form all his flesh is just as he'd been before?

In other words, if you cut the legs off a wildshaped druid, will he grow them back when he goes back to human form?

[90sMusic]

Wild Shape can let you turn into a Giant Toad.

Giant toad can swallow a medium-sized creature.

So as a druid, you can eat your companions if you really wanted to. Whole.

I would say since your body is changed magically, sometimes creating or dissolving entirely new organs, and since your gear and equipment is sort of melded into the body when you change, it stands to reason your stomach contents would either be absorbed into the body like an organ or meld into the form like your equipment would.

[Dr. Cliché]

Even better question: since a druid wildshape has it's own hit points...

This was actually what prompted me to start this thread, in that there seems to be a weird disconnect between the druid's actual body and the body he wild shapes into.


...does that mean that you can wildshape into a deer & cut off a fresh flank steak? Then when he goes back to human form all his flesh is just as he'd been before?

In other words, if you cut the legs off a wildshaped druid, will he grow them back when he goes back to human form?

Way ahead of you:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?482642-Dismembering-a-Druid

:smallbiggrin:



I would say since your body is changed magically, sometimes creating or dissolving entirely new organs, and since your gear and equipment is sort of melded into the body when you change, it stands to reason your stomach contents would either be absorbed into the body like an organ or meld into the form like your equipment would.

I think it's important to remember that, strange as it may sound, your stomach contents are effectively outside of your body.

So, unless they've already been digested and absorbed, I'd rule that they stay in your stomach.

If your human stomach isn't big enough to accommodate them, then you're going to have one hell of a bellyache. :smallamused:


But then, this could be because I like magic to be more 'icky' and have more risks.

[M Placeholder]

I've got a related question. If a druid wildshapes into a crocodile, eats stones from the riverbed in order to aid digestion of food consumed while in croc form, then changes back, what happens to the gizzard stones?

[dejarnjc]

I personally don't think there are any ties between a druid's wildshape form and his physical body whatsoever. In my mind, when a druid wildshapes, his or her body is replaced by (it doesn't become) the animal form. Therefore anything the form devours is lost with the animal form.

IF that thing is alive, I would just rule that it is magically expelled into a random spot 5ft. from the druid as part of the wildshape form swap transition. Additionally, any parts of the animal shape that were missing (chopped of legs) also disappear once the transition takes place back to the normal form.

[Joe the Rat]

I think it's important to remember that, strange as it may sound, your stomach contents are effectively outside of your body.

So, unless they've already been digested and absorbed, I'd rule that they stay in your stomach.

If your human stomach isn't big enough to accommodate them, then you're going to have one hell of a bellyache. :smallamused:


But then, this could be because I like magic to be more 'icky' and have more risks."So you ate that Orc?"
"Yup"
"Who was twice as big as you"
"Yup"
"And he's still eaten"
"Yup"
"Way more than can fit in your stomach"
">urp< Yup."
"So where'd the rest go?"
Druid holds up a large, dripping sack.

[Istafar]

Just a thought, when a werewolf in the movies, fables or RPG's changes and goes to hunt on a full moon, I have never heard of them getting sick and vomiting when they change back.

They may be upset, because they just killed someone or something, but have had no other ill effects. So why would that be different then a druid changing into a panther, having a snack and then transforming back to a humanoid?

Most of the battle damage is also changed/healed magically, his gear is still on his back. Considering the transformation into and back out of the new shape is magical, wouldn't the nutrition from the snack also be absorbed by the body.

He might have to take a huge dump shortly after, clearing out the waste, but not have other effects, it is all magic after all.

[Corey]

Even better question: since a druid wildshape has it's own hit points, does that mean that you can wildshape into a deer & cut off a fresh flank steak? Then when he goes back to human form all his flesh is just as he'd been before?

In other words, if you cut the legs off a wildshaped druid, will he grow them back when he goes back to human form?

If not, there's always Regeneration.

[False God]

*wiggles fingers* Magic!

The wild-shaping function is inherently magical, so the magic resolves things that would otherwise be harmful going one way or the other, such as having eaten a big lunch.

Physically, yes, druids can eat in their animal forms.

Personally I've ruled it usually takes a little bit of time (about a day or 24 hours) before the general biological functions of that animal really kick in. So typically, any food/size/nutrition issues are resolved via magic, since a druid will usually only stay wild-shaped for a few hours tops. If a druid were to stay wild shaped for extended periods of time, their body would begin to function as that animal naturally would and eating would be resolved naturally.

[Zhorn]

2 cp;
I'm inclined to use how wildshape treats gear when transforming into other creatures.
'It either merged into the form or drops to the ground'
Being transforming into a beast (or elemental) is the magical transformation storing gear in a magical hammer-space works fine, but as reverting into your humanoid is essentially turning off the magic, merging it into your original form or storing it in a magical-hammer space is off the table, so the contents of your stomach that wouldn't fit drops to the ground during the transformation back.

then just to add a little body-horror, I'd narrate (or let the player do so if they were inclined) how the character's jaws unhinge during the transformation and all the things they had eaten in their beast form are ejected out, looking like the reverse of a snake consuming prey, with the body stretching and deforming about the meat/objects as they rise up the throat and fall to the ground.

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: The druid starved after not eating in several years.