Scaling Shapeshift Forms

[solidork]

What do people think about giving players who want to use a specific shapeshift form for aesthetic reasons options that allow that shape to continue to be combat relevant as they increase in power? For example, coming up with stats for wolf forms of successively higher CR that a druid can use.

Let's assume that you restrict it to already existing beast CR breakpoints, so your polymorph is still going to cap out at something roughly equivalent to a T-Rex. Would you straight up forbid this? Make obtaining these forms the goal of a quest? Require a feat? Make them sacrifice something in exchange?

[dejarnjc]

What do people think about giving players who want to use a specific shapeshift form for aesthetic reasons options that allow that shape to continue to be combat relevant as they increase in power? For example, coming up with stats for wolf forms of successively higher CR that a druid can use.

Let's assume that you restrict it to already existing beast CR breakpoints, so your polymorph is still going to cap out at something roughly equivalent to a T-Rex. Would you straight up forbid this? Make obtaining these forms the goal of a quest? Require a feat? Make them sacrifice something in exchange?

I think it'd mostly be OK. It'd probably be slightly more powerful than a normal druid since at later levels, the "huge" size of most of the forms can be rather prohibitive.

I'd personally allow this to scale naturally but probably just restrict other forms. I'm not a big fan of quests to find additional forms or anything for the druids as it tends to pigeonhole the druid versus other characters having more freedom in their personal quests.

In terms of overall balance, it's perfectly fine though.

[Maxilian]

Yes, it works; in game the only other way to "improve" a Wildshape is MC into something that give a boost to that form (not all boost work in all forms), also another easiest way is to have a magic item that will work in certain forms (In whatever form the PC have as its "main" form)

[SharkForce]

Should be fine as long as you don't try to cheese anything for wild shape.

Could be more broken with polymorph, so I would hesitate to scale up much beyond where it already is... More variety at Cr 3-8 would be fine, but if you have beast forms from Cr 1-20 then polymorph stays bonkers OP instead of getting reasonable and then underpowered (note: if you go with polymorph capped at slot level in CR instead of character level you would probably be fine)