Halfling Druid Ability

[Chalkarts]

Would a wild shaped halfling still be able to take advantage of their racial abilities to move through the square of larger critters and hide behind people?

[Arkhios]

Would a wild shaped halfling still be able to take advantage of their racial abilities to move through the square of larger critters and hide behind people?

A DM's call, I'd say. I can stand behind both ways of ruling this: Yes, because it's a racial ability unique to that specific race and not tied to their size (=small), because then it would have to be possible for gnomes, goblins, kobolds, and what have you...

Then again, no, because wild shape gives you the physical form and abilities of an entirely different creature.

But, as I said, I think both arguments are equally valid, and thus it would fall to the DM to decide.
If I was the DM, I'd lean towards the first ruling, because I prefer that your chosen race matters throughout the game. Wherever, whenever.

Nevermind, it's written loud and clear, if you'd read the rules more closely ;)

[BarneyBent]

I would rule no, as the trait appears to derive from the physical form of a Halfling. Would be up to the DM though and others might rule differently which is fine. RAW is ambiguous.

[DarkKnightJin]

Something like Brave or Lucky would still apply at my table for a Wildshaped Druid Halfling.
Something like being able to move through a creature's space would depend on the current form, and surroundings.

And for Lightfoot, being able to hide behind an ally also depends on their new form. You're bot gonna be able to hide a Horse behind the Human Fighter, for instance. But a Mastiff behind the Goliath Barbarian might work.

It all depends on the situation you're in.

[Arkhios]

Something like Brave or Lucky would still apply at my table for a Wildshaped Druid Halfling.
Something like being able to move through a creature's space would depend on the current form, and surroundings.

And for Lightfoot, being able to hide behind an ally also depends on their new form. You're bot gonna be able to hide a Horse behind the Human Fighter, for instance. But a Mastiff behind the Goliath Barbarian might work.

It all depends on the situation you're in.

Not to be rude, but that kinda goes without saying. :smallsmile:


You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.


You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.

[DarkKnightJin]

Not to be rude, but that kinda goes without saying. :smallsmile:

You'd be amazed what people will 'overlook' sometimes. Either by accident, or by 'accident'.
I've found it best to just adress any obvious loophole abuse they might try with creative interpretations that you spot right off the bat.

[JumboWheat01]

Considering how you're no longer a halfling for that duration, I would say no, but it is definitely a per-DM kind of decision.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'd say so. The ability doesn't seem to be inherently tied in as a physical racial trait (like Darkvision).

[Trickery]

A feature is a feature, and wildshape says you keep your features.

You shouldn't make rulings just based on what makes sense to you. Think about your players. Which of these is likely to be worse for your game? Allowing wildshape to work as written even if it doesn't make sense, or upsetting your player that their idea isn't going to work not because of the rules, but because the DM says so.

Rulings aren't made in a vacuum.

By the way, straight from D&D Beyond: "You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source."

This is intended.

[Dalebert]

I'm with trickery. Wild shape tends to keep features unless there's a particular reason not to because the new physical form isn't capable. As an example, Crawford said a dragonborn can still use their breath weapon as long as the new form has a mouth and breathes! Now if an arakocra turns into a form without wings, it couldn't fly, for instance, but there's nothing about this ability that says it's dependent on a particular physical feature in the way that an arakocra clearly depends on wings to fly.

[Maelynn]

Indeed, Wildshape lets you keep your racial feats.

The Halfling racial feats state 'a size larger than yours'. It doesn't matter what your size is, it just has to be bigger than your current form.