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Seatbelt
2008-06-29, 10:54 PM
I'm playing a Druid 5/Monk 1/Fist of the Forest 1, and I have a free feat. I'm just looking for suggestions on what to take. Because of wierd alignment requirments by the DM, I have to take the monk level first, and the druid level second. So my third level feat is limited.

My feats at first level are Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, and (Human) Great fortitude. At 6th level I take Natural Spell. I dont really have any ideas beyond what I have now. Maybe superior unarmed strike. Snap kick when I qualify. I plan to be fighting as an animal most of the time. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go straight druid for the rest of the game. Can't go wrong with more Druid levels.

As far as wildshape, I have some questions.

How do I calculate my attack progression? A bear has 2 claws and a bite, a BAB of +2, and a STR of +4. So when I wildshape into a bear and I have +6 BAB, how does that work? Does it go Claw +10/+10/+5 and bite +5? or don't I get an iterative attack as an animal?

Can I take multiattack to improve the secondary weapons (slams, bites, whatevers) of the various animal forms, or no?

Do I get the racial bonuses? Like a baboon's +8 on climb checks and the ability to always take 10?

Do I get special qualities, like pounce or rake, or scent and blindfight and stuff?

And where to magic items go?!

Animal Companion: As a 5th level druid, is it worth it? Is there a good companion to have at my level? They all seem to have uncomfortably low AC. Is there a better alternate ability?

wadledo
2008-06-29, 11:08 PM
How do I calculate my attack progression? A bear has 2 claws and a bite, a BAB of +2, and a STR of +4. So when I wildshape into a bear and I have +6 BAB, how does that work? Does it go Claw +10/+10/+5 and bite +5? or don't I get an iterative attack as an animal?First off, you don't gain animal hit dice when you use wildshape.
You retain your own, which means you keep your own BAB, and the physical stats from your new form.
Also, STR DOES NOT ADD TO THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS YOU GET TO MAKE!


Can I take multiattack to improve the secondary weapons (slams, bites, whatevers) of the various animal forms, or no?You could, but it would be less than smart.


Do I get the racial bonuses? Like a baboon's +8 on climb checks and the ability to always take 10?

Do I get special qualities, like pounce or rake, or scent and blindfight and stuff?Read this please. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#alternateForm)
It's what wildshape does.


Animal Companion: As a 5th level druid, is it worth it? Is there a good companion to have at my level? They all seem to have uncomfortably low AC. Is there a better alternate ability?Read this. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#theDruidsAnimalCompanion)
Get this. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wolf.htm)
Remember that there is no negative to losing your companion except that you can't have a companion for 24 hours.

Also, why Improved grapple?
Any shape that is any good with it will already have it as an extrodinary ability.

RTGoodman
2008-06-29, 11:19 PM
Regarding your number of attacks: you get just the number and types of attacks listed on the animal's form. A bear, for instance, gets Claw/Claw/Bite, no matter what your BAB is. Out of wildshape you get extra attacks because of it, and I think you get extra actions while grappling because of it, but that's it.

For an animal companion, if you really want to cheese up the character, the best animal companion is probably a Fleshraker Dinosaur (from MMIII). It's got decent AC, four attacks, Dex-damaging poison, super-Pounce that lets it make multiple attacks on a Charge AND knock the opponent prone at the same time, and some other stuff.

Collin152
2008-06-30, 12:11 AM
Also, why Improved grapple?
Any shape that is any good with it will already have it as an extrodinary ability.

Those forms have it as "Improved Grab" right?
Maybe he wants to have 'Improved Grabble'.

wadledo
2008-06-30, 12:24 AM
Those forms have it as "Improved Grab" right?
Maybe he wants to have 'Improved Grabble'.

......I honestly can't tell if your trying to be funny, insult me, or provide some sort of information that I overlooked.:smallconfused:
Clarification please!

marjan
2008-06-30, 04:36 AM
......I honestly can't tell if your trying to be funny, insult me, or provide some sort of information that I overlooked.:smallconfused:
Clarification please!

There are no forms that have Improved Grapple, only Improved Grab, and since those two stack there is no reason to not have both.

Seatbelt
2008-07-01, 12:28 AM
First off, you don't gain animal hit dice when you use wildshape.
You retain your own, which means you keep your own BAB, and the physical stats from your new form.
Also, STR DOES NOT ADD TO THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS YOU GET TO MAKE!


I guess my example was a little unclear. I meant, assuming a bear has this and I have that, how do the two combine. I'm fuzzy on some druid things but I'm not stupid. I know I don't gain bonus HD. I picked a BAB number that gave me an interative attack, because it was relevant to the question, not because I somehow magically generated 2 more AB. I know STR doesnt add to the number of attacks I get to make. When did I ever suggest that.. ever?



Read this. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#theDruidsAnimalCompanion)
Get this. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wolf.htm)
Remember that there is no negative to losing your companion except that you can't have a companion for 24 hours.

Yeah, that's true. But it's pretty lame to generate a new animal companion every 48 hours because they keep getting killed. It wastes ingame time, and it's bad RP.



Also, why Improved grapple?
Any shape that is any good with it will already have it as an extrodinary ability.

I took the level of monk for the Wis to AC and the free Improved Unarmed Strike. But at first level you get a bonus feat: Stunning fist, which I'm not fond of, or Improved Grapple.



Any gear worn or carried by the creature that can’t be worn or carried in its new form instead falls to the ground in its space. If the creature changes size, any gear it wears or carries that can be worn or carried in its new form changes size to match the new size. (Nonhumanoid-shaped creatures can’t wear armor designed for humanoid-shaped creatures, and vice versa.) Gear returns to normal size if dropped.

So an animal with feat and toes can wear gloves and rings, etc, right? I just want to double check so I dont do something illegal.

Another question: An umarmed strike is not the same as a natural attack, right? Fist of the Forest makes my unarmed attacks deal a D8 of damage, but I have this sneaking suspicion that as a leopard, my 2 claws at 1D3 and bite at 1D6 don't all become D8s.

Thanks for the patience. I'm sure some of these are stupidly obvious questions, but I'd rather ask and be safe than bring the character to play and find out I'm wrong.

Talic
2008-07-01, 12:45 AM
Also, Nature's Warrior 1 can net you Serpent's Coils, which grants you a +4 to grapple in any form that has Improved Grab. It stacks with Improved Grapple. It also gives a constrict attack. If you're headed down that road anyway, might as well go all the way.

Chronos
2008-07-01, 01:48 PM
So an animal with feat and toes can wear gloves and rings, etc, right? I just want to double check so I dont do something illegal.

Another question: An umarmed strike is not the same as a natural attack, right? Fist of the Forest makes my unarmed attacks deal a D8 of damage, but I have this sneaking suspicion that as a leopard, my 2 claws at 1D3 and bite at 1D6 don't all become D8s.
If you're wearing equipment and wildshape, all of your equipment merges with your new form and (unless stated otherwise, like the Wild armor property) becomes nonfunctional. However, if it's something that can be worn in the new form, you can take it off first, then wildshape, and then put it back on (perhaps with help from party members) in the new form, in which case it will work (but you run the risk of looking ridiculous).

Other question: Unarmed strikes and natural attacks are not the same thing. For most forms, for your full attack routine, you can choose to either make unarmed strikes, which include iterative attacks and (if you're a monk) possibly flurry, and do damage based on your size and (if any) monk levels, or you can use the creature's normal attack routine with its natural weapons (claw/claw/bite, or whatnot), without flurry or iterative attacks, and for the damage listed in the monster entry. In practice, the creature's normal natural attack routine is almost always better.

There are some few creatures whose monster entry includes an attack routine involving both natural and manufactured weapons (for example: A troglodyte's full attack is club and claw and bite). Such a creature gets the best of both worlds: Iterative attacks with a weapon (or unarmed strike) as normal, plus one attack with each natural weapon as bonus attacks, at full BAB -5 (or -2, with the Multiattack feat). However, I don't think there are any such forms available through a druid's normal wildshape.

Seatbelt
2008-07-01, 02:37 PM
All right, cool. Thanks.