OneD&D UA - THE DRUID AND PALADIN

[KorvinStarmast]

DRUID
I really think people are downplaying how badly nerfed Druids are, even when acknowledging their getting heavily nerfed.

I find a lot of your review to have merit, here goes my reply:

•No, Wild Shape isn't losing some, or even a lot, of utility - it's losing 100% of it's utility! For an ability that was 80% about it's utility, losing all of it is totally unreasonable. Wanna be a spider? No venomous bite, no webbing, no spider climbing. Wanna be a wolf? No tripping. Wanna be a rhino? No charge/gore. Wanna be a bat? No blindsight. Wanna be a snake? No constricting or venomous bite. Wanna be a big cat? No pounce. You. Get. Nothing. for shifting into an "animal." Nothing.

Amen. I will mention that in the feedback. I think they went too far.

•Wild Shape is buffed to be level 1 instead of level 2... kinda. Arial form is nerfed by one level. Aquatic form is nerfed by 3 levels. Tiny form is nerfed by nine levels?! What the actual... This is entirely unreasonable; as in, I can see zero reason for this change. Tiny animals require tier 3 levels? They MUST be joking?

Nope, just spiking the coffee with Everclear(TM).

•In general, "10+Wis=AC" is going to be a slight buff to Animal Form AC, but that still doesn't make it a good AC. And with the total removal of Animal HP you're now faced with the reality that being in melee is not worth it.

That is going in the feedback as well.

•Wild Shape, by default, is a Magic Action? Does this mean your primary class ability can be counterspelled or dispelled? Seriously?

Apparently so, and won't work in an anti magic field. Might want to discuss that in the feedback.

•The Stat changes for Animal Forms aren't actually as meaningful as they look on paper. For Land Form, you treat STR/DEX as equal to WIS... but for STR that's about the same benefit as casting Shillelagh. As for DEX, you don't get to add it to your AC and none of your attacks are Finesse, so the only benefit you're getting is Dex-based skill checks and Reflex saves.

If we fix this to add dex to AC maybe that's enough of an improvement? I also want 3x Proficiency bonus Temp HP in Wild Shape form. More HP is Iconic {Hey Crawford, I've got yer Iconic Right Here! } Druid wild shape stuff, and I quote;

Upon reaching the 5th Circle druids then gain the power to shape change (as previously mentioned in GREYHAWK with regard to the Druid-type monster), and when changing from one form to another they lose from 10% to 60% of any damage previously sustained; in addition they are not affected by the charm spells of woodland and water creatures such as nixies and dryads.

Roll a d6, multiply by 10, multiply by damage taken, restore that ... yeah, a bit fiddly, and Temp HP is IMO a better way to handle this. But, "recover half of your lost HP when you change form" would be even simpler.

You don't get the STR adjustment for Aquatic Forms? My croc, or whale, or whatever, isn't stronger than my base humanoid form? That's outright ridiculous.

They are Wizards of the Coast. They hate Fighters. They Hate Barbs. They hate STR. Hmm, maybe that should not be blue text ...

• If I turn into a Cat at level 1-4, I can't climb like a Cat. I have to wait until level 5? Make that make sense.

"You are doing it wrong. If you wanted that, play a tabaxi!" says the dev team

• The removal of the restriction on metallic armor is long overdue.

How much light armor is metallic?

They've never explained it in any meaningful way

It's Iconic, see Eldritch Wizardry.

• Alternating Forms is actually a nice and meaningful ability, that the 2014 Druid would absolutely love. Unfortunately, the massive nerfs to Wild Shape make this all but meaningless.

Yes.

The fun of Wild Shape is the new ways you can interact with the world, and that is entirely gone from the Druid, and I hate it.

Bingo.

•Sidenote - Every Animal Form gets Darkvision? God I'm so tired of the absolutely joke that Darkvision is in 5e. Just give it to literally everyone and everything. We're almost there already as it is!

*Snicker*

-Quick Attack. You can bonus-action Unarmed Strike? Is this a typo? Is it supposed to be bonus-action Beastial Strike? A Druid gains no Unarmed Strike benefits. Why is "1+str" a meaningful mechanic here?

I'll suggest the "bonus action bestial strike" in the feedback, thanks for the idea.
Swift Transformation needs clarification? Yes.

• Elemental Wild Shape - It's... fine. The ability to change into an actual elemental was just flat-out better, so this is a downright nerf, but I suppose that's just the name of the game for Druid. Unfortunate. (Notably missing, as already pointed out several times, is the ability to hit as a magic attack. That's a serious problem for every Druid and a glaring hole in it's combat progress, IMO.)

Yes.

•Elemental Strike - Generic bonus damage. Lack of magic-counting attack remains. Effective enough but pretty boring.

But easier to program in a video game. (See Diablo II Paladin elemental auras for an example ...)

• Thousand Forms - If you can Alter Self whenever you want forever, why can't you Wild Shape whenever you want forever? Just... just do it already. It's not good enough to gate this hard. Never has been.

Will mention that in the feedback.

PALADIN -Banishing Smite: I hate the way they're treating Banishment, and this is no different.

I have already mentioned that, and this will be in the feedback again.

Depends on the cooldowns and toolbars

*cackle*

This is gonna be a very fun year of gaslighting about how apparently D&DOne is not becoming more video-gamey, while clearly becoming more video-gamey.

Indeed.

When they Wild Shape they expend a spell slot. AC = 10 + Wis modifier + spell slot expended, gain THP = 5 x spell slot expended.

Fiddly, but there's a germ of a good idea here.

I'd rather add dex to AC and have 2x PB Temp HP added when changing form. (Simpler)