How op would letting wildshape use monstrosities instead of beast

[Throne12]

So I was thinking about a sci-fi fantasy campaign and was thinking about how creatures would look different on other planets. So wildshape cr doesn't get to high so would it be to op too swap out beast for monstrosities

[Spiritchaser]

For balance reasons I wouldn’t do it for a PC but it was fun for an arch villain anti-druid

[JNAProductions]

So I was thinking about a sci-fi fantasy campaign and was thinking about how creatures would look different on other planets. So wildshape cr doesn't get to high so would it be to op too swap out beast for monstrosities

Look at the various monstrosities. Note any special abilities they have.

In terms of raw damage and defense? Unlikely to be an issue-5E has decent enough CR.
It's special abilities that you might want to be worried about.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Look at the various monstrosities. Note any special abilities they have.

In terms of raw damage and defense? Unlikely to be an issue-5E has decent enough CR.
It's special abilities that you might want to be worried about.

Not only abilities, but sheer variety. Beasts are pretty-much carbon-copies. Monstrosities are hugely varying. And some have languages and hands.

This opens up the same MM-diving exploits that made polymorph-sub-school spells so broken in 3e.

[JNAProductions]

Not only abilities, but sheer variety. Beasts are pretty-much carbon-copies. Monstrosities are hugely varying. And some have languages and hands.

This opens up the same MM-diving exploits that made polymorph-sub-school spells so broken in 3e.

Excellent point.

Perhaps, OP, you should make a small list of monstrosities to be added to the list? Players can add to the list, but only with your approval.

[Throne12]

There special abilities dont seem all to game breaking considering how strong your spells and other monsters you'll be fighting too your wildshape cr. The moon Druid would get the most bang for there buck. But again the cr is lower then what they will be fighting. Also special abilities give wildshape more versatile while they are in wildshape. So it just not I claw/bite/peck/ect them.


Thats not much of a problem because wotc had there beast list SA. When they had groups of beast based off there environment bio. So someone can just do that too with monstrosities.

[Amnestic]

Rust Monster might be an issue potentially.

[Hellpyre]

Short answer - It would be a significant power bump. One that Druids don't really need as a full-caster.

Long answer - Monstrosities as a type have the sometimes very significant benefit of being one of the 'grab-bag' categories of monsters (alongside abberations) and so having a large amount of variety. As a Druid PC, monstrosities add a fair bit of cognitive load, and add a huge amount of versatility to wild shape at the cost of some of the infiltration potential of animal forms.

Consider, for example, the humble cockatrice. At CR 1/2, it is available to any druid of level 4 or higher, providing the ability to petrify on an attack. A rust monster, at the same CR, can easily destroy and entire armory in moments. At the higher CRs available to a Moon Druid, things get even more wild.

The most compelling argument against it, though, is, is that are no 1/4 CR or lower monstrosities, so you can't use the feature for the first two levels you have it. That's a good sign that the feature is built around constraints that are mostly inapplicable if you make the swap.

[Amnestic]

Consider, for example, the humble cockatrice. At CR 1/2, it is available to any druid of level 4 or higher, providing the ability to petrify on an attack. A rust monster, at the same CR, can easily destroy and entire armory in moments. At the higher CRs available to a Moon Druid, things get even more wild.

Cockatrice is 8+ since it has a fly speed, but it's still pretty scary with the petrify.

[KorvinStarmast]

I'd recommend against it.
I have generally recommended against it

Monstrosities can inflict conditions (cockatrice petrify creatures, death dogs can inflict the poisoned condition) that can really swing a fight in favor of a party .

[Hellpyre]

Cockatrice is 8+ since it has a fly speed, but it's still pretty scary with the petrify.

I forgot that it actually had a flight speed, to tell the truth. I was thinking it was a non-functional wings type thing. Just goes to show that I should have flipped to the actual monster page to double check.

[Bobthewizard]

I agree with the concerns of the above posters. But if you want it for the flavor, you could still do it by just taking out the special ability for each one. No petrification, no rust, no harpy song. It looks like without those, they are balanced with beasts. Using that guideline, you could add aberrations too.

[Malinthas]

What about creating a homebrew Feat that allows, say, three specific forms? You could put CR and other restrictions on it just like the standard Wild Shape does. This would let you play with a few more powerful forms without opening the entire can of purple worms.