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What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

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Thu, 2010-01-14 10:34
#1
Kobold Avenger
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What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

This is really valid for 3e Druids, and I brought it up in the thread on Githzerai Faiths. It's a question of what would a Druid from Limbo bother wildshaping into? Since wildshaping into common animals that exist on our world such as bears and wolves and chinchillas just seem kind of boring or out of place for a Druid from a place that probably doesn't even have those animals.

While I guess it's easier from a game perspective to use the stats of bears and wolves and things readily in the Monster Manual, I think there needs to be a list of things that are equivalent to a mundane animal that is more likely to live in Limbo. I randomly made up a:

Slaurr (Bear): A cumbersome beast covered in thick writhing cilia tendrils, has a single large eye, and five limbs.

Anyone else have other ideas?

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Thu, 2010-01-14 14:01
#2
xidoraven
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Re: What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

I always think of the elements dying and crumbling to dust when I think of Limbo (sort of like the Elemental Chaos of 4e), so my suggestion would be the smaller sorts of elementals, paraelementals, etc. But that is not in any way a professional opinion... Just my first thoughts on the topic. Eye-wink
-will

Thu, 2010-01-14 20:33
#3
Duckluck
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Re: What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

I've never known what to do with druids on the planes. Normal ones work for places like the outlands or beastlands, but elsewhere I just don't know. What kind of warped monsters would a gehennan druid encounter? Would a mechanus "druid" turn into clockwork animals?

Something to think about I guess.

Fri, 2010-01-15 02:44
#4
Eldan
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Re: What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

Actually, that's a homebrew idea I once had a little time ago, but never realized...

In my games, I use the Shapeshift druid (PHB II). It's not only not as strong, but, I think, also more interesting. It let's you choose your form liberally, and just gives static bonuses to your statistics.
There is, already, on the Giantitp.com forums, where I usually hang out on the net, quite a list of homebrew alternate forms for the shapeshift druid, most of them available as feats.

My idea could have taken two forms: either feats giving you new forms that fit planar origins, or, the other idea I had was something like this:

Mechanus Form [Shapeshift]

Prerequisities: Shapeshift, Level 1
Benefit: Whenever you change your form via shapeshift, your new form is partly clockwork, gaining you a 10% chance to resist critical hits and precision damage.

Of course, the above example is badly formulated and probably not balanced, but with some more work than the 20 seconds I invested in it now, something could be made. Allow a player to only take one of these feats, and you should be set.

Fri, 2010-01-15 02:45
#5
Eldan
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Re: What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

Actually, that's a homebrew idea I once had a little time ago, but never realized...

In my games, I use the Shapeshift druid (PHB II). It's not only not as strong, but, I think, also more interesting. It let's you choose your form liberally, and just gives static bonuses to your statistics.
There is, already, on the Giantitp.com forums, where I usually hang out on the net, quite a list of homebrew alternate forms for the shapeshift druid, most of them available as feats.

My idea could have taken two forms: either feats giving you new forms that fit planar origins, or, the other idea I had was something like this:

Mechanus Form [Shapeshift]

Prerequisities: Shapeshift, Level 1
Benefit: Whenever you change your form via shapeshift, your new form is partly clockwork, gaining you a 10% chance to resist critical hits and precision damage.

Of course, the above example is badly formulated and probably not balanced, but with some more work than the 20 seconds I invested in it now, something could be made. Allow a player to only take one of these feats, and you should be set.

Fri, 2010-01-15 23:48
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Kobold Avenger
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Re: What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

While the 3e PHB2 options, or the forms from Unearthed Arcana, or the 4e approach to Druids is the easier options to use for Druids around the planes. Sometimes I think there needs to be more thought towards the Fauna of the planes. It's probably the reason I liked the appendix in PSMCIII with it's animals such as the Javoose.

And many animals across the planes only need to be a cosmetic change of an otherwise normal prime material animal.

Sat, 2010-01-16 20:00
#7
xidoraven
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Re: What Would a Druid From Limbo Wildshape Into

I always enjoy fantasy versions of animal type creatures - like the Chordevoc (sp?) from Races of the Wild, and a few others. Some of these could be really useful in planar situations, where something vaguely alien but also strangely familiar in the animal type would be interesting and suitable. If all else fails, consider what something from another Prime world might be like, and give it some form of similar stats with the Extraplanar subtype, considering that new and fantastical creatures are less likely to be arguable from this perspective than something that is adapted from something else more familiar to us.

Making a set of templates to be added to various creatures might be helpful, especially if some of those creatures were small/weak enough to be adjusted with such a template and still maintain a form low enough for a low-level druid's wild shape ability, and some others which are then higher and more suitable to higher level shapes. Adding or adjusting elemental or other outsider traits with minimal influence (somewhat less than half-celestial or half-fiendish traits) would make for a great method to create these templates from the ground up.

Somewhere around here, we have had a list of all animals (realistic animal type creatures) and similar critters - but I forget if I saw it here (in my discussions related to the Beastlands), on other forums, or both. My instincts tell me that RipVanWormer is the one who posted it on here, but I would have to check. This would help make a pool of creatures to begin adding such templates to for examples, balancing, etc.
-will

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