I'm still fairly new to D&D and even the more experienced players I play with are not quiet sure on the Moonbeam spell. I've read so many differentials on the spell. I'm beginning to understand it but my question is in regards to a shapeshifter. i.e. is a werewolf considered a shapeshifter? I tried to argue the point in my campaign but was told it's not because it's a curse. I gave up the argument because of my lack of knowledge. So is it or is it not considered a shapeshifter?
A shapechanger is a creature whose stat block contains the shapechanger tag. You can find this immediately under the name of the creature. A werewolf is indeed a shapechanger.
For monsters, it's (almost?) always listed in their statblock, the more problematic question is for PCs or NPCs with PC races/classes like changelings or druids.
For monsters, it's (almost?) always listed in their statblock, the more problematic question is for PCs or NPCs with PC races/classes like changelings or druids.
By RAW, it is not problematic at all: the tag is either there or not. Now, if an NPC for instance has no or a very limited statblock the DM has to simply make a determination: is this NPC as shapeshifter based on the information I have? Looking at how existing monsters have been tagged can help DMs as well. Giants, Humanoids, and Monstrous Humanoids are all similar but only one kind can be whammy'd by a Hold Person spell.
A tag on a monster stat block isn't the only way a creature could be classified as a shapechanger in the rules, but the fact that it's a shapechanger does have to be explicitly stated somewhere in the creature's statistics. As far as I know, this isn't the case for any official race or class so far; not even Changelings. Whether that's an oversight or a deliberate choice is up for debate, but RAW being similar to a shapechanger isn't enough to be a shapechanger for rules purposes.
The Shapechanger tag is always applied to creatures with an innate, nonmagical ability to change shape. For instance, metallic dragons aren't considered shapechangers even though they have a magical ability to polymorph. It's very unlikely it was ever intended to work against druids or spellcasters in general.
This topic has caused me to go on a deep dive and I turned up a number monsters with errors in their stat blocks that I [Edit]will makehave madea bug report[/edit] for.
To answer the question a creature is a shapechanger if it has the shapechanger monster subtype (usually accompanied by a shapechanger monster feature).
I'm still fairly new to D&D and even the more experienced players I play with are not quiet sure on the Moonbeam spell. I've read so many differentials on the spell. I'm beginning to understand it but my question is in regards to a shapeshifter. i.e. is a werewolf considered a shapeshifter? I tried to argue the point in my campaign but was told it's not because it's a curse. I gave up the argument because of my lack of knowledge. So is it or is it not considered a shapeshifter?
A shapechanger is a creature whose stat block contains the shapechanger tag. You can find this immediately under the name of the creature. A werewolf is indeed a shapechanger.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
For monsters, it's (almost?) always listed in their statblock, the more problematic question is for PCs or NPCs with PC races/classes like changelings or druids.
By RAW, it is not problematic at all: the tag is either there or not. Now, if an NPC for instance has no or a very limited statblock the DM has to simply make a determination: is this NPC as shapeshifter based on the information I have? Looking at how existing monsters have been tagged can help DMs as well. Giants, Humanoids, and Monstrous Humanoids are all similar but only one kind can be whammy'd by a Hold Person spell.
A tag on a monster stat block isn't the only way a creature could be classified as a shapechanger in the rules, but the fact that it's a shapechanger does have to be explicitly stated somewhere in the creature's statistics. As far as I know, this isn't the case for any official race or class so far; not even Changelings. Whether that's an oversight or a deliberate choice is up for debate, but RAW being similar to a shapechanger isn't enough to be a shapechanger for rules purposes.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
I think the intention of the spell is to target werewolves and similar creatures as well as a druid in wild shape.
The Shapechanger tag is always applied to creatures with an innate, nonmagical ability to change shape. For instance, metallic dragons aren't considered shapechangers even though they have a magical ability to polymorph. It's very unlikely it was ever intended to work against druids or spellcasters in general.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
This topic has caused me to go on a deep dive and I turned up a number monsters with errors in their stat blocks that I [Edit]
will makehave made a bug report[/edit] for.To answer the question a creature is a shapechanger if it has the shapechanger monster subtype (usually accompanied by a shapechanger monster feature).