Okay, this might sound crazy.. But I really like the idea of a character with the ability to change into a specific animal.. a sort of spirit animal.. extension of your soul sort of thing... Think medivh from warcraft or any of the shapechangers from the harry potter universe... I actually don't think the ability to change into any animal is nearly as cool as the ability to change into just one that reflects your personality.
Sadly, that specific kind of ability doesn't exist in 5e, so to get it, we're going to need to dip 2 lvls of druid to get wildshape and then pick an animal and stick to it.. that's alright with me, in theory anyway. Obviously this means that we're looking at a multiclass solution here, and I was just curious to hear your thoughts on builds where a 2 lvl druid dip wouldn't be too horrible.. I'm a min/maxer at heart, but I do love me some cool flavor aswell.
Ideally we're looking at a martial character here, probably with a spiritual aspect (provided by the druid dip). My initial thought was bladesinger (because I love bladesinger), since a martial bladesinger will still get improved spell slots from druid to upcast shadowblade or spirit shroud.. But I feel like I'm starting to rely on bladesinger too much for my character ideas these days, so maybe one of you guys had a cool alternative?
Just to clarify, I'm specifically not looking for the druid flavor, but rather combine this one druid feature with something else to create a cool concept :)
Keep in mind that with only two levels of Druid, you will be restricted to CR1/4 animals with neither swimming nor flying speeds (or CR1 if you take Moon at level 2). You will also never be able to stay in shape for longer than one hour. The normal rules apply - no spellcasting included, and wildshaping takes an Action unless you're a Moon Druid.
If your "personality form" doesn't require a CR > 1/4, you could lean in to the spirit animal thing and choose the Shepherd Circle. Spirit Totem (Hawk) doesn't scale with WIS or level anyway, and even 7THP from the Bear is useful for most of the game. But if you want to do any kind of combat while in your spirit form, you'll probably want to stick to Moon to get the most out of it.
For your primary class, the spirit theme is also well-embodied by the Barbarian class, especially the Beast, Ancestral Guardian, and Totem Warrior primal paths. You can Rage while wildshaped, and the resistance granted by Rage might let your beast shape survive a hit or two. The Form of the Beast and Beastial Soul features of the Beast path will replace your natural attacks in wildshape and let them scale against enemies a lot better.
Oh of course! This is purely a a flavor/rp thing, so I'm thinking a squirrel or a cat or something.. It's not really ment to be useful... I wouldnt really expect to eve r it for fighting except for fleeing perhaps
Work with your DM. Instead of taking two levels of Druid, maybe you could be a custom race similar to the Swan Maiden. I’d base it on the Shifter and be stingy on other abilities since Wild Shape, even limited to a 1/4 CR beast, is pretty powerful.
I had a similar character concept and my plan is to go 8 grassland druid/ 12 rogue. I am not sure which rogue subclass would be the best, but that is for another forum. The reason for the 8 lvls instead of 2 is for haste and flying creatures. With arcane trickster you still get spellcasting and melee damage. Also arcane tricksters don't need 13 INT to multiclass out and can use druid spells in the higher level spell slots. If your DM is open to some different spells they might let you combine Flame Blade and Shadow Blade into 1 spell, so you can use Flame Blade as a finesse weapon.
Just because you choose 1 creature type doesn't mean you can't gain flying or swimming. Flying squirrels, or a beaver/otter for the swimming and flavor it as a squirrel.
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Okay, this might sound crazy.. But I really like the idea of a character with the ability to change into a specific animal.. a sort of spirit animal.. extension of your soul sort of thing... Think medivh from warcraft or any of the shapechangers from the harry potter universe... I actually don't think the ability to change into any animal is nearly as cool as the ability to change into just one that reflects your personality.
Sadly, that specific kind of ability doesn't exist in 5e, so to get it, we're going to need to dip 2 lvls of druid to get wildshape and then pick an animal and stick to it.. that's alright with me, in theory anyway. Obviously this means that we're looking at a multiclass solution here, and I was just curious to hear your thoughts on builds where a 2 lvl druid dip wouldn't be too horrible.. I'm a min/maxer at heart, but I do love me some cool flavor aswell.
Ideally we're looking at a martial character here, probably with a spiritual aspect (provided by the druid dip). My initial thought was bladesinger (because I love bladesinger), since a martial bladesinger will still get improved spell slots from druid to upcast shadowblade or spirit shroud.. But I feel like I'm starting to rely on bladesinger too much for my character ideas these days, so maybe one of you guys had a cool alternative?
Just to clarify, I'm specifically not looking for the druid flavor, but rather combine this one druid feature with something else to create a cool concept :)
Keep in mind that with only two levels of Druid, you will be restricted to CR1/4 animals with neither swimming nor flying speeds (or CR1 if you take Moon at level 2). You will also never be able to stay in shape for longer than one hour. The normal rules apply - no spellcasting included, and wildshaping takes an Action unless you're a Moon Druid.
If your "personality form" doesn't require a CR > 1/4, you could lean in to the spirit animal thing and choose the Shepherd Circle. Spirit Totem (Hawk) doesn't scale with WIS or level anyway, and even 7THP from the Bear is useful for most of the game. But if you want to do any kind of combat while in your spirit form, you'll probably want to stick to Moon to get the most out of it.
For your primary class, the spirit theme is also well-embodied by the Barbarian class, especially the Beast, Ancestral Guardian, and Totem Warrior primal paths. You can Rage while wildshaped, and the resistance granted by Rage might let your beast shape survive a hit or two. The Form of the Beast and Beastial Soul features of the Beast path will replace your natural attacks in wildshape and let them scale against enemies a lot better.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Oh of course! This is purely a a flavor/rp thing, so I'm thinking a squirrel or a cat or something.. It's not really ment to be useful... I wouldnt really expect to eve r it for fighting except for fleeing perhaps
Work with your DM. Instead of taking two levels of Druid, maybe you could be a custom race similar to the Swan Maiden. I’d base it on the Shifter and be stingy on other abilities since Wild Shape, even limited to a 1/4 CR beast, is pretty powerful.
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That's certainly the most forgiving way of doing it ^^.. This is entirely theory crafting though, so no dm to talk to atm :)
I had a similar character concept and my plan is to go 8 grassland druid/ 12 rogue. I am not sure which rogue subclass would be the best, but that is for another forum. The reason for the 8 lvls instead of 2 is for haste and flying creatures. With arcane trickster you still get spellcasting and melee damage. Also arcane tricksters don't need 13 INT to multiclass out and can use druid spells in the higher level spell slots. If your DM is open to some different spells they might let you combine Flame Blade and Shadow Blade into 1 spell, so you can use Flame Blade as a finesse weapon.
Just because you choose 1 creature type doesn't mean you can't gain flying or swimming. Flying squirrels, or a beaver/otter for the swimming and flavor it as a squirrel.