My goal is to propose a way of including non-beasts into WS in a limited form that doesn't make WS OP. My example focuses on Moon Druids. Also, I do think the Moon Druid Level - CR table needs to be revised, weakened. (I proposed that here.) To avoid confusion here, however, the Moon Druid Level - CR table below is the standard 5e table (which, again, I think should be weakened).
Circle of the Moon gives Druids an accelerated Level-CR table, which includes some beasts with a lot of HPs and are powerful damage dealers. For example, L2 Moon Druids can WS into a giant hyena with 42 HP or a brown bear with 34 HP that deals 11 (2d6 + 4), 8 (1d8 + 4) per round. And at L10, Moon Druids can WS into Elementals, which have 100+ HPs, several immunities, etc. (For our purposes here, let’s ignore any ambiguities, inconsistences in the 5e WS RAW.)
Here’s my homebrew Moon Druid WS criteria:
Everything from 5e core rulebooks, e.g., the Druid must have seen the beast WS option, the Moon Druid Level - CR table, Elemental WS options at L10, etc.
For non-beasts, besides applying all relevant rules from the core rulebooks the WS option must meet the following 2 conditions:
Alignment: the WS option must be Unaligned (like beasts) or have the same alignment as the Moon Druid. The rationale for this condition is that it would be odd for a lawful neutral druid WS into a chaotic evil monster.
Environment: the WS option must be from the Environment of the Moon Druid’s background. The rationale for this condition is that it limits the non-beast WS options for a druid, allows the druid's background to have a material impact on a druid's WS mechanics (and it's related to the standard 5e seen condition)
2 - 3 are intended to provide WS options that are thematically consistent with the druid you're playing, thus making your druid more interesting, etc. If someone would like to adopt one rather than both, that's fine.
Special note on dinosaurs: dinosaurs are optional—some worlds don’t include dinosaurs (e.g., they’re extinct), some do. If you do, 1-3 would still apply.
Last, regarding non-beasts, here are the types of monsters excluded from my WS homebrew options, & why:
Aberrations – excluded because they’re unnatural, and often are evil*
Celestials – excluded because they’re from the outer planes
Constructs – excluded because they’re made, not naturally occurring
Fey – excluded because they’re from the Fey plane, but more importantly they humanoid-like, i.e., intelligent, have a variety of personalities and alignments. Per the core rulebooks, when WS-ing, a druid maintains their alignment, personality and Intelligence, so it seems to violate the RAI to allow a druid to WS into a type of being with high intelligence, complex personality and alignment
Fiend – excluded because they’re unnatural, and typically evil*
Giant – excluded because giants from the BR and MM are evil* and have intelligence, albeit low (8+), personalities, etc.
Ooze – excluded because most oozes originate from the Underdark environment (of the material plane or another other plane), which likely excludes it as a WS option; or they’re evil*
Undead - excluded because they’re unnatural, and they’re evil*
* If you’re playing an Evil Druid, you could consider these types of non-beasts, as long as you think the other reasons provided for exclusion aren’t enough. What's important is that, given the special attacks, immunities or resistances of something like undead, the non-beast WS option doesn't break the game.
So, based on the exclusions above, besides beasts, what monsters would this homebrew WS framework include? As long as 1-3 above are satisfied, my homebrew WS rules allow:
Monstrosities
Plants
The monstrosities and plants eligible for WS should not have any OP, game-breaking features such as disproportionately high/strong DPR, spellcasting, immunities, etc.
Here’s an example of non-beast WS options of a Lawful Neutral Moon Druid with a background Environment of Forest and Grasslands, based on the homebrew WS rules outlined above:
I’ve compared the damage dealing of these non-beasts to the beasts permitted by Moon Druids and I don’t think these additions make the Moon Druid a significantly better damage dealer in melee combat. But they definitely make WS more interesting, while remaining thematic consistency with a druid, i.e., thematically consistent with their alignment and environmental background.
Old School veteran. Started playing 1e in the late 70s and stopped in the mid-80s. Started immersing myself into 5e in late 2023. Still climbing the learning curve
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My goal is to propose a way of including non-beasts into WS in a limited form that doesn't make WS OP. My example focuses on Moon Druids. Also, I do think the Moon Druid Level - CR table needs to be revised, weakened. (I proposed that here.) To avoid confusion here, however, the Moon Druid Level - CR table below is the standard 5e table (which, again, I think should be weakened).
Circle of the Moon gives Druids an accelerated Level-CR table, which includes some beasts with a lot of HPs and are powerful damage dealers. For example, L2 Moon Druids can WS into a giant hyena with 42 HP or a brown bear with 34 HP that deals 11 (2d6 + 4), 8 (1d8 + 4) per round. And at L10, Moon Druids can WS into Elementals, which have 100+ HPs, several immunities, etc. (For our purposes here, let’s ignore any ambiguities, inconsistences in the 5e WS RAW.)
Here’s my homebrew Moon Druid WS criteria:
For non-beasts, besides applying all relevant rules from the core rulebooks the WS option must meet the following 2 conditions:
2 - 3 are intended to provide WS options that are thematically consistent with the druid you're playing, thus making your druid more interesting, etc. If someone would like to adopt one rather than both, that's fine.
Special note on dinosaurs: dinosaurs are optional—some worlds don’t include dinosaurs (e.g., they’re extinct), some do. If you do, 1-3 would still apply.
Last, regarding non-beasts, here are the types of monsters excluded from my WS homebrew options, & why:
* If you’re playing an Evil Druid, you could consider these types of non-beasts, as long as you think the other reasons provided for exclusion aren’t enough. What's important is that, given the special attacks, immunities or resistances of something like undead, the non-beast WS option doesn't break the game.
So, based on the exclusions above, besides beasts, what monsters would this homebrew WS framework include? As long as 1-3 above are satisfied, my homebrew WS rules allow:
The monstrosities and plants eligible for WS should not have any OP, game-breaking features such as disproportionately high/strong DPR, spellcasting, immunities, etc.
Here’s an example of non-beast WS options of a Lawful Neutral Moon Druid with a background Environment of Forest and Grasslands, based on the homebrew WS rules outlined above:
MOON DRUID LEVEL
NAME
MONSTER TYPE
CR
ALIGNMENT
ENVIRONMENT
6
Ankheg
Monstrosity
2
Unaligned
Forest
6
Awakened Tree
Plant
2
Unaligned
Forest
8
Griffon (Fly)
Monstrosity
2
Unaligned
Grasslands
9
Owl bear
Monstrosity
3
Unaligned
Forest
12
Bulette
Monstrosity
4
Unaligned
Grasslands
15
Wood Woad
Plant
5
Lawful Neutral
Forest
15
Shambling Mound
Plant
5
Unaligned
Forest
18
Witchstalker
Monstrosity
6
Unaligned
N/A
I’ve compared the damage dealing of these non-beasts to the beasts permitted by Moon Druids and I don’t think these additions make the Moon Druid a significantly better damage dealer in melee combat. But they definitely make WS more interesting, while remaining thematic consistency with a druid, i.e., thematically consistent with their alignment and environmental background.
Old School veteran. Started playing 1e in the late 70s and stopped in the mid-80s. Started immersing myself into 5e in late 2023. Still climbing the learning curve