Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in- Marketplace
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in
So, Shapechange lets you retain spellcasting, but not class features or feats.
--What if a Feat prepares spells? eg, Fey-Touched. Do you forget those spells? Do you simply not get the free casting for the day while Shapechanged? Or is it all spell-casting?
--Similarly something like Potent Dragonmark - do you unprepare all those spells while shapechanged? Do you lose the bonus spell slot for Mark spells? Or is this all spell-casting?
--What about class features that automatically prepare spells? eg, Cleric Domains, or the Abjurer's Spell Breaker. Do you unprepare the spells?
--Further, if you keep the spells, is the rest of a feature like Spell Breaker part of spellcasting that you retain, because it modifies spellcasting? Can you still cast Dispel Magic as a bonus action, because that's spellcasting? Do you still retain the slot if it or Counterspell fails? Or the illusionists ability to cast illusion spells without verbal components? ie, are these fully independent features, or do they modify (and become part of) spellcasting?
--On the off chance someone with Magic Initiate but no spellcasting feature acquires an item that allows them to shapechange, do they lose their magic initiate spells? Is this different than a character with the spellcasting feature and the Magic Initiate feat?
--Is Ritual Adept part of spellcasting? (Assuming you still have access to your spellbook while shapechanged)
Spellcasting in this context refers to the actual class Feature that's named "Spellcasting".
Sure, but what's part of 'spellcasting'? ie, if you get an ability that modifies spellcasting, that's arguably part of the spellcasting feature, because it's rewriting the feature to the degree that it changes spellcasting.
And you're saying permanently prepared spells aren't part of your spellcasting feature, even though you can cast them with it? So a Cleric's domain spells aren't part of their spellcasting feature? That sounds goofy. (Edit: Similarly, i would understand something like Divine Soul's Divine Magic feature to be pretty explicitly modifying their spellcasting feature.)
I mean, presumably, because you retain proficiencies, you also retain proficiencies you gained because of feats or class features. That doesn't seem any different than spells gained by feats or class features. But are you saying that because Shapechange only says 'proficiencies', you can keep your proficiency in a skill, but not your expertise? That's really weird. I would've said expertise is part of proficiencies.
Would you further say that you don't retain your memory, because Shapechange never explicitly says you do?
(And is Potent Dragonmark's "Dragonmark Spellcasting" not a 'spellcasting feature'? Shapechange never requires it to be a class feature.)
As written, yes. Spellcasting is a specific feature (for example, https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/phb-2024/character-classes-continued#Level1WizardSpellcasting) so anything from elsewhere does not qualify (one unclear point: if you prepare a spell and then lose the feature that causes that spell to be on your spell list, can you still cast the spell?)
This may well not be what's intended; there is a lot of nonsense in level 9 spells because actual playtesting at those levels has always been minimal.
No species traits, either. Some give you prepared spells.
Whether it is intentional or not, maybe it is because the 5.5e Shapechange lost the following line from the 5e Shapechange: "You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them, provided that your new form is physically capable of doing so."
EDIT: for clarity.