What happens when a druid wild shaping into a giant toad swallows, and kills an enemy, and then reverts into normal form? happened yesterday and the master applied half of total player HPs damage for not having tought about this Is there any common sense rule here?
Common sense rule would definitely say that a humanoid cannot expect to hold a medium creature in their stomach without damage, or at least inconvenience!
I tend to run a slightly comical game, which in this case means that I would have them attempt a constitution save as they transformed back. On a failure, they would regurgitate the creature and take an amont of force damage, which I would scale to be "somewhat damaging" regardless of their level. If they succeeded, I would tell them that they reappear with a monstrously swollen belly. They take half the damage I was going to inflict, and have disadvantage on Dexterity checks and -5ft of movement speed, until they either re-wildshape or complete a long rest to digest!
However consider that the Druid's Wildshape feature allows them to wear, drop, or merge equipment into their new form. Ruling that a dead swallowed creature deals damage to the druid when their form reverts seems odd to me. Would a druid that just ate a meal take damage when they Wildshape into a Rat? Even with an empty stomach there is no way the contents of a humanoids digestive tract would fit into that of a Rats.
Yea if you start as a creature that have an ability that lets you swallow another creature and then change into a creature that does not have such an ability then I would also rule that any swallowed creature is expelled/escapes as part of that change of shape.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I'd say that if the creature's dead, just let it ride. There's no combat implications to the situation, and you shouldn't punish a player for using a basic option like that. If they were still alive when the form dropped, just have them spat out into a random adjacent square. Again, no point in punishing the player for using a feature.
Dead or alive, barf it out when you change back. It's a fun, memorable scene. I certainly wouldn't punish the druid for "not thinking" about a feature that clearly violates several other laws of physics.
Druids magically transform the stuff they are wearing into their new form, or leave it on the ground/wear it if they don't incorporate it. It seems to me that the Druid should be able to choose how the stomach contents of the giant frog are ejected when they change shape.
I realize that a DM might think it amusing in the moment to rule that the ingested creature causes damage because it can't fit in the stomach of the Druid after they change back ... but the character would KNOW what happens to anything they swallow when in a beast form - whether that is food, water or another creature. This would be a fundamental part of any Druid's training. If they are the shape of a snake an eat a mouse, what happens to the mouse? (A partially digested whole mouse in a humanoid digestive system would likely be a source of obstruction and disease possibly resulting in death ... so if a DM decides to play that way, they should let the player know first).
Anyway, if the DM is going to employ such a house rule then they should let the Druid player know the consequences of such actions before the player decides to make them since it would not make sense otherwise.
Yea if you start as a creature that have an ability that lets you swallow another creature and then change into a creature that does not have such an ability then I would also rule that any swallowed creature is expelled/escapes as part of that change of shape.
So what happens if you just got done eating a Hero's Feast, then turn into a cat to do a stealthy survey? You just pigged out for an hour eating a crap-ton of food. Does that food now suddenly appear beside you since your belly is full and a cat's belly is tiny compared to yours?
I wouldn't stop to think physics at all with wild shape. It's pointless pseudo science at best and an endless series of other pointless discussions/implications at worst.
If their wild shape has the ability to swallow someone and they manage to kill someone with it, then what is the actual purpose of this debate? What value do the consequences add to anyone? Should go with whatever is the most fun for everyone, because it's completely arbitrary anyways.
The only point to me is if the player constantly uses this as a means to dispose of corpses and it creates problems for the DM. And even then I'd think twice, because it's a really creative way and uses a resource.
Maybe if they do this to a boss that for some reason needs to stay in the game after its death. DM could just rule that it has X reason why the toad can't digest it and spits it out instead.
Other than that, what a brilliant way to hide evidence/tracks. Druid wild shape allows them to just turn into a mouse a casually strut into an enemy castle. As long they don't have magic detectors, nothing really gives it away. Wild shape is kind of absolute by design, so I wouldn't set any unnecessary limitations.
What happens when a druid wild shaping into a giant toad swallows, and kills an enemy, and then reverts into normal form?
happened yesterday and the master applied half of total player HPs damage for not having tought about this
Is there any common sense rule here?
Common sense rule would definitely say that a humanoid cannot expect to hold a medium creature in their stomach without damage, or at least inconvenience!
I tend to run a slightly comical game, which in this case means that I would have them attempt a constitution save as they transformed back. On a failure, they would regurgitate the creature and take an amont of force damage, which I would scale to be "somewhat damaging" regardless of their level. If they succeeded, I would tell them that they reappear with a monstrously swollen belly. They take half the damage I was going to inflict, and have disadvantage on Dexterity checks and -5ft of movement speed, until they either re-wildshape or complete a long rest to digest!
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The applicable rules I see are the general How To Play rules in the PHB: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/introduction#HowtoPlay
If the DM decides that damage is appropriate then the DMG provides some additional guidance here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/running-the-game#ImprovisingDamage
However consider that the Druid's Wildshape feature allows them to wear, drop, or merge equipment into their new form. Ruling that a dead swallowed creature deals damage to the druid when their form reverts seems odd to me. Would a druid that just ate a meal take damage when they Wildshape into a Rat? Even with an empty stomach there is no way the contents of a humanoids digestive tract would fit into that of a Rats.
I'd say the swallowed creature escape when the druid shapechange, appearing in a space next to it.
Yea if you start as a creature that have an ability that lets you swallow another creature and then change into a creature that does not have such an ability then I would also rule that any swallowed creature is expelled/escapes as part of that change of shape.
The real problem only arises the next morning.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I'd say that if the creature's dead, just let it ride. There's no combat implications to the situation, and you shouldn't punish a player for using a basic option like that. If they were still alive when the form dropped, just have them spat out into a random adjacent square. Again, no point in punishing the player for using a feature.
Dead or alive, barf it out when you change back. It's a fun, memorable scene. I certainly wouldn't punish the druid for "not thinking" about a feature that clearly violates several other laws of physics.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Once dead the creature becomes an object right? Seems it would disappear into whatever space things go when wildshaped to begin with.
Druids magically transform the stuff they are wearing into their new form, or leave it on the ground/wear it if they don't incorporate it. It seems to me that the Druid should be able to choose how the stomach contents of the giant frog are ejected when they change shape.
I realize that a DM might think it amusing in the moment to rule that the ingested creature causes damage because it can't fit in the stomach of the Druid after they change back ... but the character would KNOW what happens to anything they swallow when in a beast form - whether that is food, water or another creature. This would be a fundamental part of any Druid's training. If they are the shape of a snake an eat a mouse, what happens to the mouse? (A partially digested whole mouse in a humanoid digestive system would likely be a source of obstruction and disease possibly resulting in death ... so if a DM decides to play that way, they should let the player know first).
Anyway, if the DM is going to employ such a house rule then they should let the Druid player know the consequences of such actions before the player decides to make them since it would not make sense otherwise.
So what happens if you just got done eating a Hero's Feast, then turn into a cat to do a stealthy survey? You just pigged out for an hour eating a crap-ton of food. Does that food now suddenly appear beside you since your belly is full and a cat's belly is tiny compared to yours?
I wouldn't stop to think physics at all with wild shape. It's pointless pseudo science at best and an endless series of other pointless discussions/implications at worst.
If their wild shape has the ability to swallow someone and they manage to kill someone with it, then what is the actual purpose of this debate? What value do the consequences add to anyone? Should go with whatever is the most fun for everyone, because it's completely arbitrary anyways.
The only point to me is if the player constantly uses this as a means to dispose of corpses and it creates problems for the DM. And even then I'd think twice, because it's a really creative way and uses a resource.
Maybe if they do this to a boss that for some reason needs to stay in the game after its death. DM could just rule that it has X reason why the toad can't digest it and spits it out instead.
Other than that, what a brilliant way to hide evidence/tracks. Druid wild shape allows them to just turn into a mouse a casually strut into an enemy castle. As long they don't have magic detectors, nothing really gives it away. Wild shape is kind of absolute by design, so I wouldn't set any unnecessary limitations.
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