Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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I'm new to the druid class and as I was looking through the wording on Wild Shape(5.5e) I noticed potential for a pretty niche use case. I have a scenario in mind, so please tell me if it works RAW:
1- Druid wild shapes into an animal
2- Grabs important item(with a limb or its mouth) OR somehow attaches it firmly
3- Wildshapes a second time into the same animal shape and chooses to absorb the newly equipped item
4- Turns back into initial form and retains the item
^I believe this could be useful in some sort of infiltration plot, pretending to be another partymember's pet and effectively absorbing a firmly held/worn mcguffin into the wild shape.
Followup question: I know RAI this makes zero sense as this is meant to prevent players from getting gear benefits, but as written, could a druid temporarily disarm a magical bomb by holding it and wildshaping to absorb it? AFAIK the description for Wildshape says absorbed items have no effect. I see this as a wild thing potentially that can occasionally be very useful.
Second followup question: what actually counts as equipped items, when it comes to spells? I think there's a thread somewhere that tackles this issue in respect to Invisibility, but I wonder how hardcore the requirements for this absorption trick have to be. Would holding something with your jaws count? What about having an item strapped to your animal body? Or a blanket that's fallen on top of you? For horses and the like, what does it mean to carry an item? Could a druid absorb a held corpse to hide it? And what happens to the absorbed items, like are they in a state of limbo with no time passing, in a separate dimension? I have so many questions about this feature.
Third followup: would a transformation into the same exact animal be noticeable to a casual observer, or would there be no visual/auditory clues? What I mean is, how stealthy would it be for a druid to wildshape while in wild shape if they turn from a cat into the same exact cat form? Because if there's nothing in the rules stating that it should be visible, this could be very cool when used for the mcguffin absorption trick. Imagine a cat holding a ring in its mouth, turning its head away and then revealing that the ring is gone :D
I also wonder if Wildshape could be used as a way to temporarily carry a lot more weight than that player's usual carry capacity allows 🤔
Sure it can. If a Moon Druid wildshapes into a Brontosaurus he would have a carrying capacity of 2520lbs (CR5, Gargantuan Creature, 21 STR), and a maximum lifting capacity of 5040 lbs.
For a lower CR option, the Giant Constrictor Snake (CR2, Huge Creature, 15 STR) has a carrying/lifting capacity of 900/1800lbs.
Being able to carry something heavy is a good utility use of wildshape even at lower levels.
Oh, no, I meant absorbing heavy equipment into your wildshape when transforming to *effectively* carry even more. I theorize that if a druid were to transform several times from one wildshape into another while putting on/holding more items, they could absorb a lot and then resume the normal shape to drop all of those items. Pretty impractical, but I wonder if such an edge case is possible. Could mean that a level 20 druid can absorb humongous amounts of weight by repeatedly transforming, if given enough time.
I don't think, e.g. a dog, holding a sword in their mouth would count as having that sword "equipped" same for most other objects. You could Wildshape, revert to your form, equip something, then wildshape again to absorb it. However, it must be something you put into a container you have on yourself, or be an actual piece of equipment. Simply touching or holding an object is not having it equipped or worn.
I don't know that a live bomb in your hand would count as "your equipment". Similar to the above, you'd have to store it in your bag/backpack or a bag of holding or something like that. It also wouldn't 'disarm' the bomb it would simply suppress it, and it would continue to activate as soon as you leave wildshape. However, I would note that in D&D worlds rarely are there any bomb-like things that are substantially difficult to disarm, usually simply extinguishing a fuse would suffice to disarm it. Alternatively they are often magical enchantments / traps on structures / terrain rather than a carry-able objects.
Equipped items are things appropriately on your body / hands to be used. i.e. armour that is on your body, weapons held in your hands, magic items you have attuned. If you cannot use something that thing is not equipped, it is simply held. Your equipment also includes stuff in your bags, and pockets.
Worn equipment is stuff that can be worn as its normal function - cloaks, armour, tiaras, hats, boots, gloves, necklaces, rings, helms, backpacks, saddles etc... You could discuss with your DM inventing a new piece of equipment that adds straps to another object to make it wearable.
They are not in a separate dimension. Separate dimensions have rules attached to them in D&D including ways to travel to them. They become part of your new body, thus they cease to be what they were temporarily. However, if they were cursed that curse is now part of your wildshape self and might still affect you, same if they were sentient objects like some weapons that sentience might become part of you in someway.
Quick Fire Round:
If it makes a visible object vanish, then the casual observer might notice it being absorbed into the animal, and intelligent/experienced observers may know that magic can make stuff vanish in various ways. Otherwise the effect does not require components so it would not be noticeable.
Thank you for the clarifications! :D
I see, so it won't be considered "equipped" unless the animal shape can reasonably wear/use it
But what about the term "carrying"? Some spells, like Catapult, are worded to not work on carried items, probably to avoid pulling items from people's hands and the like. So, would not, say, a ring or some other item in a cat's mouth not be considered as carried? If not, can a wizard cast Catapult on, say, a ring held in a cat's fangs and break them or otherwise instantly damage the creature, since the ring is not "carried"? Would a small wooden bucket in its mouth be ignited by Fire Bolt? And how is that different to holding those in the palm of one's hand? So... maybe the criterion for carrying objects is being able to lift and then move them around independently and without straining? In which case, I think there is a case for the absorption trick working without needing to drop the wild shape in my scenario IF the object can be lifted and moved. Though then I wonder if supporting the object with one's head or back not specifically made for it would count according to this definition... like, could a cat-druid absorb a small apple put on their head the same way as if it's carried with its teeth? If not, would that work if the apple were safely secured with a rope?
And yes, the bomb example sounds excessive, but let's just say the ring the druid tried to steal is enchanted with Magic Mouth, programmed to scream when touched by someone unauthorized, and there's a small delay before the trigger and the effect. Would it still scream if absorbed before it could do so? Or would it only scream when the druid reverts?