Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SmiloDan 03-26-04, 04:31 PM	When a druid wildshapes in 3.5, do they get the Special Qualities of the form they assume, or just the Special Attacks? Can a wildshaped druid in shark form breathe underwater? Does a wildshaped druid in bat form gain blindsight? The druid gains Natural Armor, Str, Dex, Con, Attacks (with his own BAB), Damage, Special Attacks, modes of movement, Feats, and Skills of the form he assumes, right? Can a druid wildshape into an exact duplicate of his animal companion?
TaisharMalkier 03-27-04, 12:14 AM	Zug Zug. According to the rules only (will note any opinions): Druids just get special attacks (and the type - which in some cases I believe gives certain abilities mentioned by you). In my opinion, druids should get "common sense" abilities, such as a bat's blindsense (sonar), and shark's swimming. That's a house rule however. "The druid gains Natural Armor, Str, Dex, Con, Attacks (with his own BAB), Damage, Special Attacks, modes of movement, Feats, and Skills of the form he assumes, right?" Most of what's listed. You only receive racial bonus feats (ones marked with a B) and racial skill modifiers, not ranks in skills. "Can a druid wildshape into an exact duplicate of his animal companion?" Nope. You can only wildshape into an average member of said race. Animal Companions aren't the average. Cheers
Thorak 03-27-04, 01:06 AM	Originally posted by SmiloDan When a druid wildshapes in 3.5, do they get the Special Qualities of the form they assume, or just the Special Attacks? Can a wildshaped druid in shark form breathe underwater? Does a wildshaped druid in bat form gain blindsight? The druid gains Natural Armor, Str, Dex, Con, Attacks (with his own BAB), Damage, Special Attacks, modes of movement, Feats, and Skills of the form he assumes, right? Can a druid wildshape into an exact duplicate of his animal companion? A bit more explicitly, from the SRD under Polymorph (which Wild Shape works as, unless otherwise stated) The subject gains the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores of the new form but retains its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. It also gains all extraordinary special attacks possessed by the form but does not gain the extraordinary special qualities possessed by the new form or any supernatural or spell-like abilities Emphasis mine. My PHB gives Blindsense as one of those abilities that Polymorph does not grant. So even if you're in bat form, you don't have Blindsense. However, some abilities, as noted by TaisharMalkier, are granted by the creature's type, a factor Polymorph does give you. And under Aquatic type in the SRD; An aquatic creature can breathe underwater. It cannot also breathe air unless it has the amphibious special quality. So yes, if you change into a shark, you can breathe underwater. You also can not breathe on land.
SmiloDan 03-28-04, 08:34 AM	OK, that's good to know. My druid is currently exploring a sunken city under da sea. We began the adventure with 4 gnomish SCUGA gear suits, but we have more party members now. I did buy a potion of Water Breathing (we were 4th level when we started the adventure "3 days ago," but now I'm 8th level on the cusp of 9th. Our DM lets us level up after each encounter, if possible. He also only gives us half the normal XP awards to slow down our advancement. Yeah, it's been a crazy 3 days. It seems more like 3 months! ;)