Druids are one of the most interesting and versatile classes to play in D&D 5e.
With the ability to rival the Bards and Sorcerers as full casters, and the option to turn into hulking animals and frontline alongside the fighter and paladins of the world, the Druid has a lot of choices when it comes to combat.
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Not to mention the wide variety of animals that they can turn into, when they choose to do so. Wild Shape is an integral part of any Druid’s adventuring kit, but there may be a thing or two that D&D 5e players have been getting wrong when it comes to switching into those animal forms.
Here are five often-overlooked rules when it comes to using a Druid’s Wild Shape ability:
You can’t cast spells
It may seem a little counterintuitive for such a powerful caster to forgo spending any spell slots while they’re transformed into a lion, tiger, or bear, but the limitation actually has its upsides too.
While the Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards of the world are busy calculating whether or not they can afford to use that third level spell for this encounter or if they should save it for a potential fight later in the day, a Druid can go all out with their spells this fight and simply Wild Shape for the next one.
Also Druids actually can eventually cast spells in Wild Shape, but not until level 18.
You can’t talk to your party in-character
This one can be a dagger for Druids who want to use their Wild Shape ability for scouting, or just for some RP shenanigans. While you may not be able to actually talk to your party members as an animal (unless you’ve got some sort of telepathy, Speak with Animals, etc) you sure as Hells can try to charades your way into saying whatever it is you need to say.
This makes for some fun RP, and DMs will usually allow the rest of the party to work with a little bit of meta knowledge so that their characters can gather whatever it is that the Druid is trying to convey.
Your size (likely) changes
This one is especially imperative when playing on virtual or IRL battle maps, because a lot of animals that Druids can Wild Shape into are a size up on a regular humanoid — especially at higher levels.
This means that your little mini, or token, or bottlecap that you’re playing as on the battle map also increases in size, taking up a 10×10 area instead of the usual 5×5. This can have some big impacts on how the front line is held, who can hunker down behind you, and all sorts of other implications that may not be properly realized if you and the DM both forget to change the size of your character.
You can keep concentration
Remember how Druids aren’t allowed to cast spells in Wild Shape? Well that doesn’t mean that they can’t keep a concentration spell running while they’re wilding out.
Some interesting combos for Wild Shape are Conjure Animals so that you can run with your very own pack of wolves (if your DM allows it), Barkskin to amp up the pitifully low AC of most beasts, or spells like Heat Metal, Call Lightning, Bless, etc. that continue to work so long as concentration is held — just make sure to cast it before Wild Shaping.
You probably can’t interact with items
Depending on the type of animal you turn into, you likely won’t be able to feed a health potion to a dying ally, open doors, or do any other things that require the use of opposable thumbs.
It’s entirely up to your DM to rule on these instances, but unless you’ve Wild Shaped into a Great Ape, you may be out of luck!
Think we missed any important aspects of a Druid’s Wild Shape? Let us know in the comments below.
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