Direly Needed Shape Change suggestions (long)

[Zorinar]

Hello.
There are several aspects to the Druidic Shapechange ability that I believe need to be addressed here.

Wild Shape is one of the three defining characteristics of the Druid Class. (The others being "Summon Nature's Ally, and Animal Companion). Druids use Wild Shape for combat, scouting, exploring, and travelling in D&D. A druid does more damage in animal form than with their melee weapons. They don't, after all, get all the buffs and nasty damage spells that clerics do. Druids are even more so weakened on FK where to my knowledge not a single spell with 'single-target' is in game for them, and they only get a super few area spells. Thus, Wild Shape becomes even more so important for them.

The first problem here is carry weight. Wild Shape is supposed to absorbs all equipment and the morphed player should have a zero carry weight when they transform. I was surprised to find that turning into a bird effectively immobilized me. My Str went to a 1, and my carry weight capacity to 5.

Druids cannot simply dump their equipment onto a mount. They need their mount spaces open for animal companions and Elementals. Furthermore, it would be moot to turn into a bird, but have to drag a mount along that cannot fly. Shape change is broken in this regard as players cannot use the all the forms available due to this restriction.

The second problem is the amount forms available. As a druid goes up in level, so do the power levels of the forms they can transform into. At level 12, a druid can wild shape into the dire animals. Treants are also available to them in D&D.

The reasoning is that druids have lesser mega damage spells but can fight in wild shape (and yes, they can cast spells in wild shape too with a simple feat - whereas in FK it takes two feats). It makes no sense at all to have such a characteristic ability for Druids in FK if they cannot use it reasonably when they are level 40 or 50. Stronger forms should be available at higher skill levels.

The third problem is skill ups. The ability is usable a few times per day, but it is based on a skill, just like turn undead. How is a druid supposed to get better at this skill if they need to grind it in the conventionally manner like every other skill/spell in the game but can only use it 3-6 times a day. With quick and dirty Math, I can estimate that it would take over 6 real life years (not missing any days) to get the skill to GM if it raises like most other skills or spells.

Again, this is a defining ability of a druid. I truly believe it needs to be fixed in order to give druids some of the RP and structure they are built for. I understand that fixing shapechange will probably be no small feat, but the class of Druids and the forest players RP and gaming experience will only benefit from it. The game as a whole will enjoy the change I think.

Solution suggestions:
1)
I think that for the weight issue, setting character carry weight to equal zero while wild shaped should suffice. Allow them enough dex to make sure they can carry at least the few bags it takes to store all their equipment into. I it could be coded that the dont even have to remove their equipment, it just gets absorbed until they morph back..

2)
For giving some more forms useful for more powerful levels, I think the dire wolf, dire bear, dire boar and dire tiger, dire Sharks, and a large bird form of some kind would be nice additions. Treants and greater elemental shape for upper skills levels would also make sense as that is canon. (In fact, elemental shape is a separate ability I believe, for Druids)
*(I think we should also add low light vision for some of the animal forms. Its weird needing to carry a floating light source in your animal form. Most animals see well in the dark.)*

3)
The only thing I can think of for the skill up issue is to lower ratio between usage and skill ups for this ability if it has not already been done so.



I would add an additional suggestion to confirm that silent spell and still spell will allow spells to be cast in animal form. The druid should be allowed this but I wonder if the code blocks spellcasting ability before the feats are even taken into account. For example, I received this message
when trying to cast with none of the feats:
"You haven't the ability to cast spells in your race."
The above makes me suspect the mud stops checking after it gets to race.




A link describing D&D's Wild Shape for Druids:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20020202

[Zorinar]

I would like to add to my previous post with some shapechange suggestions.

Currently it has been posted that the elemental shape is blocked from the list of races, with a suggestion that it may be overpowered. I would like to point out that druids are severely stripped of offensive spells, and they make up for this with the elemental forms. Some might think the elementals are too strong.. but I have summoned them and they are not all that strong. Also, considering that a cleric's harm can do up to 150 points of damage per cast, I would say that a druid turning into an elemental is not overpowered and this form kind of makes up for their weaknesses of not having strong spells like harm. In fact is the main point of shapechange, it is what (just about) everyone works for when making a druid.

Secondly, some races like the bear race appear to be never working. I am curious as to why is it disabled. This ability is not a decoration for druids, it is one of their main combat abilities in D&D. Giving them forms like cat, and fish, and beetle are really just turning this ability into something people poke fun at. Without strong forms this ability is moot, and only causes Druids to continue to be frustrated and constantly lagging behind all other casting classes.

We have clerics that get conjure greater elemental (druids don't have that spell available in game), and mages with polymorph that give them huge options compared with shapechange in addition to the mega spells of clerics and mages. Druids need some serious loving. In my opinion, there is nothing overpowered about opening up this ability for druids more.

[Nylo]

I'll add my vote to this. I don't play a druid, but it's clear even from the outside, that shapechange is seriously underpowered.

[Mele]

I always respect suggestions for changes that come with hard fact and logic to back them up, with good detail. This thread definitely does that. I hope it continues on with more ways to improve this skill.

That said, there's something else I feel needs to be brought on the table here as a suggestion to -all- of our players with shapechange and polymorph. A bit of constructive criticism.

If you'd like to see changes with this ability, it's important that you use it the way it is currently responsibly. From the world of immvision I've noticed an increase of players using these abilities, which is wonderful. However, it seems to be forgotten that this is a roleplay mud and the ability to change your shape isn't an easily done thing nor just something you do for the stats.

Some suggestions of what not to do based on witnessed actions might be:

- Changing in the Market, as if you are taking a drink of water. This is awkwardly common behavior lately, and I just don't understand how it is seen as logical. Your character is changing it's entire structure. It's painful, and generally causes you to strip down, in the Market? Or any group of people.

- Speaking in your animal form. Yes, we all know that polymorphed players can speak in the animal tongue, which is fine. But your character isn't just taking the form it's taking the instinct and mannerisms of the animal it chooses, thus walking up to someone else and having a chat in say is not very fitting.

- Using "humanoid" socials. Laughing, smiling, giggling, nodding. While these are actions an animal is capable of taking, it would be done in much better a manner than "A lion laughs." Try something like "A lion emits a series of small noises, it almost sounds like laughter." etc.

- Reverting wherever you feel like it. Again with the naked in front of a group of people. You revert and you spam all of your items out of bags and onto your body with not so much as an smote, and this seems perfectly normal? No pain, no confusion, no modesty. There's no roleplay to this habit at all.

- This one is for all players. Metagaming knowing who someone is. You don't. They're an animal right then. Unless they've told you before, or eluded to you as a person you might recognize them, you do not know them. It's been seen again, an awkward amount of times lately that one player will walk up to a polymorphed person and see their form for the first time ever and announce "That is xyz." That's not logical at all, but more importantly it's not fun for anyone in the room who prefers to play as if they are a real animal, or interacting with a real animal, until it reveals itself properly icly.

- In general, remember your character while obviously of their own mind, -is- an animal. While technically they're essentially a human in an animal suit, it's not how their behavior should be. It's a magical thing that changes them to be an animal, not just to look like one. They should act like an animal, not like their humanoid part behaving on their humanoid emotions etc.

Again, I'm glad to see this suggestion come up and I sincerely hope to see good things come from it. I only hope that with that, better things come from how people use the skill as well.

[Selveem]

I agree with Mele that players should consider their environment and those populating it before taking action. Immersion is an important quality in an RP-E MUD.

I also agree that Druids need a bit of love and additional races (including powerful ones) would be a nice addition.

To digress from the topic (and NOT to make light of Mele's concerns):

When a Druid uses wild shape, they don't strip down; their equipment melds into their new form (this is why you don't steal from shapechanged druids). When the Druid reverts, their equipment is already back on them. There's no need for modesty (not that I think a Druid should worry about people seeing them naked, anyhow), because they're already clothed as they were before they used their wild shape ability. The fact that they show as naked in-game is just code limitation.

Another thing that I haven't read (or don't remember) is that the wild shape ability is painful for the druid. I always assumed, as it's a supernatural ability that actually heals the Druid a full night's rest worth, that it is not painful at all. I have been wrong a few times before, though.

[Nylo]

Along with Selveem's comments about wildshape - the same is, as far as I know, true of polymorph. I've seen it once in books - the Wyvernspur Trilogy. The affected character did not notice the transformation until attempting to move around, which would be difficult if it was at all painful. Also, all clothes and belongings were absorbed into the form for duration of the spell, and returned to their original position with the end of it. It also did not impose any, to me, discernable form of mental change. In my opinion, this is because, while shapechange actually transforms you into that animal, polymorph only changes your form to duplicate it. This is, of course, only my opinion based on the materials I've read.

Edited to fix an incorrect statement.