Druid: 2 Small Changes That Could Help a Lot

[earthsong309]

Druids are great. The roleplay is fun and fulfilling, but as the class exists now, it performs only adequately in epic levels unless built specifically for dragonshape or the character is one of the oft-maligned (but nevertheless ubiquitous) druid/monks.

The allure of dragonshape/the monk dip is so great specifically because they remedy the two foremost weaknesses of druids as they are: a lack of AC while in humanoid form and a lack of damage/penetration while in totem form.

I believe the following two changes will completely remove the temptation for going lawful-neutral or building towards dragonshape, and consequently open up immense possibility for both caster and melee druids to either go pure 30 or multiclass into something other than monk.

1) Allow AWAKEN to provide its bonus AC on the PC while in humanoid form ONLY.

At level 30, +10 deflection AC from Awaken coupled with +5 natural AC from Barkskin provides the druid with an Armor Class comparable to that of a wizard or sorcerer with Epic Mage Armor. Concerns for balance might be addressed when considering the fact that wizards and sorcerers get a bonus epic feat (whereupon EMA can be chosen) every three levels after twenty, whereas druids receive a bonus epic feat every four.

As it stands, druids must dip into monk in order to bump their AC above the low-30s (even with Tumble, it really IS that pitiful); the fact that most druids can't use metal also excludes the use of adamantine and mithril armors. This simple change remedies this completely.

2) Allow GREATER MAGIC FANG to enhance the druid's attacks/provide DR in totem form ONLY.

The 10/+10 physical damage reduction provided by a level 30 druid's Greater Magic Fang nullifies one major drawback of her totem form: its general uselessness against anything with significant DR (read: a lot of high-level enemies), and having it apply only while polymorphed accomplishes this without providing an incentive to use metal (damask, etc.) weapons. Providing DR also gives those of us not building toward Dragonshape more peace of mind (why bother with Dragonshape when you'll be able to transform into a kickarse totem with +10 AB and 10/+10 DR?).

These two small changes would open up worlds of possibility for the class, and suppress the mechanical allure of lawful-neutral monk-druids as well as the FoMO experienced by those of us (caster druids) who aren't building towards Dragon Shape. Dragon Shape will continue to be an attractive choice for those druids willing to build towards it, but not having it would no longer be cause for concern.

Criticisms and concerns: there still remains the issue of those characters who continue to dip into monk/build towards Dragonshape should such a change be implemented. There's no doubt that a druid-monk dragonshaper with +10 AB/Magical Damage would be incredibly overpowered (the argument can be made that they already are).

Solution 1: AC is only applied in humanoid form; Monk AC will be unaffected in totem/dragon shape. Alternatively, change monk AC so it is no longer applied when using the -polymorph console command or the Dragon Shape feat. They will still receive the bonus AB/Damage/DR from GMF and AC from Awaken (in humanoid form), so no one would or could reasonably call it a "nerf."

Solution 2: alter Dragonshape to take the new changes into account.