D&D: Creative Uses for the ‘Shape Water’ Spell

Shape water is my favorite spell in D&D, hands down. I have found so many different ways to use it, in part because of the many different ways it lets you manipulate water. You can move it, animate it, recolor it, or freeze it, and the effect lasts for 1 hour without needing concentration. Today I wanted to go over some of the more common situations I find myself busting out shape water for utility (or sometimes even combat) reasons. There are three main ways to get the water you’ll be manipulating for the spell. The easiest is the environment,… [Continue Reading]

D&D: 5 Ways to Fly as a Low-Level Druid

Druid’s Wildshape doesn’t strictly allow you to fly before level 8. And none of the loopholes on this list are going to be as free, versatile, and efficient as that landmark. But as I detailed before, Wildshape is so multi-faceted a mechanic that there are ways to get yourself in the air if that’s what you’re hoping for. Today we’re covering some edge cases for low-level druids looking wistfully at the sky! Caveat: Get permission from your GM before attempting any of these tricks. Every campaign is different, and many of these won’t fit the aesthetic of an ultra-serious storyline.… [Continue Reading]

D&D: How I Learned to Start Shapeshifting and Love the Druid

I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons for a long time, but I avoided the druid class for most of that on principle. The problem was that I got a bad first impression from another player’s character; Hantan was a party member in my first-ever campaign, a two-year medley of weekly one-offs during my undergraduate years where I was a sword-swinging barbarian. Hantan’s player, while a wonderful guy, was depressingly uncreative when it came to roleplaying. He spent the entire campaign simply shapeshifting into whatever combat form was meta according to the online forums. At first it was wolves, then briefly lions,… [Continue Reading]