I play in a campaign that doesnt have a WANDMART tm franchise in it so we cant just buy what we need when we want. Everything has to be crafted.
With that said, we are playing in a dragon controlled world campaign. Thus my paladin, being an Order of the Dragon paladin from UM, wants a suit of red dragonhide plate. So I look it up...to make a medium size suit of dragonhide plate requires a Colossal dragon! WTF? So basically for a whopping 3k gold set of armor...you know the only one that a melee druid could use...would have to come off of one of the toughest critters in the game!
This doesnt make sense. First of all, by the time you can take a Colossal Red dragon, you had better have some fine armor or you will long be toast. If you are a melee druid running around in leather come this level, you have zero chance to survive.
Somewhere this has to be among the many, many Paizo screw ups. Does this make any sense? I mean, Colossal or even Huge Red dragons arent on frequent supply even if you can take them.
Any thoughts here?
The rules for dragonhide armor doesn't really make much sense. You'd think possessing a suit of armor like that would have some kind of effect (other than every dragon in the world wanting you dead).
Considering the cost and effect of dragonhide, in our game we've ruled that it can be any sort of non-metallic monster hide. Like giant scorpion chitin or whatnot.
Also, since the rules for dragonhide say that you're only picking choice scales, I don't see why they all have to come from the same dragon. Or even from a dead dragon, for that matter.
Easy to houserule out of.
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Maybe the good dragons, run a profitable business of selling their shedded scales to merchants for a large cut of the profit. How else are the good dragons going to get their horde of loot?
From the legions of greedy neutral, evil and misguided good adventurers they kill who try to stupidly attack them in their lairs?
I mean everyone knows that adventurers have the very best loot table in the game...
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Maybe the good dragons, run a profitable business of selling their shedded scales to merchants for a large cut of the profit. How else are the good dragons going to get their horde of loot?From the legions of greedy neutral, evil and misguided good adventurers they kill who try to stupidly attack them in their lairs?
I mean everyone knows that adventurers have the very best loot table in the game...
And now I want to run a campaign focused on hunting down adventuring parties for their loot.
I agree that you should be able to use scales from multiple dragons, but if your Dm will not allow that, use alligator hide and lie to anyone who asks. For that matter, I could see a greedy wizard developing a spell to transform lizard hide into effective but fake dragon scales, temporary for a scam or permanent for a lasting business model. Remember that if you need to kill a collosal dragon to make it, dragonhide armor would be rare to the point of extreme value.
I agree that you should be able to use scales from multiple dragons, but if your Dm will not allow that, use alligator hide and lie to anyone who asks.
Or just use polymorph any object and transform leather into Dragonhide?
Could you seek out a dragon graveyard? Does anyone in town know of any ways to get enough hide to make the armor? Are there any legends that might be able to help?
Just because there are no magic marts doesn't mean that there aren't people looking to sell loot. Maybe you can find a higher level adventurer that doesn't need the dragon hide but can tell you where to find it. Odds are that area is cleared out.
I understand the rule as written.
The dragon scales are a byproduct of hunting the dragon for the loot, if you could kill a dragon when you need his armor, you would be too rich. Being able to kill smaller dragons would prevent their race from ever getting older and they would die out.
Getting old scales seems unlikely if you can take only the best scales for making the armor.
I think you can survive without dragon scale armor if you can't buy it.
On the "many Paizo screw ups", I don't want to blow this out of proportion, but I think you are wrong. Paizo isn't perfect, but show me an RPG book or system that is. If you want the perfect game, try chess.
Could you seek out a dragon graveyard? Does anyone in town know of any ways to get enough hide to make the armor? Are there any legends that might be able to help?
Just because there are no magic marts doesn't mean that there aren't people looking to sell loot. Maybe you can find a higher level adventurer that doesn't need the dragon hide but can tell you where to find it. Odds are that area is cleared out.
Or he thinks its cleared out but other lower-powered monsters have taken it over in the meantime. Nothing wrong with insta-adventure knowing item X can be had at the end of it.
Somewhere this has to be among the many, many Paizo screw ups.
The majority of things I have seen people blaming Paizo for have absolutely nothing to do with Paizo. That is how it is in 3.0/3.5 D&D, which Paizo copied almost exactly. If anyone should be blamed, it would be WotC.
The only thing you can really blame Paizo for is not changing something. But everything they change pushes Pathfinder farther and farther away from being 3.5 compatible.
That out of the way, the way we normally ruled it was, since you are already picking and choosing scales, why not use scales from multiple dragons? And the rules only mention the size of a dragon needed to get one entire suit out of it. Never says you are limited to only using 1 dragon.
Of course, it never really came up in play, as no one has ever tried to skin a dragon and make stuff from it. And because wearing the skin of sentient beings, even evil ones, was considered not the best thing to do. Why is wearing the skin of a dragon all right, but wearing the skin of Bob the baker from down the street wrong? And before you say "maybe it was an evil dragon", fine. Replace Bob the baker with Bob the baby-eating, puppy kicking, toilet-seat-leaving-up baker.
I understand the rule as written.
I think you can survive without dragon scale armor if you can't buy it.
Clearly you havent played a melee druid before.
Because if you had, you would understand that RAR completely screw over the druid and any chance of it standing toe to toe with anything without having dragonhide plate armor, the only heavy armor that shifts with the druid.
Secondly, if such an armor was so rare as to come from a Colossal dragon, one of the toughest native things on the Prime Material Plane, why in Hades would it cost a measley 3k? So basically 15+ lv characters gather around, tackle a huge ass dragon so they can split 1500 gold (3k resell value for merchant, 1500 for adventurers) 5 ways? Sounds like a real good use of their time. Hell, I dont think a 15th+ lv adventurer would even take the time to skin a dragon that size for 300 gp.
Fact is that it is wrong and yet another example of Paizo publishing poorly thought out rules instead of taking the time to actually earn the cost of the book by writing their own.
The only thing you can really blame Paizo for is not changing something. But everything they change pushes Pathfinder farther and farther away from being 3.5 compatible.
That out of the way, the way we normally ruled it was, since you are already picking and choosing scales, why not use scales from multiple dragons? And the rules only mention the size of a dragon needed to get one entire suit out of it. Never says you are limited to only using 1 dragon.
Of course, it never really came up in play, as no one has ever tried to skin a dragon and make stuff from it. And because wearing the skin of sentient beings, even evil ones, was considered not the best thing to do. Why is wearing the skin of a dragon all right, but wearing the skin of Bob the baker from down the street wrong? And before you say "maybe it was an evil dragon", fine. Replace Bob the baker with Bob the baby-eating, puppy kicking, toilet-seat-leaving-up baker.
Thanks for your input Jeraa,
Firstly, Paizo COULD change the rules that make zero sense. I understand not changing root rules but there are tons of rules, like this one, that make zero sense. Work CAN be done. Paizo just chose to copy and throw out with minimum of work for max profit.
Wearing hides, horns, claws of beings have always been a way of showing significance. No one complains when someone wears a horned helmet yet those horns had to come from somewhere. Want that unique set of leather armor? Of course, get a rare creature. Leather = hides of creatures slain.
And of course, if humans were any real prize to hunt, Im sure other races would wear the skins of humans. But considering that they arent, why bother?
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Clearly you havent played a melee druid before.
Because if you had, you would understand that RAR completely screw over the druid and any chance of it standing toe to toe with anything without having dragonhide plate armor, the only heavy armor that shifts with the druid.
First, NO armor automatically wildshapes (what I assume you mean by "shifts") with the Druid. Any armor CAN if posesses the "Wild" enchantment.
Secondly, if you are talking about armor a druid can wear, there's always the Ironwood spell. I realize your campaign doesn't have Ye Olde Magic Shoppe, and that's a good thing, but if you're willing to quest to hunt down a dragon I think you could quest to find a high enoug level Druid or a scroll to Ironwood yourself some better armor.
If you're going to complain about the rules in an unnescesarily baiting way, at least read them first.
what were they thinking?[...]
WTF? So basically for a whopping 3k gold set of armor...you know the only one that a melee druid could use...would have to come off of one of the toughest critters in the game!
Possibilities on their thoughts at that point:
Or something like that.
Though the boobies thing could just be me. I love those little birds.
Contributor
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I'm pretty sure the reasoning goes like this:
It takes a somewhat big dragon to get scales big enough to use as scale armor. It takes a bigger dragon to get scales big enough to use as armor plates. It takes an even bigger dragon to get enough scales to be able to pick and choose enough plates of the appriate shape to make building plate armor out a dragon plausible.
It's a "realism" thing, not a balance issue.
Yeah right... druids *need* heavy armor -- hehe....hehehehe.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh sorry I thought this was a joke... it wasn't?
Druids are fine without the additional armor, and the wild enhancement really isn't all that either.
... dragonhide plate armor, the only heavy armor that shifts with the druid.
First, NO armor automatically wildshapes (what I assume you mean by "shifts") with the Druid. Any armor CAN if posesses the "Wild" enchantment.
Secondly, if you are talking about armor a druid can wear, there's always the Ironwood spell.
There's also Dwarven Stoneplate(best for dwarves due to encumbrance), if you have access to any of the 3.5E books, specifically "Races of Stone"... for heavy armor. Unsure if anything similar made it into Pathfinder, maybe in "Dwarves of Golarion"? And no, it does not wildshape with you short of being enchanted to do so, as Orannis said above.
The "Arms & Equipment Guide" (3.0E?) had various armor alternatives, bone, chitin, wood, etc. Wooden is in the APG, but it's considered light armor. No clue if any of these made it into the "Pathfinder: Adventurer's Armory" or not, don't have my book readily available.
As for other spells... Barkskin & Stoneskin. Ironwood seems the best bang for the buck though (and a lot less tedious) at 1 day/level duration, Woodshape making it easier.
Removed a post. Keep it clean, thanks!
If a character in my game is wearing dragonhide armor, they better be willing to take on the dragon they encounter polymorphed into human form at the local tavern. The same would go for wearing the skin of any sentient creature.
Way back in 1e days my wizard wore dragonhide leather armor and ate the spell casting penalties. It came from a dragon he killed. He wore it deliberately to advertise his awesomeness. Of course he was evil.
I think druids have plenty of options for surviving in melee and I won't cry any rivers if they aren't the best melee fighters anyway, seeing as how they can wildshape into any form, cast crazy powerful spells and can ask their buddy to jump into combat with them if needed.
I love druids. But geezuz man, what else could they possibly need to satisfy anyone's awesome cravings?
Removed a post. Keep it clean, thanks!
Does it ever feel like you're either a teacher or somebodies mom? :D
Does it ever feel like you're either a teacher or somebodies mom? :D
This statement is funny in light of the fact that I just made chicken soup for roomies down with con crud.
I do think a dragonhide plate should cost more, but as I see it, the requirement for it to be of a colossal dragon only comes in cases where the adventurers want to do the scale collection themselves, possibly without having the necessary skills. Perhaps an expert could salvage more than they can, and of course there is the chance of the dragon selling some of its own... by-products. There are riskier ways to make a lot of money than effectively selling your dandruff.
Does anyone know how much dragon guano would sell for, by the way?
Yeah right... druids *need* heavy armor -- hehe....hehehehe.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh sorry I thought this was a joke... it wasn't?
Druids are fine without the additional armor, and the wild enhancement really isn't all that either.
Says you.
Please tell me how a melee/tanking druid can hang with a BBG without it. Barkskin +5 ac, leather armor wildshaped? +5 ac if +5 enchant. +5 ring on protection? Add in the pathetic ac bonus from Wildshape (+2 net) and you have +17 then dex mod. So a 20-23 isnt going to hang in there much vs cr 16+ mobs.
Sure, you can cheese the encounter and have multiple party members spend round after round buffing you but thats really not realistic. Any DM worth his salt wouldnt have the BBG just wait inside while you spend 5 rounds buffing up.
And even if he was stupid enough to allow that, your AC would never come close to a fighter or other plate wearing class.
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We houseruled a suit of dragonhide armor of any kind may come from a properly harvested dragon at least 1 size catagory larger than the armors size,
I go a step further and allow 'dragonhide' armor to be crafted from any creature of the dragon type, meaning that the 'dragonhide' armor you buy off the rack is going to come from Wyverns, Drakes and Tatzelwurms, not honest-to-gosh *dragons.*
There's nothing about dragonhide worth being so rare. It's relatively cheap, about the same as a cold iron weapon (x2) cost, and having man-sized suits of dragonscale (that are no better than any other masterwork armor, and could be afforded by a 4th level character) only come from epic level encounters seems pretty silly.
It's not that crazy for plate mail.
You need to find a dragon who has individual scales large enough to serve as a breastplate! The other pieces have to be large as well. You can't just stitch the pieces together to get plate mail, that's called scale mail.
The way I've always handled it in my games is to use the armor weight rules to balance it out.
So, to make full plate, you can make full plate for a creature four sizes smaller (from memory, correct if I'm wrong). So, a Large dragon can make Diminutive full plate. Diminutive is half the weight of Tiny armor. So enough for two diminutive's is enough for one Tiny. Two Tiny's is enough for one Small, and two Small's is enough for one Medium.
So, that's 2 (Dim) * 2 (Tiny) * 2 (Small) = 8. So to make a medium set of full plate requires 8 large dragons. That's not an unreasonable number of medium CR creatures to require for a set of Full Plate. This also allows for things like White Dragon Full Plate Armor (which is impossible otherwise, since you require Collosal, which whites don't come in. Anything else seems a bit insane (as pointed out earlier in the thread about something only worth slightly more than regular full plate but requires a CR 23 fight to procure).
It's not that crazy for plate mail.
You need to find a dragon who has individual scales large enough to serve as a breastplate! The other pieces have to be large as well. You can't just stitch the pieces together to get plate mail, that's called scale mail.
Actually, some breastplates were 'articulated' breast plates, they bent in the center, and had an extra piece of plate over the articulation, to allow for better movement (if I remember correctly). Theoretically, you only need something big enough to cover the chest, then something on the sides stitched to that (breast plate was only an actual chest plate, usually with leather on the sides and possibly back).
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Actually, some breastplates were 'articulated' breast plates, they bent in the center, and had an extra piece of plate over the articulation, to allow for better movement (if I remember correctly). Theoretically, you only need something big enough to cover the chest, then something on the sides stitched to that (breast plate was only an actual chest plate, usually with leather on the sides and possibly back).It's not that crazy for plate mail.
You need to find a dragon who has individual scales large enough to serve as a breastplate! The other pieces have to be large as well. You can't just stitch the pieces together to get plate mail, that's called scale mail.
The tummy scales of a large or huge dragon should be fine for a breastplate, I would think. The artwork is pretty inconsistent about the size of them, but it looks like the large and huge ones have some pretty big scales on the underside. The colossal dragon on the size comparison chart in the 3.5 PHB has scales big enough to serve the sample human as a canoe, let alone a breastplate...
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I'm having a hard time with my melee-tanking wizard as well.
Why, oh, why did Paizo not have the foresight to make every class a highly effective melee build?
How is your Animal Companion doing in the fight? Maybe if you talk to your GM he/she will let you ditch the Animal Companion in return to access to Full-Plate?
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Says you.
Please tell me how a melee/tanking druid can hang with a BBG without it. Barkskin +5 ac, leather armor wildshaped? +5 ac if +5 enchant. +5 ring on protection? Add in the pathetic ac bonus from Wildshape (+2 net) and you have +17 then dex mod. So a 20-23 isnt going to hang in there much vs cr 16+ mobs.
Sure, you can cheese the encounter and have multiple party members spend round after round buffing you but thats really not realistic. Any DM worth his salt wouldnt have the BBG just wait inside while you spend 5 rounds buffing up.
And even if he was stupid enough to allow that, your AC would never come close to a fighter or other plate wearing class.
Really that's all the AC you can manage?
Hm... I have to say disappointing.
Lets go with a dragonhide breast plate -- much cheaper honestly and easier to get -- besides I can wear it without needing to spend a feat on heavy armor. Wild +5 means it's providing me with 11 points of AC -- has to be wild, otherwise it's no good.
Barkskin -- oh all should sing the praises of barkskin. +5 to AC rather quickly and it stacks with my next bonus -- wild shape.
I'm up to +16 now and we've hit wildshape -- elemental body 4 air elemental, not only do have I have reach and a great fly speed, I'm immune to criticals, sneak attack, gained DR 5/- and +4 natural armor as well as +6 to Dex == meaning I have all the Dex bonus the armor allows -- unfortunately I'm huge so that is a -2 to AC...
Meaning I'm up to +21 now.
Of course that means I need my ring of protection +5 (rather cheap honestly) putting me up to +26, and a wooden wild heavy shield +5 would provide 7 more (not even sure wild is needed: See other threads) putting my bonus up to +33.
Now without really trying I've got an AC of 43 -- and it can go up from there. Dodge among other choices -- and you are a primary spell caster -- why in the heck should you tank in the first place?
Honestly -- you a spell casting shape changing animal companion bringing, death dealing, death defying druid -- you want the best AC in the game too?
I've only used 178k gold from what I would have at 20th level too, and only have a single spell up (which is going to last 200 hours). IF I really wanted to up my AC I would instead wild shape into a humming bird -- size bonus to AC a nice boost to my Dex both would add in another +3~4 to AC.
Other tricks for raising AC comes from your animal companion -- get it an Int of 3 so you can take bodyguard -- there's a free +2 to your AC most of the time.
Also -- you should look into combat expertise -- all your attacks are natural meaning they aren't going to get worse when you take more than one... a small penalty to hit for more AC can be just the thing.
Finally consider the shapechanging spell to hit Dragon Form 3 if needed. Lasts 10 minutes per level meaning around 200 minutes and you can change forms whenever you want with it too.
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However I suppose that if I wanted to spend some actual time buffing or trying to get more AC I probably could...
Find a caster or buy a scroll of polymorph any object. Turn a small lizard skin into a colossal dragon hide of your favorite color. Make armor. Profit.
Find a caster or buy a scroll of polymorph any object. Turn a small lizard skin into a colossal dragon hide of your favorite color. Make armor. Profit.
Hmmm, seems to work. Requires a level 8 Wizard/Sorcerer though. Other than that, it appears to work.
On a separate note, it appears permanently polymorphing a lizard into an ancient dragon works as well. :)
Same Kingdom (Animal) +5
Same Class (reptile) +2
Related (Twig to Tree, Lizard to Dragon) +2
If you go with a pseudodragon, you get another +2 (same INT).
I just realized, this is a way for a Wizard to turn his Pseudodragon Familiar into a Large Pseudodragon, permanently, and have a flying mount. :)
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Firstly, Paizo COULD change the rules that make zero sense. I understand not changing root rules but there are tons of rules, like this one, that make zero sense. Work CAN be done. Paizo just chose to copy and throw out with minimum of work for max profit.
Side question ... why so negative and hostile? Comments like "Paizo just chose to copy and throw out with minimum of work for max profit." and "yet another example of Paizo publishing poorly thought out rules instead of taking the time to actually earn the cost of the book by writing their own" really make it sound like you have some kind of anti Paizo or anti Pathfinder agenda to push.
NO RPG is perfect. Are there a few rules in Pathfinder that could be cleaned up? Sure? Does this reflect poorly on Paizo or the Pathfinder RPG? Not in the slightest. You can go through ANY RPG and find some wonky rules. That HARDLY makes the game poorly designed or the company lazy or bad at what they do. To think otherwise, frankly, is just uninformed and more than a little bit naive.
Are you here to discuss a specific rule in the game and suggest some alternate rules that might make the game better OR are you here to take pot shots at Paizo and Pathfinder?
Find a caster or buy a scroll of polymorph any object. Turn a small lizard skin into a colossal dragon hide of your favorite color. Make armor. Profit.Hmmm, seems to work. Requires a level 8 Wizard/Sorcerer though. Other than that, it appears to work.
On a separate note, it appears permanently polymorphing a lizard into an ancient dragon works as well. :)
Same Kingdom (Animal) +5
Same Class (reptile) +2
Related (Twig to Tree, Lizard to Dragon) +2If you go with a pseudodragon, you get another +2 (same INT).
I just realized, this is a way for a Wizard to turn his Pseudodragon Familiar into a Large Pseudodragon, permanently, and have a flying mount. :)
It's an awesome spell for high level economics. Basically a smart wizard (which is the only kind that could make it to 15th level) can metaphorically print money.
Actually I'm going to start a thread asking for ideas for this. :-)
Really that's all the AC you can manage?Hm... I have to say disappointing.
Lets go with a dragonhide breast plate -- much cheaper honestly and easier to get -- besides I can wear it without needing to spend a feat on heavy armor. Wild +5 means it's providing me with 11 points of AC -- has to be wild, otherwise it's no good.
Barkskin -- oh all should sing the praises of barkskin. +5 to AC rather quickly and it stacks with my next bonus -- wild shape.
I'm up to +16 now and we've hit wildshape -- elemental body 4 air elemental, not only do have I have reach and a great fly speed, I'm immune to criticals, sneak attack, gained DR 5/- and +4 natural armor as well as +6 to Dex == meaning I have all the Dex bonus the armor allows -- unfortunately I'm huge so that is a -2 to AC...
Meaning I'm up to +21 now.
Of course that means I need my ring of protection +5 (rather cheap honestly) putting me up to +26, and a wooden wild heavy shield +5 would provide 7 more (not even sure wild is needed: See other threads) putting my bonus up to +33.
Now without really trying I've got an AC of 43 -- and it can go up from there. Dodge among other choices -- and you are a primary spell caster -- why in the heck should you tank in the first place?
Honestly -- you a spell casting shape changing...
Ok first of all...if you have the breastplate, thats the main thing for the full plate. The arguement everyone is making is that the scales have to be big enough for the chestpiece, therefore colossal. So no this point you made fails.
Secondly, if I wanted to add up ac for a friggin 20th lv character, then the whole arguement is moot. Sure, a 20th lv group would wipe the floor with a Colossal. But I would seriously hope that by 20th lv, one would have adequate armor and have no desire to start over with NONMAGICAL armor. No this post is for characters that would actually have desire/use for DHP not someone getting it to collect dust in the corner as a showpiece.
Thirdly, I mentioned barkskin. +5 ac.
So we have +2ac net from +4 natural armor -2 for size. Add +6 for hide armor which is the best armor at that point the druid can have 4 hide, +2 ac, +3 wild enchant) and you have 5 + 2 + 6 + say +3 for dex = +16. Add the +4 for wooden shield which is +2 shield, +2 ac enchant, +3 for wild enchant and you have +20.
Im not mentioning a +5 ring of protection. Said lv 12-14 remember? So give it +2/+3 max so ac is +23.
So 33 ac. Nothing compared to similar lv ftr or paladin.
Lastly, I NEVER said that this druid was a primary caster. I said Melee/tanking druid. Not everyone wants to be a fairy bluejay flying up high and nuking everything from the air ya know?
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Please tell me how a melee/tanking druid can hang with a BBG without it. Barkskin +5 ac, leather armor wildshaped? +5 ac if +5 enchant. +5 ring on protection? Add in the pathetic ac bonus from Wildshape (+2 net) and you have +17 then dex mod. So a 20-23 isnt going to hang in there much vs cr 16+ mobs.Sure, you can cheese the encounter and have multiple party members spend round after round buffing you but thats really not realistic. Any DM worth his salt wouldnt have the BBG just wait inside while you spend 5 rounds buffing up.
And even if he was stupid enough to allow that, your AC would never come close to a fighter or other plate wearing class.
Pathfinder is not WOW, so maybe you should be trying not to play it like that.
Druids in PF are not tanks/melee characters...
I just allow shed scales. largely because the only dragonhide armor I've run into in non-game-based fiction is Dragonslayer's shield. And it was cool.
Druids in PF are not tanks/melee characters...
Fulllllllllll Caaaassssstteeeeerrrr.
Full.
Caster.
9 Spell levels.
Plus Mid BAB and awesome class abilities.
Find a caster or buy a scroll of polymorph any object. Turn a small lizard skin into a colossal dragon hide of your favorite color. Make armor. Profit.
Something was brought to my attention about this.
The duration is "permanent" as opposed to "instant" which means it's dispel able. So if your polymorphed dragon skin armor gets hit with a good dispel roll (which beats a level 15 minimum caster) you'll no longer be wearing dragon hide, but instead a small piece of lizard skin which will no doubtedly be less than helpful in combat.
Important note, doesn't mean it's a useless strategy, but does mean risky.
And your starting Dex?
Why didn't you spend more on your armor than just a +2 wild hide armor?
And if you are playing a tanking druid why didn't you start small sized?
Honestly start small and then all you need for armor is gargantuan. Heck you could get half plate from a giant wyvern. Still not seeing why you need it:
So you are saying level 12~14 meaning a typical budget of 108,000 to 185,000 gp.
+3 wild hide would cost 36,000
+2 ring of protection is 8,000
+4 cloak of resistance is 16,000
+4 belt of Str/Dex is 40,000
total cost is 100,000 gp -- 8,000 gp left for even a level 12 and I already help account for save throws. Weapons aren't needed since that's what greater magic fang is for -- hours per day will suit us fine.
Lets go out on a limb and say a starting Dex of 14.
So after the belt and the wild shape we are looking at a dex of 24
That means a +7 from dex, +7 from armor +2 from the ring + 4 natural +5 barkskin putting us at 35 -2 for huge means a 33 like you said. Dodge gives another +1 for 34
A level 12 fighter would have:
+5 light fortification plate 36,000
+1 ring of protection is 2,000
+1 amulet of natural armor is 2,000
+3 cloak of resistance is 9,000
+4 belt of str/dex is 40,000
Costing him 89,000 gp leaving him just at 19,000 for his weapon
Now if he started with the same 14 Dex he now has a 18 Dex all of which he'll get. Means +4 from Dex +14 from armor +1 from deflection +1 natural armor = 30 AC.
Hm... yeah you are really suffering compared to that fighter -- let me tell you. But heck, maybe he's not a two handed fighter. In which case his plate is probably only +4 costing him 16,000 leaving him 20,000 for his shield assuming it's also +4 isn't a stretch meaning the sword and board fighter is looking at an armor bonus of +13 with a shield bonus of +6 or a total armor bonus of 35. Assuming Dodge means a 36.
All of 3 points better than the druids. The druid has spent all of three spells, 1 second level 2 third level (greater magic fang twice, once for each slam) and still has everything left he can do to help himself out. It also completely leaves out the fact that the druid could use a shield too. We still aren't covering the fact that the druid has DR 5/-, the heal spell, or a fly speed of 120 feet -- all of which the fighter is completely lacking.
*****
A character that has magic that can help him do better and ignores that fact deserves to die. That magic is one of the main reasons you don't get the fighter stuff -- use those cloud spells and echolocation to ignore the miss chance you are giving your foes (even if they make the save) -- it's honest stupidity to not use the spells.