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Has anyone had a discussion on the topic of where do summoned creatures come from?

It became a subject of ethical and alignment debate at our gaming table one evening. If a creature is indeed "summoned" and magically plucked from whatever it was doing and thrown into service - most likely to fight to the death - that brings some potential ethical issues for good-aligned characters and possibly neutral types too.

If, on the other hand, the creature is magically created on-the-spot, that pushes the spell into the godlike power of creating life, even if for just a short time. This explanation makes it easier to deal away with ethical problems, as the creature didn't exist before and won't exist when the spell ends so what it's made to do during it's short time in reality matters less. But it does raise eyebrows if it means that the humble Druid can, even briefly, create life.


If my Druid uses Wild Shape to become a large, Dire-class animal, he may weigh 2000 pounds or more. Is stepping on prone opponents a possible attack? What would the attack and damage rolls be?

It's not a Trample special attack; that would be applicable if the opponent was standing.

I just want to knock down opponents (for example, with a high-success Overrun) and then step on them.


The Wild Shape ability for the Boar Shaman states:

"At 6th level, a boar shaman’s wild shape ability functions at her druid level –2. If she takes on the form of a boar, she instead uses her druid level +2."

That means at 6th level, a Boar Shaman can Wild Shape into a boar form as if she was 8th level.

The rules state:

"At 8th level, a druid can use Wild Shape to change into a Huge or Diminutive animal."

But there are no Huge or Diminutive sized boars to wild shape into? A normal boar is medium sized and a dire boar is large.

What's the point of being able to Wild Shape into a boar form as 8th level when there are no Huge or Diminutive sized boars to choose from?


The Boar Shaman bonus feat choices, which replace Venom Immunity at 9th level, seem to have steeper prerequisites than other animal shaman types. Perhaps even impossible to obtain.

Is this an error in game design? Is the Boar Shaman intentionally made to be difficult to play?

Bleeding Critical requires Critical Focus and a BAB of 11. Critical Focus requires a BAB of 9. A druid doesn't see a BAB of 9 until 12th level and a BAB of 11 is not until 15th.

Diehard requires Endurance.

Improved Overrun requires Power Attack, which requires a Strength of 13.

Only Blind Fight is a prerequisite-free bonus feat. All others require early-level feat and ability score choices to meet the prerequisites; choices that would handicap the Boar Shaman's spell casting if followed.

Is this how the Boar Shaman bonus feat choices were intended?