Clothing and gear wildshapes with the druid. Manacles will become non-functional and shape in the new form.
I think that manacles attached to a wall would remain manacles. However, if you change into something smaller, the manacles will slide off easily. If you shape into something larger, you make a strength check of some sort which decides whether the shape fails because you can't 'expand' or whether the manacles break.
These seem logical rulings to me.
Clothing and gear wildshapes with the druid. Manacles will become non-functional and shape in the new form.
I think that manacles attached to a wall would remain manacles. However, if you change into something smaller, the manacles will slide off easily. If you shape into something larger, you make a strength check of some sort which decides whether the shape fails because you can't 'expand' or whether the manacles break.
These seem logical rulings to me.
I really don't think that manacles could be considered clothing or gear. I would treat them the same as your attached to a wall ruling. To the op if you changed into something that didn't have the appendage of your manacled form I would think the would fall off(such as a fish having no hands).
...and perhaps it's overkill to activate a use-limited ability to overcome manacles. For this reason, I'd allow it even if the character was changing into a shape with limbs. If the manacles are linked to a wall or someone else, they'd fall. If they are on the character only, they'd meld... but would come back afterwards.
A character with some control on his wild-shaped equipment (see Mongoose's Quintessential Druid's "Equipment Master" feat), would be able to make them fall.
In fine, that's a good reason for a wilding clasp to be attached to manacles (obviously, that would be in a heavy-magic setting). Elephant, fish, whatever... interesting mental pictures, there :-)
