Cave Druid, wildshape Ooze and acid damage

[Phasics]

Quick question does the Ooze form you can take get the acid damage in the attack profile ?

or is it just ooze in name only benefiting only from blindsense, tremorsense, grab and constrict ?

[Tar-Tar]

It looks like wouldn't get the acid damage. If you compare to elemental body, that spell specifically mentions getting the burn ability. Acid damage is not something mentioned in the beast shape spells, so I think you would only get the other benefits of being an ooze. Not sure how much sense it makes to turn into a giant glob of acid and then do normal damage, but this is pathfinder; things don't have to make sense.

[Horselord]

To be really harsh, by RAW the ooze form has no acid attack as it is a special ability (Acid) that isn't listed in Beast Shape IV. It is also completely blind, and not really combat effective. There needs to be errata for this. Oozes all have blindsight as their only sense, and as it is not listed, technically when in ooze form you have no senses beyond touch.

The reason is Beast Shape IV only lets you gain abilities listed, i.e., burrow 60 feet, climb 90 feet, fly 120 feet (good maneuverability), swim 120 feet, blindsense 60 feet, darkvision 90 feet, low-light vision, scent, tremorsense 60 feet, breath weapon, constrict, ferocity, grab, jet, poison, pounce, rake, rend, roar, spikes, trample, trip, and web.

If the creature has immunity or resistance to any elements, you gain resistance 20 to those elements. If the creature has vulnerability to an element, you gain that vulnerability.

[Tar-Tar]

Perhaps RAI is that you adjust your stats as though using beast shape, but gain the abilities of the Ooze (including acid, blindsight, and whatever else an ooze has). Just throwing out guesses as to how this version of wild shape is supposed to be worth the archetype.

[Phasics]

Tar-Tar wrote:

Perhaps RAI is that you adjust your stats as though using beast shape, but gain the abilities of the Ooze (including acid, blindsight, and whatever else an ooze has). Just throwing out guesses as to how this version of wild shape is supposed to be worth the archetype.

maybe but that's a big RAI leap

RAW you only get what's listed in Beast Shape IV, and what's worse the ability says you lose the natural armor bonus from the spell.

I honestly don't understand what they were trying to do here. It's almost like casting baelful polymorph on yourself

[Vanod]

The polymorph section of the core rulebook says that if the new form has an ability, and the polymorph spell grants a lesser ability of the same type, you get the lesser version.

A stricter interpretation might hold that it can only be numerically lesser — ie, the new form has blindsense 120' and Beast Shape IV only grants 60', so you get 60'. However, since blindsight is explicitly described as a superior version of blindsense, it's completely reasonable to grant blindsense to a polymorph form that normally has blindsight.

Also, if you're worried about underwhelming damage while in ooze form... just turn into a carnivorous crystal (Bestiary 3) whose natural weapon is a 7d8 slam attack with a critical threat range of 18-20.

[Taenia]

You don't get the crit range or deal P/S damage with that slam but you do get the base damage dice.

[prototype00]

Strictest RAW, an ooze shaped Druid loses the "blind" trait and thus is affected by gaze attacks and other effects based on sight. Presumably they see as well as Druids wild shaped into an elemental who also don't have eyes.

Prototype00

[MurphysParadox]

Clever interpretation, prototype00