I'm looking at options for an animal/wild shape druid. Magic fang seems almost written for such a character, but after reading it and the rules more carefully, there is not much use, it seems.
Cast magic fang, followed by wild shape into animal form could have effect on attacks with one die attacks (striking). Does it? And does the +1 attack count, as that is an item bonus?
The +1 could count of you were using your own bonus intead of the form one, there is a lot of threads about it,and as far as I know, no official ruling yet. I am not sure about the added damage dice.
The problem is that magic fang target and unarmed attack, and the form you turn into might have different unarmed attacks (fist to claws for exemple).
For a Druid I would say it is more intended to be used with Wild Form rather than Wild shape. It works perfectly fine on an AC though.
Pretty sure its primary role is to be used on your Animal Companion. That's pretty much how it's always been used.
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It’s quite effective on the party Monk or Animal instinct Barbarian, as well...
Pretty sure its primary role is to be used on your Animal Companion. That's pretty much how it's always been used.
Animal companions calculate their modifiers and DCs just as you do with one difference: the only item bonuses they can benefit from are to speed and AC (their maximum item bonus to AC is +3)
So it does not work on ACs. I'm pretty sure this spell is useless after the monk gets +1 handwraps.
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The item bonus to hit does not apply to an animal companion. The extra damage die for an animal companion with a 1 die attack is not an item bonus and does apply.
As for not being usefully for a monk with +1 striking handwraps, that's pretty similar to magic weapon, and really not a problem.
So RAW there is little use for magic fang. RAI is unclear, but with the errata changing ally to willing creature, which includesbthe caster I could think that it can have some effect.
What would be the downside of casting MF on one self (first turn) to be able to use the effect the next turn when wildshaping to something which has one die (TRex for example)? The delay itself (you could also be another creature and attack already with little diff in damage) means that the effect matters little, with fights lasting rounds.
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So RAW there is little use for magic fang. RAI is unclear, but with the errata changing ally to willing creature, which includesbthe caster I could think that it can have some effect.
What would be the downside of casting MF on one self (first turn) to be able to use the effect the next turn when wildshaping to something which has one die (TRex for example)? The delay itself (you could also be another creature and attack already with little diff in damage) means that the effect matters little, with fights lasting rounds.
It won't work. The polymorph rules say:
If you take on a battle form with a polymorph spell, the
special statistics can be adjusted only by circumstance bonuses,
status bonuses, and penalties.
Magic Fang is not any of those things, so it can't modify the damage dice of your wild shape.
Pretty sure its primary role is to be used on your Animal Companion. That's pretty much how it's always been used.Animal companions calculate their modifiers and DCs just as you do with one difference: the only item bonuses they can benefit from are to speed and AC (their maximum item bonus to AC is +3)
The item bonus to hit does not apply to an animal companion. The extra damage die for an animal companion with a 1 die attack is not an item bonus and does apply.
This will be weird in my party. I recently gave the 4th-level stormborn druid a chance to buy an Animal Staff after the party was starved for non-cash treasure, so now she has access to Magic Fang every day.
The obvious target is the champion's dromaeosaur (velociraptor) animal companion. However, that companion won't get the +1 item bonus to its +8 attack rolls; rather, it gains the only the extra damage die to its 1d8+2 jaws attack or 1d6+2 talon attack.
The other convenient target is the rogue's dog. This dog is just a guard dog that accompanies the rogue because the dog used to help that character herd goats. It would get the +1 item bonus to its +6 attack rolls in addition to the extra damage die to its 1d4+1 jaws attack.
And the Animal Staff itself can Summon Animal for a Creature -1, such as an eagle, giant centipede, or another guard dog. They would get the +1 item bonus from Magic Fang, too, and the extra damage die.