Heightened Effects of Wild Shape Focus Spell

[nightsky77]

The Druid focus spell is automatically heightened to allow the Druid to select the animal forms listed in the Animal Form spell.

Per RAW:

Quote:

Heightened (2nd) You can also wild shape into the forms listed in animal form.

It appears to me that this only gives you the base forms:

Quote:

Ape Speed 25 feet, climb Speed 20 feet; Melee Single Action fist, Damage 2d6 bludgeoning.

Bear Speed 30 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d8 piercing; Melee Single Action claw (agile), Damage 1d8 slashing.
Bull Speed 30 feet; Melee Single Action horn , Damage 2d8 piercing.
Canine Speed 40 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d8 piercing.
Cat Speed 40 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d6 piercing; Melee Single Action claw (agile), Damage 1d10 slashing.
Deer Speed 50 feet; Melee Single Action antler , Damage 2d6 piercing.
Frog Speed 25 feet, swim Speed 25 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d6 bludgeoning; Melee Single Action tongue (reach 15 feet), Damage 2d4 bludgeoning.
Shark swim Speed 35 feet; Melee Single Action jaws, Damage 2d8 piercing; breathe underwater but not in air.
Snake Speed 20 feet, climb Speed 20 feet, swim Speed 20 feet; Melee Single Action fangs , Damage 2d4 piercing plus 1d6 poison.

RAW does not explicitly say that you also get the heightened effects of Animal Form:

Quote:

Heightened (3rd) You instead gain 10 temporary HP, AC = 17 + your level, attack modifier +14, damage bonus +5, and Athletics +14.

Heightened (4th) Your battle form is Large and your attacks have 10-foot reach. You must have enough space to expand into or the spell is lost. You instead gain 15 temporary HP, AC = 18 + your level, attack modifier +16, damage bonus +9, and Athletics +16.
Heightened (5th) Your battle form is Huge and your attacks have 15-foot reach. You must have enough space to expand into or the spell is lost. You instead gain 20 temporary HP, AC = 18 + your level, attack modifier +18, damage bonus +7 and double the number of damage dice, and Athletics +20.

As GM, I feel that RAI matches RAW in this case; the heightened aspects of Animal Form are not given by the Wild Shape spell.

Can anyone please advise if my understanding is correct?

[HammerJack]

Wild Shape says "When you transform into a form granted by a spell, you gain all the effects of the form you chose from a version of the spell heightened to wild shape's level."

Your understanding is not correct.

[nightsky77]

HammerJack wrote:

Wild Shape says "When you transform into a form granted by a spell, you gain all the effects of the form you chose from a version of the spell heightened to wild shape's level."

Your understanding is not correct.

Wild Shape's Heightened level is 2, which is lower than the heightened effects of Animal Form, so based on this I am correct in terms of results, even if I am not right in how we get to that answer, which is all I care about. Thanks!

[HammerJack]

Wild Shape is a Focus Spell. Wild Shape's MINIMUM level is 2, but like all focus spells, it automatically heightens to half your level, rounded up, just like cantrips. Your results are incorrect as soon as the druid reaches level 5.

Your reading of the intent is also incorrect. If Wild Shape did not automatically heighten, then in addition to quickly becoming totally unusable for combat, druid feats like Ferocious Shaped also would not work properly.

[Amaya/Polaris]

Please just let the form spells scale as intended, they don't deserve this.

[Aw3som3-117]

So, is this a rules question/discussion or an attempt to validate your opinion and if you don't get the answer you're looking for you'll ignore it?

[pauljathome]

Hammerjack is completely correct in terms of how the spell is intended to be used and how it is interpreted by literally everybody else I've ever seen.

I also think that it is by far the simplest and most obvious interpretation of the actual words but that is a fight that I don't feel like bothering with right now.

Fundamentally, it doesn't really matter if some very strict parsing of the words convinces you that it only ever heightens to level 2. That is NOT the intent, it is NOT the way that everybody else interprets it, and it takes the spell from being basically balanced over about 10 levels to being balanced for only 4 levels.

If this means, to you, that RAW is wrong then so be it. Who really cares when RAI is so glaringly obvious?

There are already enough unknowns with how Wild Shape works. Lets not invent another one by parsing the words too strictly

[HammerJack]

I think the problem might be that the OP read the entry at the end of Wild Shape: "Heightened (2nd) You can also wild shape into the forms listed in animal form." and mistakenly assumed that Wild Shape stops heightening at that point.

If that is the case, please remember that spells can always be heightened to levels that are not listed as having a special Heighten effect. This is especially important with spells like Dispel Magic, which rely on the Counteract mechanic, and which would become completely unusable for higher levels without the ability to cast them at higher levels to counter higher level effects.

If this is the problem, see CRB page 299 which reads:

Quote:

Both prepared and spontaneous spellcasters can cast a spell at a higher spell level than that listed for the spell. This is called heightening the spell. A prepared spellcaster can heighten a spell by preparing it in a higher-level slot than its normal spell level, while a spontaneous spellcaster can heighten a spell by casting it using a higher-level spell slot, so long as they know the spell at that level (see Heightened Spontaneous Spells below). When you heighten your spell, the spell’s level increases to match the higher level of the spell slot you’ve prepared it in or used to cast it. This is useful for any spell, because some effects, such as counteracting, depend on the spell’s level.

In addition, many spells have additional specific benefits when they are heightened, such as increased damage. These extra benefits are described at the end of the spell’s stat block. Some heightened entries specify one or more levels at which the spell must be prepared or cast to gain these extra advantages. Each of these heightened entries states specifically which aspects of the spell change at the given level. Read the heightened entry only for the spell level you’re using or preparing; if its benefits are meant to include any of the effects of a lower-level heightened entry, those benefits will be included in the entry.