What would happen to a package that a druid is holding when they Wild Shape

dnd-5edruidwild-shape

In a recent game that I was DMing, the players were tasked with sneaking a parcel of poisonous ingredients to a chef contact they had, in order to poison some high value targets at a banquet.

One of my players is a druid and had the idea to wild shape into a rat or something similarly small to sneak the parcel into the kitchen stealthily. I instinctively said that this wouldn't work, as something of that size would not be able to carry the parcel, as I described it as a heavy ornate wooden box. The druid then argued that all of his equipment can be merged into the beast form, and said that the parcel would count as equipment.

I disagreed, but couldn't really find a concrete ruling online. I should also mention that I am a new DM, so I haven't dealt with a situation like this. I eventually ended up asking the rest of the players what seemed most reasonable and we agreed that it seemed unreasonable that this package would just merge with the druid if he was holding it, so I said that he couldn't do that.

The player was visibly upset by this and was quiet for the rest of the session. How should I have handled this? Should I have allowed it?

Best Answer

Your druid player is right: anything worn or carried can be transformed

The rules for wild shape (page 67 PHB) say:

You choose whether your equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form, or is worn by it.

So, the only question is if the box or parcel you are carrying is part of your "equipment". If it is, then they could chose to merge it with the new form. Once transformed, the original weight of stuff does not matter at all any more. The Shapechange ability says explicitly:

Equipment that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.

No effect includes no effect on movement that weight would have.

You can also see this from everyday play: the average character typically carries equipment that weighs far more than 30 pounds in the form of backpack, weapons, armor, rope and so on, and a tiny animal like a rat with strength 2 would not be able to move carrying that after transformation if the weight counted.

Do carried objects count as equipment?

The answer to this appears to be yes. There are multiple places in the rules that suggest anything you wear or carry counts towards your gear or equipment. For example, the rules for Variant Encumbrance on p. 176 PHB say:

The rules for lifting and carrying are intentionally simple. Here is a variant if you are looking for more detailed rules for determining how a character is hindered by the weight of equipment.

While the rule itself is optional, it shows that the rules consider anything that the character is lifting or carrying as part of his equipment: the total weight of what you carry is what determines penalties to movement, and this total is referred to here as the "weight of equipment".

There is also wording in spells that adds further support, for example Meld into Stone (p. 259 PHB):

You step into a stone object or surface large enough to fully contain your body, melding yourself and all the equipment you carry with the stone for the duration.

Nobody would expect items carried in your hands, like your sword or a parcel could not be taken into the stone like this, and the spell explicitly refers to "equipment you carry".

Carried items count as equipment; they thus can be transformed with Shapechange, at which point their original weight has no effect any more.

The Shapechanged rat could have carried the parcel with poison into the kitchen. While your instinctive ruling is understandable, it is not what the rules say.

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