Is a Wild Shaped druid effectively immune to the Detect Thoughts spell?

Question

For standard usage of the Detect Thoughts spell,

"If the creature you choose has an Intelligence of 3 or lower or doesn't speak any language, the creature is unaffected" (PHB, pg 231).

Additionally one may use the Detect Thoughts spell to detect the presence of creatures they can't see, however

"You can't detect a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or lower or one that doesn't speak any language" (231).

The description for Wild Shape states,

"your ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to the capabilities of your beast form" (67).

Apart from the crow, no non-awakened beast has the ability to speak (the crow specifically has the Mimicry abilty and notably has no languages listed on its stat block).

So it begs the question, can a Wild Shaped druid be affected by the Detect Thoughts spell?

Going one step further, would a druid with the ability to speak telepathically while Wild Shaped be affected any differently by the spell?

Related questions:

• Does the Detect Thoughts spell work against an Intellect Devourer?
• In what ways can a druid's Wild Shape be detected?
• Can a druid speak while in wild-shape?
• Can I Wild Shape or Polymorph into an Awakened Beast?

This question was inspired by the Telepathic feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

Answer 1

RAW, if a form's Languages section is blank, that form is immune to detect thoughts.

This is the rules as written ruling. A druid wildshaped into a wolf cannot speak any languages, so detect thoughts does not apply, as detect thoughts says:

You can't detect a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or lower or one that doesn't speak any language.

As for telepathy, it probably depends on the wording of the particular feature granting telepathy. If I'm DMing, it doesn't matter because...

I would rule that the druid is not immune to detect thoughts.

This is a situation where I would rule against the RAW ruling. Wildshape has this feature:

you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.

Despite taking the form of a Beast, you retain all of your mental ability scores - you are still just as wise and intelligent as you were in your normal form. To me, this means that a druid wildshaped into a bear does not think like a bear, rather thinks just as they did in their normal form. I would rule that you still think in whatever language you usually think in, so are still vulnerable to detect thoughts (unless you think in a language the caster does not know).

Some beasts have a language, which may still protect them from detect thoughts.

For example, the Giant Elk:

Languages Giant Elk , understands Common, Elvish, and Sylvan but can't speak them

So our druid uses Wildshape to become a Giant Elk. Now they can speak the Giant Elk language.

This means they can think in Giant Elk.

If the caster of detect thoughts does not themselves speak Giant Elk, then they wouldn't be able to understand the thoughts of the druid.

Of note, the answer in this Q&A argues to the contrary, so it would not be unreasonable for a DM to rule that thinking in Giant Elk doesn't help.

Answer 2

Does not speak is different from cannot speak

A wild-shaped druid often cannot speak any language, simply because they cannot speak, due to a temporary restriction of their physical form. This is a common condition that also affects someone who has been gagged (as StephenTG suggests), someone who is under the effects of a Silence spell, or who is paralyzed, petrified, or unconscious.

It is clearly unreasonable to expect that gagging someone makes them immune to the Detect Thoughts spell.

Fortunately the Detect Thoughts spell doesn't say it can't be used on creatures that cannot speak. Rather, it says Detect Thoughts will not work on a creature "that doesn't speak any language."

A wild-shaped druid, and all of the other examples, are creatures that do speak a language, in the sense that they are used to or accustomed to speaking one. They retain knowledge of that language¹ even while they are incapable of speaking it at the moment. They do speak it (in general), although they can't speak it (at the present time).

When you ask the orc bandit, "Does your leader speak Common?" which reply makes more sense: "No, he doesn't speak it (because he is currently asleep)," or "Yes, he does speak it (even though he cannot speak with you at the moment since he is asleep)."

The distinction between not being accustomed to something (doesn't speak) and being temporarily physically unable to do something (cannot speak) is essential to adjudicating the detect thoughts spell in a way that makes any sense.

---

¹_{See the Sage Advice entry for "Can a Circle of the Moon druid speak the languages it knows while in the form of an elemental?"}

Answer 3

While you are transformed, the following rules from the Wild Shape feature apply:

Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics⁠ of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.

You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so.

So detect thoughts should work fine.