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The rules for truesight state:

A creature with truesight can (..) perceive the original form of a shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic

A druid player argued that since the druid is still a "humanoid" (not a "shapechanger"), and since wild shape is not a spell, a creature with truesight should not see through it.

As the DM, I ruled against it because I believed the intent of truesight is to see through all kinds of shapechanging effects but I was still left wondering if I missed anything. I couldn't find anything about this in the errata either.

So, going by strict RAW, should a creature with truesight be able to see the druid's true form while a druid is using wild shape?

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    \$\begingroup\$ The druid is a beast while transformed, not a humanoid. Also, "shapechanger" is a tag, not a creature type - Lycanthropes are humanoid shapechangers! Neither point is relevant here but they'll probably come up at some point if one of your players is a Druid. \$\endgroup\$
    – Doval
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 17:17

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Yes, truesight will see through Wild Shape. As you mentioned in the question, truesight can perceive the original form of a creature transformed by magic. And the first line of Wild Shape says that:

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen before.

So Wild Shape is a magical transformation, and can therefore be seen through by truesight.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm slightly more confused now. How is this compatible with my link that says dispel magic can't target wild shape when dispel magic also states "magical effect" as a target? \$\endgroup\$
    – Sdjz
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 13:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Sdjz Because dispel magic only ends spells. Crawford wrote a lot about this: sageadvice.eu/2016/06/21/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Miniman
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 14:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Sdjz Dispel magic specifically says that it ends a spell. \$\endgroup\$
    – kviiri
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 14:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ This might be stretching the scope of this question a bit but if I understand correctly then you are saying that you can target a druid wild shape with dispel magic because it is a "magical effect" but nothing will happen because it is not a "spell"? \$\endgroup\$
    – Sdjz
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 14:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Sdjz Of course you can target the druid - acceptable targets are creatures, objects and magical effects, and the druid is certainly a creature. \$\endgroup\$
    – kviiri
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 14:10

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