Druid ideas

[drakoonity]

So in a campaign that will be starting soon I want to play a druid. So I come to you all to ask for some ideas. What would be a really good build to do and prestige class, and what should I use as my familiar. Also if this has any meaning on the choices I don't know but we will probably be starting out at level 5. Any help would be appreciated, and I'm looking forward to seeing what are the cool things that druids can do.

[Phelix-Mu]

Obligatory comment about us benefiting from knowing sources allowed, banned material, and the role you'd like your character to fill.

My bit of genius inspiration is....

Dwarven druid with companion with a burrow speed (dire badger?). Play up the earth flavor with some earth spells and some moss-coated equipment, maybe a diet of only tubers and lichens. While dwarves are known for their work ethic and clan loyalty, perhaps this druid is an outcast of some kind, or an earthquake claimed his/her clanmates. Searching for an explanation of his/her terrible loss and the general "why?" of life, the dwarf comes to realize that the earth/land is a great power that must be respected (even feared), and perhaps carefully maintained so as to preserve the delicate balance that sustains the status quo (most of the time).

Good luck.

[hymer]

A few things:
Don't prestige class. There are very few useful prestige classes for druids, because we have three things going for us: Wildshape, the animal companion and spells. Very few prestige classes advance all these three, and those aren't strictly any better than straight druid. Then there's the cheesy options, but you can learn about them yourself. Try here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1354.0), for example.

Basics: Choose whether you're a summoner or a wild shaper (or an animal master). Take Natural Spell as your feat on level 6. Don't take any other class than Druid.

[eggynack]

There's a massive amount of possibility here, so I dunno if there's a way to cover it all. Is there any particular thing you want to do with your druidishness, or do you just want standard amazing druid stuff? If you want something that's a bit non-standard, going shifter (RoE, 25) is always a solid option. You take some quantity of shifter druid substitution levels (RoE, 126), as well as moonspeaker levels (RoE, 143), and maybe a shifter feat or two, and go to town. It's pretty cool. Alternatively, I've always been a fan of city styled druids, using some combination of ACF's from the cityscape web enhancement (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a). For an animal companion, the classic best option is the fleshraker dinosaur (MM III, 40) for approximately every reason possible.

Anyways, that stuff is all largely surface layer druid optimization. For true druid power, you need a great spell list, and very little else truly matters. Is there anything in particular you want to do, or should I just start going through the standard best options from 0th-3rd level spells? That applies to all things, actually, and it might also be worth noting book restrictions if they exist.

[drakoonity]

Obligatory comment about us benefiting from knowing sources allowed, banned material, and the role you'd like your character to fill.

My bit of genius inspiration is....

Dwarven druid with companion with a burrow speed (dire badger?). Play up the earth flavor with some earth spells and some moss-coated equipment, maybe a diet of only tubers and lichens. While dwarves are known for their work ethic and clan loyalty, perhaps this druid is an outcast of some kind, or an earthquake claimed his/her clanmates. Searching for an explanation of his/her terrible loss and the general "why?" of life, the dwarf comes to realize that the earth/land is a great power that must be respected (even feared), and perhaps carefully maintained so as to preserve the delicate balance that sustains the status quo (most of the time).

Good luck.

Sorry forget to say that, for role basically main damage dealer and for sources basically if I can find it and its 3.5 I can use it.

[angry_bear]

Take natural spell at level 6. There, standard druid build. :smallsmile:

It's a pretty safe class, you don't really need any high stats other than wisdom and constitution. It's main strengths are in the spell list, wild shape, and animal companion. And honestly, you can leave out any one of these three things and remain extremely powerful. I usually just ignore the animal companion for the sake of bookkeeping, and the character remains fairly effective.

Although they can be pretty cheesed out summoners with the right build. I think some of the main feats for that are stuff like Augment Summoning, and I think it's called Greenbound Summoning? Can't remember off the top of my head, but it gives anything your summons a nice little buff. Pretty sure it's in one of the Forgotten Realms books...

[ryu]

Sorry forget to say that, for role basically main damage dealer and for sources basically if I can find it and its 3.5 I can use it.

What's the general power level of this campaign? What are the other people in the party using for classes and builds? How experienced are the players involved? What level do you expect to hit by the end? It's easy in ways you can't imagine to make you powerful. It's tricky to make you the proper amount of powerful without knowing who you'll be running with. For example it would be horrible to give you fairly optimized druid or planar shepherd without knowing the people in the group will be at either of those levels. It would also be a disservice to give you overly weak choices if things like well built wizard/incantrix, strong clerical might, or artificer are happening.

[eggynack]

Although they can be pretty cheesed out summoners with the right build. I think some of the main feats for that are stuff like Augment Summoning, and I think it's called Greenbound Summoning? Can't remember off the top of my head, but it gives anything your summons a nice little buff. Pretty sure it's in one of the Forgotten Realms books...
It is greenbound summoning, and it's from lost empires of faerun, page 8. Other solid options include, but are not limited to, ashbound summoning (ECS, 50), beckon the frozen (Frost, 47), rashemi elemental summoning (UE, 45), and the summon elemental reserve feat (CM, 47).

Anyways, I should maybe just PM a copy of the massive druid project I've been working on, if you're interested, because it has most of the spell advice I'd dispense, give or take a few things, at least up to third level. I mean, it definitely appears to be the lengthiest existing guide on druid spell related matters, though I am clearly biased on matters of quality.

[hymer]

If you'd PM me that too, eggy, I'd be honoured.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Phelix-Mu
Dwarven druid with companion with a burrow speed (dire badger?). Play up the earth flavor with some earth spells and some moss-coated equipment, maybe a diet of only tubers and lichens.

This is a lot like a character in a recent campaign of mine: a dwarven druid with a wolverine companion, who had voluntarily turned himself out of his clan to develop a deep spiritual bond with the world above. Although his backstory was different from what you describe, his eventual philosophical outlook ended up being much the same.

The player was completely new to 3.5 and really got into his character. I encouraged him to play a druid for campaign-specific reasons, and suggested some feats, but he came up with the dwarven angle and the character's philosophy--very much preserving the delicate balance of the natural world, in a rustic, back-to-the-earth kinda way.


Originally Posted by drakoonity
...for sources basically if I can find it and its 3.5 I can use it.

You should double-check with your DM about Dragon Magazine content...but if your DM's okay with it, and you wanted to follow up on the dwarven-druid concept, check out the Metal Master variant druid in Dragon #311. It's almost custom-made for an earth-themed dwarven druid, with full spell progression and some metal-themed spontaneous casting.


Originally Posted by eggynack
Anyways, I should maybe just PM a copy of the massive druid project I've been working on, if you're interested, because it has most of the spell advice I'd dispense....

Could you include me in that PM? Because "massive druid project" grabs my attention like nothing else.

:smalltongue:

[Phelix-Mu]

Anyways, I should maybe just PM a copy of the massive druid project I've been working on, if you're interested, because it has most of the spell advice I'd dispense, give or take a few things, at least up to third level. I mean, it definitely appears to be the lengthiest existing guide on druid spell related matters, though I am clearly biased on matters of quality.

Or maybe we should start a thread that gently eggs eggy on toward the completion of this magnum opus. The drama has gradual been building up over the weeks as mention of this fabled document has spread; soon eggy will dream of page references and CL optimization effects on spell area categorized by efficiency of damage over a given space by level.

tl/dr: GOOD LUCK, EGGYNACK. MAY THE FORCE WILDSHAPE BE WITH YOU.

[ryu]

Or maybe we should start a thread that gently eggs eggy on toward the completion of this magnum opus. The drama has gradual been building up over the weeks as mention of this fabled document has spread; soon eggy will dream of page references and CL optimization effects on spell area categorized by efficiency of damage over a given space by level.

tl/dr: GOOD LUCK, EGGYNACK. MAY THE FORCE WILDSHAPE BE WITH YOU.

Or based on what he said would be the title last time I saw him bring it up: May the planeteers be with you.

[Invader]

I always liked the idea of a themed druid. You primarily use cold themed spells and only Wildshape into artic animals for example. It might cut down on your versatility a bit but you're a druid, you've already won the game :smalltongue:

[Ruethgar]

Cold druids have the winter warden ACF. There is totem druid if you want to idolize a particular animal and would go thematically and mechanically well with a barbarian(especially if you don't get pounce from your chosen animal) or two level totemist dip.

Then there are the ACFs that generally lessen the power of the druid, but really the druid could use less power. Focused animal druids alone are not very powerful, giving up wildshape for a mere +2 level bonus on your companion, but if you want a character that emphasizes that relationship, it could be a good choice.

Shapeshift druid is ok, you lose a lot of options without wildshape, and the druid staple of Natural Spell is right out, but it is very nice for being a shapeshifter focused character concept. I like it because it gives you creative freedom over what you turn into rather than what is best.

Storm druids lose wildshape and their animal for some weak storm abilities, the strongest being fear that is mostly voided by the time it can hit humanoids(one of the most common enemies). But if you just want the thematic of a master of nature caster, it is a fine choice.

Generally when I want to make a druid, I want to make a character centered around nature in one of the three ways listed above(though summoner is also a strong option). Both shapeshift and animal focused druid are great dips for other classes. For example, (Dashing Step, City Brawler, Spirit Lion) Barbarian 1/(Shapeshift, Rejuvenation) Druid 1/(Chaos, Martial) Monk 2 is a good start to an unarmed fighter. Or (Beast Master) Fighter 3/(Animal Focused) Druid 1/Beast Master 1 with wild cohort on the companion would be able to call out a great deal of power from their beast and join him in the fray(however as a mundane instead of the typical bear riding a dire bear summoning bears).

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Invader
I always liked the idea of a themed druid. You primarily use cold themed spells and only Wildshape into artic animals for example.

For themed druids, Dragon #311 has some interesting variants, including a winter druid and a sort of aeromancer-druid.

In my last campaign I had a player who wanted to run an arctic druid, focused on snowcasting and the like. Would've been great in theory, but the majority of the campaign was set in a tropical wilderness.

:smallsigh:

.

[eggynack]

Sorry forget to say that, for role basically main damage dealer and for sources basically if I can find it and its 3.5 I can use it.
What kinda damage dealer? Like, bear punch based, or blasting spell based? The former is pretty classic, but the latter could actually be pretty cool. Maybe something involving call lightning optimization by your level, which is totally a thing. Venomfire (SK, 158) is also obviously crazy damage power to the max, but serpent kingdoms is the jerkiest book ever.


Or maybe we should start a thread that gently eggs eggy on toward the completion of this magnum opus. The drama has gradual been building up over the weeks as mention of this fabled document has spread; soon eggy will dream of page references and CL optimization effects on spell area categorized by efficiency of damage over a given space by level.

tl/dr: GOOD LUCK, EGGYNACK. MAY THE FORCE WILDSHAPE BE WITH YOU.


Or based on what he said would be the title last time I saw him bring it up: May the planeteers be with you.
Thanks folks. And yeah, it's currently Captain Planet titled, though I've yet to write any of those big opening essays that form the backbone of a good handbook.


I always liked the idea of a themed druid. You primarily use cold themed spells and only Wildshape into artic animals for example. It might cut down on your versatility a bit but you're a druid, you've already won the game :smalltongue:
That does sound nifty. The really cool (literally) druid spells and tricks are a bit higher in level though. Stuff like boreal wind, call avalanche, blizzard, and frozen wild shape is up there a bit. Still, there might be some mileage to be gained with something like drifts of the shalm (PHB II, 111) combined with blood snow (Frost, 89). It's not as awesome without blizzard as the base snow producer, but it could be fun. Snowsight (Frost, 104) combined with obscuring snow (Frost, 103) is also available at 5th. It's a doable thing. There's also the non combo based stuff, like arctic haze (Frost, 101), hypothermia (SpC, 118), and sleet storm. This is definitely doable. Druid based cold spells are frigging sweet.

[Phelix-Mu]

Ditto on the cold-based druid. A high-level druid of mine pretty much fell hard for frostfell (pun intended, it's from Frostburn, my favorite supplement). I still think it is one of the most awesome AoE damage spells in the game, as it combines BFC, save-or-die, and buffing later spells. Of course, at the level it comes online, it's hardly the only or most delicious option, but it is nice, especially with the mentioned preponderance of awesome cold-themed druid spells.

[eggynack]

Ditto on the cold-based druid. A high-level druid of mine pretty much fell hard for frostfell (pun intended, it's from Frostburn, my favorite supplement). I still think it is one of the most awesome AoE damage spells in the game, as it combines BFC, save-or-die, and buffing later spells. Of course, at the level it comes online, it's hardly the only or most delicious option, but it is nice, especially with the mentioned preponderance of awesome cold-themed druid spells.
It is an utterly fantastic book for druids. I'm mostly in love with call avalanche right now. I mean, you just have to read the thing. It's like a save or lose, one that hits a save that is uncommon for save or loses at that, that hits an area, deals damage whether the target saves or not, comes at the same level as the other major SoL options (mostly baleful polymorph or dire hunger), leaves behind a pile of ice and snow, works at long range, and doesn't even frigging touch SR. The only downsides are that it has to be cast outside, that its targets need to be relatively small, the casting time, and the fact that what burying does is so damn vague. Still wonderful. The other setting books, sandstorm and stormwrack, are pretty sweet too, but not nearly at the same level.

[Phelix-Mu]

It is an utterly fantastic book for druids. I'm mostly in love with call avalanche right now. I mean, you just have to read the thing. It's like a save or lose, one that hits a save that is uncommon for save or loses at that, that hits an area, deals damage whether the target saves or not, comes at the same level as the other major SoL options (mostly baleful polymorph or dire hunger), leaves behind a pile of ice and snow, works at long range, and doesn't even frigging touch SR. The only downsides are that it has to be cast outside, that its targets need to be relatively small, the casting time, and the fact that what burying does is so damn vague. Still wonderful. The other setting books, sandstorm and stormwrack, are pretty sweet too, but not nearly at the same level.

Ooh, that reminds me of some awesome spell combos that happened in the campaign that I mentioned, lol. Walls of water in an underground tunnel, set up to fill the tunnel solid with water, submerging the enemy, then drop frostfell on the whole area. The enemy slogged their way through, being particularly un-killable, but not before the other party members found a way to attack from ethereal with the aid of some spells and class abilities.

That and blizzard + wall of magma on desert steppe. Classic good times.

[eggynack]

Ooh, that reminds me of some awesome spell combos that happened in the campaign that I mentioned, lol. Walls of water in an underground tunnel, set up to fill the tunnel solid with water, submerging the enemy, then drop frostfell on the whole area. The enemy slogged their way through, being particularly un-killable, but not before the other party members found a way to attack from ethereal with the aid of some spells and class abilities.

That and blizzard + wall of magma on desert steppe. Classic good times.
That does sound pretty sweet. I don't think I've paid much attention to wall of water or magma yet, so that's probably worth a look. There's bonus points involved if your method of obtaining ethereality is through a phantom stag, because that spell is awesome.

[Phelix-Mu]

That does sound pretty sweet. I don't think I've paid much attention to wall of water or magma yet, so that's probably worth a look. There's bonus points involved if your method of obtaining ethereality is through a phantom stag, because that spell is awesome.

Then chalk me up for those bonus points, because that spell is teh pwnage. It was either myself or my animal domain cleric friend, after the DM ruled that he could swap out phantom stag for the given animal domain spell of that level. Wounding on natural attacks for stupid long duration and the win of mobility? Yes, please, give me more.

And why is that spell so much more useful than phantom wolf and phantom bear?

[eggynack]

Then chalk me up for those bonus points, because that spell is teh pwnage. It was either myself or my animal domain cleric friend, after the DM ruled that he could swap out phantom stag for the given animal domain spell of that level. Wounding on natural attacks for stupid long duration and the win of mobility? Yes, please, give me more.

And why is that spell so much more useful than phantom wolf and phantom bear?
Because it has a massive duration, grants effective flight to some party member, as well as ethereality eventually, and it's just generally awesome. Like a higher level phantom steed, but a bit sturdier and punchier, and once again, it comes attached to a longer duration version of a 9th that druids don't get. Phantom bear and wolf, by contrast, last for only rounds/level, and take concentration at that, and they don't even have that much utility. Also, they're much higher level. There's not much comparison between the two, I think. Bear and wolf barely even qualify as competition. I mean, just on a basic level, anything with a duration of hours/level or greater merits a long look, just because the action cost is so low.

Edit: I haven't even done a write up on stag yet, just because it does such a ridiculous amount of stuff, and that some of that stuff has the burden of being comparable to other stuff (mostly beatsticking power), which requires some degree of actual comparison to other options. It's the kind of thing that could theoretically merit a minor essay.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Nearly Everyone
*awesome cold spell combos*

Man, I'm old-fashioned. I got a lot of mileage out of Creeping Cold.

:smalltongue:



Also, eggynack, thanks for the PM and the link to your druidical opus. That looks...quite comprehensive.

*clears calendar for the month*

[eggynack]

Man, I'm old-fashioned. I got a lot of mileage out of Creeping Cold.
It is pretty sweet if you use extend spell, or better yet, a lesser rod of extend spell. That's some high class damage right there.


Also, eggynack, thanks for the PM and the link to your druidical opus. That looks...quite comprehensive.

*clears calendar for the month*
Hence the title. I'm pretty close to nebula award standards for novel length, and then it's a short 10,000 word jump to NaNoWriMo novel standards. It's a nifty thing. It always feels only halfway done though, especially because the spell list just keeps growing.

Edit: Creeping cold is no boreal wind though, even level adjusted. That spell is a beauty.

[Ruethgar]

Mmm, extended creeping cold.