(3.5) A druid that can hide, need opinions and maybe help.

[D4rkh0rus]

Well, I wanna make a druid for a Core (except for a few things) campaign. The concept is a traitor of sorts, who killed his teacher, and has been chased since, so he had to adapt and hide. so Stealth is a central focus of this character. DM is allowing me to use the Able learner and Darkstalker feats...

What I wanna ask, is should I splash a 1st lvl of rogue, ranger, etc to gain hide and move silently as class skills if so, what class is best? will it hinder the druidic awesomeness in a noticeable way? Is there any other way?

Or is there some druid form that makes you capable of hiding from more or less anything. (say true seeing and the like)? What is it and where can I find it? how cheesy is it?
Is it even worth to take points in hide and move silently?

Would like opinions, dont just say "do this, cuz its what makes it stronger" Im looking for the -why-

[FishBonePendant]

If size or level adjustment isn't a problem you might consider snagging an Anthropomorphic animal from Savage Species.

The racial hit die (even the one you technically don't take from small size) give you character the base animal's listed skills as class skills.

Take and animal with hide as a skill for free!

[eggynack]

Doing that would lose you a lot. It's like the thing about not losing caster levels, except you're also losing a bunch of other awesome stuff on top of that, and it hurts. The tricky thing is that the best methods of obtaining hide and move silently, nightbringer initiate (FoE, 147) and halfling druid substitution levels (RotW, 157) are very much out of core. Your most feasible plan in core, just being an inconspicuous animal, obviously doesn't work against true seeing. Just being a really tiny conspicuous animal works better, as it offers a bonus to hide checks, but that's not much help for move silently, apart from the fact that you avoid surfaces of all kinds by flying. There are resources to boost those things, but they are, again, out of core. This might not be all that feasible with the books you have access to, in other words.

[ben-zayb]

Out of core, the halfling druid substitution level gives Hide/Move Silently as class skills without a loss of druid progression.

Nonetheless, plenty of core animals have decent bonus to hide/move silently. Your best bet would probably be the cat family, albeit the -4 size bonus to Hide, since they also give Pounce, with a helping of rake and multiple natural attacks.

You might also want to ask your DM for Wilding Clasps, so you can use +Hide/MoveSilently and +Dex items while Wild Shaped.

[D4rkh0rus]

Doing that would lose you a lot. It's like the thing about not losing caster levels, except you're also losing a bunch of other awesome stuff on top of that, and it hurts. The tricky thing is that the best methods of obtaining hide and move silently, nightbringer initiate (FoE, 147) and halfling druid substitution levels (RotW, 157) are very much out of core. Your most feasible plan in core, just being an inconspicuous animal, obviously doesn't work against true seeing. Just being a really tiny conspicuous animal works better, as it offers a bonus to hide checks, but that's not much help for move silently, apart from the fact that you avoid surfaces of all kinds by flying. There are resources to boost those things, but they are, again, out of core. This might not be all that feasible with the books you have access to, in other words.

Whoa, I didnt know 1 lvl of rogue or ranger destroyed the entirety of a druid build, hmmm....

[Irk]

You mentioned you had a little bit outside of core. What other sources can you use?

[eggynack]

Whoa, I didnt know 1 lvl of rogue or ranger destroyed the entirety of a druid build, hmmm....
It's not utter destruction. You're still basically a druid of one level lower, which is still awesome. It's just that druid is probably the worst class to dip out of, owing to the combination of casting and class features. You can still dip out of the worst class to dip out of, but it's, y'know, bad.

[D4rkh0rus]

You mentioned you had a little bit outside of core. What other sources can you use?

non-core Feats that I can convince my dm to use, only core and ph2 classes. phb spells. thats about it.

[eggynack]

non-core Feats that I can convince my dm to use, only core and ph2 classes. phb spells. thats about it.
Is nightbringer initiate on that list? Cause that'd easily be the best way to do this. It's not a massively powerful feat, so you may be able to get it past your DM, and it just does this thing without any issues.

[Pyromancer999]

If you're in an Eberron Campaign or one that allows material from that campaign setting, Nightbringer Initiat (http://dndtools.eu/feats/faiths-of-eberron--8/nightbringer-initiate--3266/)e could be what you need.

[ChocoSuisse]

Race : Tibbit

That's all you need, really.
Spend all day in the form of a cat.
You get a size bonus to stealth, and even if people notice you, you're just a cat.

[Jack_Simth]

If you're in an Eberron Campaign or one that allows material from that campaign setting, Nightbringer Initiat (http://dndtools.eu/feats/faiths-of-eberron--8/nightbringer-initiate--3266/)e could be what you need.

... lots of people seem to be missing the 'core' restriction...

However, as a Druid, the OP has options. After 5th or 6th, just turn into something small, nonthreatening, and native to the area. Get a size bonus to hide, often a racial bonus, and even if you're spotted... you're just a native animal. Sure, True Seeing will get through it... but you know what? That's an expensive spell to cast in a core game, and it has a fairly short duration. It's not going to be used all that much. Most the time, you would want to worry more about someone with a Permanent Arcane Sight, because of the Christmas Tree effect.

[ben-zayb]

... lots of people seem to be missing the 'core' restriction...

However, as a Druid, the OP has options. After 5th or 6th, just turn into something small, nonthreatening, and native to the area. Get a size bonus to hide, often a racial bonus, and even if you're spotted... you're just a native animal. Sure, True Seeing will get through it... but you know what? That's an expensive spell to cast in a core game, and it has a fairly short duration. It's not going to be used all that much. Most the time, you would want to worry more about someone with a Permanent Arcane Sight, because of the Christmas Tree effect.Nah, the 'core' restriction can apparently be waved for feats. Hence the multiple posts suggesting Nightbringer Initiate. Combined with a small animal form (or even the large Dire Tiger that has pounce, multiple natural attacks, and nets 0-4 Hide bonus), it gets better.

[Bronk]

Keep in mind that True Seeing only has a range of 120' and can't normally be used while scrying. If you really wanted to stay in core and hide from people, just wildshape into a bird form and hang out at high altitude.

That might get pretty boring to play, but if you must hide, taking the form of a hawk or an eagle would let you spot and then keep away from any potential searchers.

Otherwise, the go to form of blocking True Seeing is 'dust of disappearance', which is core, and 'Normal vision can’t see dusted creatures or objects, nor can they be detected by magical means'. It's only countered by 'dust of appearance'.