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View Full Version : Spicing up the Druid (Roleplaying help)



Hefty Lefty
2014-08-26, 09:25 AM
Hi all!

I'm interested in playing a druid in an upcoming campaign, but I don't really want to use the stale "nature-lover disconnected from society" face for the character. What are some ways to change the fluff of the druid to keep true to the class, but put a fresh spin on it?

BWR
2014-08-26, 09:55 AM
Find a copy of "The Complete Druid's handbook" from 2e and read Chapter 4. This should help.
Find a copy of "The Deed of Paksenarrion" and read that. The kuakgan (druid) there is just a supporting character but a good one, and the entire book is worth reading anyway (it is also one of the best portrayals of paladins you can find).

Red Fel
2014-08-26, 12:31 PM
Hi all!

I'm interested in playing a druid in an upcoming campaign, but I don't really want to use the stale "nature-lover disconnected from society" face for the character. What are some ways to change the fluff of the druid to keep true to the class, but put a fresh spin on it?

Redefine "Druid." There are lots of ways to do it.

Change Druid from "nature-lover disconnected from society" to "worshiper of the Old Spirits and keeper of the Old Ways." That's something you can do in a forest, in a cave, or from the balcony on your third-floor two-bedroom walk-up apartment. It becomes something more like modern Paganism, which can find a niche in almost any locale.

Change Druid from "student of the ways of wild nature" to "student of the ways of urban nature." You know, redefine what "nature" means. D&D did it in their Cityscape expansion (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a); instead of transforming into the usual animals, the Druid transforms into various vermin you might find in a town; instead of transforming into an elemental, he transforms into a chair or something. Cities are living ecosystems in their own right, and just as nature requires someone to tend the balance, so too do cities.

Change Druid from "student of environmental nature" to "student of animal nature." Many Druid interpretations are already partway there, with Druids able to speak with or change into animals. Your Druid could be a pet whisperer, or keeper of the local stables. He could even be a psychologist, becoming in tune with mankind's inner beast.

Not every Druid has to wander around a grove, nibbling on mushrooms and chatting with chipmunks. Some of them keep an herb garden right next to the grill on the patio. Others keep their tribal totems in the cupboard, next to the hummus chips. Still others commune with Mrs. Jones' doberman next door.

For a fiction resource, consider the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne; the protagonist is the self-described "last of the Druids." And he runs a book store in Arizona.

Diachronos
2014-08-26, 01:17 PM
If you're looking for spice, you could always decorate your character with peppers. Might even save you from a monster's Swallow Whole ability at some point!

Now that that's out of the way, Serious Mode: Druid's don't necessarily need to be detached from society or tree-huggers. They could be a city dweller who prioritizes the "natural order of the world" over "HOW DARE YOU CUT TREES AND HUNT?!"

If you still want the same general flavor of a druid without being a stereotype, just have them be opposed to "extreme" violation of nature.
Hunting and trapping are fine, but not if you're threatening the existence of an entire species or killing them for one particularly valuable body part and leaving the rest to rot.
Go ahead and chop down some trees so you have lumber to build houses or other necessities, but we're going to have a problem if you're unnecessarily clearing swathes of land for your own benefit.
Make changes to the surrounding area if you need to, but I'mma murder you if you start screwing over the ecosystem in the process.

Garimeth
2014-08-26, 01:27 PM
If you are playing a shifting focused druid you can make your druid a little bit feral, from spending every waking moment shifted when possible. Maybe you aren't disconnected from society, but you just disdain its trappings: fancy clothes, riches, owning property, and manipulative dealings. Maybe you are a hunter/trapper, and herbalist, or a wilderness guide that still lives in the city because of some obligation. Maybe you are all of the above, but are homeless because you don't want to live in a house. Maybe you are a perfectly normal person to most people, and you live in the city to participate in local politics and keep people from ruinging the wilderness nearby.

Just a few ideas to get the juices flowing.

Mexikorn
2014-08-26, 02:28 PM
I could roughly describe to you how I play my druid. That might be interesting for you since I play him in a very unconventional way. First of all my character isn't good. In his backstory he dealt with a lot of emotional trauma, got captured and tortured by humans, his animal companion got mercilessly killed and so on and so forth. So now he's a racist. So why is he still a druid. From a very young age he learnt the ways of the druids. He lived in a forest with his sensei for 100 years until settling to explore the world as to broaden his horizon. With this mentality in mind he doesn't ever do anything that roughly goes against nature and/or the natural cycle of life. He still looks to preserve what deserves to be preserved. But it's not his top priority. Actually he is interested in politics, currently involved in a kidnaping of a nobleman. You have to think of him as someone neutral evil/chaotic neutral alligned (but not chaotic evil), so he is still playable.

QuickLyRaiNbow
2014-08-26, 02:40 PM
Hi all!

I'm interested in playing a druid in an upcoming campaign, but I don't really want to use the stale "nature-lover disconnected from society" face for the character. What are some ways to change the fluff of the druid to keep true to the class, but put a fresh spin on it?

Urban Druid, even without any ACFs. Every city has some sort of natural life, whether it's well-tended parks, dolphins cavorting in the harbor or packs of strays and feral cats roaming the streets at night. If your Druid is committed to managing and protecting the creatures of the cities, then there's no reason he can't be a perfectly integrated member of society who goes to the opera and the bi-weekly Waderdoop Horticultural Society meetings.

Or maybe he's an adventure guide, who takes people out to see the wondrous Great Waterfall of Somewhere and the lions of the Flat Grassy Plain.

Maybe he makes his living collecting and selling rare plants for spell components and medicines. He's disconnected from society (and has Druidic powers) because he spends the vast majority of his time in the field, but he really lives for those times when he can go back to his city, sell his findings and blast through five hundred gold pieces of wine, hookers and drugs in a week before he heads out again. Basically the lifestyle of an offshore fisherman.

LibraryOgre
2014-08-26, 03:20 PM
AD&D druids were not disconnected from society... they had high Charisma requirements, and spells that made them valuable to communities. The AD&D description has them as versions of what you might see if you had pantheistic and animistic worship in a more medieval milieu.

Druids engage with communities. They trade their magic and knowledge to communities, giving them healthier animals and more bountiful crops in exchange for communities respecting some restrictions. They don't demand an end to hunting and logging, or that you seal up every mine; they want you to do these things in a way that doesn't harm nature, which they hold sacred. They can be personable and helpful, and might well live in town, tending their garden. In the old adventure T1, Village of Hommlet, the druid Jaroo is one of the leaders of the community, and frequently the person that villagers go to for help, especially those of the Old Faith.

QuickLyRaiNbow
2014-08-26, 04:02 PM
In the 3.5 DMG, the tables for city generation suggest than a not-insignificant percentage of small towns will have a high-level druid in some position of authority.

veti
2014-08-26, 04:53 PM
As Mark says, druids can be community leaders, even politicians, taking a very active part in all community activity.

For an adventuring druid, you'd probably prefer not to have too many responsibilities tying you down in one spot. You could be the employee or protegee of a druid like Jaroo, tasked with investigating something or finding something or maybe just "go out and get some experience of the world before you're ready to settle down".

Tengu_temp
2014-08-26, 05:08 PM
Play a hippy who doesn't like cities because it's where The Man lives, and is very fond of "medicinal herbs".

Ettina
2014-08-26, 07:48 PM
If you want a bit of a darker druid, keep in mind that the real-world druids (http://www.irishcentral.com/news/bog-bodies-are-kings-sacrificed-by-celts-says-expert-129289548-237410131.html) used human sacrifices to appease the gods.

Gracht Grabmaw
2014-08-27, 04:38 AM
If you look at the Celts and the real druids, there's one very important difference from the DND druids: They're NOT seculded naturists living out in the forest. A druid isn't outside of society, they're the heart of the community, they're the shamans and leaders they're the one everyone goes to for counsel, be it spiritual (what should I do to appease my ancestors?) or worldly (when is the time to plant crops?) If you are a druid, even at first level that makes you the de facto leader of the group. So max out that charisma, put on those white robes and take charge. If you play an urban druid, look up some new age cults and take inspiration from that, form a commune, get followers, get involved in local causes. And when you travel you are an ambassador of your little corner of the world not just to the cosmos and nautre but also to other communities of people