Dwarven Druid

[Reaver25]

I was thinking about the concept of a Dwarven Druid, whose brother (a friend of mine) would be RPing a Barbarian. We would hail from the mountains and I would focus on spells like Lightning, Stone, and Wild Shaping into beasts that would have a glorious beard. Any thoughts? Tagline for him would be: "Rough as stone and loud as thunder!"

Ha... ha...

[Ralanr]

Dwarven barbarian?

[mgshamster]

Go for it! Sounds like fun.

[JackPhoenix]

I had a similar character concept before. "Trees, rabbits, birds and all that crap? *spit* Leave it to elves, I draw my power from the solid rock below, furious storms above, and the fiery heart of the mountains."

[RickAllison]

One thing you might consider to tie everything together is the spiked armor from SCAG. It is a medium armor (AC 14+Dex (max 2), tick) specially made by dwarfs (tick), and that is made of leather and usually though not always with metal spikes (usable by druids, tick). With just a 14 in Dex, you get AC as good as Barkskin before you even put on a shield. You could get slightly higher with Studded Leather, but at the cost of having to get all the way up to Dex 20, and it wouldn't be as thematic.

[JumboWheat01]

There's even an Underdark category for Land Druids, so underground druids aren't that uncommon at least. In fact, the Underdark land gives you some rather nice spells.

[Talamare]

Hill Dwarf is better than Mountain Dwarf for Druids tho

[Belac93]

"I'm a druid, in tune with nature."
"Get him! He's a spellcaster!"
"Raahhgg!!"
'Wack!'

[Arkhios]

It's like that R.A.Salvatore dwarven brothers, Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder. Except roles swapped. Ivan (fighter) is the levelheaded one, while Pikel (druid) is Coo-coo Retard :P

Not saying yours was a bad idea, just had an instant association.

PS. I think those brothers, especially Pikel, are hilarious!

[Reaver25]

Dwarven barbarian?

Yes, he would be a Dwarven Barbarian. And I love all of the ideas. I actually thought about asking my DM to make some kind of tribe for Dwarves who realized that they loved stone and mountains more than steel and fire. So, it would be pretty cool if I wore something like Stone Armor, but I wouldn't know how to work that in.

And YES! I love that idea. "Leave it to the elves!" That's exactly what I was thinking. It wouldn't be so much of a "tree--hugging" Druid as it would be a "Screw-with-nature-and-it's-bound-to-screw-you-back-kind of Druid.

I just like the idea of different characters. Everyone has seen the Dwarven Cleric or Fighter, everyone has seen the Elven Ranger or Druid, but what about the Dragonborn Bard? The Half-Orc Monk? Or, of course, the illustrious Gnome Fighter/Barbarian?

[CaptAl]

One thing you might consider to tie everything together is the spiked armor from SCAG. It is a medium armor (AC 14+Dex (max 2), tick) specially made by dwarfs (tick), and that is made of leather and usually though not always with metal spikes (usable by druids, tick). With just a 14 in Dex, you get AC as good as Barkskin before you even put on a shield. You could get slightly higher with Studded Leather, but at the cost of having to get all the way up to Dex 20, and it wouldn't be as thematic.

To go along with your spiked armor, your brother could be a battlerager barbarian from the SCAG. A couple of burly, brusque, angry hedgehogs looking to show everyone the primal fury of stone and storm.

[Reaver25]

An important concept for me would be to choose which stats to bump and which to dump. I know that Wisdom is highly critical for Druids, but can I really see a Dwarf having super high Wisdom scores? Possibly. Also, should I go Land Circle or Moon Circle? I love the idea of having a beard no matter which form I am in... But a bearded Rhinoceros? That's just freaking awesome!

[RickAllison]

If you go Moon Circle, try and pick out any strange beasts you would like early and include them in your backstory somehow. The druid in my party is running into that now where he didn't get the polar bear form he had been so looking forward to at level 6 because our DM ruled he couldn't have seen it.

[Reaver25]

Yeah, I'll have to remember that. I don't want to get stuck by all the roadblocks. That's a great idea!

[Arkhios]

An important concept for me would be to choose which stats to bump and which to dump. I know that Wisdom is highly critical for Druids, but can I really see a Dwarf having super high Wisdom scores? Possibly. Also, should I go Land Circle or Moon Circle? I love the idea of having a beard no matter which form I am in... But a bearded Rhinoceros? That's just freaking awesome!

If bearded wild shapes is the schtick of your concept, then definitely go Moon Circle. They excel in wild shape more than Land Circle druids. They even get earlier access to stronger forms.

Now, regardless of whether you roll for stats or use point-buy, Wisdom should be your highest score. Then, depending on whether you roll stats or use point-buy, try not to shoot yourself in the foot. I'd recommend getting Dexterity to at least 10, preferably to 14. Just in case if you're ever caught out of wild shape (more often at early levels), you'll at least have +2 to your AC, since armor found in PHB and legal for druids include only Hide armor (as the only Medium armor, that is), and that's not very sturdy without some Dex to back it up. As a dwarf, you don't need strength much, especially if both of you are Mountain Dwarves (+2 to strength from race!). If you get proficiency to heavy armor, you won't have to worry about the minimum strength requirements as that only applies to speed penalty (which dwarves ignore).
Hit Points are always welcome (especially out of Wild Shape), as are concentration saves, so I'd put Constitution as the second-most important after Wisdom, actually. And as a dwarf, you get a-plenty!

All in all, as a (dwarf) druid I'd say you really need Wisdom, Constitution, and Dexterity, in that order. Everything else can be dumped if you so wish (though I wouldn't recommend it, sometimes those less-than-important values might come in handy).

A point-buy example, with standard array: (15,14,13,12,10,8)
Str 14 (12), Dex 14, Con 15 (13), Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 8; bump con and wis to 16 at earliest opportunity (4th level), then beyond that, proceed with Wisdom to 20, and pick whatever feats or increases you wish beyond that. I put 12 into Strength because as a dwarf you get proficiency with certain dwarvish weapons, which you might use while dwarf, unless you took Shillelagh as one of your cantrips, in which case I would do as follows:

Again, point-buy; this time with actual point-buying: (27 pts)
Str 10 (0 pts), Dex 14 (7 pts), Con 17 (9 pts), Int 10 (2 pts), Wis 15 (9 pts), Cha 8 (0 pts); again, at 4th level, put your first ASI into +1 Con and +1 Wis, then proceed as before.

Edit: obviously, the above examples assume Mountain Dwarf sub-race, with +2 to strength. Hill Dwarf would tip the scale in favor for Wisdom 16 from the start, but otherwise wouldn't hurt much (except for maybe strength, but that's no issue); A hill dwarf would even get +1 hp/level as a bonus.

[Reaver25]

Those are some great points of advice. Our DM does kind of an old thing with ability scores. He has us roll 5d6, keeping the highest three. Now, that sounds fair, but the last character I rolled started with these stats:
Dex 18, Strength 11, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 11, Constitution 12, Charisma 13. It was pretty horrible, except for the Dexterity score.
But, I really hadn't thought of the Hill Dwarves getting +1 hp/level. That's a significant bonus if I can't get my Constitution score higher. Also, I think I will definitely go Moon Circle. I am not sure how to switch our backstories to accommodate the new race.

[Arkhios]

5d6 for best three sure seems fair. Do you roll the stats in order too?
Not that it really matters for any class in 5th edition; even a caster can function with a negative modifier in Spellcasting Ability, as you can often (if not always) select spells that don't require an attack roll or a save DC.

[Reaver25]

5d6 for best three sure seems fair. Do you roll the stats in order too?
Not that it really matters for any class in 5th edition; even a caster can function with a negative modifier in Spellcasting Ability, as you can often (if not always) select spells that don't require an attack roll or a save DC.

Yeah, for sure. At first, I thought he was giving us an advantage. He did let us choose where the rolls went, though. He's kinda lenient... sometimes. And that is true, I think the best spells (personally) are utility and buff spells, which have no DC or attack roll.

[Theodoxus]

My friend and I played dwarven brothers in a PF game. I was a Stonelord (Paladin archetype), he was a Stormlord (Druid archetype). I was basically the solemn stone beneath our feet while he was the raging storm above. It was a lot of fun.

[Reaver25]

My friend and I played dwarven brothers in a PF game. I was a Stonelord (Paladin archetype), he was a Stormlord (Druid archetype). I was basically the solemn stone beneath our feet while he was the raging storm above. It was a lot of fun.

That's awesome, dude! That's kind of how I imagine us to be, except with a lot more chaos. If he is a Barbarian, we were planning on him only being able to speak Druidic and "Broken" Common, i.e. VERY bad at communicating with someone who doesn't understand his language. But it'd be insanely Chaotic because we are both Dwarves, and he is a crazy Barbarian who rages constantly and I am the Druid who shifts even for small stuff like taking a bath.

[Arkhios]

My friend and I played dwarven brothers in a PF game. I was a Stonelord (Paladin archetype), he was a Stormlord (Druid archetype). I was basically the solemn stone beneath our feet while he was the raging storm above. It was a lot of fun.

Once, during 4th edition, I played in a game where we had 2 characters each (only 3 players), and mine were dwarven brothers. IIRC, the other was a bear druid or bear shaman, and the other was a Thunderborn Barbarian. It was glorious! :P

In PFS I have this dwarf armored in stoneplate, "adorned" with obsidian spikes. (magical of course, so they're not as fragile as you'd think). Fighting Style is equal to that of a Battlerager. (Drunken Brute (barbarian archetype) 2/Brawler (fighter archetype) 4/Mutagenic Mauler (Brawler Archetype) 2, and (obviously) every possible feat and feature to aid with grappling. And enlarge potion shenanigans with Drunken Rage (or whatever it was called) :D
He's a monster! (nicknamed him as Boulder, as he's massive for a dwarf)

[Temperjoke]

*imagines a dwarf druid that changes into a bear with a beard, and a dwarf barbarian that hops onto the bear's back to charge into battle*

If you're planning on going Moon circle, then it doesn't really matter what stats you have, since you take your animal shape's stats when you change.

[JumboWheat01]

*imagines a dwarf druid that changes into a bear with a beard, and a dwarf barbarian that hops onto the bear's back to charge into battle*

By the gods... that mental image is glorious!

[Temperjoke]

By the gods... that mental image is glorious!

Isn't it though? :smallbiggrin:

[Celcey]

A couple things:

1. For your bro, tell your friend to be wary of giving him serious communication problems. It's a cool concept but in practice, unless it's just the two of you it might get really annoying for your teammates.

2. Absolutely you can have a dwarf with high wisdom! It's the main stat for the common dwarf cleric, and moreover, it's literally one of the hill dwarves bonuses, so you should absolutely be going hill dwarf. Since your bro will probably want to be a mountain dwarf, you could write that into your backstory. Maybe your parents were a non-tragic version of Romeo and Juliet. Or you could just handwave the fluff and call a dwarf a dwarf.

Also: the bearded animal thing is pure brilliance. Truly insightful. I have to wonder what happens when you become a bearded lizard, however...

[Arkhios]

I have to wonder what happens when you become a bearded lizard, however...

This (http://www.kalrissanrotts.com/Lizbeth%20dec%2010%2007.jpg) is what happens :D

That's Central Bearded Dragon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bearded_dragon), a.k.a. Beard Agama!

[WMO?]

Those are some great points of advice. Our DM does kind of an old thing with ability scores. He has us roll 5d6, keeping the highest three. Now, that sounds fair, but the last character I rolled started with these stats:
Dex 18, Strength 11, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 11, Constitution 12, Charisma 13. It was pretty horrible, except for the Dexterity score.
But, I really hadn't thought of the Hill Dwarves getting +1 hp/level. That's a significant bonus if I can't get my Constitution score higher. Also, I think I will definitely go Moon Circle. I am not sure how to switch our backstories to accommodate the new race.

These stats are equivalent to point-buy with ~33 points, and the standard array is equivalent to point-buy with 27 points, so you can see how "roll 5d6 keep the best 3" (5d6b3) is generous.

Having little to no flexibility about where rolled scores go is very old school. Most in the tabletop community today would probably agree that taking scores in order constrains player choice. At the very least the effectiveness of your planned class can be compromised, but that can be fun in its own way. To look at it in a positive light, you can use "rolled stats, straight down the page" as a way to avoid indecision and be inspired to build from what you get.

[lebefrei]

If he is a Barbarian, we were planning on him only being able to speak Druidic and "Broken" Common, i.e. VERY bad at communicating with someone who doesn't understand his language.

Do you mean that he can only speak Dwarvish fluently? Druidic is not an available language, even to someone with a bonus language, let alone a barbarian that lacks the capacity to learn a new one... Why wouldn't he speak Dwarvish as a Dwarf? Barbarian or not, his tribe should know the language of his own people.

As far as Druidic goes, as both a player and a DM I've always been of the opinion that it is a secret language in part because it is one of the components of druidic power, so learning the language is part of learning to be a druid and cast druid spells, and not just for communication. Personally if someone was teaching others the language without inducting that other into the class I'd consider them a traitor.

[Reaver25]

Do you mean that he can only speak Dwarvish fluently? Druidic is not an available language, even to someone with a bonus language, let alone a barbarian that lacks the capacity to learn a new one... Why wouldn't he speak Dwarvish as a Dwarf? Barbarian or not, his tribe should know the language of his own people.

As far as Druidic goes, as both a player and a DM I've always been of the opinion that it is a secret language in part because it is one of the components of druidic power, so learning the language is part of learning to be a druid and cast druid spells, and not just for communication. Personally if someone was teaching others the language without inducting that other into the class I'd consider them a traitor.

You make a very good point here. Maybe he'll just speak broken Common haha. Or not! He wants his enemies to poop their panties when they hear him screaming at them!