Charismatic druid?

[Haydensan]

If you were rolling up a character to be a druid but also possibly act as a party face or just have good charisma, how would you do it?

Mc allowed but try to stay mainly druid. Examples at various levels to give some scope to it, maybe 6/8, 11, 16ish and 20?

[Specter]

1 rogue level along with a social background gets you there. Expertise Deception/Persuasion and Insight and go nuts.

[tieren]

Just be a moon druid. Dump all physical stats and only care about mental stats. Physical stats get replaced with those of the various forms anyway.

The dip for expertise is a good idea if you want to be really good at it too.

[JellyPooga]

A three level dip into Lore Bard covers pretty much any desire to be more of a social character without negatively impacting your spellcasting or other traits. As has been mentioned, Druid (either Land or Moon) affords a character the ability to hard dump physical stats to an extent and without needing Int, you'll have plenty of points to spare for Charisma.

[LudicSavant]

Don't forget that you can and should use Wisdom (Insight) checks to grab stuff like an NPC's traits/ideals/bonds/flaws, and that that's something you really want access to in order to change a Hostile character's attitude in 5e (see the social rules on DMG pg244/245). Charisma is not the only thing relevant to being a face nowadays. It's not just about your strength, but also your leverage.

Beyond that, simply grab the proper proficiencies (simple enough with backgrounds and races and the like), put your Charisma as high as you can afford it after covering at least Wisdom (as a moon druid, physical stats are somewhat less important than they might otherwise be), and keep an eye out for socially helpful spells (like Conjure Woodland Beings) and magic items.

The Guidance cantrip can be kept up all day to aid your skill checks, too.

[hymer]

Don't forget you have spells to help you face: Charm Person (risky, and somewhat DM dependent) and Enhance Ability (uses concentration). Guidance for a cantrip (also uses Concentration) is something to consider, too.

I'd start out with just going straight druid, and only if I felt I really needed a boost to the skills would I consider sacrificing a level to rogue (or two to bard; no loss of spell slots, but two levels loss of spell knowledge).

[Specter]

Bard doesn't delay your spell slot progression, but it does delay your spell selection progression quite a bit, so you should consider that. Druid 5/Rogue 1 can cast 3rd-level spells, Druid3/Bard3 can only cast 2nd-level ones.

[Haydensan]

I like the rogue suggestion. And it makes me think of a character that would wildshape into small animals to break into places to steal stuff and generally be roguey. How would you optimise a druid rogue multiclass?

[JellyPooga]

I like the rogue suggestion. And it makes me think of a character that would wildshape into small animals to break into places to steal stuff and generally be roguey. How would you optimise a druid rogue multiclass?

Rogue 1 or Rogue 2 and the rest Druid for optimum spellcasting. Arcane Trickster 3/Druid 17 is an option if you wan the extra cantrips.

Rogue 5/Druid 15 is very tanky with both Uncanny Dodge and Wild Shape, but I don't think that's necessarily what you're looking for.

[bardo]

I like the idea of the charismatic druid. Reminds me of the olden days when a high charisma was one of the ability score requirements to become a druid.

I think all you need to do is pick Half-Elf. Put a 15 into WIS, a 14 into CHA. With the Half-Elf racial you get WIS 16 and CHA 16 and have one point left over to assign as you wish (DEX or CON probably).

You get six skill proficiencies (2 Half-Elf, 2 Druid, 2 Background). That's plenty to grab all the CHA skills you crave. Take Insight and Perception from the druid list. Pick a social background like guild artisan, noble, maybe even charlatan or criminal if that's your cup of tea. And you still have two unrestricted skill picks for being a Half-Elf. You'd be rolling with +5 on your WIS and CHA skills at level one.

Take whichever druid circle you want. You can be social in caster form and you can be a social bear.

At level three you start casting Enhance Ability on yourself before social encounters. If you want to be a lie detector use the Owl's Wisdom option for advantage on your Wisdom (Insight) checks. If you want to bedazzle them use the Eagle's Splendor option for advantage on your Charisma (Persuasion and Deception) checks. Rolling with +5 and advantage at level 3 is very strong. Only bards have it better.

After level three it's time to evaluate your social standing. I think in play you'd find CHA 16 and Enhance Ability to be sufficient, but if you need more you can get more. You can take the Lucky feat for rerolls (which is great in general not just for social situations). You can put an ASI into CHA.

I don't think multi-classing just for expertise is a good idea. Rogue 1 requires DEX 13 which you might not have and will hinder your spell slot progression. Bard 3 is a big commitment. If you want expertise and something else from these classes go for it, but don't force a MC just for expertise. Expertise gets better in later levels when your proficiency bonus is bigger, so you can easily go up to Druid 8 before dipping.

Bardo.

[Vaz]

How old are we talking? I came in at 3.5, and you had Wisdom as your primary. Where Intelligence was once a priority, that you were a Druid and you could quite happily and competently single class all the way forward, or ideal Prestige Classes had simple Skill requirements anyway, you maybe at best needed a 12, and your wild shape accounted for what forms of movement you needed; Jump Climb, Balance = Fly, Swim = Aquatic, etc. Your Constitution was helpful for your Hit Points, as you didn't recalculate after Wild Shape, but Strength and Dex could be dumped, and you took a shape that was appropriate for your desires. Charisma therefore was one skill which not only other people often dumped (or in the case of a Sorcerer, having horrendous skills in their class list), but that you had Diplo, and Handle Animal on your class list meant you could become an adequate "pleasant" face.

That said, it was never a "requisite".

[bardo]

How old are we talking?

Almost as old as THAC0 itself. AD&D 2nd Edition: "A druid must be human or half-elven. He must have a Wisdom score of at least 12 and a Charisma score of 15 or more".

Bardo.

[Tanarii]

Arcane Trickster 3/Druid 17 is an option if you wan the extra cantrips.This or Bard 3. They both give you Friends and Disguise Self. Of course, it's all down to when you take the levels. I'd probably go Druid 5, Bard/Rogue (AT) 3, Druid rest.

Sacrifices a lot of casting obviously. But if you're going to be the primary face, it's worth picking up Friends and Disguise Self, as well as Expertise Persuasion & Deception.

[Slipperychicken]

Start with charisma 14. Put an ASI into charisma to get you up to 16, and take proficiency with social skills. Get a background that gives you a social skill.

That wasn't so hard now, was it?

[Dimers]

Tome feylock 2 or 3 combined with Druid gives you more reason to appreciate that Charisma score while nabbing a couple-or-three bonus social abilities.

[Herobizkit]

Druids also get access to the Guidance cantrip. +1d4 to any ability check (skill checks are ability checks) for free is always nice.

[bardo]

Druids also get access to the Guidance cantrip. +1d4 to any ability check (skill checks are ability checks) for free is always nice.

Guidance is a great cantrip, but not always applicable in social situations. If you know you're going to walk through a door and into a conversation then you can cast Guidance and the 1 minute duration will be enough.

In the middle of a conversation your DM might rule some negative consequences for you if you cast a spell with a Verbal component.

Bardo.

[LudicSavant]

Guidance is a great cantrip, but not always applicable in social situations. If you know you're going to walk through a door and into a conversation then you can cast Guidance and the 1 minute duration will be enough.

Forget foreknowledge; as long as you don't need to use your Concentration on anything else, you should have Guidance up all of the time. Recast it every minute.

[Tanarii]

Forget foreknowledge; as long as you don't need to use your Concentration on anything else, you should have Guidance up all of the time. Recast it every minute.Like, I totally agree there's no reason not to, but it just sounds ridiculous for some reason.