Making a druidic knight

[Dankus Memakus]

So I've been toying with the idea of a druidic knight in 5e. I really like the druid spells and such but I want a more... say punch-y kinda deal. Here's my issues really

1. If I play straight druid I have a problem with the whole no heavy armor and that makes a knight like druid a bit squishy. (If I could get heavy armor I'd be cool with moon druid and using plate of if there's some official way to do this)
2. Oath of the ancients paladins and nature clerics spells aren't what I'm looking for, plus I prefer to use wisdom.
3. I'd prefer to have shillelagh asap

So can anyone really help me here? I prefer to not have to use homebrew btw.

[Dudewithknives]

So I've been toying with the idea of a druidic knight in 5e. I really like the druid spells and such but I want a more... say punch-y kinda deal. Here's my issues really

1. If I play straight druid I have a problem with the whole no heavy armor and that makes a knight like druid a bit squishy. (If I could get heavy armor I'd be cool with moon druid and using plate of if there's some official way to do this)
2. Oath of the ancients paladins and nature clerics spells aren't what I'm looking for, plus I prefer to use wisdom.
3. I'd prefer to have shillelagh asap

So can anyone really help me here? I prefer to not have to use homebrew btw.

If you do not mind playing an odd race.

Tortle druid.

2 str and 1 wis starting off
17 base ac and can use a shield.
DNDbeyond published a racial feat for them that ups their AC to 18 and gives +1 str or wis and let's then protect others with their shells once per short rest.
They can also hold their breath a long time if that ever matters.

Strength based druid knight.

I wouldn't go moon druid but the others are fine.

[Dankus Memakus]

If you do not mind playing an odd race.

Tortle druid.

2 str and 1 wis starting off
17 base ac and can use a shield.
DNDbeyond published a racial feat for them that ups their AC to 18 and gives +1 str or wis and let's then protect others with their shells once per short rest.
They can also hold their breath a long time if that ever matters.

Strength based druid knight.

I wouldn't go moon druid but the others are fine.

If I have to I'll play this but I actually just saw my tortle paladin pass so I was looking for something different this character.

[chokfull]

By RAW, druids can't wear metal. This is largely a fluff mechanic, though, so as a DM I might rule it out if you really wanted it. However, in Princes of the Apocalypse, there are cultists who wear stone plate armor. This works especially well if you take the Stone Shape spell, and can arguably craft it yourself. Have to wait until level 7 for Stone Shape, steal it off an earth cultist, or pay some stoneworker to create it for you, though. Of course, you'll also have to take a feat to be able to wear any heavy armor at all.

[nickl_2000]

So I've been toying with the idea of a druidic knight in 5e. I really like the druid spells and such but I want a more... say punch-y kinda deal. Here's my issues really

1. If I play straight druid I have a problem with the whole no heavy armor and that makes a knight like druid a bit squishy. (If I could get heavy armor I'd be cool with moon druid and using plate of if there's some official way to do this)
2. Oath of the ancients paladins and nature clerics spells aren't what I'm looking for, plus I prefer to use wisdom.
3. I'd prefer to have shillelagh asap

So can anyone really help me here? I prefer to not have to use homebrew btw.

What about a Nature Domain cleric? You can get either shillelagh or primal savagery and you get heavy armor at level one. You would have to fluff as being Druidic with a background, but it seems like it may work.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Well, you could always just play a straight land Druid with the Heavily Armored feat. Variant Human can even do it from first level. If you’re playing AL, nickl_2000’s suggestion of stone plate is your only real option, but if you’re not... well, ankheg chitin has been used to make full plate before (if you’ve ever Played the Baldur's Gate series of PC games, that is). It’s even its own self contained quest to hunt one of the beasties down and find a smith skilled enough to work it into armor for you.

If you need the Extra Attack, things get trickier. Fighter 5/Druid X would be your best bet in that case. Starting Fighter, of course, for that Constitution save proficiency.

[Dankus Memakus]

Well, you could always just play a straight land Druid with the Heavily Armored feat. Variant Human can even do it from first level. If you’re playing AL, nickl_2000’s suggestion of stone plate is your only real option, but ideal you’re not... well, ankheg chitin hasn’t been used to make full plate before (if you’ve ever Played the Baldurs Gate series of PC games, that is). It’s even its own self contained quest to hunt it down and find a smith skilled enough to work it.

If you need the Extra Attack, things get trickier. Fighter 5/Druid X would be your best bet in that case. Starting Fighter, of course, for that Constitution save proficiency.

Doesn't the stone plate require something special to wear or am I crazy (which is a very real possibility)

Another issue is I assume it will take a few levels to achieve stone plate.

[Crgaston]

How about a Ranger MC? With a Wood Elf point buy you could start with 14 14 15 8 15 8, half plate+ shield for only 1 less AC than heavy armor, and bump Wis and Con with your first ASI. Ranger 5 for extra Attack and L2 spells, then go straight Druid. Or mix and match levels to taste. It would flavor quite well, and if the No Metal Armor restriction is inescapable, you can dump strength and bump Dex and use studded leather.

If you really want heavy armor, Nature Cleric 1/Druid x is the least painful route for sure. A hill dwarf would be excellent in that regard. You could start with 15 10 16 8 16 8

[chokfull]

Doesn't the stone plate require something special to wear or am I crazy (which is a very real possibility)

Another issue is I assume it will take a few levels to achieve stone plate.

That's true, but realistically no one should start with plate at level 1. It's a 1500g piece of equipment. If you're looking to do something specific like this for roleplaying purposes, it's worth questing for.

I don't think it requires anything special that regular plate doesn't, but I'd ask your DM. It doesn't exist by the RAW player books; I only picked it up from a cultist my player had killed, and my DM let me equip my undead with it, no problem.

[Arkhios]

Fighter 5 -> Cleric (nature domain) 5 would be essentially similar to 9th level paladin, spells wise. From there, you could keep up a "staggered" progression between fighter and cleric to mimic a paladin's progression, or just continue with cleric.

[chokfull]

Fighter 5 -> Cleric (nature domain) 5 would be essentially similar to 9th level paladin, spells wise. From there, you could keep up a "staggered" progression between fighter and cleric to mimic a paladin's progression, or just continue with cleric.

He *did* say he wanted to use Wisdom, and was looking to play as a druid.

[th3g0dc0mp13x]

So I've been toying with the idea of a druidic knight in 5e. I really like the druid spells and such but I want a more... say punch-y kinda deal. Here's my issues really

1. If I play straight druid I have a problem with the whole no heavy armor and that makes a knight like druid a bit squishy. (If I could get heavy armor I'd be cool with moon druid and using plate of if there's some official way to do this)


Talk to your DM, Have him look at Page 142 in the DMG and find a way for you to have Plate armor made by Dragons(dragonscale), Elemental Earth(could be made of stone or petrified wood), Elemental Water (made out of hardened seashells and coral), or undead (made out of bone) I don't think this would be considered homebrew.

Example

Gaia's Plate
Made by earth elemental's to help druids protect the planet, due to druidic taboo's they made this armor out of magically hardened petrified wood.

This is literally just choosing some +1 plate and adding fluff to it. The DM doesn't even have to make it +1 they could go with it being sentinel plate and have it glow in the presence of x enemy; or have it just be standard plate that was made differently.

[Ventruenox]

What about multiclassing as a Kensai? You maintain the martial feel, unarmored defense covers your AC, & a Shillelagh build lends itself to a rather effective stunning strike. 3 druid levels make for a great utility caster.

If UA is permitted, the Circle of Spores has great synergy with melee combatants who get multiple attacks.

[Arkhios]

He *did* say he wanted to use Wisdom, and was looking to play as a druid.

He also said that as a druid, heavy armor would become an issue, so... I'm not following, were you trying to downplay my suggestion or what?

Cleric uses Wisdom and Nature Domain is pretty damn close to a druid, in the end.

Personally, I'm quite alright with the idea to be able to wear heavy armor as a druid, because their ethos only forbids using armor and shields made of metal. But, if you don't *know* for sure that your DM is willing to drop a non-metal heavy armor just for you, Nature Cleric is the safest bet to heavy armor and nature focused spellcasting with Wisdom. Or ranger, if you don't mind the restricted amount of spells known and that the class itself is often considered as less than great.

Edit: although, I just noticed something I somehow didn't earlier: nature cleric was undesirable...

weighing in all these desires:

1. If I play straight druid I have a problem with the whole no heavy armor and that makes a knight like druid a bit squishy. (If I could get heavy armor I'd be cool with moon druid and using plate of if there's some official way to do this)
2. Oath of the ancients paladins and nature clerics spells aren't what I'm looking for, plus I prefer to use wisdom.
3. I'd prefer to have shillelagh asap

...here's an idea:

variant human ranger (I'd probably choose Horizon Walker, but it's your call)
racial feat: Magic Initiate (druid): Shillelagh, maybe produce flame for a ranged attack, and ...Longstrider for 1st-level spell (that doesn't scale)

Str 12, Dex 13+1, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15+1, Cha 8

Use half-plate once you an afford one. It's pretty knightly, imho. With Defense Fighting Style you have same AC as you would have with plate or splint+defense.

There you have it.

Or, if you'd prefer an actual heavy armor and you think you're fine with being unable to multiclass (at least by RAW), your stats could be:

Str 14+1, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15+1, Cha 8

With 4th level ASI (Heavily Armored for Str 16 and heavy armor proficiency) you would have access to the plate you wanted.

From there, keep increasing your wisdom and smack'em with your druidic stick.

[DarkKnightJin]

I'm gonna go off the beaten track a bit, and suggest something simple to 'fix' the issue.

Grab a Nature Domain Cleric.. and ask your DM if it's okay to use the Druid Spell list instead of the Cleric one.

You get a Nature Knight, full Druid spell list, without worrying about Druid's "no metal" BS.

If not that, you could ask if the DM's okay with waiving that honestly very character dependant fluffy restriction.
Not ALL Druids are tree hugging hippies. Maybe this one got pissed off and decides nothing is off the table for getting their vengeance. Just a random idea.

[Dankus Memakus]

How close will a nature cleric get to a druid? I'm bummed you can't use wildshapre but I can get over that? Anything not official will most likely be shot down cuz of a specifically obnoxious player in our group who tends to abuse homebrew. So as much as I'd love to play straight druid or substitute spells we aren't really allowed to

[strangebloke]

1. must use WIS
2. wants wildshape
3. wants heavy armor
4. doesn't want nature cleric.

...

Play a ranger and grab heavily armored? Play a druid and grab heavily armored? Or start with a first level in fighter.

I'd also look at the shifter race from the Eberron UA.

[clash]

Nature Cleric is missing some key druid spells that kinda define druids:

Level 1:
entangle, Faerie Fire, Goodberry,
Level 2:
gust of wind, moonbeam, pass without trace
Level 3:
call lightning

In my experience they still feel more clericy than druidy. My recommendation is take at least 1 level of monk, but as many as 5 for extra attack and stunning strike.

The biggest gain here is unarmored defense. With maxing out wisdom and even having a mediocre dex you will get up to 17 or 18 ac and with dex maxed out as well its possible to get up to 20. This ac should also apply to animal form so bonus.

[Grod_The_Giant]

How close will a nature cleric get to a druid? I'm bummed you can't use wildshapre but I can get over that? Anything not official will most likely be shot down cuz of a specifically obnoxious player in our group who tends to abuse homebrew. So as much as I'd love to play straight druid or substitute spells we aren't really allowed to
How about the new Spore Druid from this month's UA? It's finally a Druid archetype that CAN mix it up in melee without needing Wild Shape. (You get bonus poison damage every round, and you can spend Wild Shape uses to get some preposterous number of temp HP and bonus weapon damage)

[Flashy]

So can anyone really help me here? I prefer to not have to use homebrew btw.

I know you said this but I’d still suggest that allowing an Eldritch Knight to choose from the Druid list rather than the Wizard list seems to largely fit what you’re looking for, is only the very lightest kind of homebrew, and is very unlikely to break anything.

But if the DM won’t be convinced then Grod’s spore druid suggestion is excellent.

[Ventruenox]

That's not a bad idea. The Abjuration/Evocation spells from the Druid list is limited, but you have some pretty iconic choices there.

[Grod_The_Giant]

You could also, I suppose, play a Ranger with Magic Initiate (Druid) and Heavily Armored. Plenty of crossover spells, plenty sturdy.

[JellyPooga]

OP: you've said what you want from being a Druid, i.e. the spell list, but you've only insinuated what you want from being a "knight".

Is heavy armour essential? Heavy Armour is an easy way to get high AC without investing in Dex or spellcasting for it and it also fits the fantasy trope of the heavy armoured knight, but it's not the only way to get high AC and nor is it a requirement to be "knightly", let alone effective on the front line.

How mandatory is Shillelagh? It really isn't all that good a spell, when you get down to brass tacks. Especially if you want to go with heavy armour and its Str requirements. With the investment in Str you'll want for heavy armour, you may as well use Str for attacks anyway and forego Shillelagh as a waste of your bonus action and inferior to simply using a better weapon.

Is multiclassing an option? Many character builds benefit from a little MC to really gel with the desired theme and/or end goal. The Druid spell list has some of the best scaling spells for upcasting from higher slots (Fog Cloud, Moonbeam to name a couple of low level ones), so multiclassing with another spellcasting class is definitely a possibility. A couple of levels of Nature Cleric or Ancients Paladin, for example, will give you many of your desired features and won't hold you back on your Druidic spellcasting too much; they may even enhance it through versatility (depending on what, exactly, you're looking for).

[Temperjoke]

Let me ask this first: What is it that you want to do? You like the druid spell list, but it sounds like you want a front-line combatant, plate-armored warrior. It's not that they're necessarily exclusive, but they don't really go together.

You might want to go with a Nature Cleric multiclassed with Shepard Druid. This gives you Heavy Armor and wisdom spell casting. You still have the issue with the fluff regarding druids and metal armor, but that's a discussion between you and your DM.

[Dankus Memakus]

OP: you've said what you want from being a Druid, i.e. the spell list, but you've only insinuated what you want from being a "knight".

Is heavy armour essential? Heavy Armour is an easy way to get high AC without investing in Dex or spellcasting for it and it also fits the fantasy trope of the heavy armoured knight, but it's not the only way to get high AC and nor is it a requirement to be "knightly", let alone effective on the front line.

How mandatory is Shillelagh? It really isn't all that good a spell, when you get down to brass tacks. Especially if you want to go with heavy armour and its Str requirements. With the investment in Str you'll want for heavy armour, you may as well use Str for attacks anyway and forego Shillelagh as a waste of your bonus action and inferior to simply using a better weapon.

Is multiclassing an option? Many character builds benefit from a little MC to really gel with the desired theme and/or end goal. The Druid spell list has some of the best scaling spells for upcasting from higher slots (Fog Cloud, Moonbeam to name a couple of low level ones), so multiclassing with another spellcasting class is definitely a possibility. A couple of levels of Nature Cleric or Ancients Paladin, for example, will give you many of your desired features and won't hold you back on your Druidic spellcasting too much; they may even enhance it through versatility (depending on what, exactly, you're looking for).

Medium armor is also possible but from a knight id like some frontline slaying ability and like having just the idea of an armored druid charging in with weapons

[Citan]

So I've been toying with the idea of a druidic knight in 5e. I really like the druid spells and such but I want a more... say punch-y kinda deal. Here's my issues really

1. If I play straight druid I have a problem with the whole no heavy armor and that makes a knight like druid a bit squishy. (If I could get heavy armor I'd be cool with moon druid and using plate of if there's some official way to do this)
2. Oath of the ancients paladins and nature clerics spells aren't what I'm looking for, plus I prefer to use wisdom.
3. I'd prefer to have shillelagh asap

So can anyone really help me here? I prefer to not have to use homebrew btw.
Hi! ;)
Heavy armor is kinda a pain honestly.
I see three ways (edit: well, in hindsight, actually four XD).

1. You want it, and your DM allow it in spite of the "is it fluff? is it rule?" bit about Druids not wanting to wear heavy armor.
FWIS, if I were your DM and you told "I see my character as a Druid in heavy armor", I'd send you away. If you told "my character underwent Druidic training but then decided its true aspiration was to defend animal kingdom in a more active, weaponish fashion (meaning Druid 2 max) then i'd say "sure, its coherent".

Then easiest way is either Ancients Paladin with Druid if really you want the Auras, or just Druid with EK.

2. You want it, and your DM won't allow it whatever happens (houserule, quest for specially crafted heavy etc)?
Then tough luck, Druid is out hard: you'll have to fall back on Ranger or Bard. Good thing though, you will just need one level of Fighter for proficiencies (or Nature Cleric if you don't care about Concentration saves at low levels), then Ranger can actually be fairly well played as a "druidic knight" imo in melee. You just will have less spells than a full Druid obviously, but Ranger spell list is basically a fixed, subset of Druid's.

3. You care about being in armor, not specifically heavy.
Good news: all doors are opened! I'd recommend still a Nature Cleric dip somewhere simply to boost your cantrips and 1st level spell known plus skills, then mix Druid with either Fighter, Ranger or Rogue depending on the kind of martial goodness you want.

4. You care about being "all knighty", armor or not?
Great news: your multiclass is made for you: Monk with Land or Moon Druid will it be. ;)
Especially good news: with Shillelagh, you can bump WIS first.
Depending on what DM allows to work with Wild Shape, you could make a Kung-Fu Panda. Otherwise, Land Druid will provide you some "direct bits" you'd like: more martial-ish (Haste?)? More wrath (Ligthning Bolt)?
You could easily pick 4E or Sun Soul if you want some AOE, or make a more complex character by pouring some Light Cleric into it.


Oh, by the way: honestly you CAN perfectly play an armored Monk, so you could still use that martial chassis for a multiclass with a 1st level Fighter or Nature Cleric dip: you block yourself the benefits of Martial Arts, but when examining what it really means for a multiclass "balanced" character...

1/ Unarmored: well, you trade that for 18-20 AC (medium/heavy + shield depending on DM ruling about Druid armor): better armor earlier than a pure Monk.

2/ Martial Arts: who cares? You have Shillelagh to use for your Attack which immediately gives better result than Monk's own unarmed at the same level.
Especially when you think that with a multiclass, you would have never reached better than 1d6 unarmored anyways.
For the same reason, not being able to use DEX is as irrelevant to you. Shillelagh FTW.

3/ Speed bonus: that is one of the best cookies to put back in the pot. It's not that bad though: same as above, you probably wouldn't have gotten better than a 10 feet bonus for most of your character's life. Nothing that a good old Longstrider wouldn't compensate when you really need that extra move.

4/ bonus action: no perma bonus action attack or Flurry of Blows (well technically you can but it's 1 damage), but who cares? You have Ki points to spend on Dodge/Dash/Disengage, plus potentially Wild Shape if Moon Druid, plus potentially Shillelagh/Healing Words/Shield of Faith/Sanctuary or moving a Flaming Sphere etc... You have enough things to do with it.

5/ Deflect Arrows: no special requirement. Works.

6/ Stunning Strike: only requires "melee weapon attack": good news, you can use it with your normal attacks with Shillelagh. \o/ And since you have so many things competing with your bonus action anyways, and the fact you probably won't get a much higher pool ki than 6-8 points, it's good to have this ability to use it on. ;)

7/ Higher level features: do not require at all to be unarmored.

Basically, as long as you know what you lose and why you make this choice, armored Monks multiclass can be *very* strong.

[Dankus Memakus]

Hi! ;)
Heavy armor is kinda a pain honestly.
I see three ways (edit: well, in hindsight, actually four XD).

1. You want it, and your DM allow it in spite of the "is it fluff? is it rule?" bit about Druids not wanting to wear heavy armor.
FWIS, if I were your DM and you told "I see my character as a Druid in heavy armor", I'd send you away. If you told "my character underwent Druidic training but then decided its true aspiration was to defend animal kingdom in a more active, weaponish fashion (meaning Druid 2 max) then i'd say "sure, its coherent".

Then easiest way is either Ancients Paladin with Druid if really you want the Auras, or just Druid with EK.

2. You want it, and your DM won't allow it whatever happens (houserule, quest for specially crafted heavy etc)?
Then tough luck, Druid is out hard: you'll have to fall back on Ranger or Bard. Good thing though, you will just need one level of Fighter for proficiencies (or Nature Cleric if you don't care about Concentration saves at low levels), then Ranger can actually be fairly well played as a "druidic knight" imo in melee. You just will have less spells than a full Druid obviously, but Ranger spell list is basically a fixed, subset of Druid's.

3. You care about being in armor, not specifically heavy.
Good news: all doors are opened! I'd recommend still a Nature Cleric dip somewhere simply to boost your cantrips and 1st level spell known plus skills, then mix Druid with either Fighter, Ranger or Rogue depending on the kind of martial goodness you want.

4. You care about being "all knighty", armor or not?
Great news: your multiclass is made for you: Monk with Land or Moon Druid will it be. ;)
Especially good news: with Shillelagh, you can bump WIS first.
Depending on what DM allows to work with Wild Shape, you could make a Kung-Fu Panda. Otherwise, Land Druid will provide you some "direct bits" you'd like: more martial-ish (Haste?)? More wrath (Ligthning Bolt)?
You could easily pick 4E or Sun Soul if you want some AOE, or make a more complex character by pouring some Light Cleric into it.


Oh, by the way: honestly you CAN perfectly play an armored Monk, so you could still use that martial chassis for a multiclass with a 1st level Fighter or Nature Cleric dip: you block yourself the benefits of Martial Arts, but when examining what it really means for a multiclass "balanced" character...

1/ Unarmored: well, you trade that for 18-20 AC (medium/heavy + shield depending on DM ruling about Druid armor): better armor earlier than a pure Monk.

2/ Martial Arts: who cares? You have Shillelagh to use for your Attack which immediately gives better result than Monk's own unarmed at the same level.
Especially when you think that with a multiclass, you would have never reached better than 1d6 unarmored anyways.
For the same reason, not being able to use DEX is as irrelevant to you. Shillelagh FTW.

3/ Speed bonus: that is one of the best cookies to put back in the pot. It's not that bad though: same as above, you probably wouldn't have gotten better than a 10 feet bonus for most of your character's life. Nothing that a good old Longstrider wouldn't compensate when you really need that extra move.

4/ bonus action: no perma bonus action attack or Flurry of Blows (well technically you can but it's 1 damage), but who cares? You have Ki points to spend on Dodge/Dash/Disengage, plus potentially Wild Shape if Moon Druid, plus potentially Shillelagh/Healing Words/Shield of Faith/Sanctuary or moving a Flaming Sphere etc... You have enough things to do with it.

5/ Deflect Arrows: no special requirement. Works.

6/ Stunning Strike: only requires "melee weapon attack": good news, you can use it with your normal attacks with Shillelagh. \o/ And since you have so many things competing with your bonus action anyways, and the fact you probably won't get a much higher pool ki than 6-8 points, it's good to have this ability to use it on. ;)

7/ Higher level features: do not require at all to be unarmored.

Basically, as long as you know what you lose and why you make this choice, armored Monks multiclass can be *very* strong.

You suggest bard and this option intrigues me for this reason, I can multiclass into feylock and get some fey abilities. My question is how well could a valor bard/feylock pretend to be a druid?

[Dankus Memakus]

I just stumbled across something on the internet...does anyone know if druids can wear spiked armor?

[Ventruenox]

Yes they can, it is from SCAG. You will need DM approval to waive the Dwarven Battlerager requirement as suggested in the book. AC 14 and can be made without metal.

[Dankus Memakus]

Yes they can, it is from SCAG. You will need DM approval to waive the Dwarven Battlerager requirement as suggested in the book. AC 14 and can be made without metal.

Only battleragers can use it?

[Arkhios]

Only battleragers can use it?

Not really. Only battleragers can use those spikes as weapons.
As an armor, it's a fair game.

Regarding bard as a "druidic" type class:
check out how many spells bard and druid share (hint: quite a bit!)
Just choose your spells from those that can be found on both lists, and you have very druidic bard.

This has roots in the fact that originally Bard was a "character kit" which was open to you only if your character was a multiclass fighter/rogue/druid (or something like that, iirc).

[Crgaston]

Not really. Regarding bard as a "druidic" type class:
check out how many spells bard and druid share (hint: quite a bit!)
Just choose your spells from those that can be found on both lists, and you have very druidic bard.

This has roots in the fact that originally Bard was a "character kit" which was open to you only if your character was a multiclass fighter/rogue/druid (or something like that, iirc).

This is great!

A Valor (or Lore, or Glamor) Bard/Feylock would be extremely appropriate thematically. Not only in 1ed, but history and literature Bards have been counterparts to Druids in the Celtic religion.

[DarkKnightJin]

The Druid/Monk thing with Unarmored Movement.. That'd kick back in in Wild Shape, unless you have armor that shifts with you in Barding as you enter WS. So any beasts this Druid turns into would be more nimble, and have an innate AC of 10+Wis+Dex.

[Gardakan]

Take two levels of paladin. Here you have your knight part. Smiting to protect nature itself. Work the rest with Druid, go Circle of the Moon.

Keep it stupid simple, it works everytime.

[Citan]

Take two levels of paladin. Here you have your knight part. Smiting to protect nature itself. Work the rest with Druid, go Circle of the Moon.

Keep it stupid simple, it works everytime.
I would not agree with you here, it's not "stupid simple".
First, it involves some strong MADness.
Second, OP specifically said he didn't like Cleric and Paladin spells so much.
Third, it does not resovle the "heavy armor vs druid" question.

I agree it can work well though if OP is ok with those points. ;)

[Gardakan]

I would not agree with you here, it's not "stupid simple".
First, it involves some strong MADness.
Second, OP specifically said he didn't like Cleric and Paladin spells so much.
Third, it does not resovle the "heavy armor vs druid" question.

I agree it can work well though if OP is ok with those points. ;)

Well...

Having 13 in Strenght, Wisdom and Charisma opens up Barbarian as another class that is a benefit to this kind of build so it's not that MAD considering it's being so powerful due to the innate ability to combine Rage, Divine Smite and Wild Shape alltogether.

A Druidic Knight sounds like something you achieve by muticlassing.

It's also easy to play on the spell side since you can afford to consume your spell slots to fullfill a Wild Shape form with more fuel into the fray.

If you place your default stats it goes like this

S : 13 D : 8 C : 12 I : 10 W : 15 C : 14

I'd advice beginning with Barbarian for proficiency in Constitution and Strenght (paired with a good Wisdom, the two strongest saves for spells are covered). The 12 starting hp aren't too shabby also.

My two cents on a simple and stupid build. It's not stupid in the sense of being offended by the word. It's stupid as in, it combines the good from three classes and is really easy to set up for any player that would want to play a ''Druidic Knight''.

The title was making a Druidic Knight, here you have one.

2 rage a day, Wild Shape form for mobility + extra hp + damage, Divine Smite to help pushing in damage when it's needed. You are tanky, quite efficient at doing damage and have plenty of options to help since you picked Moon Circle and have access to a lot of powerful forms with the 2 levels of Druid already. I'd advice completing the build with Druid to gain some nice spells slots for Divine Smite.

As for the rage... I've not found anything about not being able to Divine Smite while Raging (consuming a spell slot basically, which is not casting or maintaining concentration).

[Grod_The_Giant]

\you'll have to fall back on Ranger or Bard.
Ooh, yeah. I'm with you, Arkhios, and Crgaston here: Bard would actually be a fantastic pseudo-Druid-knight. Nature skills? Check. Nature spells? You can keep those up for a good long time, and doubly so if you're willing to get a bit fey. Heavy Armor? Only a feat away for a Valor Bard. You can even get Shillelagh eventually, if you really want it.

I'd probably go straight vHuman Valor Bard, grabbing Magic Initiate (Druid) at first and Heavily Armored at fourth. Boom, knightly.

[MrStabby]

What does being a "druid" mean to you? Is it a mechanical thing? An ethos? is it casting nature themed spells?

Likewise for a "knight" - what does it mean?


So I am going for "casts some druid spells" and "can fight well with weapons, will need a second attack and probably uses strength" for those.

I see two main options without homebrew (well also oath of the ancients but that is already ruled out).

Option 1: Valor bard. There is some overlap between druid spells and bard spells and at higher level magical secrets can pick up the druid spells you miss. The downside is that Cha is the casting stat - not Wis although keep in mind that a lot of great druid spells don't need the casting stat so for some it could be either. You get a lot of slots to showcase your casting and a solid enough combat presence.

Option 2: Ranger. You have a lot of overlap with the druid spell list and a good combat presence. Downside is that a lot of it's abilities are Dex focussed and you don't get so many spells.


There are options involving "slight" homebrew - rules bending (some) that the DMG does explicitly suggest (so your DM may be more comfortable with it). Not sure if you would class this as homebrew or not (as it is referenced in the DMG).

Keep the Valour bard or warlock and swap the spell list for the druid list (you could equally well do this for cleric or paladin). DMG approved (and if you play the common rule of PHB +1, ask for the DMG as your +1).

Take warlock-hexblade and swap in another set of druid domain spells. More modest a proposal than swapping the whole list but might let you pick the ones that work well for your concept. If your DM allows then you might even manage a mix of Paladin and druid spells which could be a perfect fit.

Also I think the PHB might also talk about swapping casting stats (but less sure about this than spell lists) - more controversial to shift a casting stat to wisdom as it is seen as being a more important stat, but in the right campaign it might work.

[Throne12]

What's wrong with studded leather 20 dex and shield AC19. Or you can kill a dragon for it scales or buy dragon scales and have a halfplate made from dragon scales. Or have armor made from wood.

[Dankus Memakus]

I've narrowed it down to 2 options.
1. Being a druid and using spiked armor. Although it doesn't fit my heavy armor parameters it gives me a bit of survivability and I'm okay with compromising

2. Playing a bard/feylock with maybe some ancients paladin. I plan to use this if i dont I like the vibe of the druid.

So i think I'll play both and pick my favorite one. Thanks every one (although if anyone else has new cool suggestions I still have a bit before my next session so enlighten me)

[Gardakan]

What's wrong with studded leather 20 dex and shield AC19. Or you can kill a dragon for it scales or buy dragon scales and have a halfplate made from dragon scales. Or have armor made from wood.

Or just not wear armor at all.

It's not mandatory for a Druid to be armored.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I've narrowed it down to 2 options.
1. Being a druid and using spiked armor. Although it doesn't fit my heavy armor parameters it gives me a bit of survivability and I'm okay with compromising

2. Playing a bard/feylock with maybe some ancients paladin. I plan to use this if i dont I like the vibe of the druid.

So i think I'll play both and pick my favorite one. Thanks every one (although if anyone else has new cool suggestions I still have a bit before my next session so enlighten me)
Was Spore Druid on the table? That'll give you all the survivability you need, along with a good bit of extra punch.

[tieren]

No one's really mentioned it but you need to think about what you are doing up there in your armor.

If you are using a shield and club/staff for shillelagh, you can't cast spells because your hands are full and now you need the warcaster feat.

You're standing in the front line hitting stuff but now you're getting hit a lot too which means concentration checks (all the good druid spells are concentration). So now you are going to want Res(Con) feat as well.

[Dudewithknives]

No one's really mentioned it but you need to think about what you are doing up there in your armor.

If you are using a shield and club/staff for shillelagh, you can't cast spells because your hands are full and now you need the warcaster feat.

You're standing in the front line hitting stuff but now you're getting hit a lot too which means concentration checks (all the good druid spells are concentration). So now you are going to want Res(Con) feat as well.

A druid can use an Oak, Yew or such wood quarterstaff or club as a focus so you don't need war caster.

Same with clerics and paladins using a shield with a holy symbol on it as a focus.

Warcaster for divine classes is just for the advantage on concentration and spell as AoO

[Luccan]

Was Spore Druid on the table? That'll give you all the survivability you need, along with a good bit of extra punch.

I'll second this. Spore Druid from the new UA let's you play a punchy druid, without needing a bunch of feats or dips. If you absolutely must wear heavy armor, you probably shouldn't start with Druid, unless feats are on the table. If someone came to me wanting to play a nature-knight, I'd point them to Ancients Paladin or Nature Cleric. I know they aren't what you want, but Druid fluff influences its class abilities pretty hard.

[Vogie]

Ask your DM if Ironwood can be a thing in your setting?

Alternatively, you may try Warlock / Druid MC. The main reason is the armor of Shadows persists even while wild shaped (provided the shape doesn't have it's own armor). Some options could include:


Gorrilla with a Polearm - Hexblade Warlock 5 / Moon Druid X
You gain the ability to use Hexblade's curse or Wild Shape as a bonus action. You get 2 attacks when not wild shaped (Thirsting blade), and, if I'm reading the words right, you can actually use an action to summon a pact weapon while wild shaped - normal equipment would get dropped or merge with the form while wild shaping, but summoning pact weapons simply appear in your hand. That, provided you wildshape into a form that actually has hands, allows you to actually attack with your pact weapon twice. And since you're level 5 you can pick another invocation - either Improved Pact Weapon or Eldritch Smite would work.

If you don't care for Hexblade's curse, you can use GOO Blade Warlock 5-6 instead for the Telepathy (to communicate with your team whilst in wild shape). The Entropic Ward ability will also be useful while you're in the middle of the battle.


Lord of the Flies - Fiend Warlock 3 / Spore Druid X
It's all about the poison damage - Spore Druids give the Halo of Spores while Fiend warlocks gain Cloak of Baalzebul earlier than other warlocks get Cloak of the Flies. Symbiotic Entity states "When you use your Wild Shape feature, you can awaken those spores, rather than transforming", which I'm fairly certain you can still wild shape as normal but ALSO choose to become the Symbiotic Entity while Meleeing with a pact weapon, augmented with 1d6 poison damage.


Air Force - Raven Queen Chain Warlock 6 / Shepherd Druid X
You have a persistent Imp familiar, a Sentinel Raven faux-miliar, and can merge into said Raven to fly without using your wildshape ability, allowing you to save them for battle. Then you have your Spirit Totems and Conjure Animals spell made more powerful by Mighty Summoner. You also get 2 other invocations of choice.