Help with Druid Elder

[Dalmosh]

Hello,
I want to stat out the Elder Druids in my campaign world, sticking as closely as possible to published rules. These Druids are very fungus/plant focused, and committed to a sedentary colonial type existence. World is low arcane magic, high technology, with psionics reasonably common... dominated by a colonial sentient fungal hivemind that druids worship and attempt to emulate/bond with.
They are pretty similar to the Weirwood Tree/Greenseers in Song of Ice and Fire

My PCs are low level, so mostly this is just a thought exercise for me, that allows me to play with some tangible areas, numbers and abilities for world building.
I also have a Druid player entering the game, so need to have a feel for how the Elders typically progress to their end-state so I can provide appropriate options for his character development,
plot hooks etc.
I'm happy to reskin any plant creature/effect as being about fungus rather than plants.
I'm pretty rubbish at building crunch beyond about level 10, so any suggestions are very welcome. This is an odd direction to take the 3.5 Druid, so I'm trying to get a feel for what such a character would be capable of.
Prefer to stick to 3.5 content inc. Dragon where possible (token dabbling into Pathfinder/Chaosium/D20 moder/future allowed if essential).

Druid is
1. Initially human (or mildly templated at best with something thematically appropriate)
2. Must be high level enough to produce Boguns (MM2), which are given as rewards to acolytes.
3. Must resemble giant plant/fungus of at least Huge size. Little to no speed is preferable.
4. Must be able to use spells without turning back into a humanoid shape, or seperating from the plant.
5. Preferably attains this state using only Druid magic where possible.

Questions
1. Plant form.
Is it simpler to a) pick a plant monster that the Druid can wildshape into, and go from there
or b. use the Plant Companion alternative feature from Dragon Magazine, advance it to be really big, and then apply the Symbiotic Template from Savage Species to represent their union (happy to hand wave how this template is gained I guess)?
or c. something else?
If a) what would be good plant forms to choose? My starting point would be Yellow Musk Creeper, but being permanently Gargantuan would be cool too.

2. Feats/prestige/key spells... any suggestions welcome.

3. Keeping cheese to a minimum, what's a reasonable level of Druid to be able to accheive this?

4. Assuming all of the above, and particularly given the character's commitment to be a sedentary plant, what spells/passive abilities would such an entity be able to command across the landscape around it?
What sort of range in miles, could it perceive and influence its environment?
Which spells/abilites might it typically use to communicate with the other druids and plant entities around it, and to what range would it be doing this?
How would it tend to defend itself out to say 10 miles?

5. Is multiclassing, and then advancing as a Fleshwarper going to make this process faster/simpler than just remaining a Druid?

Any thoughts/ideas kindly appreciated.

[Mike Miller]

You should read eggynack's guide to druids. It will probably answer all your questions. Don't multiclass/prestige class, just stick pure druid. Use the feat natural spell and plant form. Also use the feat Greenbound Summoning to make all the summon nature's ally spells plants.

These are just the first few things that jump to my mind.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Dalmosh
2. Must be high level enough to produce Boguns (MM2), which are given as rewards to acolytes.

According to the entry in MM2, it requires a druid of seventh level to create a bogun, so that’s a lower limit right there. Also needs Craft Wondrous Item.

This is a small component of your overall concept, but I’m wondering why boguns in particular? They always seemed like a very subpar version of a familiar, and I’m not sure I’d want to spend a feat slot just to create one. I understand these are for NPCs, but even so it hardly seems worth it.

I’m also wondering how a bogun is transferred to another druid. The bogun is described as “an extension of its creator,” and there isn’t any mechanism provided for it to be given away. I suppose you could command the bogun to follow someone else’s orders; but since it can’t speak and only has a telepathic link with its creator, I have a feeling communication would be an issue.

These are minor points in context, but worth considering if you want to explore the world-building aspects of your scenario.

[Dalmosh]

Oh for sure...

Basically my group generated this campaign setting using Microscope, and included people who have never played D&D before, so the setting is a little gonzo.
It's going to end up playing a bit more like d20 modern I guess, but I'm keen for the challenge and enjoying building for something so unconventional.

I'm trying to preserve as many throwaway references to those brainstorming sessions as I can, and one of them in particular, is that these elder druids spawn
photosynthetic homunculi as messengers/guides/companions. As far as I know, the Bogun is the closest thing a Druid can make that fits this theme, but I'm
definitely open to suggestions for alternatives. Perhaps there is a way to spawn Wortlings or Myconid workers or something I don't know about...

Anyway, once I've got the bogun factory I'll work out what it can do. Perhaps you then need to take them on a pilgrimage to a divine site to Awaken them or something...

These things don't need to be remotely optimised. They result from a selfless cult mentality, rather than any desire to accrue personal power quickly or efficiently.
Its just what the Druid orthodoxy aspire to in this setting.

[Palanan]

Hmm. What is Microscope?

As for other druid servants, what springs to mind are the "twiggies" first introduced in the classic module Sunless Citadel. They were updated in MM3, I think, and I can't recall their proper name right off. We always called them "twiggies." They respond to commands in Druidic, and they're a good deal more self-reliant than boguns. They were evil-ish in the module, but they shouldn't be too hard to adapt for your needs.

[Dalmosh]

(Don't think I'm allowed to post links to commercial content here, but its easy to google)

Microscope is a totally awesome worldbuidling game where you riff ideas off a group of people, and collaboratively, iteratively
build a setting none of you really planned. Its totally changed how I play D&D, and how my players interact and engage with my settings.

I think you mean Twig blight. They'd be perfect. Just need to work out if I can mechanically generate them using Druid abilities now...
In canon, its suggested you can make a Twig Blight tree by planting a stake used to kill a vampire lord. I guess one could just take root mass and grow it to make your own.
I'll scope out Sunless Citadel, thanks a lot.

[Palanan]

You removed the link before I could follow it, but I'll look it up, thanks.

And yes, twig blight is what I meant. Turns out it's in MM2 as well, p. 197, when I was looking in MM3. You can probably just use the stats without worrying about the WotC-specific background, since that's tied closely to the storyline of the module. Switch them to Neutral, maybe nudge their Int a little so they can be more helpful and interactive, and you should be good to go.

Also, here's a list (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?292690-Growing-Threats-The-Dark-Garden) of strange and obscure plants that might be helpful for you. Credit to unseenmage for compiling it.

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[Dalmosh]

Is there any RAW way for a Druid, through prestige dipping or whatever, to have a permanent wildshape prior to level 24? Needs to really be a wildshape, not PH2 shapeshifting.

Is there an equivalent spell to Animal Growth that affects plant creatures? Plant growth just affects normal plants.

So far, becoming as close as possible to a Myconid Soverign as permanently as possible looks like a goer, as you can grow your own fungal emissaries and zombify people. I'd rather it was bigger though.
Maybe I will just treat Advanced (Huge) Myconid Soverign as a seperate creature in its own right, and take things from there.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Dalmosh
Is there any RAW way for a Druid, through prestige dipping or whatever, to have a permanent wildshape prior to level 24?

At eighth level a druid can wildshape three times a day for eight hours per, which means you can stay wildshaped for 24 hours. That seems effectively the same as permanent, give or take a couple standard actions, which is a few seconds out of the day. Is there a particular reason you’re looking for something beyond this?


Originally Posted by Dalmosh
2. Feats/prestige/key spells... any suggestions welcome.

Also, here’s a short list (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20712294&postcount=10) of fungus-and-decay-related spells which might prove handy. (Although they do seem mainly evil-ish.)

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[Dalmosh]

You're truly a scholarly and gracious amalgamation of mitotic cellular tissue Palanan, thanks a lot.

Basically having to turn human for 12 seconds every 8 hours is a bit individualistic and not very fungus gangster, but it certainly does add a hilarious picture of an almost grove of giant divine mushrooms that all sporadically flicker into human form for a few seconds, a couple of times every day.

I might just make the groves themselves divine sites then, where wildshaping is just permanent inside their boundaries, due to some kind of pact with the Fungal Host God.