Help building a level 1 Druid!

[RiTz21]

Hello experts!

I want to create a level 1 Druid for a new Play-by-Post game on a forum, and I'd like a bit of help, as I've never played a Druid in my life - Considering I started playing D&D at the 1st edition, that's a longgg time! :P

The allowed source books are: Player's Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and Volo's Guide to Monster.

The DM is allowing me to take the Ghostwise Halfling (from the SCAG book), so I'd like to use that!!

The stats I rolled are: 17, 16, 16, 14, 11, 9

I figure I'd take the Circle of the moon at second level, but that's for later...

Any suggestions how best build this as a level 1 Druid, with the Ghostwise Halfling race? What to set as my attributes, which weapon to pick up and spells to prepare in the morning. How about Armor?

THANKS for any help/suggestion you can provide!

[PhoenixPhyre]

Hello Reddit experts!

I want to create a level 1 Druid for a new Play-by-Post game on a forum, and I'd like a bit of help, as I've never played a Druid in my life - Considering I started playing D&D at the 1st edition, that's a longgg time! :P

The allowed source books are: Player's Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and Volo's Guide to Monster.

The DM is allowing me to take the Ghostwise Halfling (from the SCAG book), so I'd like to use that!!

The stats I rolled are: 17, 16, 16, 14, 11, 9

I figure I'd take the Circle of the moon at second level, but that's for later...

Any suggestions how best build this as a level 1 Druid, with the Ghostwise Halfling race? What to set as my attributes, which weapon to pick up and spells to prepare in the morning. How about Armor?

THANKS for any help/suggestion you can provide!

Those are strong stats. Your primary stats are

* WIS (yes, even as a moon druid you're still a full caster, capitalize on that). Keep this high.
* CON (Even though you'll replace it when in beast shape, you still need not to die and to keep concentration spells). Second Priority
* DEX (non-beast AC/initiative). Third priority.

Anything else is as useful as you make it be. You get +1 WIS/+2 DEX, so my recommendation is

STR: 9
DEX: 16 + 12 = 178 (oops)
CON: 16
INT: 11 or 14
WIS: 17 + 1 = 18
CHA: 14 or 11

Armor: leather + shield = 17 (which is better than chain without a shield, so not bad). Replace this with studded leather when you can, later.
Weapons: A club or quarterstaff, on which you'll cast shillelagh in those rare occasions that you're in melee combat. Alternatively, use primal savagery (XGtE cantrip) for melee and go unarmed (so you can cast spells easier). For ranged cantrip combat use produce flame/thorn whip
Spells:
0: shillelagh OR primal savagery (I recommend primal savagery), produce flame. Pick up a utility one at level 4.
1: You're preparing 5 spells--I recommend a standard loadout of something like goodberry, thunderwave, faerie fire, with the other two depending on need. Cure wounds only if you don't have a better healer.

Tactics: Lots of your spells in general are concentration battlefield control/debuff/damage. So use one if needed, then snipe. You don't have much burst damage, so don't worry about that. Focus on controlling the battlefield. Which is limited at level 1, but just try to survive.

[MThurston]

Hello Reddit experts!

I want to create a level 1 Druid for a new Play-by-Post game on a forum, and I'd like a bit of help, as I've never played a Druid in my life - Considering I started playing D&D at the 1st edition, that's a longgg time! :P

The allowed source books are: Player's Handbook, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and Volo's Guide to Monster.

The DM is allowing me to take the Ghostwise Halfling (from the SCAG book), so I'd like to use that!!

The stats I rolled are: 17, 16, 16, 14, 11, 9

I figure I'd take the Circle of the moon at second level, but that's for later...

Any suggestions how best build this as a level 1 Druid, with the Ghostwise Halfling race? What to set as my attributes, which weapon to pick up and spells to prepare in the morning. How about Armor?

THANKS for any help/suggestion you can provide!

S 9, D 16 (18), Con 16, I 11, W 17(18), Ch 14

Use a club using the shillelagh cantrip and use a shield.

Everything else is what ever you feel like.

[Edgerunner]

As a LvL 1 character, unless your DM stated otherwise, you will get the Class/Background gear only.

Can't go wrong with Shillelagh but you will get less use once you get Wildshape.

Light Crossbow for ranged.

WIS/CON priority
Don't skimp on DEX

Just my two cents

[RogueJK]

S 9, D 16 (18), Con 16, I 11, W 17(18), Ch 14


Agreed. That's the most optimal stat array.


Use a club using the shillelagh cantrip


I agree with the shield. But not using a weapon at all and sticking with the Primal Savagery cantrip is typically better than club + Shillelagh, if you plan to get to higher levels.

(And having a free hand also means you can cast all spells without interference, versus having both hands occupied with a club and shield requires you to either take the Warcaster feat or do the fiddly sheath/unsheathe or drop/pick up weapon shuffle.)

For single attacks per round, Primal Savagery starts to outstrip Shillelagh's damage at higher levels. Both use WIS for attack rolls. But Primal Savagery's damage scales (2d10 at 5th, 3d10 and 11th, and 4d10 at 17th), whereas Shillelagh always does a flat 1d8+WIS regardless of character level.

Assuming a 20 WIS for simplicity's sake... At 1st-4th level, Shillelagh averages 9.5 damage on each hit, while Primal Savagery averages 5.5 damage on each hit. At 5th-10th level, Shillelagh still averages 9.5 damage, but Primal Savagery averages 11 damage. At 11th-16th, Shillelagh still averages 9.5 damage, but Primal Savagery averages 16.5. And at 17th+, Shillelagh still averages 9.5 damage, with Primal Savagery averaging 22 damage.

So with a maxed out WIS, Shillelagh does almost twice the damage on average up to 5th level. (The damage gap at 1-4th will be a bit less with a 16/18 WIS.) But even with a maxed out WIS, Shillelagh loses ground past that.

Shillelagh can potentially be a better choice if you're going to multiclass to something that gets Extra Attack, and/or you plan to take the Polearm Master feat and use a quarterstaff for an extra Bonus Action attack, but neither of those would be optimal choices for a Moon Druid.

[OverLordOcelot]

For a moon druid, you like Wisdom, but probably take melee oriented feats instead of ASIs. You don't need STR since you can turn into a strong beast if you really need strength, though really you can put the stats anywhere you want. With the stats below, you probably don't bother with a wisdom ASI either at all or until very late, and instead focus on things like war caster, mobile, sentinel, and the like when you get ASIs.

STR 9
DEX 16 +2 = 18
CON 16
INT 11
WIS 17 +1 = 18,
CHA 14

Your starting caster AC is 17 with leather and shield, and goes to 18 once you can get studded leather, and you don't need to look for additional armor aside from magical versions of those. Technically in the long run you could get AC 19 with non-metal half-plate and shield, but that costs a lot or requires finding some and gives you a disadvantage on stealth. I wouldn't go that route unless you just stumble onto it, and whether you do or don't it's a concern for many levels down the road. For a melee weapon, take a staff as your focus, and use shillelagh on it. For a ranged weapon, either a sling or darts works. Technically a sling doesn't work with a shield as you need a free hand to load it, but IME most DMs are fine with loading a sling using a shield hand. I'd generally rather toss a couple of darts, then join in melee with shillelagh than give up 2 AC to use a crossbow.

For spells:
Healing word is a must-have for stopping people from dying with a bonus action.
Goodberry is nice healing, especially if your DM lets a character feed a berry to an unconscious person. Note that you can use any leftover spell slots at the end of the day, just before a long rest, to make goodberries that will last until the next evening.
Fog Cloud is incredibly useful for dealing with invisible creatures or creatures in a defensive position. This is one that I keep prepared even at higher levels.

Those are the 3 I would definitely have. Some useful combat ones are Faerie Fire, Entangle, and Ice Knife. Longstrider is really good once you get beast forms. If no one else has detect magic, you can take it and ritual cast it to find items, I wouldn't use a slot on it otherwise. Speak with Animals is handy for information gathering. Animal friendship may be useful depending on how your DM handles the charm effect.

[MThurston]

You can stow or draw a weapon once per turn.

So if you decide to cast a spell, you stow your weapon as part of it. If you want to attack with a weapon the next turn, then you draw and swing.

[RogueJK]

You can stow or draw a weapon once per turn.

So if you decide to cast a spell, you stow your weapon as part of it. If you want to attack with a weapon the next turn, then you draw and swing.

Yes. But that means you have no weapon in hand in between those turns, so no Opportunity Attacks unless you just want to throw a punch for 1+STR.

And like I said, it's just needlessly fiddily, IMO. "Did I sheathe my weapon last turn? Or do I still have it in my hand? Oops, I forgot to explicitly state that I was sheathing my weapon before casting that spell... Will the DM declare that the spell failed?"

(This is why my group doesn't bother with that. Martial casters are trained/practiced at what they do, and can cast somatic and material spells even with a weapon and shield in hand. One less pointless little thing to deal with and keep track of. But most groups don't take that approach.)

So if your group sticks to RAW in that regard, and it irks you as much as it irks me me, Primal Savagery is an option that doesn't even have to deal with it. Plus Primal Savagery will do more damage than a Shillelagh'd club/staff in the long run to boot. :smallbiggrin:

[opaopajr]

Magic Stone is a nice compromise to Shillelagh as you can buff another ally's ranged (sling?) attacks as a Bonus while still also casting Primal Savagery for yourself. Running off of such a high WIS means Magic Stone does 1d6+4 for up to three pebbles.

e.g. Pick/grab up pebbles, BA Magic Stone, move to ally, free drop charged pebbles, move to enemy, action Primal Savagery. Rinse & repeat right out the gate from 1st lvl. Will be solid for several tiers, as allies with extra attacks or extra skilled servants add more throughput of the Magic Stones.

[RiTz21]

Those are strong stats.
Yes!! I was quite lucky on Rolz!
I went with:
STR: 9
DEX: 16 (+2)
CON: 16
INT: 14
WIS: 17 (+1)
CHA: 11

I figure I need a better INT than CHA, because the Nature Skill is based on INT... But many of you think tha CHA is better than INT...
Why is that?
The INT skills: Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature and Religion
The CHA skills: Deception, Intimidation, Performance and Persuasion

Seems to me that INT has more value.. what am I missing?!



As a LvL 1 character, unless your DM stated otherwise, you will get the Class/Background gear only.

Light Crossbow for ranged.

I think the crossbow isn't a proficiency weapon for a Druid (at least, as I can see in 5esrd.com)

I have 40 gp available to me... so I should be able to grab all the basic stuff (although there ain't much I need to buy to start with) - Is there a 'spell pouch' package I need to get for basic (Druid) spell ingredients!?

SKILLS: Choose two from Arcana, Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Religion, and Survival

I'm thkinking Nature & Perception... geez there ain't much skill we can take in 5th! lol (I feel I should be able to handle animals or better yet, Survival!... *shrugs*)

[RogueJK]

SKILLS: Choose two from Arcana, Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Religion, and Survival

I'm thkinking Nature & Perception... geez there ain't much skill we can take in 5th! lol (I feel I should be able to handle animals or better yet, Survival!... *shrugs*)

Don't forget that you get two additional skills from your Background. So you could take a background that offers both Survival and Animal Handling.

All 5e characters have at least 4 skill proficiencies: At least 2 from class, and 2 from background.

Some classes and races offer more than 4 skill proficiencies.

[RiTz21]

Don't forget that you get two additional skills from your Background. So you could take a background that offers both Survival and Animal Handling.

All 5e characters have at least 4 skill proficiencies: At least 2 from class, and 2 from background.

Some classes and races offer more than 4 skill proficiencies.

Oh I forgot about that!
I'll ask the DM about the background... if I have to use an existing one, or if I can create one.

THANKS!!!

[MThurston]

Yes. But that means you have no weapon in hand in between those turns, so no Opportunity Attacks unless you just want to throw a punch for 1+STR.

And like I said, it's just needlessly fiddily, IMO. "Did I sheathe my weapon last turn? Or do I still have it in my hand? Oops, I forgot to explicitly state that I was sheathing my weapon before casting that spell... Will the DM declare that the spell failed?"

(This is why my group doesn't bother with that. Martial casters are trained/practiced at what they do, and can cast somatic and material spells even with a weapon and shield in hand. One less pointless little thing to deal with and keep track of. But most groups don't take that approach.)

So if your group sticks to RAW in that regard, and it irks you as much as it irks me me, Primal Savagery is an option that doesn't even have to deal with it. Plus Primal Savagery will do more damage than a Shillelagh'd club/staff in the long run to boot. :smallbiggrin:

That is just lazy thinking.

It's not my fault that 5e gimped sword and board and not two handed weapons.

Are you really worried about opportunity attacks?

It works just fine. You don't have to be a robot to play a build. Of course once wild shape is available, you do that.

Having a 1d8 magic stick is great for 1st level.

[RogueJK]

Having a 1d8 magic stick is great for 1st level.

And suboptimal for Levels 5+, compared to Primal Savagery's 1d10 magic claw that scales.

You won't have enough Wildshapes to be in animal form for every single combat (unless your DM is one of those that only has a couple combats per day). Especially at higher levels when you're likely to get knocked out of your first Wildshape in the midst of combat and have to burn both Wildshapes in one combat.

And you won't have enough spells to cast a spell every round.

So it's necessary for a Moon Druid to have a good non-Wildshape attack option, at more than just 1st level. And for that, Primal Savagery is a better pick for melee attack cantrip than Shillelagh over the course of the character's levels.

[MThurston]

And suboptimal for Levels 5+, compared to Primal Savagery's 1d10 magic claw that scales.

You won't have enough Wildshapes to be in animal form for every single combat (unless your DM is one of those that only has a couple combats per day). Especially at higher levels when you're likely to get knocked out of your first Wildshape in the midst of combat and have to burn both Wildshapes in one combat.

And you won't have enough spells to cast a spell every round.

So it's necessary for a Moon Druid to have a good non-Wildshape attack option, at more than just 1st level. And for that, Primal Savagery is a better pick for melee attack cantrip than Shillelagh over the course of the character's levels.

And it's only a cantrip. You can cast it any time.

[OverLordOcelot]

Seems to me that INT has more value.. what am I missing?!

The CHA skills come up all the time in social interactions, int skills come up rarely and they usually just need one person to get the benefit. They're also usually more fluff than meat - CHA tends to be 'will this guy help us or not', while history is more 'do I get this chunk of background exposition'. Also there are more obnoxious effects with CHA saves than INT saves. +2 on a D20 roll is not a huge difference, so take whichever one you like.


I have 40 gp available to me... so I should be able to grab all the basic stuff (although there ain't much I need to buy to start with) - Is there a 'spell pouch' package I need to get for basic (Druid) spell ingredients!?

Buy a staff focus.


SKILLS: Choose two from Arcana, Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Religion, and Survival

I'm thkinking Nature & Perception... geez there ain't much skill we can take in 5th! lol (I feel I should be able to handle animals or better yet, Survival!... *shrugs*)

You want Athletics for grappling in animal forms, survival for tracking and perception for not getting surprised. If you really want nature you can take it, but it's not really that useful to have a high number on it. Outlander background fits druid pretty easily and gives you Athletics and Survival, leaving the other two pretty open.

[RogueJK]

And it's only a cantrip. You can cast it any time.

Yep. As noted in the last sentence in my previous post.

[OverLordOcelot]

And suboptimal for Levels 5+, compared to Primal Savagery's 1d10 magic claw that scales.

I disagree. D8+4 is less average damage than 2d10, but more reliable, and for beating on weaker opponents that you're typically fighting in caster form reliable damage is better. People online like to focus in on DPR because it's easy to calculate, but an attack that doesn't have a tendency to either whiff or be overkill is also nice. Once you get to T3 Primal Savagery is better, but you can use your level 10 cantrip to take it then. I don't think Primal Savagery is a bad choice, but I disagree that it's the optimal choice at 5-10.

[Corpsecandle717]

Someone did the math on it and found that Shillelagh generally beats out Primal Savagery until you get your 3rd d10 though (assuming 20 wis at 4th). So if you're not expecting to get to higher levels it's probably the better choice. I however went with Primal Savagery for my moon druid, especially considering there's not official method of swapping cantrips. Primal Savagery has served me pretty well and I would definitely recommend it along with Warcaster. Having a shield and free hand has served me well in combat and I don't miss out on my attacks of opportunity while in humanoid form.

[opaopajr]

As for Skills & Gear, what sort of character are you think your druid is? Background helps that internal dialogue. Wanna be a Noble Druid? Sailor (or Pirate!) Druid? Entertainer Druid? Charlatan Druid (faking to be something else entirely)? Guild Artisan Druid ("I found it on Etsy! No, that's the Druid's name... Etsy.)?

You already have +4 (because 18 WIS) to your WIS skills already. Choosing your skills just add your Proficiency Bonus to them. So you can choose skills to buffer areas you feel are weak -- or you can spike the talent into specialization! Both have arguments for them.

As for gear, check out the Packs (inside a green box in the Equipment chapter, after the adventuring gear chart). I might recommend Explorer Pack. But who knows, maybe you feel like a Dungeoneer or Burglar or Priest Pack? They are nice bundle starts, if a touch incomplete for general adventure prep.

[Teaguethebean]

Treantmonk might have what your looking for here is his newest video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XodxXFxF-vs&t=903s

[RiTz21]

Treantmonk might have what your looking for here is his newest video

Wow awesome, THANKS!!!!

I finally built my druid in TOS FIVE!
I'd share it here, but I don't think I can add links/files in messages yet..! (yeah, old account, few posts :)

Regards,
RiTz21