Druid Mountain Dwarf Blues

[ZorroGames]

When Hero Forge ships my last 2 figures (MD Barbarian and Druid) I will have 19 MD designed figures, 1+ of each class.

The Druid Build seems to be the one that I am having the most difficulty with. I have achieved a blend of role play and optimizing that satisfies on each of the designs but Druid. 🥺

The +2 ST and +2 CO leads me away from Moon Druid towards a more “castery” Class/Build. But which ones?

What ideas can you contribute?

Example build that am seriously not at all in love with is

Land, Shepherd, or Dreams


ST 0+2 10 (MD version of dumping)
DE 5 13. (+1 at 4th)
CO 7+2 16
WI 9 15 (+1 at 4th)
IN 4 12
CH 2 10

[CheddarChampion]

This is a general build I use for any mountain dwarf full caster, but since druids already get medium armor, mountain dwarf's armor training contributes less...

But you want builds, not critique:
14/14/15/10/14/10
Max out wisdom and take resilient (con) at some point.

You can do something similar for most full casters:
14 Str, 14 Dex, 14/15 Con, 14 casting stat, 10/11 Wis, 10 else
If you start with Con save proficiency, get 14 Con and 11 Wis.
If you start with Wis save proficiency, get 15 Con and 10/14 Wis.

Alternatively, 17 Str & 10 Dex and the heavily armored feat. Same stats otherwise

[nickl_2000]

I know you love Mountain Dwarves, but could I convince you to go Hill Dwarf this one time?

[ZorroGames]

I know you love Mountain Dwarves, but could I convince you to go Hill Dwarf this one time?

Nope. 🤪

If I find This Druid viable, maybe next time...

[ZorroGames]

This is a general build I use for any mountain dwarf full caster, but since druids already get medium armor, mountain dwarf's armor training contributes less...

But you want builds, not critique:
14/14/15/10/14/10
Max out wisdom and take resilient (con) at some point.

You can do something similar for most full casters:
14 Str, 14 Dex, 14/15 Con, 14 casting stat, 10/11 Wis, 10 else
If you start with Con save proficiency, get 14 Con and 11 Wis.
If you start with Wis save proficiency, get 15 Con and 10/14 Wis.

Alternatively, 17 Str & 10 Dex and the heavily armored feat. Same stats otherwise

Thank you. Appreciated.

[8wGremlin]

Shepherds are great.
Speaking with animals useful in combat
You can still wildshape and I’ve been brutally effective with velociraptor (I adventured in Chult)
And horse when it was needed. As well as great support when not WS.

I’m an optimiser at heart. But I have to say my Druid is proving to be great fun, versatile and no turn is the same as last. Really good fun.

[ZorroGames]

Shepherds are great.
Speaking with animals useful in combat
You can still wildshape and I’ve been brutally effective with velociraptor (I adventured in Chult)
And horse when it was needed. As well as great support when not WS.

I’m an optimiser at heart. But I have to say my Druid is proving to be great fun, versatile and no turn is the same as last. Really good fun.

I hope so.

This class has been my Achilles heel since it appeared as an NPC in an 0D&D (Greyhawk or Blackmoor?) supplemental booklet.

[Rukelnikov]

What is it you don't like about Land, Shepherd or Dreams?

Maybe if we knew why they don't convince you we could give better advice.

[Whiskeyjack8044]

Circle of Spores from GMGtR. At 2nd level you get 8 extra hitpoints, deal an extra d4 of damage as a reaction, and add a d6 of poison damage to your melee attacks. You'll have 80 extra hit if you make it to level 20. You can be in the front of the melee, wacking people with your poison Warhammer. At higher levels, you can increase your stats and become a better caster.

As for Rolepalying: Maybe you were a brewer, you started down the druidic path as you tried to craft the perfect ale by culturing the perfect yeast, or maybe you were experimenting with some sort of fungal beer.

Maybe your "wild shape: Symbiotic Entity" is you taking a mighty swig of your brew, giving you your fungal powers. I can see you bragging to your party "My brew is so strong it wakes the dead!" Referring to The Circle of Spores' Animate Dead spell. When you are casting Cure Wounds on an ally, instead of touching them you are giving them a sip of ale from your canteen. Thunder Wave is a massive belch after a vigorous chug. You get the idea.

[Griswold]

Based on your signature, I'm assuming that you want builds which are AL legal (PHB+1, no GGtR).

With that sweet +2 Str and Con I'd go for a melee-focused druid. This stat buy is a little min-maxed, but it's a start:

Strength: 14+2
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 14+2
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 8

Depending on what circle you want, you can go with different focuses:
Land: Take grassland to get Haste. At level 4, you can take Magic Initiate for Booming Blade for lots of damage, alternatively take Polearm Master for an extra spear attack per round.
Shepherd: Hawk spirit will let you get advantage on all of your attacks at the cost of your reaction. Polearm Master is just as good here as for Land.

If dips are okay, then Fighter 1 for halberd proficiency and a fighting style would be great. You also get heavy armor proficiency if you can get your hands on Scorpion Plate. You'll need to boost your Wisdom somehow, though.

[strangebloke]

When Hero Forge ships my last 2 figures (MD Barbarian and Druid) I will have 19 MD designed figures, 1+ of each class.

The Druid Build seems to be the one that I am having the most difficulty with. I have achieved a blend of role play and optimizing that satisfies on each of the designs but Druid. 🥺

The +2 ST and +2 CO leads me away from Moon Druid towards a more “castery” Class/Build. But which ones?

What ideas can you contribute?

Example build that am seriously not at all in love with is

Land, Shepherd, or Dreams

ST 0+2 10 (MD version of dumping)
DE 5 13. (+1 at 4th)
CO 7+2 16
WI 9 15 (+1 at 4th)
IN 4 12
CH 2 10

Alright, so with mountain dwarf, you get three things: armor, hit points, and strength. You don't want to go moon, since if you do all three of those things cease to matter.

You want to go shepherd. Why? Because its completely overpowered. Okay, that's what you tell your party, but the actual reason is that it can give advantage on STR checks. Don't even worry about having a high Wisdom. Check your spell list again. How many of the 'best' spells even require a saving throw? Pass without trace? Healing spirit? Spike Growth? Plant growth? Conjure Animals? I mean if we're being totally honest here, there's no reason to pump STR over WIS, except that its good fun. As I think we can all agree, that's a good enough reason.

Here's the statline I'd recommend:

ST 4+2 14
DE 5 13 (+1 at 4th)
CO 5+2 15 (+1 at 4th)
WI 7 14
IN 4 12
CH 2 10

You're an all-rounder with no weaknesses and a bucket of HP. You don't see yourself as a druid, you're just a simple shepherd who was tending to the herds when all these demons/gnolls/dragons started invading. Magic? Nah, I'm just good with animals.

Your AC is somewhere between 15 and 17. You hit things with an axe. When things get rough, you drown the enemy in wolves. You're a full caster, but your mental stats barely matter. Just be sure to show up to the table with a bag of paired d20s.

[ZorroGames]

What is it you don't like about Land, Shepherd or Dreams?

Maybe if we knew why they don't convince you we could give better advice.

Skip the convincing. Provide a Build please.

It was the build not the subclasses in the example that was meh.

I am looking for builds that I can get into and Druids have been my least favorite clas since 1970s. Looking to try one build to see if I could actually play the class and have fun/be a Caster type Druid.

[ZorroGames]

Alright, so with mountain dwarf, you get three things: armor, hit points, and strength. You don't want to go moon, since if you do all three of those things cease to matter.

You want to go shepherd. Why? Because its completely overpowered. Okay, that's what you tell your party, but the actual reason is that it can give advantage on STR checks. Don't even worry about having a high Wisdom. Check your spell list again. How many of the 'best' spells even require a saving throw? Pass without trace? Healing spirit? Spike Growth? Plant growth? Conjure Animals? I mean if we're being totally honest here, there's no reason to pump STR over WIS, except that its good fun. As I think we can all agree, that's a good enough reason.

Here's the statline I'd recommend:

ST 4+2 14
DE 5 13 (+1 at 4th)
CO 5+2 15 (+1 at 4th)
WI 7 14
IN 4 12
CH 2 10

You're an all-rounder with no weaknesses and a bucket of HP. You don't see yourself as a druid, you're just a simple shepherd who was tending to the herds when all these demons/gnolls/dragons started invading. Magic? Nah, I'm just good with animals.

Your AC is somewhere between 15 and 17. You hit things with an axe. When things get rough, you drown the enemy in wolves. You're a full caster, but your mental stats barely matter. Just be sure to show up to the table with a bag of paired d20s.

This too I like! Maybe my problem with Druids is that I am approaching this with the wrong mindset/viewpoint... Appreciate the shift of viewpoint.

[NatureKing]

You could go for Shepherd Druid: without the Wisdom Boost, you aren't pushing many saves, so the Scalable Improved Summons and no save spells like Healing (especially under the effect of Unicorn Totem) give you plenty of utility.

The bonus Str may have preferred to be Charisma (for Inspiring Leader) or Dex (for Saves, Initiative, AC), but you can pick up a Warhammer or Battle Axe to deal damage without needing Shillelagh, freeing up your cantrips.

[ZorroGames]

You could go for Shepherd Druid: without the Wisdom Boost, you aren't pushing many saves, so the Scalable Improved Summons and no save spells like Healing (especially under the effect of Unicorn Totem) give you plenty of utility.

The bonus Str may have preferred to be Charisma (for Inspiring Leader) or Dex (for Saves, Initiative, AC), but you can pick up a Warhammer or Battle Axe to deal damage without needing Shillelagh, freeing up your cantrips.

Thanks, feeling better about playing a Druid. Who knows, maybe if I do not blow the effort I might even try a second as a Hill Dwarf... 😉