3.5 Druids

[quiet1mi]

I am running a city game start ing at level 8, one of the players wants to play as a druid...

would this be a problem waiting to happen as he is rather new to the game?

Also would a Druid 8 be strong enough to handle himself? or should I point him in the direction of a prestige class?

[Heliomance]

Druid is one of the strongest classes out there; Druid 20 is a perfectly viable build. From what I hear, the only PrC that's worthwhile for a Druid is the Planar Shepherd, which is broken beyond belief.

[Dixieboy]

It is entirely possible, but some of his abilities would make little sense, and you'd have to play some penalties on him

If not anything else then roleplay wise, Running around with an animal companion like the druid usually does would cause suspicion and he would probably be shunned.

Also a druid would probably dislike staying in a city too long.

[Istari]

There's an urban druid variant on the SRD i believe

[mostlyharmful]

It really depends on the DMs conception of what "natural" is in this setting, dependant on whether humanoid cities are such or not is what really makes the character viable, this isn't always something you can just ask a DM mind you, it's just as often a case of whether they make playing in such an environment unfeasible as it is about whether they decry medium scaled termite mounds.

Edit.... \/ see below, either humans are natural or they aint. Cities seem to be an outgrowth of being human (at least in the real world where they've evolved independantly of each other in various situations). If a Druid is about kow-towing to "nature" a DM has to be very very very specific about what "nature" is in their world.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I am running a city game start ing at level 8, one of the players wants to play as a druid...

would this be a problem waiting to happen as he is rather new to the game?

Also would a Druid 8 be strong enough to handle himself? or should I point him in the direction of a prestige class?

Druid 8 is broken all by itself. He can shift into a Brown Bear, Dire Lion, or a Rhino and still be able to cast spells while doing so.

The question is 'why would a Druid be in a city?'.

[Epinephrine]

I am running a city game start ing at level 8, one of the players wants to play as a druid...

would this be a problem waiting to happen as he is rather new to the game?

Also would a Druid 8 be strong enough to handle himself? or should I point him in the direction of a prestige class?

Cityscape has an Urban druid set of replacements, listed on the web.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a

Spoiler

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Urban Companion

The fearsome animal companions who accompany some casters in the wild are indeed a boon in combat, but a hulking wolf or creeping tiger is out of place in an urban environment. Some characters believe that small and subtle is of greater value than massive and mighty.

Class: Druid or ranger.

Level: 1st (druid) or 4th (ranger).

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain an animal companion.

Benefit: The character gains the companionship of a smaller but far more intelligent creature than she otherwise would have. This is identical to the sorcerer's ability to summon a familiar (PH 52), including all benefits granted and gained by the familiar, except as noted below. Her functional level for determining the abilities of the companion is equal to her druid level or one-half her ranger level.

* She does not lose experience points if her urban companion is slain, and she requires only 24 hours to replace one who is lost.

* Her urban companion has total hit points equal to 3/4 her own hit points, rather than half as per a familiar.

* The urban companion gains the ability to speak with other animals of its kind when she has an effective master level of 1st, rather than 7th.

* When she reaches an effective master level of 7th, she can speak with animals of her companion's kind, as per speak with animals. This is a supernatural ability that functions constantly, and it requires only a free action to reactivate if somehow dispelled.

Urban Sense

Druids native to the sprawling city master a widely differing range of skills than their wilderness-based counterparts.

Class: Druid.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain nature sense.

Benefit: She gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (local) checks and Sense Motive checks.

Crowd-Walker

Certain individuals are comfortable among the throngs of citizens in even the most densely packed city. They know how to maneuver deftly through such environs without impediment.

Class: Druid or ranger.

Level: 2nd (druid) or 7th (ranger).

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain woodland stride.

Benefit: When moving through a crowd, the crowd-walker moves at her normal rate, rather than requiring two squares of movement for every square as is normal. In addition, light debris does not impede her movement, and she treats heavy debris as light debris. Any other sort of rough terrain impedes her normally, however.

Go to Ground

Just as most druids and scouts have an almost supernatural ability to avoid being tracked in the wild, so too have others learned to blend in so fully with the urban throng that nobody remembers their passage.

Class: Druid or scout.

Level: 3rd.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain trackless step.

Benefit: When you choose to "lay low," you become all but impossible to find without magical means. All attempts to find you with Urban Tracking (Cityscape 64) simply fail outright.

Iron Constitution

Natives to the worst and filthiest areas of the city have to contend with stenches and illnesses of a sort rarely found in the wild, yet some have become so inured that they are all but immune.

Class: Druid.

Level: 4th.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain resist nature's lure.

Benefit: The druid gains Strong Stomach (Cityscape 64) as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites. If she already has this feat, she may instead choose any feat for which she does meet the prerequisites.

In addition, the druid gains a +2 bonus on saves against disease.

City-Shape

The ability to transform into an animal is the hallmark of the druid, so much so that even many urban druids choose to retain it. Some, however, prefer the ability to blend and maneuver within the streets of the city, sacrificing size for a wider range of forms.

Class: Druid.

Level: 5th.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain all the aspects of standard wild shape (except for the ability to wild shape into an elemental at high levels, which remains unchanged).

Benefit: At 5th level, the druid gains the ability to transform into an animal, as per the standard wild shape ability. She can do this once a day to start with, but the frequency of her wild shapes increases as per the standard druid advancement chart.

At 8th level, the druid does not gain the ability to transform into Large animals. Instead, she may transform into Small and Medium vermin, as well as animals.

At 11th level, the druid gains the ability to transform into Tiny animals and vermin.

At 12th level, the druid does not gain the ability to transform into plant creatures. Instead, she may transform into an animal- or vermin-based swarm, so long as it fits within her standard wild shaping Hit Die limits.

At 15th level, the druid does not gain the ability to transform into Huge animals. Instead, she gains the ability to transform into Large animals and vermin.

Special: The Natural Spell feat functions with city-shape just as it does standard wild shape.

City Soul

The most powerful druids can transform themselves into elementals, representatives of the building blocks of reality itself. A few urban druids, truly taken with the nature and order of the city, prefer more mundane forms.

Class: Druid.

Level: 16th.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain the wild shape (elemental) ability, or later improvements to that class feature.

Benefit: At 16th level, the druid can use her wild shape (or city-shape) ability to become a Small, Medium, or Large animated object (MM 13) once per day. These forms are in addition to her normal wild shape uses. In addition to the normal effects of wild shape, she gains all the animated object's extraordinary abilities, as well as many traits of the construct type (low-light vision, darkvision to 60 feet, and immunity to critical hits, poison, disease, paralysis, and stunning).

The precise form must be an object common to the city environment, such as a wagon, a statue, or the like. (Talk to your DM in advance to determine what sorts of forms are available and what are off-limits.)

The druid can assume the form of an animated object twice per day at 18th level, and three times per day at 20th level. At 20th level, she can use this ability to turn into a Huge animated object.

Special: The Natural Spell feat functions with city soul just as it does standard wild shape.

[UserClone]

I think the Urban Druid from Dragon Compendium is cooler, personally. At least for a city game.

[kalt]

hahaha is the druid strong enough to handle himself that is just funny right there. Just tell him to take natural spell at 6th level and call it a day.