Getting around the druid oath

[Matamane]

I am playing a Warforged Totem Druid, and I wanted to do Adamantine Body, but I am at a loss as to how to do so without losing everything.

Anything is good.

[Optimystik]

Worship Mielikki.

Done.

[Matamane]

Please explain that one.

[ocdscale]

Druids of Mielikki are permitted to use weapons/armor that a Ranger would be able to use.

[Matamane]

Does that Manifest as a feat or something.

In the event FR is banned, any other options.

[Optimystik]

Her druids can wear metal.

She's an FR deity. Dogma: Civilization and Nature can live in harmony without one sacrificing its way of life for the other - perfect for a robot druid.

[Matamane]

Not sure FR material is allowed. Besides Rangers cant wear heavy armor, so it wouldn't work anyways.

[awa]

Do they have to give up something or did someone just decide that druids were to weak?

[Matamane]

I want a RAW way to be a Warforged Juggernaut Druid.

[Eldariel]

Do they have to give up something or did someone just decide that druids were to weak?

They give up nothing except the option to worship other deities. Mielikki is awesome like that; that's natural, too, since she's a deity from the Finnish mythology She's nothing compared to Mystra tho.

[Optimystik]

Adamantine Body specifically disallows druid, so it seems like you're screwed. Maybe be a Blighter instead?

[Matamane]

Dang it...

[Fishy]

The Wildshape-Variant Ranger from UA doesn't have the same restrictions that Druid does: There's no rea. reason why you couldn't be one of those and Adamantine. You only get Small and Medium animals- unless you go into Master of Many Forms.

If you take that PrC until you get Wildshape: Elemental, you might be able to fast-talk your DM into letting you substitute that for City Soul from Citiscape.

And then turn into a truck.

[BobVosh]

Can you worship pathfinder gods? If so druids of Huron (CN Kord basically) can wear and use metal. In fact once they can afford metal armor they aren't allowed to go back.

[Nate the Snake]

The Fochlucan Lyrist from Complete Adventurer lets relaxes your druid oath so you can wear light metal armor, but its entry requirements are ridiculously convoluted.

Would casting ironwood on your adamantine plating work?

[Optimystik]

I think you should just ask your DM if you can be an Ironwood Warforged with the same bonuses, or just pretty please not to enforce the oaths.

[KillianHawkeye]

Eh, the restrictions on druid equipment is dumb and meaningless anyway. As if D&D druids had anything at all to do with druids in real life.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Ah, the Druid oath. No wearing armor that was removed from the ground, you can only wear stuff that was made by killing animals or trees.

[Optimystik]

Ah, the Druid oath. No wearing armor that was removed from the ground, you can only wear stuff that was made by killing animals or trees.

Killing animals is part of nature. And druids can make wood from metal (or harvest dead wood) so no killing trees is necessary.

[Slayn82]

Well, to refine metal you would need a lot of wood or coal, so i guess there are dead trees all along.

[Optimystik]

Well, to refine metal you would need a lot of wood or coal, so i guess there are dead trees all along.

True, but the druids were not responsible for killing them in that case.

[Darrin]

Adamantine Body specifically disallows druid, so it seems like you're screwed. Maybe be a Blighter instead?

Actually, it specifically allows it, but they lose spells/class features:

"Warforged druids who take this feat cannot cast druid spells or use any of the druid’s supernatural or spell-like class features."

If the feat was going to disallow druids from taking it, it would say something like, "Warforged Druids cannot take this feat period. Seriously, WTF were you thinking?"

I want a RAW way to be a Warforged Juggernaut Druid.

It's *possible*, but... oy vey.

As Nate the Snake mentioned, if you can qualify for Fochlucan Lyrist, you can use your Druid spells/abilities in light metal armor. But it has some of the most bizarre convoluted requirements of any PrC in the game.

Now, if you combine this with the Halfweight armor property from the FR Underdark book, your adamantine body armor would count as light metal armor. This is a +3 enhancement bonus, on top of a +1 to get started, so this will set you back about 16000 GP. This is quite doable before ECL 11, but up until that point... uber Dead Levels up the yin-yang.

Your first 6 levels are going to look something like:

1) Bard 1. Feat: Adamantine Body.
2) Bard 2. 1st level arcane spells.
3) Rogue 1/Totemist 1. Feat: Power Attack.
4) Rogue 2/Totemist 2. Evasion.
5) Druid 1. Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Wild Empathy.
6) Wild Defender 1. 1st level divine spells, smite evil 1/day. Feat: Improved Bull Rush.

Rogue/Totemist is to pick up Evasion, but there are several other ways (including a Ring of Evasion, Spelldancer, and some other really obscure PrCs) to get that. Go Rogue if you're short on skill points, otherwise Totemist can add a couple juicy natural-attack-based Soulmelds on top of your slam attack.

Wild Defender is a Ranger variant from Dragon #324 (check Crystalkeep 3.5 base classes for details), sort of a Paladin/Druid mashup. The important thing is it has +1 BAB and gets 1st level divine spells with a 1-level dip. Mystic Ranger (Dragon #336) might also work, but doesn't get 1st level spells until 2nd level. If your DM doesn't allow Dragon material, then you may have to take a level of cleric or dip into Fighter and grab a level of Pious Templar. There may be other PrCs out there that get 1st level Divine spells (Knight of the Middle Circle, Disciple of Thrym, etc.).

Levels 7) through 10) you can fill with whatever you like... if you want to eventually get Wild Shape anytime soon, though, you may have to suffer through four more levels of Druid. All your (Ex) abilities should still work, so you pick up Woodland Stride, Trackless Step, and Resist Nature's Lure. Yeah, I know... woo-hoo. You can take the Shock Trooper feat at 9), but unfortunately your BAB is three points under your character level.

11) Fochlucan Lyrist. Assuming you were able to enchant your adamatine body with the Halfweight property... Bingo! Your Druid spells/abilities now start working.

Note: You can get in a level early if you take the Favored/Primary Contact feats from Cityscape to boost your Perform ranks, but you'll probably need to dip one or two levels of Fighter to free up feat slots.

Levels 12) through 16): Congratulations, you can become a Warforged Juggernaut. Finish off with more Fochlucan for arcane/druid spells, or more Druid for better wildshape/spells, or go into something like Warshaper or MoMF.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

...huh. After checking the wording, there may be a slight loophole. This is thrown-book worthy, but a character that took a level in something else at 1 when he grabbed this feat, then took Druid at 2 or later, may still retain Druid powers. The key is that you aren'[t a Warforged Druid who then took AB, you're an Adamantine Warforged who later took levels in Druid.

"Warforged druids who take this feat cannot cast druid spells or use any of the druid’s supernatural or spell-like class features."

That's narrow, but it is a possibility.

Or you could just go Wildshape Ranger.