Leon's Druid Discussion: Mixing Druidic Variants - Idea's and Suggestions

[Leon]

Darksun starts tomorrow, im playing a Human Druid thats what is set in stone

what isnt is how im going to play this druid, too many options - it has been jumping from variant to variant and i came on the idea of mixing 2 of the UA variants and was wondering if they would indeed work like that

Dropping Spont Casting, Companion and Wildshape

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...DruidicAvenger and http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...sses.htm#druid

add into the mix Variant Favoured Enemy from Comp Mage, a dash of Homebrew (1 Martial Weapon of choice and all simple weapons in place of the resticive druid list), sprinkle Innate Psionic power (currently Inertia Armour) and bake

= Arcane Hunter Killer


Stats are as follows atm

31 Pt Build

Str 14
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 17
Cha 11

Weapons: Glaive, Lite Crossbow, Morning star

Feats, no idea - but a Metamagic feat such as empower is likely

[Leon]

Noone has any suggestions, comments or Criticizims?

[Daedo daShoegod]

the weapon really depends on your style. I assume that you wouldn't use a sheild (even a light shield), but a buckler might be useful. Unless you are going to use weapon finesse, I'd suggest a glaive. A reach wpn is always useful, especially against melee builds and 1d10 dmg and x3 Crit. will do nicely.
I like this druid variant, it helps balance it out, and it should be interesting to see your character in action.

[FdL]

PHB II Shapeshifting alternative class feature, go for it.

[Jack Mann]

He can't. He already gave up wildshape.

[Leon]

I'd suggest a glaive. A reach wpn is always useful, especially against melee builds and 1d10 dmg and x3 Crit. will do nicely.
I like this druid variant, it helps balance it out, and it should be interesting to see your character in action.

Should i Up the Str or keep the Dex to boost AC?
i plan on using the Animalistic Power spell to boost all pysical stats when i need to once i can cast the spell

PHB II Shapeshifting alternative class feature, go for it.

It was one of the 1st idea's that i was going to play


I chose this one as it throws the standard concept of the druid out the window including all the things that are normally cited to make the druid a Zilla

[Matthew]

Keep the Dexterity, I would have said. What did you do in the end and how did it go?

[Leon]

I went with how i posted it.

Feats:
Focus - Glaive
Alertness
Bane Magic - Arcane Spellcaster
Endurance

Flaws:
Slow to Anger (Full round to rage)
Blind rage (Full Duration, cant be stopped, will attack anyone in range)

Given the staggering coast of metal weapons in DS im currently equiped with stone weapons and having to put up with a -2 to Attack and damage

We havent actually left Tyr yet as we took a fair while get settled down and make everything. so we have been just doing things in the city that are leading to us all grouping up and going north to kill some bandits

The rest of the Party is
Human Cleric of Elemental Water
Human Soul Knife
Maenad Wilder

The scary thing is that im the Strongest one at str 14.
my plan is to stand behind the Soul knife or the wilder unless im going to rage then i'll try and get away from everyone just incase

[OverdrivePrime]

Very, very cool. I really like both of those druid variants that you're using, and am actually doing a very similar build for a friend's game to make my 'perfect' nature warrior.

You don't have the liability of an animal companion, you don't have the goofiness of shapechanging, but retain many of its advantages, are still a threat in combat when you're out of spells, and you lay the smack down on arcanists. Winner!

I'm not really sure if you need weapon focus for glaive. Alertness seems wasted too. You've got a high Wisdom for a decent base listen/spot score, but it's unlikely that you're going to be pumping skill ranks into either. I think you might be better served by getting power attack and cleave, at least for now.

[Leon]

There is Purpose to Focus, and i agree on Alertness - i kinda got rushed at the end and dropped it in
What do you suggest in place of it - i still can swap, as we havent fully started yet, just the prelim introduction


The Purpose to focus is Short halft at lvl 6

[Matthew]

Well, if you're not choosing Meta Magic X, Power Attack would probably have it's advantages when using a Glaive as a Level 6 Druid (like a potential +8 Damage).

Interestingly, I don't consider 14 Strength to be unusually low for a party like this. I get really sick of Point Buy facilitating 18 Strength for Barbarian/Fighter X, anyway. Elite Array is fairly reasonable. If you had an actual Fighter/Barbarian/Paladin or Ranger in your party, I might have been surprised that there wasn't a Strength 16 somewhere...

Short Haft is not that great a Feat for quick changes, but it's not terrible either.

Hope the Bandit Hunting is going well and you get out of Tyr soon.

[Leon]

Thanks for the tips

Another idea i had for it was to counter the reach loss was via Imp Unarmed Strike and then Superior Unarmed strike (fitting well with my theorectical thinking of it and how i picture the character to evolve and run)

Hopefully we can play next week - this weekend was a wash out.

(Heavy Rain, Flooding, Cyclonic winds, Blackout, Waterout, Beached Bulk Carrier... ya know the typical for a natural disaster zone )

[Matthew]

No problem. Sounds like I'm in a safer Newcastle, though we get a fair bit of rain here...

So currently we're looking at something like this:

Human Avenger Druid 1 MS 40, AB 1(4), AC 15, HP 10,
Attributes: Strength 14, Dexterity 16, Constitution 14, Inelligence 12, Wisdom 17, Charisma 11,
Saves: Fortitude 2(5), Reflexes 0(2), Willpower 2(5),
Feats: Track, Endurance, Weapon Proficiency (Glaive), Weapon Focus (Glaive), Bane Magic (Arcane Spell Caster), Alertness,
Skills: Spot 4(9), Listen 4(9), Survival 4(9), Heal 4 (7), Knowledge (Nature) 4(7), Spell Craft 4(5) [Best Guess on 24 Skill Points]
Equipment: Glaive, Light Cross Bow, Morning Star,

Class Features: Nature Sense, Rage (1), Favoured Enemy (1),
Flaws: Slow to Anger, Blind Rage,

Not too bad, but without Stealth Skills it's hard to play the Scout, which is kind of where I see this heading with Alertness. What kind of Feats does Dark Sun offer these days? (I assume your DM is making use of the Official Dark Sun 3.x Site).
Meta Magic Feats can be very useful, but I'm not that familiar with how they work best for Druids. Regardless, I like this Character concept.

[Edit] Forgot to say that Improved Unarmed Strike is a good way round the Two Handed Reach Weapon problem. The only drawback is that your Character will be using his Gauntlets to grip his weapon, so Attacks of opportunity made at 5' will be Unenchanted.

[Leon]

[Edit] Forgot to say that Improved Unarmed Strike is a good way round the Two Handed Reach Weapon problem. The only drawback is that your Character will be using his Gauntlets to grip his weapon, so Attacks of opportunity made at 5' will be Unenchanted.

Im not too worried about them being Unenchanted

Empower or Extend - they are my 2 choices of Metamagic that im thinking of, currently favouring Extend due to the lower level increase. Q on Extend - Would it Double the duration of the Vigor line of spells?

Bane magic is going to be a later level feat ive decided, since my Druid is going out on his 1st "real hunt" i'd not exactly know what combat with a defiler is exactly like except from what my mentor has told me - possibly 3rd lvl feat or later. 6th Lvl will be Superior Unarmed Strike

Dropped Alertness, picked up Combat Reflexes in place of it (Reach and decent Dex = i think it could be handy)

Endurance Fits with the hard living in the wastelands and traveling by foot a lot, plus i may pick up Diehard later on

What kind of Feats does Dark Sun offer these days? (I assume your DM is making use of the Official Dark Sun 3.x Site).

I hadn't actully looked at that site for feats, ive been using it as a hazy reference for other things. may have to a quick looksee at it again

[Matthew]

Im not too worried about them being Unenchanted

Good for you, it's a much cooler option than Armour Spikes in my opinion and Unarmed Strikes work with Power Attack.

Empower or Extend - they are my 2 choices of Metamagic that im thinking of, currently favouring Extend due to the lower level increase. Q on Extend - Would it Double the duration of the Vigor line of spells?

As far as I understand it, Extend works for any Spell that doesn't have an Instantaneous, Concentration or Permanent Duration.

Bane magic is going to be a later level feat ive decided, since my Druid is going out on his 1st "real hunt" i'd not exactly know what combat with a defiler is exactly like except from what my mentor has told me - possibly 3rd lvl feat or later. 6th Lvl will be Superior Unarmed Strike

Sounds good.

Dropped Alertness, picked up Combat Reflexes in place of it (Reach and decent Dex = i think it could be handy)

Endurance Fits with the hard living in the wastelands and traveling by foot a lot, plus i may pick up Diehard later on

So, you're trading out Bane Magic and Alertness for Combat Reflexes and [Meta Magic X]. Sounds fair enough to me. Combat Reflexes is an interesting Feat in combination with a Reach Weapon, but you might not get much use out of it, once the DM comes up with some counter tactics (i.e. Reach Weapons of his own). Currently:

Campaign Bonus Feat - Martial Weapon Proficiency (Glaive)
Human Bonus Feat - Weapon Focus (Glaive)
Level 1 Feat - Endurance
First Flaw Bonus Feat - Combat Reflexes
Second Flaw Bonus Feat - [Meta Magic Feat]

I hadn't actully looked at that site for feats, ive been using it as a hazy reference for other things. may have to a quick looksee at it again

Worth looking into, I think. I might take a look myself.

[Edit] Yeah, some cool Feats in that little lot. Wastelander would be pretty cool, but the Psionic Wild Talent Feats are probably cool things to have.

[Leon]

Final Selection

Imp Unarmed Strike
Extend Spell
Endurance
Combat Reflexes


Theorised Advancement

3rd: Bane Magic
6th: Superior Unarmed Strike
9th: unknown.... haven thought that far ahead

Also there may be other flaws cropping up along the way such as "hated"


As for how we went, net result was 3 dead NPCs, some Phenomanal Track results from me (27, 27, 26, 18), Avoided a Back alley brawl by smooth talking from the cleric , a roughed up Elven kid and the conclusion that Elves killed the NPCs. now we are on the road to find more...

[Matthew]

Cool. Sounds like you contributed to party success and it looks like you're going to get to hunt down some Elves! Did you check out that Wastelander Feat? If you ever want to increase your Survival Score, that would be a great way.

[Leon]

I'll keep it in mind

[Leon]

Stop me if im working on a idea that already exists

A Druidic Variant

At the basic level this Variant keeps everything (inc Wildshape), but treats it differently

Starting at Level 5 and progressing normally the druid gains "wildshape Potential" but not actual Wildshape instead uses that "potentia" to power Wild feats.

Not 100% worked out on the varibles but i think a Bonus Wild Feat along the same progression as the Fighter Bonus feats

Now i know that some of the feats have different duration but thats just how it goes - you choose to activate the ones that suite the situation

[Leon]

IK Flavored

Shaman of Dhunia

Spell and Ability Progession as a Core druid, loss of Wildshape, Weapons as Per Cleric, Light & Medium Armour (Metal Allowed)
Add a Variation of Wild Empathy that can be used on Fullblood Trolls

[Leon]

./Cast Raise Dead


PrCs: looking for a good one that is anti magic yet still advances spell casting - loss of CL is not a issue

[Matthew]

Hmmn. Not familiar with Druid Prestige Classes. Is there nothing suitable on the Dark Sun Web Site?

[Leon]

There is 2 for Dark Sun, one of them requires Wildshape and is locality based the other is tied to one of the Dragon kings - not the type that im after

The rest of the +divine Caster level ones are ethier Elemental Cleric, Templar and you need to be a Elf

im not in a rush for one but i'd thought i'd start looking for later on

[The_Snark]

Sandstorm's Walker in the Waste might be cool for a Dark Sun campaign, and I've always liked it as a class. Gives you your own little travelling wasteland. I'm not sure how good it would be for a melee character, though, what with a poor base attack bonus, so it might not be the best choice.

[Leon]

Its a nice class but the downside is that "personal waste" - Trying to stop the further destruction of Plant life on Athas not make more desert

[Leon]

My Choice's seem to be good, Combat Ref + high Dex is really good with a glaive - IF I CAN HIT!. Stone weapons suck

The fight vs the 8HD Zombie was interesting to say the least, running battles with the Defiler, multiple encouters ending in many dead ants fleeing.

We are yet to bring a Defiler in alive but last night was a hell of a session - the Wilder kept wanting to go back to town since we low on resoucres but the Soulkife and i were out for blood, the Healer just followed as she thought she should keep tabs on us

Been rethinking some of my choices of feats for later on, Bane magic is looking too specific for general play, after all Arcane Magic users are but one of many threats, but im keeping Superior Umarmed Strike

im thinking possibly the Reserve feats may be good