My concept of a Druid has always been based on Allanon from "Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks, mixed in with the Druids Merlin encountered in Mary Stewart's "Crystal Cave" series. Both of these druids are dark and somewhat sinister, with the later practicing human sacrifice. Neither really seemed to be related to D&D druids.
Instead, D&D seems to class them somewhere between Native Americans, Greenpeace, and a Woodstock escapee - I can't seem to figure out the personality type(s). What is it that a Druid, if left to himself, is doing? What does he want for himself before he retires? Does he follow a particular deity, or is he JUST a nature freak?
The reason I ask is because I like roleplay aspects, and have been circling the Druid in anticipation...
Well, truly, there’s a lot of different options for a Druid and his INDIVIDUAL motives outside of an adventuring group, as with any class. But typically a Druid wishes to either defend all nature or perhaps defend a specific location, such as a forest that they live near, or a coastline, or anywhere else. As well, I don’t think a Druid ever really retires. And there’s no Druid deity, I believe. That would be more of a Cleric.
Again though all of these depend on what your specific campaign goes for. Character and character background will always trump the written definitions of what a class is.
I have always assumed that wildshape was from Gaelic or Celtic mythology but that is based on several fantasy books I’ve read that had a pre-Roman type setting. The only one I can think of at the moment was a Conan type hero named Macsomething or other. I think it was written by the same author as the Conan books.
I have always assumed that wildshape was from Gaelic or Celtic mythology but that is based on several fantasy books I’ve read that had a pre-Roman type setting. The only one I can think of at the moment was a Conan type hero named Macsomething or other. I think it was written by the same author as the Conan books.
Bran Mak Morn? He's the Pict king - haven't read any of those... but he's not a druid, right?
Cormac Mac Art was the hero. He wasn’t a druid or a shape changer but for some reason I think there was shape changers in the books. There was another series of books by a different author that was in that in the same type of Celtic setting that had the shape changers. My pre-Google brain stores information in weird ways.
Allanon actually has a Welsh connection. in the book Running with the Demons which is eventually revealed to be a prequel to the Shannara books, the Knight of the Word character gets his powers somewhere in Wales.
An easy way to perceive druids in a neutral sense, is as Star Wars style force users. They are individuals who tap into a greater decentralized living force to do magic, and they deepen that connection via meditation and reflection. So they are easy to fit into any mold, or situation. That being said some of the circles are quite a bit of thematic synergy.
Circle of the Land. These function very similarly to wizards in terms of there wide range of spell selections, and having a short rest spell recovery. I actually went HAM with this and mad an int-based druid, who was an "Applied ecology professor".
Circle of the Shepard. They are basically summoners, with alot team support utility. This is somewhere between Steve Erwin and a Disney Princess.
I see druids as being characters who are primarily aware that everything is tied together. Others are of aware of this fact, but for Druids in in the forefront of their mind all the time. The problem is that Druids are mortal, so even though they can imagine a the big picture, they can't comprehend all of it. So there's this giant complex system that they're completely preoccupied with, but they can't wholly understand. Since they can't understand it they start to focus on the aspects of the system that they can and that manifests itself in various interpretations and drives, tinted by their own small life story. Some druids see this system as an engine of change, and that change is inherently good, and that it's their duty to encourage it, sometimes violently. Others see this system as something in precarious balance, something fragile that can be completely annihilated with careless action, and they fight to preserve the status quo. Some see the system as a source of power, others a source of peace etc...but none of them actually get the whole thing.
My current druid is a moon druid, who was raised as a farmer in a society of barbarians. It was mostly wanderlust that lead to his adventuring career and a happy accident had him being trained by elves in the Druidic arts. Now his personal philosophy is that it's hubris to believe that sentient beings and civilization somehow exist outside of nature. It makes sense that like any overly successful hunter, a civilization can consume all the resources necessary for survival if it's too successful. The great thing about civilization is that it can be trained and educated in a way that most other things in nature can not. So my character's adventuring goal is to go out into the world, purchase a whole bunch of land, and create new farming techniques that feed civilization in a way that is healthy and not harmful to their surrounding environment.
It's been great fun playing someone who, while fighting for social welfare, is terribly naive in social situations.
My druid's origin was that their mother was part of an earth/nature-centric religious group ("cult" would be a less charitable (but still accurate) term for it), so their class arose from being raised in that sort of environment. (Their dad was an elf who happened to meet their mother while she was out on a vision quest.) Everyone in their community shared similar values vis-a-vis preventing ecological destruction, worshiping various aspects of the natural world, etc. - but they happened to develop magical powers as an extension of those beliefs.
Their motivation for the campaign was that, when extraplanar deities started making incursions into the world, it was very much like an invasive species making incursions into an ecosystem. They believed that, for the long-term health of the world, these incursions needed to be stopped, so that's why they joined the party to go on the quest.
I think that's the easiest way to play druids in a way that is compatible with the rest of the party. Usually, a DnD party is trying to stop a bad thing from happening. That bad thing will almost certainly wreak environmental damage, too, which will catch a druid's attention. (A tyrannical ruler will implement environmentally destructive policies in order to wring every last gold piece of value from his lands; a death cult's necrotic practices will have negative side effects on the nearby wildlife; etc.)
What makes druids more fun is that their idea of what's the "best" course of action won't necessarily always jive with the rest of the party. For example, look at the plot of Princess Mononoke: the residents of Iron Town were clear-cutting the forest, which caused a lot of environmental damage. San (who acted much like a druid would) viewed their actions as evil as a result - but they were just trying to make a living, and many of them were escaping incredibly difficult lives. The main conflict was trying to reconcile those two viewpoints, neither of which was truly "evil." Played out between characters in a party, it can lead to lots of fun interactions and character growth.
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"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
What a druid stands for / does is determined by two things, how your DM has introduced them in his game (the less explored the more freedom you have) and how you want to play them. So:
The circle of the weathered stone. A group of isolationist druids to revere nature and are stirring into making a terrible choice on how to deal with the encroaching march of farm and field
The May Poles. A rural druid group who blesses the farm and field of the common folk and is protector against ancient evils
The Primordials. Some say they fell to madness, others that they speak a black truth - that Star spawned creatures others call aberration are the worlds true creatures, they were here before all other life and will be here long after our death
The Ashling Kiss. A volcano venerating sect of druids sacrificing people to appease their 'Spirit of the lands will'
The Tears of Shallya. A hermit sect who travel to the cities and seek men of influence that might be tutored in husbandry of the land in hope of finding and founding a dynasty that will aid in preserving the natural world.
Any of these or countless more could work for you. The primordial types are backed up by some lore in terms of aberrant genesis but the PHB throws up that druids are enemies of aberrations so you might want to ask before you run riot with that.
Enjoy druiding and welcome!
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My concept of a Druid has always been based on Allanon from "Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks, mixed in with the Druids Merlin encountered in Mary Stewart's "Crystal Cave" series. Both of these druids are dark and somewhat sinister, with the later practicing human sacrifice. Neither really seemed to be related to D&D druids.
Instead, D&D seems to class them somewhere between Native Americans, Greenpeace, and a Woodstock escapee - I can't seem to figure out the personality type(s). What is it that a Druid, if left to himself, is doing? What does he want for himself before he retires? Does he follow a particular deity, or is he JUST a nature freak?
The reason I ask is because I like roleplay aspects, and have been circling the Druid in anticipation...
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Well, truly, there’s a lot of different options for a Druid and his INDIVIDUAL motives outside of an adventuring group, as with any class. But typically a Druid wishes to either defend all nature or perhaps defend a specific location, such as a forest that they live near, or a coastline, or anywhere else. As well, I don’t think a Druid ever really retires. And there’s no Druid deity, I believe. That would be more of a Cleric.
Again though all of these depend on what your specific campaign goes for. Character and character background will always trump the written definitions of what a class is.
I have always assumed that wildshape was from Gaelic or Celtic mythology but that is based on several fantasy books I’ve read that had a pre-Roman type setting. The only one I can think of at the moment was a Conan type hero named Macsomething or other. I think it was written by the same author as the Conan books.
Bran Mak Morn? He's the Pict king - haven't read any of those... but he's not a druid, right?
Cormac Mac Art was the hero. He wasn’t a druid or a shape changer but for some reason I think there was shape changers in the books. There was another series of books by a different author that was in that in the same type of Celtic setting that had the shape changers. My pre-Google brain stores information in weird ways.
Allanon actually has a Welsh connection. in the book Running with the Demons which is eventually revealed to be a prequel to the Shannara books, the Knight of the Word character gets his powers somewhere in Wales.
An easy way to perceive druids in a neutral sense, is as Star Wars style force users. They are individuals who tap into a greater decentralized living force to do magic, and they deepen that connection via meditation and reflection. So they are easy to fit into any mold, or situation. That being said some of the circles are quite a bit of thematic synergy.
Circle of the Land. These function very similarly to wizards in terms of there wide range of spell selections, and having a short rest spell recovery. I actually went HAM with this and mad an int-based druid, who was an "Applied ecology professor".
Circle of the Shepard. They are basically summoners, with alot team support utility. This is somewhere between Steve Erwin and a Disney Princess.
Circle of the Moon. Basicly refined lycanthorpy.
I see druids as being characters who are primarily aware that everything is tied together. Others are of aware of this fact, but for Druids in in the forefront of their mind all the time. The problem is that Druids are mortal, so even though they can imagine a the big picture, they can't comprehend all of it. So there's this giant complex system that they're completely preoccupied with, but they can't wholly understand. Since they can't understand it they start to focus on the aspects of the system that they can and that manifests itself in various interpretations and drives, tinted by their own small life story. Some druids see this system as an engine of change, and that change is inherently good, and that it's their duty to encourage it, sometimes violently. Others see this system as something in precarious balance, something fragile that can be completely annihilated with careless action, and they fight to preserve the status quo. Some see the system as a source of power, others a source of peace etc...but none of them actually get the whole thing.
My current druid is a moon druid, who was raised as a farmer in a society of barbarians. It was mostly wanderlust that lead to his adventuring career and a happy accident had him being trained by elves in the Druidic arts. Now his personal philosophy is that it's hubris to believe that sentient beings and civilization somehow exist outside of nature. It makes sense that like any overly successful hunter, a civilization can consume all the resources necessary for survival if it's too successful. The great thing about civilization is that it can be trained and educated in a way that most other things in nature can not. So my character's adventuring goal is to go out into the world, purchase a whole bunch of land, and create new farming techniques that feed civilization in a way that is healthy and not harmful to their surrounding environment.
It's been great fun playing someone who, while fighting for social welfare, is terribly naive in social situations.
My druid's origin was that their mother was part of an earth/nature-centric religious group ("cult" would be a less charitable (but still accurate) term for it), so their class arose from being raised in that sort of environment. (Their dad was an elf who happened to meet their mother while she was out on a vision quest.) Everyone in their community shared similar values vis-a-vis preventing ecological destruction, worshiping various aspects of the natural world, etc. - but they happened to develop magical powers as an extension of those beliefs.
Their motivation for the campaign was that, when extraplanar deities started making incursions into the world, it was very much like an invasive species making incursions into an ecosystem. They believed that, for the long-term health of the world, these incursions needed to be stopped, so that's why they joined the party to go on the quest.
I think that's the easiest way to play druids in a way that is compatible with the rest of the party. Usually, a DnD party is trying to stop a bad thing from happening. That bad thing will almost certainly wreak environmental damage, too, which will catch a druid's attention. (A tyrannical ruler will implement environmentally destructive policies in order to wring every last gold piece of value from his lands; a death cult's necrotic practices will have negative side effects on the nearby wildlife; etc.)
What makes druids more fun is that their idea of what's the "best" course of action won't necessarily always jive with the rest of the party. For example, look at the plot of Princess Mononoke: the residents of Iron Town were clear-cutting the forest, which caused a lot of environmental damage. San (who acted much like a druid would) viewed their actions as evil as a result - but they were just trying to make a living, and many of them were escaping incredibly difficult lives. The main conflict was trying to reconcile those two viewpoints, neither of which was truly "evil." Played out between characters in a party, it can lead to lots of fun interactions and character growth.
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
The soon-to-be-released Circle of Spores Druid is very far away from that "Greenpeace" stereotype.
What a druid stands for / does is determined by two things, how your DM has introduced them in his game (the less explored the more freedom you have) and how you want to play them. So:
The circle of the weathered stone. A group of isolationist druids to revere nature and are stirring into making a terrible choice on how to deal with the encroaching march of farm and field
The May Poles. A rural druid group who blesses the farm and field of the common folk and is protector against ancient evils
The Primordials. Some say they fell to madness, others that they speak a black truth - that Star spawned creatures others call aberration are the worlds true creatures, they were here before all other life and will be here long after our death
The Ashling Kiss. A volcano venerating sect of druids sacrificing people to appease their 'Spirit of the lands will'
The Tears of Shallya. A hermit sect who travel to the cities and seek men of influence that might be tutored in husbandry of the land in hope of finding and founding a dynasty that will aid in preserving the natural world.
Any of these or countless more could work for you. The primordial types are backed up by some lore in terms of aberrant genesis but the PHB throws up that druids are enemies of aberrations so you might want to ask before you run riot with that.
Enjoy druiding and welcome!