So I had this idea that Circle.of Dreams Druids would all be women and that when they start puberty (around 13) they are put through a trial that will determine the rest of their lives.
At 13 they face the "trial of dreams"
The whole thing is a big celebration and ceremony but it boils down to this.
All the children that have turned 13 that year are brought to the temple. The temple consists of a clearing, in the middle of which is a stone arch.
The archdruid of the circle performs a ritual that opens the door under the arch and the initiates are sent through the door.
The door is a portal into the plane of dreams.
There, they must find and bond with Kashtai. Only the power they recieve from their bond with Kashtai, will allow them to pass back through the doorway as kalashtar.
Those who fail their trial are left to wander the plane of dreams for all eternity.
-----
Male Druids join the Circle of the Moon and become shape shifters. They too, have their own rituals, celebrations and trials to face.
Male druids are also sent for trial at age 13
Male Druids face their trials at the temple of Selûne. Once they enter they enter, they can only leave after they have mastered the ability to change shape.
To leave, they must pass through the door in the shape of a wolf, passing back through the door in any other shape, will result in a magic barrier appearing, that essentially turns them to ash, which is then blown away on the wind
-----
Circle of the Land Druids can be both male and female and this circle is comprised of those Druids who have abandoned tradition because they were either not strong enough to to afraid to face the trials.
So although Circle of the Land Druids perform a vital service as Druids, they are seen somewhat as pariahs or cowards by both Dream and Moon Druids, who avoid them unless their is no choice.
To join the Circle of the Land, a Druid must harness their power to make something grow, or heal an injured animal.
If they fail tt do this, they must face the trials of one of the other circles or live as an outcast for the rest of their lives.
Couple of reactions. Take them with a grain of salt - my thoughts only.
I'm not sure what the purpose of the gender specificity to the circles is. It might be flavor, it might be a reflection of the values of the underlying culture. Cultural divisions along certain lines are perfectly realistic - human cultures do this all the time. I might try and find a more interesting and original division than gender, personally.
Your druiditic culture is brutal - it takes adolescents which ( likely ) aren't capable of making full informed consent to undergo the trials ( you indicate that all children of age 13 are brought to the temple ). Those that can't, or won't, conform or submit are killed ( turned to ash ) or abandoned in limbo?
Those that reject the system, the call of the "gods", or strong culturally defined divisions, are marginalized as "cowardly" Circle of the Land druids, that you seem to be casting as the Hufflepuff of the druidic world?
Seems to be a pretty fascistic culture to me, where your options are to conform, submit, die, be exiled, or marginalized.
That might be desirable in a campaign. It makes for some interesting Party interaction with this culture, and exploration of questions of personal and societal cultural morality. Gives you the opportunity to explore the morality of the culture, and whether or not you can judge a culture from outside its own context.
There's a lot of potential story exploration here.
I stick my original evaluation of the culture - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing from a campaign or storytelling perspective.
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Rather than a portal of (potential) death type scenario, I might have gone with a vision quest type scenario. Teens would either drink a potion, go to a sacred location, or whatever to communicate with and bond with a spirit (dream spirit, beast spirit, what have you).
That way the practice would run into less conflict with players. You can keep the gender split as a norm, but it allows for the rare misgendered druid (which you may want to have special significance).
I could see the failures becoming circle of the land, and those that reject the culture turned into circle of spores and marginalized/reviled by the magic inherent magic of the area
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So I had this idea that Circle.of Dreams Druids would all be women and that when they start puberty (around 13) they are put through a trial that will determine the rest of their lives.
At 13 they face the "trial of dreams"
The whole thing is a big celebration and ceremony but it boils down to this.
All the children that have turned 13 that year are brought to the temple. The temple consists of a clearing, in the middle of which is a stone arch.
The archdruid of the circle performs a ritual that opens the door under the arch and the initiates are sent through the door.
The door is a portal into the plane of dreams.
There, they must find and bond with Kashtai. Only the power they recieve from their bond with Kashtai, will allow them to pass back through the doorway as kalashtar.
Those who fail their trial are left to wander the plane of dreams for all eternity.
-----
Male Druids join the Circle of the Moon and become shape shifters. They too, have their own rituals, celebrations and trials to face.
Male druids are also sent for trial at age 13
Male Druids face their trials at the temple of Selûne. Once they enter they enter, they can only leave after they have mastered the ability to change shape.
To leave, they must pass through the door in the shape of a wolf, passing back through the door in any other shape, will result in a magic barrier appearing, that essentially turns them to ash, which is then blown away on the wind
-----
Circle of the Land Druids can be both male and female and this circle is comprised of those Druids who have abandoned tradition because they were either not strong enough to to afraid to face the trials.
So although Circle of the Land Druids perform a vital service as Druids, they are seen somewhat as pariahs or cowards by both Dream and Moon Druids, who avoid them unless their is no choice.
To join the Circle of the Land, a Druid must harness their power to make something grow, or heal an injured animal.
If they fail tt do this, they must face the trials of one of the other circles or live as an outcast for the rest of their lives.
-----
Just wondering what you guys all thought.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Couple of reactions. Take them with a grain of salt - my thoughts only.
Seems to be a pretty fascistic culture to me, where your options are to conform, submit, die, be exiled, or marginalized.
That might be desirable in a campaign. It makes for some interesting Party interaction with this culture, and exploration of questions of personal and societal cultural morality. Gives you the opportunity to explore the morality of the culture, and whether or not you can judge a culture from outside its own context.
There's a lot of potential story exploration here.
I stick my original evaluation of the culture - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing from a campaign or storytelling perspective.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Rather than a portal of (potential) death type scenario, I might have gone with a vision quest type scenario. Teens would either drink a potion, go to a sacred location, or whatever to communicate with and bond with a spirit (dream spirit, beast spirit, what have you).
That way the practice would run into less conflict with players. You can keep the gender split as a norm, but it allows for the rare misgendered druid (which you may want to have special significance).
I could see the failures becoming circle of the land, and those that reject the culture turned into circle of spores and marginalized/reviled by the magic inherent magic of the area