Less "Celtic" Druid?

Hey all,
I was wondering if anyone had seen/heard of/created/had a link for a "new" kind of Druid. I am trying to re-create a Norse-like Druid but without having to resort to the boring Cleric model. Most of the current Druidic abilities are all forest-y and I'm looking for something more... not.

Barbarian rage might be fun to throw in there, as well as some Bardic lore-type ability... thoughts, ideas, comments?

Herobizkit said:

Hey all,
I was wondering if anyone had seen/heard of/created/had a link for a "new" kind of Druid. I am trying to re-create a Norse-like Druid but without having to resort to the boring Cleric model. Most of the current Druidic abilities are all forest-y and I'm looking for something more... not.

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Switch "forest" for "sea/water". "Trackless step" becomes "hold breath" (or even water breathing if you're feeling generous), etc.. The Norse had plenty of shapechanging legends, so you can leave wildshape alone, and the spell list is broad enough.

Well, it's not *exactly* right I know, but it might be something of a starting point. . . among the other bits and bobs of the d20 SRD are a few class variants that could be useful. There's this one, for example.

Also, Nyaricus will probably be around shortly - I know he's been working on all kinds of Norse stuff for a while; could be he's done something like this, I'm not sure.

Heh, Nyarcius always seems to follow my posts around, or I follow his, or he just posts everywhere... heh, hope he comes here too, cuz he's a funny so-and-so.

THE Divine Avenger from UA variant rules gets rage

although persoanlly I like the "Aspects of Nature' variants to wild shape and think those might suit a Norse Druid better

Try the AU/AE Greenbond. All you have to do to port it over into 3.x is consider alignments (if you use them), possibly tweek the skills list, and just use the Druid's spell list instead of the Greenbond's- there's nothing in the class abilities list that is irrevocably tied to the AU/AE game.

Another alternative would be the Kingdoms of Kalamar Shaman. They're kind of Rangery/Druidy. While you're at it, check out the KoK Spellsinger, a kind of Sorcerer/Bard fusion. You could use its mechanics with the Druids spells.

Aus_Snow said:

Also, Nyaricus will probably be around shortly - I know he's been working on all kinds of Norse stuff for a while; could be he's done something like this, I'm not sure.

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Alrighty, germs, goblins, guys and gals, I'M HERE *crowd roars*

Herobizkit said:

Heh, Nyarcius always seems to follow my posts around, or I follow his, or he just posts everywhere...

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Oh, you know it, I am so following you mmmmm bizkitty goodness - chewy, yet crunchy.

And it's been 10 days since the crash and I've posted more than 150 times Not bad, I must say. I started off again with 513

Herobizkit said:

heh, hope he comes here too, cuz he's a funny so-and-so.

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You know it!

...

Ahem

Anyways, I'm happy to be feeling the love here, and I couldn't resist the title 'less celtic-y druid' since druid are, well, Celtic. Name besides, I haven't yet done alot of research into Nordic arcanists (although the spell Magic Missile, I am sure, comes from a Nordic one. Details if interested )

Well, I am all for making a new type of Norse Shaman/Druid-type dude, so I'll post more of my thoughts in a subsequent post.

I was wondering if anyone had seen/heard of/created/had a link for a "new" kind of Druid. I am trying to re-create a Norse-like Druid but without having to resort to the boring Cleric model.

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Here's my thing...I was once inspired to make a (2Ed Player's Option) Warrior/Priest by reading the Kalevala (a Finnish saga), watching some old Finnish movies based on it (really cool stuff, BTW), and Russian folk tales.

They didn't have magic the way we think about it. Spells weren't cast ON or AT people...many magical things just happened- characters talked to birds, or trees, or the wind spirits. When magic was actually used, it was creative, transformative or protective, not big old fireballs and lightning bolts, and all of the power was raised by singing mighty, secret songs. Weather effects, while possible, were usually the result of asking the spirits who controlled the wind to do something, not a direct effect of the characters' inherent abilities.

Looking back at that PC, the nearest I could come to that in 3.X would be a PC with a couple of Rgr (or Ftr) levels, several levels of Cleric of Fharlanghn, and any arcane spellcaster who sings- like the aforementioned Spellsinger or Bard- or Wizard or Wu Jen, as long as the spells were mostly enchantment, transmutation or abjuration spells. Buffs, in other words.

Okay, well Norse Mythology is ripe, and I mean ripe with shapeshifters of all types. Loki, Odin, Sea Giants, et al.

So one option is simply using the new Animal Shape from PHBII, in conjunction with some proper flavour/crunch changes in other areas. I actually *highly*, and I mean *HIGHLY* recommend this over polymorph because the bonuses gained from animal shape are independant of the animals form. You simply get X, Y and Z at level one, which upgrade to X+1, Y+3 and Z+2 once level 14 is reached (well, this isn't exactly how it works, but you got it). Essentually it looks a lot like my Bearsark/Ulfhednar Norse PrCs - the wolf gets a set +something to dex, while the bear gets +something to Str - and both get +something else to Con, IIRC. Point is that you, the DM, need not worry about the new polymorph errata and whatnot, and you now have a much more balanced (and, in my opinion, flavourful) Druid. The shape is just that - a shape. Ability boons are gained with level. Possibly the only thing I don't like is that this also gives you bonus feats while in animal shape - stuff like Great Cleave while in elemental form at level 20. Id rather see original abilities than a low level feat.

Huw makes a very good point with "water" over "forest". Since Animal Shape (assuming we are using this) gets rid of the Animal Companian and Wildshape, ets focus on the other abilities for the moment:

Spells - stay as is
Spontaneous Casting - stay as is
Nature Sense (Ex) - stay as is
Wild Empathy (Ex)- stay as is
Trackless Step (Ex) - stay as is
Timeless Body (Ex) - stay as is

Resist Nature’s Lure (Ex) - stay as is (maybe not - how can we incorperate Giants into this better? I'd personally love to see something here instead of fey, whihc are just not as appropriate. Maybe something like favoured enemy, except half bonuses and no combat bonuses, or something?)

A Thousand Faces (Su)
Venom Immunity (Ex) - replaced with:
Control Winds - as the spell, usable at will. This is primarily used at sea, though if used on land, the winds strength is decreased by 2 levels and this is not usable while in Animal Shape or WildShape. See here for more details. His levels in Druid determine Caster level (if applicable).

Also, please note the following restrictions: at level 9, you may only have the Light Wind Force. At level 12, you may now use up to Moderate Wind Force. At 14, you may now have Strong Wind Force. At level 17 you may now have the Severe Wind Force and at 19th level you may have 'Windstorm Wind Force.

Reasoning: I devised this (on the fly) because If these are Shamans/Druids of a more seafaring people, they need to be able to call the winds to their favour. Windstorm is pretty powerful, and since this is useably at will, I didn't want acess immediatly - which would have happened using RAW. Also, allowing to use this on land is important too, and genreally I think This adds alot to this class. Taking out both of those abilitites for soemthing *quite* powerful is more than fair, IMO.

Woodland Stride (Ex)
Water Breathing at will, gained at level 5, usable only on self.

Reasoning: level 5 is when this spell is/could be gained and usable on self only because it would otherwise be too powerful.


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All-in-all, This is themed more like a druid who can hold his own on the high seas with the rest of his people, but still be functionable in other terrain. I particularily like the Control Winds ability out of the whole set, and if Using the new Animal Shape from PHBII, you have a versatile, diverse, and flavourful class.

Hope that helps guys

Dannyalcatraz said:

Here's my thing...I was once inspired to make a (2Ed Player's Option) Warrior/Priest by reading the Kalevala (a Finnish saga), watching some old Finnish movies based on it (really cool stuff, BTW), and Russian folk tales.

They didn't have magic the way we think about it. Spells weren't cast ON or AT people...many magical things just happened- characters talked to birds, or trees, or the wind spirits. When magic was actually used, it was creative, transformative or protective, not big old fireballs and lightning bolts, and all of the power was raised by singing mighty, secret songs. Weather effects, while possible, were usually the result of asking the spirits who controlled the wind to do something, not a direct effect of the characters' inherent abilities.

Looking back at that PC, the nearest I could come to that in 3.X would be a PC with a couple of Rgr (or Ftr) levels, several levels of Cleric of Fharlanghn, and any arcane spellcaster who sings- like the aforementioned Spellsinger or Bard- or Wizard or Wu Jen, as long as the spells were mostly enchantment, transmutation or abjuration spells. Buffs, in other words.

Click to expand...

I remembering you talking about this PC before the crash, in another thread. He sounded like an amazing PC man - very compelling and rustic and appropriate.