Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Good, Evil, Nature, and Druids
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7598659" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>Back in the 80s, I was actually kinda into Celtic Mythology and fiction based upon it, so my sense of Druids is that they're mysterious (because few historical records and none of them reliable) tribal mystics - they were reputedly healers, judges, and lore-keepers, as well as credited with magical powers, particularly precognition and shape-shifting. Another layer of my thinking about Druids comes from the fact there have been at least two Druid revivals, one late in the 18th century in England, one more recently as part of the New Age and neo-pagan movements - in fact, I've personally known a neo-pagan Druid, and been to Druid rituals. I like the idea of the Druid, in fantasy and other RPGs, as a priest of an abandoned 'Old Religion,' perhaps vanished, perhaps working in secret, or maybe just marginalized by more modern religions and magical practices. </p><p>When the D&D World Axis/Dawn War cosmology started coming out, I thought the Druid should've been involved in the powers of the Primordials (maybe not worshipping them or fighting on their side, but mortals placating and calling upon them, perhaps, or drawing on their power indirectly), instead D&D came up with the 'Primal Spirits.' Meh, OK. Not as interesting as being with the runners-up in the cosmic war of creation. </p><p></p><p> Druids in my old AD&D campaign world were, perforce, Neutral and devoted too moorcockian 'balance' between the extremes of law/chaos & good/evil. So nature did not have any moral or ethic components. A druid that turned Evil would simply lose his Druidness until he returned to the fold. And, sure, death is part of life - the sickle was a druid symbol, and also a symbol of death, for instance.</p><p></p><p>Druid as defender of nature feels a little forced and anachronistic, to me - conservationism only dates to the 19th century, environmentalism to the mid 20th. </p><p></p><p> I think my favorite role for them is as the remnants of a pre-divine world order, calling upon forces older than the gods. Not quite lovecraftian (older still, & alien), though, if there were pre-human civilization, maybe the first humans to scrape together the supernatural power to stand up to them. Druids (& witches, shamans, etc) would exist in the wilderness and the smallest most backwards thorps & villages, the fringes & hinterlands of the divine-religion dominated strongholds of civilization, even further removed from the mainstream than wizards & sorcerers.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7598659, member: 996"] Back in the 80s, I was actually kinda into Celtic Mythology and fiction based upon it, so my sense of Druids is that they're mysterious (because few historical records and none of them reliable) tribal mystics - they were reputedly healers, judges, and lore-keepers, as well as credited with magical powers, particularly precognition and shape-shifting. Another layer of my thinking about Druids comes from the fact there have been at least two Druid revivals, one late in the 18th century in England, one more recently as part of the New Age and neo-pagan movements - in fact, I've personally known a neo-pagan Druid, and been to Druid rituals. I like the idea of the Druid, in fantasy and other RPGs, as a priest of an abandoned 'Old Religion,' perhaps vanished, perhaps working in secret, or maybe just marginalized by more modern religions and magical practices. When the D&D World Axis/Dawn War cosmology started coming out, I thought the Druid should've been involved in the powers of the Primordials (maybe not worshipping them or fighting on their side, but mortals placating and calling upon them, perhaps, or drawing on their power indirectly), instead D&D came up with the 'Primal Spirits.' Meh, OK. Not as interesting as being with the runners-up in the cosmic war of creation. Druids in my old AD&D campaign world were, perforce, Neutral and devoted too moorcockian 'balance' between the extremes of law/chaos & good/evil. So nature did not have any moral or ethic components. A druid that turned Evil would simply lose his Druidness until he returned to the fold. And, sure, death is part of life - the sickle was a druid symbol, and also a symbol of death, for instance. Druid as defender of nature feels a little forced and anachronistic, to me - conservationism only dates to the 19th century, environmentalism to the mid 20th. I think my favorite role for them is as the remnants of a pre-divine world order, calling upon forces older than the gods. Not quite lovecraftian (older still, & alien), though, if there were pre-human civilization, maybe the first humans to scrape together the supernatural power to stand up to them. Druids (& witches, shamans, etc) would exist in the wilderness and the smallest most backwards thorps & villages, the fringes & hinterlands of the divine-religion dominated strongholds of civilization, even further removed from the mainstream than wizards & sorcerers. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Good, Evil, Nature, and Druids
Top