How to play a druid?

[brendan candries]

Also, keep in mind... your animal companion is EXPENDABLE. The only thing that happens when it dies is you have to spend 24 hours to get a new one. That's it.

And a few months worth of animal training ...

 

[brendan candries]

4) Wildshape is a mixed blessing post-errata. If the DM enforces the "no talking in wildshape" rules it is going to be hard to exploit it like before (due to the item rules)

Ghostwise Halflings (FR) have a nifty way around the "no talking" rule with their telepathic speech, giving up the racial bonus on saves (or the Strongheart's bonus feat). Their savage/forest background meshes well with the class too.

 

[ceratitis]

if you get the tiger call him hobbs and change your name to calvin
Z

 

[Wolfwood2]

5) Remember your limitations, because nobody likes a cheat. This means handle animal checks with your animal companion; no speaking or casting in wild shape without the feats & remembering your entire equipment list shapeshifts with you and becomes useless in wildshape. You don’t get Ex qualities in wildshape either, and this includes scent & lowlight.

5) Take the mickey. This comes under the ‘nobody like a cheat’ entry. Nobody likes rules lawyers and abusive power/metagamers either. Taking your rings and necklace off before shifting and then asking your mates to put them back on your smelly flea-ridden animal form is flangey at best. The Vow of Poverty from Exalted Deeds should also be given serious consideration incase it makes your DM cry like a girl.

It's probably worthwhile to have a talk with your DM about the whole item issue, though. Sure be clear on what the official rules are, but then plead your case that just having your items fizzle out all the time is unfun. All D&D characters like their toys. If there were a clear best answer for the game, WotC wouldn't have had to wrestle with it for years.

After all, if you get your DM to houserule something... it's not cheating!

 

[interwyrm]

And a few months worth of animal training ...

Bonus tricks take no time or skill checks to learn.

Booyeah!

 

[Corlon]

Alright guys, we had our first session yesterday with 4/5 people showing up.

We (for once) didn't do point buy and instead rolled our stats in order (4d6 giving up the lowest, first is str, second is dex, etc.), and then replaced one with a 16.

Luckily enough I ended up with (including the bonus at 4th level) str 16, dex 8, con 16, int 13, wis 18, cha 16

We haven't played in a while so our rules knowledge was a bit rusty, and we weren't sure if the bonus HD upgraded my wolf's size, but we ended saying "hell, why not." I chose SF(conjuration) and augment summoning as my first two feats, but I really wasn't sure what to get for the next one, so I just put down Improved Initiative (although my DM really wouldn't mind me changing it by next session, so if you guys have any suggestions...)

I have a ring of protection and periapt of wisdom as well as a wand of CLW and some masterwork equipment.

I've just been kind of preparing random spells (from core as well as the new Spell Compedium) but I really have no idea what to get, so any suggestions on that?

I also haven't statted myself out as different animals yet, but I didn't really need to turn into anything that session.

It's in the desert so entangle was a bust until I found "vine mine" in the spell compedium, which essentially allows me to create a huge amount of undergrowth. I tried out enrage animal on my companion as well as call lightning and decomposition, all to good effect.

The other two characters were a barbarian and the archer variety of a ranger, so I forwent handle animal and invested in diplomacy (which I used throughout the session to great effect).

He seems to be a good character, but I'm just asking for clarification on forms I should change into, animals I should summon, whether or not my wolf should actually be of large size, and what spells to cast.

thanks guys
-Corlon

 

[ceratitis]

be sure to look for some natural armour or DR ,dex 8 is rather low... maybe get a dragon hide armour later on
will you use homebrew spells? i got some collected mostly from here. none are mine but i'm sure whoever posts here wont mind you using them
sound like you're on your way to start a great adventure. something just came up at work and i'm gonna miss my next playing session
Z

 

[Corlon]

Oh yeah, my DM discarded the "druids aren't allowed to use metal items" rule as he thought it was ridiculous.

Seeing how it's the desert and very hot, however, I'm gonna stay with light armors just for realism's sake.

 

[Lela]

Oh yeah, my DM discarded the "druids aren't allowed to use metal items" rule as he thought it was ridiculous.

Seeing how it's the desert and very hot, however, I'm gonna stay with light armors just for realism's sake.

Hmmmmm, dwarven druid swearing off metal. No wonder it's an uncommon class for them.

Really though, it seems to me that a druid should have just as much opportunity to work with mineral as animal. For one, it's part of the natural order and, two, no one else can really do it.

 

[Staffan]

Call Lightning is Evocation, not Conjuration. Under core rules, druids don't get a Conjuration spell that has a saving throw until the 6th level spell Fire Seeds.

Cure spells have saves when you cast them on the undead. But that's a bit of a rare case.