Types of Spellcasting Druids

[redwing]

The Druid offers a wide variety of chioces on how to play the character. With a focus on spellcasting over melee or wild shaping you gain access to even greater variety.

The Spell list for the druid is quite vast and offers many choices. However depending on how you select your spells, you can create a specific niche for your druid. For example, Druids focusing on summoning spells, Druids focusing on blasting spells (not necessarily "blasting" but elemental spells that cause damage), Druids focusing on nature Spells (dealing with animals/plants), Druids focusing on elemental magic, etc.

I know that keeping the options open would be best for play, but focusing on a specific type gives a little more flavor to a character. Introducing a druid as master of storms (idea from Dragon Mag) is quite different from your normal druid. Most of this was focus on spell selection.

What other types of spellcasting druids are there? What fantasy archetypes can be filled by carefully selecting the druid's spells?

 

[Jdvn1]

Buffing druids. When I make a Wildshaping Druid (Warshaper/Nature's Warrior), I use all of my spell slots of stuff like Bull's Strength, Magic Fang, Energy Immunity, etc. Makes for good melee characters.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I'm playing a druid, too. But I have only played him for one session, and there was not a single fight. We started at level 3, and I plan to take Master of Many Forms at level 6, so spellcasting won't be his strong point.

So far, I have prepared combat buffs: prudice flame, flame blade, sha-la-la, the like, but of course, summoning animals is always a possibility (and I have a dozen or so minis with me for that special purpose). I'll have to wait for a fight or two before I know how I really want to play that.

 

[dungeon blaster]

I play a druid a lot more like how I would imagine them to be... NOT a magic buffing shapeshifting combat machine. I used UA spontaneous caster variant, removed spontaneous summon nature's ally, allowed the druid to have one free domain (plant, weather, sun, vigor, earth, air, fire, water, animal), added immunity to natural disease, changed venom immunity to natural venom immunity, allowed all hunting weapons, and disallowed wildshape (huge). The NPC druid I created has a focus on plants and healing magic.

 

[Jdvn1]

And I also used the spontaneous SNA's for flanking bonuses and Aid Anothers.

 

[Tonguez]

I like the Storm Warden Druid (weather control spells and air elementals) and I use the Summoning Druid as an easy-fit for the Shaman archetype.

The 'Beast Master' Druid is another one I've used as an NPC

and the Earthquake Druid would be cool if there were more earth/rock spells (only 9 in the SRD not counting Earth Elementals. It can work if you include Metal and fire (magma) spells)

 

[nato]

Any advice on how to emphasize spellcasting for a druid?

I would really like to do that. I see a druid as protective of animals, so for rp reasons I really don't like using summons and companions (for combat at least.) For personal reasons, and because its often considered overpowered, I don't like heavily using wild shape.

That leaves spells, which I really do like and think the druid has some great flavor for. I'm just not sure how to strengthen it well. If thats the only major thing your druid is doing, it needs to be done well.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Any advice on how to emphasize spellcasting for a druid?

Sadly, there are not really any good PrCs for the Druid that wants emphasize something other than wildshaping. You are so much better off sticking with straight Druid and expressing your theme through spell choice and tactics.

The only PrC for the Druid I like is the Beastmaster take one(!) level to improve your Animal Companion at the cost of one feat, one casting level, one wildshaping level. That is awfully steep so it is a flat out lousy minmax choice. But it is pretty darn cool so I might do that anyway eventually...

 

[Jdvn1]

Any advice on how to emphasize spellcasting for a druid?

What Ridley's Cohort said, there aren't a lot of good spellcasting PrCs for Druid. There are a few, but I don't think they emphasize animals or Summon Nature's Ally. If you look in the Complete Divine (at least, I'm pretty sure it's in there), there's one that focuses on storms and weather and such. Storm-something, I think it's called.

Slim pickings, though. It's not like with Wizards, where there are PrCs for every major style of magic.

 

[youspoonybard]

The Moonspeaker (RoE) is pretty cool.

God, after seeing this book I want to play a Shifter Druid/Moonspeaker so much.