D&D 5E WOTC Possibly Removing "Druids" for Religious/Cultural Sensitivity Reasons

[TwoSix]

Druids weren't shamans. Shaman is a very specific thing, and off the top of my head I can't think of a European shamanic tradition (but i am not well versed in eastern Europe history and tradition, so i could be wrong). Druids were priests of the celtic gods.

Most historians agree that shamanic practices were introduced by the Horde invading Azeroth from Draenor via the Dark Portal.

 

[MGibster]

This is true...but it doesn't mean you should therefore do nothing when the situation calls for it. Language evolves, and I think reasonable people have a pretty good sense of when a widespread term has gone past its "best by" date - if unclear, let those affected tell you. Or ask a teenager; they will definitely explain it to you, possibly with a number of eye rolls for emphasis.

I completely agree with this. I'm not sure Barbarian, Cleric, or Paladin are past their "best buy" date, but it doesn't hurt to ask around.

 

[MGibster]

Druids weren't shamans. Shaman is a very specific thing, and off the top of my head I can't think of a European shamanic tradition (but i am not well versed in eastern Europe history and tradition, so i could be wrong). Druids were priests of the celtic gods.

Druids were Catholic? (Put down the censer! I was kidding!)

 

[Sacrosanct]

Druids weren't shamans. Shaman is a very specific thing, and off the top of my head I can't think of a European shamanic tradition (but i am not well versed in eastern Europe history and tradition, so i could be wrong). Druids were priests of the celtic gods.

According to UK historian Ben Johnson:

"Druidism can be described as a shamanic religion, as it relied on a combination of contact with the spirit world and holistic medicines to treat (and sometimes cause) illnesses."

Edit apparently a view held by others as well, considering druids more shamanistic than priestly

Anne Ross, author of Pagan Celtic Britain (1967) and The Life and Death of a Druid Prince (1989),
Miranda Aldhouse-Green, author of The Gods of the Celts (1986), Exploring the World of the Druids (1997) and Caesar's Druids: Story of an Ancient Priesthood (2010);
Barry Cunliffe, author of Iron Age Communities in Britain (1991) and The Ancient Celts (1997)

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Druids weren't shamans. Shaman is a very specific thing, and off the top of my head I can't think of a European shamanic tradition (but i am not well versed in eastern Europe history and tradition, so i could be wrong). Druids were priests of the celtic gods.

There's the Sami people of Northern Europe with a great tradition of shamanism.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Realistically, you can't name a class "Martial Artist" and expect people to get that you're also including armored swordsmen in that bucket.

...depends on where the armor comes from...

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Druids weren't shamans. Shaman is a very specific thing, and off the top of my head I can't think of a European shamanic tradition (but i am not well versed in eastern Europe history and tradition, so i could be wrong). Druids were priests of the celtic gods.

They are very similar, and the D&D version even more so. They commune with nature spirits and shapechange into animal forms. Those are both common in shamanism.

As for European shamanism, Sami people practiced it.

 

[Aldarc]

Most historians agree that shamanic practices were introduced by the Horde invading Azeroth from Draenor via the Dark Portal.

Shamanistic practices were already present within many of the native (or introduced) Azerothian cultures prior to Year Zero of the Dark Portal calendar.

 

[Sacrosanct]

As for European shamanism, Sami people practiced it.

Yeah, my thought as well. There is a lot of what today we'd call shamanism in Old Nordic religion (fylgja for example).

 

[Tony Vargas]

I guess we should ask what it is "clerics" actually do,

Clerical work, obviously

...it's why there was no Cleric in LotR