Any variant Druid classes?

[Li Shenron]

As the thread stats, and to be more precise and specific, is there any Druid variants without the Wild Shape ability? I was never the biggest fan of their class ability and most players I know that (if ever do) play Druids never use it. I already know about the Unearthed Arcana variant, but what about any homebrew versions or ones here on the boards, any links? Thanks.

As a guideline, I would substitute the Wildshape ability with one or more supernatural or spell-like abilities which replicate druidic spells.

Quickly on the top of my head...

An aquatic druid could get some daily use of widened Obscuring Mist/Fog Cloud as SLA a few times per day, and extended use of Water Breathing as supernatural.

A plant druid could get Detect Plants at will , Tree Shape and Wood Shape a few times daily (SLA) at different levels, and permanent Barkskin as supernatural ability.

An animal-oriented druid could have an extra animal companion at level 5, and maybe a third later on.

Ok it would take some time to come up with appropriate balancing of these abilities and choosing at which level they are granted, but if you are willing to do that, you could just decide which type of druid you are looking for and browse the spell list... Consider that Wildshape is effectively a 4th level spell (Polymorph is a top-end 4th level spell) with extended duration but restricted choices (animals only), with some tweaks. Granting low-level spells as spell-like abilities is good because SLA don't have components; granting them as supernatural is even better, at least because they cannot be dispelled.

 

[Tonguez]

SOmewhere (I'll have to find it) is my variant Druid/Shaman which replaces wild shape with a modiefied rage-like ability called RUSH. The difference is that the Rush can be applied to ANY stat - so a Druid can get a RUSH to Wis and Dex (for instance) and for the duration all Saves and Skills based on those stats are boosted (ie they can see more clearly (Spot), react more quickly (reflex), jump further and even 'survive' better)

 

[Erekose]

You might want to check out the Druid class in the Mongoose Slaine RPG, although it does need some modification to work in a standard D&D campaign.

 

[Greg K]

My true druid

For my campaign, the true druid is a variant of the cloistered cleric. Among, various "barbarian tribes or clans", the true druids are priests, who tend to the religious needs of their people and whose job it is to interpret the will of the gods. In addition, to their roles as religoius leaders, true druids often serve as judge,scholar, teacher and diplomat for their people. Their initial training is similar to bards in that they learn the history and lore of their people through song, poetry, and music. However, unlike the bard, the druid chooses to undergo an ordeal and complete his training as a priest.

The true druid is a cloistered cleric (Unearthed Arcana) with the following changes:

1) The Cloistered Cleric's Knowledge Domain is replaced with the Divination Domain (3.0)/Oracle Domain (3.5)

2) The other two domains are Charm and Illusion

3) The Druid Spell list is used in place of the cleric spell list

4) replace the Cloistered Cleric's additional spells with the following:

1) Bless, Command, Divine Favor, 2) Aid; 3) Bestow Curse, Prayer, major illusion, remove curse, tongues; 4) Discern Lies; 5)Greater Command; Mark of Justice; 6) permanent illusion, programmed illusion

5) Druid's skill list with the following additions as class skills: Decipher Script, Knowledge (arcana, history, religion); Perform (oratory, sing, string instrument); sense motive

 

[The Great Bear King]

As a fan of arcane spellcasters how couldn't I just LOVE a Wizard who gets better HD, a domain, several extra abilities and druidic spellcasting abilities, in exchange for only the wizard's bonus feat?

I really hope that at least you meant that the 2 spell lists are merged, but spells/day are just as a regular wizard...

What do you mean by "merged".

True Druids

Druids or the oak wise were the priests of the ancient Celts and acted as spiritual counsel and performed sacrifices. They were considered to be seers and prophets, as well as philosophers, scientists, and wizards. They worshiped a god they called either Dagda or Be’al whom they believed to be the chief of all gods.
Though they may have performed human sacrifice all the victims were condemned murders, rapists, and traitors.

Hit Dice: d6

Saving Throws: Fort; Good, Will; Good, Reflex; Poor

Base Attack Bonus: Poor

Weapons:

Sickle, Dagger, Club, Net,
Blow Gun, Hand Axe, and Scimitar

Armor: Must be natural (wood, rock, leather, or hide)

Divine Spells: as druid
Arcane Spells: as wizard
One Domain: any but Law or Evil

Nature Sense, Resist Nature's Lure
Venom Immunity, Timeless Body
Divine Grace, Lay on Hands, Remove Disease,
Familiar, Scribe Scroll, and Brew Magical Potion

Alignment: must be good

Class skills: as wizard plus diplomacy

Skill Points: (4+Int)x4 at first level, 4+Int every level afterwards.

Other classes: They get along well enough with barbarians, rangers, wizards and magi. They have little or no patience for clerics (whom they consider to be priests of lesser gods) and often times call rouges thieves instead. They respect paladins for their honor, decency and piety (though they are a little worried about the lawful ones). They dislike sorcerers and think of witches and warlocks as both heretics and asylum escapees. Shamans however are considered equals. Black guards, Death Knights, paladins of tyranny and slaughter as well as other evil classes are thought of as abominations and blasphemies. All other classes are viewed with a neutral attitude.

 

[Li Shenron]

What do you mean by "merged".

Well, what do you mean by this:

Divine Spells: as druid
Arcane Spells: as wizard

Maybe I am too much used to the way spellcasting is written in d20 books, so that if a class casts spells it gets a neat table with spells/day/level, and some explanation (eventually a second table) about how many spells they know.

By writing those above, it seems like at level X your druid knows and casts spells as a core Druid of level X plus spells as a core Wizard of level X.
I don't usually like using the word "broken" but if thats is what you meant, I think in this case it is quite appropriate... you'd be casting spells as two characters!

 

[dragoncc]

Well, if you've never seen Szatany's work on the wizo's boards this should be of great interest on this topic as there are not one, but several options to get a druid without wildshape

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=168687

-Chris

 

[Ferret]

Wow that new class on the wizard board looks really good. I might have to use it.

 

[The Druid Merlin]

What do you think about the True Druid class.

 

[JDowling]

if i'm reading it right - it's a gesalt druid/wizard as far a spells per day, and spell selection goes?

way too powerful. if they shared both spell lists and one spells per day table, maybe (though why anyone would choose anything else with the best of all right there one would wonder)...

if it's 2 spell lists, and 2 spells/day table - that's far too powerful for a standard campaign...

double the spells per day and double the selection for giving up wild shape? also makes wizards totally pointless.

2 good saves, higher hit points, higher skill points, all wizards spells + wizard spell progression, all druid spells + druid spell progression. massively over powered in a standard setting.

I could be reading it wrong, but that's how it seems to be written.

EDIT: hah, they get Ironwood Platearmor eventually too (natural armor), and still a decent number of class abilities. If it's full spell progression as a wizard PLUS full spell progression as a druid then this class is totally broken, massively over powered, and would out shine *every* other class in the book unless you use similarly powerful varients.