Druidic Bard and Prestige Druids?

[MaxKaladin]

The celts had three "grades" of druids: Bards, Ovates and Druids. You didn't start out as a druid, you had to go through years of training and work your way up through the grades to become a druid. I'd like to emulate this sort of progression in my new campaign setting. This presents certain problems. One is that there isn't and "Ovate" class or PrC that I know of. Another is that the bard class uses arcane magic and spells rather than divine. A third is that the druid class is a core class and someone having gone through several levels of another class to qualify in-game would get the abilities of a first level character for their trouble.

What I'd like to do is find a bard base class that is set up to use divine magic, preferably appropriate to a druid, for those who want to become a druid to start with. I'm not sure how to fill the middle slot, but I'd like to find either some sort of natureish priest who isn't a druid as a Prc or a base class. I might also just make the middle stage some sort of administrative thing withinthe world and not a seperate class. Finally I'd like a PrC version of the druid that would give access to the same sort of abilities as the base class, but provide spell progression more appropriate to someone who already has several levels as a spellcaster under their belt.

Does something like this exist? Do any of the elements described exist? If so, where can I find them?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Crothian]

Slaine by Mongoose is based on Celtic myth and should be more along the lines of what you seek.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I hear you, Max. I found myself in the same situation a few months back for a campaign I am planning/writing up. I am working on core and prestige classes precisely to allow for the progression you mention (same thing with the bards, actually, so they can progress up to fili), but these are nowhere near complete for release yet, so let me give you some suggestions based on what I came up for a quick game and playtesting.

You need to get Mongoose's Slaine and Avalanche Press' Celtic Age, as these will give you ready-made Celtic goodness to fidget with. You will also need WotC's Unearthed Arcana.
You can use the standard core Bard as your starting class, just make the magic divine instead of arcane; it really makes little diference. For the ovate, check Celtic Age, which if I recall correctly, features an ovate PrC (I don't have the book in my office today, so I can't confirm). Lastly, Unearthed Arcana comes with a variant prestige druid class that should do the trick for the last stage of advancement. Slaine also has a druid class that you could use, but that one is extremely tied to the variant mechanics used in that book, and is not so easily portable to more standard d20 than the rest. That said, the Earth Power magic system is interesting, though its use depends on the style of Celtic campaign you are running.

If you don't have the two Celtic books, you could make do with using bard as your starting class, and then switching to the prestige druid from Unearthed Arcana. With just the SRD to play with, then go bard (at least till level 5), then druid the rest of the way. It won't really replicate the Celtic advancement structure, but at least you'll have something playable.

And while we're talking Celtic stuff, may I suggest you take a look at our product catalog (use the links below) as we just released a small product called Bardic Lore: Ogham, the written language of the druids in Ireland.

Hope that helps, and if you have more questions, post then; I enjoy the topic.

 

[MaxKaladin]

I have "Celtic Age" but not "Slaine". I looked in Unearthed Arcana this morning but didn't see the prestige druid. There were prestige paladins and rangers, but no prestige druid that I saw.

I'm torn between wanting to keep bards from becoming more powerful spellcasters and allowing for powerful druids at high levels. I may have to split the progression so that bard and druid are two seperate career paths within the overall religion. I may also treat it as a branching path where everyone starts out as some sort of bard for the first couple of levels at least and then chooses between the bardic path or the druidic path. I may even add a third path in there and have the split be something along the lines of bards being the ones responsible for preserving and passing on the collective lore of the society, druids being the ones who are concerned with the "grand scheme of things" like nature and the doings of kings, and the third path being something like village priests who are the actual spiritual advisors to the people.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

That's what I get for trying to remember books while at the office. Sorry, you are right, no prestige druid in UA. Still, you could make a prestige version of it, though that means fidgeting more. Your idea of starting them out as some "generic" bard, and then allowing for two paths is a good, quick idea, and probably the easiest without creating a whole slew of classes and such.
I'm keeping this thread in my favorites, so that once I finish the classes I am working on for Celtic druids and bards, I can let you know so you can take a look, see if they help. It won't be soon, but perhaps you'll still be playing the same campaign or starting a new one.

 

[Belmont20xx]

If you have Complete Adventurer, you might try the Folhucan Lyrist PrC. It's a bard/druid/rogue class that is fairly powerful, but seems to fit rather well for what you're asking for.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

You're right, I'd forgotten aboout the Fochlucan Lyrist. If you don't have Complete Adventurer, a Mystic Theurge can fill in with little problem.