Druids

[jgbrowning]

Hey guys!

How you all view the humble Druid?

Tree hugging, man hating protector of nature?

Wise person who tries to make man work with nature not against?

Wise person who loves to cut down forests and build cities, because man is naturally the "building" animal?

Psyopath who believes he is the ultimate predator?


just wanted to get a general consesus here.. or barring that the typical ENworld discussion....

thanks for responding...

joe b.

 

[Hygric]

I would say that a DnD druid could be any of those, mainly based on alignment. Lets see...

CN : Tree hugging, man hating protector of nature?

NG : Wise person who tries to make man work with nature not against?

LN : Wise person who loves to cut down forests and build cities, because man is naturally the "building" animal?

NE : Psyopath who believes he is the ultimate predator?

Add to those four

N : The wise man who understands that all must be in balance. Life, death, civilisation and the wild. All are parts of nature.

The archetype is fairly broad. That is a good thing IMHO. More choice, more choice!!!!

 

[Theuderic]

I always liked the description of the 1E Druid class: ( AD&D Player's Handbook 1E, pages 21-22 )


"The druid is a sub-class of clerics. They are the only absolute neutrals ( see ALIGNMENT ), viewing good and evil, law and chaos, as balancing forces of nature which are necessary for the continuation of all things......(rule information )......

It will be noted that the spells usable by druids are more attuned to nature and the outdoors than are the spells of other clerics or magic-users. Nonetheless, druids serve to strengthen, protect, and revitalize as the usual cleric does....( rule information ).........

Druids can be visualized as medieval cousins of what the ancient Celtic sect of Druids would have become had it survived the Roman conquest. They hold trees ( particularly oak and ash ), the sun, and the moon as deities. Mistletoe is the holy symbol of druids, and it gives power to their spells. They have an obligation to protect trees and wild plants, crops, and to a lesser extent, their human followers and animals. Thus druids will never destroy woodlands or crops no matter what the curcumstances. Even though a woods for example, were evilly hostile, druids would not destroy it, although nothing would prevent them from changing the nature of the place if the desire and the wherewithal existed. In similiar fashion, they avoid slaying wild animals or even domestic ones except as necessary for self-preservation and sustenance.

If druids observe any creature destroying their charges, the druids are unlikely to risk their lives to prevent the destruction. Rather, it is probable that the druids will seek retribution and revenge at a later date as oppurtunity presents itself....(followed by more rule information.....)"

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

"These are not the druids you are looking for..."

 

[Crothian]

I'm liking the Slaine Druid personally. It's a religions leader and very powerful in its magic. They are also very knowledgible having to spend 3 of their 8 skill points a level on knowledge skills.

 

[Maerdwyn]

I'm liking the Slaine Druid personally. It's a religions leader and very powerful in its magic. They are also very knowledgible having to spend 3 of their 8 skill points a level on knowledge skills.

I like the Slaine druid, too. I've been running a Celtic campaign for a while now, and am tweaking the druids class I've been using with some of the Slaine class features.

I see Celtic druids as religious leaders, scholars, lawyers/judges, and diplomats.

 

[jgbrowning]

I always liked the description of the 1E Druid class: ( AD&D Player's Handbook 1E, pages 21-22 )

Druids can be visualized as medieval cousins of what the ancient Celtic sect of Druids would have become had it survived the Roman conquest. They hold trees ( particularly oak and ash ), the sun, and the moon as deities. Mistletoe is the holy symbol of druids, and it gives power to their spells. They have an obligation to protect trees and wild plants, crops, and to a lesser extent, their human followers and animals. Thus druids will never destroy woodlands or crops no matter what the curcumstances. Even though a woods for example, were evilly hostile, druids would not destroy it, although nothing would prevent them from changing the nature of the place if the desire and the wherewithal existed. In similiar fashion, they avoid slaying wild animals or even domestic ones except as necessary for self-preservation and sustenance.

If druids observe any creature destroying their charges, the druids are unlikely to risk their lives to prevent the destruction. Rather, it is probable that the druids will seek retribution and revenge at a later date as oppurtunity presents itself....(followed by more rule information.....)"

i usually use this type of druid as well but i just got to thinking more closely about druids and i started to realize that the key word you used in your post was "destroying."

Is using something the same as destroying it? In the case of crops, obviously there is the intent at planting that i plan to destroy the whole lot of it and eat it.

In the case of forests, im going to cut it all down and build houses and use it as fuel.

is it the cycle of life, maintaining the presense of an object (forest lets say) that's important no so much the use of the object. ie. as long as i was planting trees i could cut them down in equal amounts to replace what i've used? what happens when i have to assart areas because the population needs another acre of arable land to plant wheat on?

is cuttin down a forest (nature) to replace it with crops (nature) a bad thing to a druid?

I'm having a hard time trying to rectify a modern concept of environmentalism with a medieval/ancient world. Most medieval/ancient worlds didnt have the pressing concerns that we have, because they didnt' have the vast population nor the technology to for vast actions.

hrm.. im kinda in a quadary here and hope some of you out there will state your opinions. thanks,

joe b.

 

[Dagger75]

My players druid, CN in Alignment.

Nature is my tool to gain power. With it I can preserve nature and use it gain more power.

Thats how my player described his druid.

 

[Number47]

In my game, Druids are an ancient and mysterious race. There are so few of them, it would be rare to ever meet one in a lifetime. Therefore, any Druid can do pretty much as they like and nobody would think it unusual (for Druids). Not to mention, nobody wants to mess with protectors of ancient wisdom.

 

[Oni]

I like the idea of the Druid as a nature witch. In tune with the old ways, drawing their power from the world around them.