Good races for druids

[Ridley's Cohort]

Low-light vision is superb if you actually spend your time outdoors. Which might make a lot of sense for a druid...

(It helps a bit underground, as well.)

 

[Darklone]

Low-light vision is superb if you actually spend your time outdoors. Which might make a lot of sense for a druid...

(It helps a bit underground, as well.)

It helps a lot, just take care that you don't carry the light.

Dancing Lights and shooting Xbow bolts with Light cast upon them is a good tactic. You see them, they don't see you.

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

I rather enjoy playing my Goblin druid right now.
Riding Dog companion. Mounted Combat feat.
Throwing javelins around.
Got the Darkvision, got the 30 ft speed when I hop off the dog for those inaccessible areas (down/up ladders, cliffs, etc).
The Charisma penalty is doable, and I made sure I still have a positive mod. for Wild Empathy.

Leather barding on the dog really does help.

I'm at 3rd level now. At 4th level I'm going to switch Mounted Combat for Natural Bond (Complete Adventurer), using PHB II re-training rules, and let loose my riding dog for an ape.
1 level later I'll get Wildshape and do as I please

Really good fun!

 

[Felix]

Goblin.

Small size and 30ft. movement. Best possible combination for a spellcaster, and you can Wildshape when you want a different form.

 

[Jack Simth]

Yes, and with the errata, you keep the darkvision from being a goblin when in other forms.

Oh, and Lopke_Quasath?
Don't let natural bond mitigate the level-adjusted animal companions; slap some leather barding on a Natural Bonded Ape and he beats out the DMG NPC Barbarian-5 (when the Barbarian is Raging) when the Druid is at 4th level. This is even ignoring the spells the Druid casts on his Ape (such as Barkskin or Magic Fang) that make it even stronger. You don't really want to do the whole "I have special abilities that are more powerful than your entire class" thing too much.

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

Noted Jack Simth

As some additional details, the group I play with only has 3 players and the DM. My spells mostly heal up the Orc barbarian (who is much better at fighting than anything else, using his 'kingstick', a fence post he found on the ground [effectively Greatclub]) and the kobold sorcerer. My 2nd level spells will be putting Barkskin on the orc (his AC is terrible).

Yes, we are the "reverse evil" party All of us are good alignment, kicked out of our tribes.

My companion is the other big hitter in combat, and we need him.

Also, my 3rd level feat is Jack of All Trades. My druid is also the skill monkey....
So, I'm not exactly powergaming, just trying to cover all the bases. This group is a blast to play with!

Did I mention the Orc has Int 5, and the Kobold Int 9? And the kobold can't speak Common

Man, it's fun

 

[szilard]

I played a Gray Elf druid, which worked well. At low levels, the Dex bonus and longbow proficiency helped a lot. The Int bonus meant I could get a ton of skills, which never gets old. Once you get wild shape, the strength penalty isn't much of a problem (and, before that, it is minimized through reliance on archery).

Also, if you max out Spot/Listen (which isn't hard with an Int bonus), your elven bonuses, Wisdom bonuses, and eventual benefits due to wild shape will make you obscenely perceptive.

-Stuart

 

[eamon]

Don't let natural bond mitigate the level-adjusted animal companions;

That would indeed be a rules abuse. Natural bond is clearly intended to be limited by your character level - in other words, you can't use natural bond selectively half-way the animal companion process: (As in "My druid is 4th level, so he can select an Ape, and that ape get's bonuses from the table based on my druid level -3, which is 1, oh but I have natural bond, so it's 4").

Wow... the things people think up... there are actually groups out there that let that fly??

 

[Legildur]

That would indeed be a rules abuse. Natural bond is clearly intended to be limited by your character level - in other words, you can't use natural bond selectively half-way the animal companion process: (As in "My druid is 4th level, so he can select an Ape, and that ape get's bonuses from the table based on my druid level -3, which is 1, oh but I have natural bond, so it's 4").

Wow... the things people think up... there are actually groups out there that let that fly??

I think you might need to search some of the not so old threads around Natural Bond. If I recall correctly, as written, it allows exactly what you consider to be 'rules abuse'. The argument is pretty persuasive.

 

[Jack Simth]

That would indeed be a rules abuse. Natural bond is clearly intended to be limited by your character level - in other words, you can't use natural bond selectively half-way the animal companion process: (As in "My druid is 4th level, so he can select an Ape, and that ape get's bonuses from the table based on my druid level -3, which is 1, oh but I have natural bond, so it's 4").

A bit abusive, yes.

DMG NPC Barbarian-5 has 43 HP, 18 AC, +2 Initiative, Greataxe +10 (1d12+4); when Raging, that's 53 HP, 16 AC, +2 Initiative, Greataxe +12 (1d12+7).

Meanwhile, the Natural Bonded Ape with Leather Barding gets 42 HP, AC 19, +3 Initiative, 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+6) and bite +4 melee (1d6+3).

Ignoring crits...

The Raging Barbarian-5 hits the Ape on a roll of 7, for an average damage per hit of 13.5; average of 9.45 damage per round. The Ape goes down in about 4.44 rounds in a slugfest.
The Ape hits the Raging Barbarian on a rolls of 7 (left claw)/7 (right claw)/12 (bite), dealing an average of 9.5/9.5/6.5 on each hit; average damage per round on a full attack of 16.225 damage. The Raging Barbarian goes down in about 3.26 rounds in a slugfest.
The Druid-5's Natural Bonded Ape with Leather Barding beats the Raging Barbarian-5 in melee ... and the Druid has had this exact Ape build since 4th, potentially, and the Ape gets another two points of attack and two points of AC when the Druid hits 6th.

The calm Barbarian hits the Ape on a roll of 9, for an average damage per hit of 10.5; average damage of 6.3 per round. Ape is expected to go down in about 6.67 rounds in a slugfest.
The Ape hits the calm barbarian on rolls of 9/9/14, for the same damage on a hit of 9.5/9.5/6.5; average damage 13.675 per round. calm Barbarian is expected to go down in about 3.14 rounds.
The Druid-5's Natural Bonded Ape with Leather Barding beats the calm Barbarian-5 in melee ... and the Druid has had this exact Ape build since 4th, potentially, and the Ape gets another two points of attack and two points of AC when the Druid hits 6th.

Oh yeah - and I'm ignoring the Ape's 6th Hit Die feat that it gets from Natural Bond.

With Barbarian and Druid at equal levels, the DMG NPC Barbarian starts to be able to beat up the Natural Bonded Ape with Leather Barding at around level 8 or 10. The Ape, though, comes with a Druid who can strengthen him further (either riding in a custom saddle and sharing spells for free, standing right next to the Ape and sharing spells for free while also fighting, or not sharing spells but flanking). DMG NPC Barbarian not so much. And the Ape is easier to replace than is the Barbarian.

Wow... the things people think up... there are actually groups out there that let that fly??

Yes. Rational groups, even.

Firstly, the DMG NPC Barbarian isn't exactly optimized with what he has (I'm using him simply because it's less work for me to just grab the statistics than to build a good Barbarian). There's probably a Shock Trooper Leap Attack Barbarian-5 build out there somewhere that'll take out the Natural Bonded Ape on a Charge in one hit, while being able to survive two or three rounds of pounding from the Ape.

Secondly, the DMG NPC Barbarian doesn't have grand stats; he has the elite array, which is a 25 point buy distributed in an ok, but not optimal, manner. The PC Barbarian is quite possibly on a 32 point buy distributed more optimally, with more equipment distributed more optimally.

Thirdly, some parties don't have all roles covered - if the Meat shield role is otherwise missing, then it's fine for the Druid to do this, as the ape isn't overshadowing a PC (which is usually what causes problems more than the rest).

Fourth, some parties don't mind cheesy characters; as long as basically everyone in the party is roughly equally cheesy, the DM can simply step up the CR of opponents to compensate.

Fifth, the DMG NPC Barbarian will win if played intelligently - he's got a bow, and he can move faster (if he sheds that silly Medium armor, he goes 40 feet per round). One round of Withdrawing, and the Barbarian is out of Charge range on the Ape (20 foot lead). If he thereafter runs, he picks up another 40 feet of lead each round. On Round 1, he Withdrawls; round 2, he runs. On round 3, he's 60 feet away from the Ape, so fires his bow and moves 40 feet further away - ape catches up only on a Run (and thus can't attack). Barbarian repeats the procedure. It'll take an age, and a large open area, but the Barbarian WILL win. Just not in a slugfest like the class is built for.

Three and four are situational, but if either is present, it's perfectly OK for the Druid to Natural Bond this way all by their lonesome. One, two, and five are pretty much universal for mechanics-skilled Barbarian players, and will keep the Ape from outshining the Barbarian at lower levels.