How does one become a druid?

[Sado]

Every other class I can understand how one would get started in it. But am I supposed to believe that people just up and decide to go guard a particular patch of nature? What would put someone up to that? Is it a calling from some deity? I never understood it.

Real-life druids (more nature-oriented priest/judges) I can see. But not the way d&d describes them as just some nut who decides to become caretaker for some woods.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

IMC druids are trained/raised by other druids in druid groves. They don't spontaneously gain their abilities.

 

[Sado]

But how do you decide to go off and become a druid? What leads you to that decision?

Do druids work for someone who wants them to protect their grove, or do they just decide to do it on their own?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Druidical religion/tradition is very common in many areas. Instead of becoming a priest of God X; the local folk revere nature and some of them become druids to protect/serve nature. This might be particularly true in areas where nature has a greater influence on people's affairs -- isolated communities deep in forests, barbarian hordes, perhaps farming communities, etc.

 

[Sado]

Druidical religion/tradition is very common in many areas. Instead of becoming a priest of God X; the local folk revere nature and some of them become druids to protect/serve nature. This might be particularly true in areas where nature has a greater influence on people's affairs -- isolated communities deep in forests, barbarian hordes, perhaps farming communities, etc.

Ok, so it's an alternate type of priest, less structured than a cleric? I can go along with that. Thanks, that helps.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The pterrans (sort of like lizardmen) go on a spiritual pilgrimmage in the wild for three months. By themselves. Those that survive come back as 1st-level druids. The rest... die.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yeah, they don't all have to be environmental nut cases. The real wacko druids can make for an interesting encounter/villain/whatever.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Yeah, they don't all have to be environmental nut cases. The real wacko druids can make for an interesting encounter/villain/whatever.

IMC, the "enviro-nut" druids ("Protect the forest from human exploitation!")are NE.
Most of the "normal" druids are either TN or NG, with some LN or CN around.

 

[BSF]

Druids really are just different "styles" of priest. They have a different focus. So there are just as many ways that a Druid might come into existance as a priest. Each could even be unique to a given druid/priest.

When you create a campaign, you should figure out if druids & priests coexist or if you even need both classes. If you end up trying to bolt-on the classes, you end up with a less valuable RP environment. I could sit here and give you all sorts of RP reasons why any given PC might feel such a strong tie to nature. In the end most of it would focus on shamanism, animism, or some other religious system.

In my campaign world, there are Shamans (Green Ronin's Shaman's Handbook), Druids, Witches, and Clerics. Each one derives power from different sources and I would expect a player to design an appropriate background & personality depending on what they want to play. If they wanted to try a class out and had no idea how that class would fit in, then I would sit down with the player and offer my guidance as DM & creator of the game world.

 

[Sejs]

*nod* I'm with what BardStephenFox said - they're just a different type of priest, and you'd become one in the same way. Training with other, more experienced (in the 'has been doing the job longer' sense, rather than level necessarily) druids, finding out why certain things are done and how to do them, etc etc.


Clerics teach you that the divine is a powerful, detached, distant parental thing. It's very important, but it's also very far away. Druids teach you that the divine is all around us, that we're not removed from it but instead are part of it, just like everything else. It's important, and it's right here.