How to play a druid?

[sukael]

On a side note, if the campaign is set in a desert, you might want to look at the Lord of Tides PrC from Sandstorm. Handy water-finding abilities and full (I think) spellcasting progression.

 

[Pickaxe]

also remember that summens and the like are not considered an attack so if you're invisble you'll remain so and fighting a stupid monster it wont even take you as a threat unless you wildshape and attack it.
druids are cool unless your dm hates nature and sticks you in outer space or something
Z

And if no one in the party can make you invisible, Obscuring Mist can help you out here. Even standing at the edge of the mist, you have concealment, and you can move in five feet for total concealment while you muster your squadron of hippogriffs.

--Axe

 

[Victim]

Actually, Spell Focus: Conjuration isn't too bad for a druid since they actually have some worthwhile conjuration attacks in the core, and get more with supplements.

 

[Jack Simth]

Oh, the number of Conjouration spells isn't why Spell Focus (Conjouration) isn't good.

It's the number of Conjouration spells that have a save that matters......

 

[Victim]

Yeah, that's why I said Conjuration attacks, rather than Conjuration spells. The Call Lightning line is worthwhile for druids in the core, and they get more saved based conjuration spells with supplements.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Yeah, that's why I said Conjuration attacks, rather than Conjuration spells. The Call Lightning line is worthwhile for druids in the core, and they get more saved based conjuration spells with supplements.

Call Lightning is Evocation, not Conjuration. Under core rules, druids don't get a Conjuration spell that has a saving throw until the 6th level spell Fire Seeds.

A lot of DMs are rightly wary about giving divine casters to all spells found in supplements. For a wizard or a sorcerer, if they learn a supplement spell that means that there's some core spell that they could have learned, but didn't. There's a trade-off.

For a divine caster, their power is being expanded without any trade-offs.

Oh, and as to the comment about druids not being able to disarm traps.... A summoned animal "disarms" most pit traps pretty well.

 

[interwyrm]

Running an animal into a trap isn't exactly respecting nature.

Running a summoned elemental into a trap is another story.

 

[kigmatzomat]

RPing druids tends to be hard for a lot of people; for some reason they tend to end up either stereotypical granola eating hippies or radical ecofreaks. I've no idea why.

Here are some less common adventuring druids:

The atavist: this druid is likely to pick up one of the shaper PrCs because they really get into wildshape. They try to follow their animalistic instincts as much as possible. This can result in some disturbing things, like eating the flesh of a sentient race. Atavists tend to be quite civilized when not wildshaped, seeing that as the dominant trait of the sentient races. The atavist adventures so they can experience a wider view of the world both as their normal race and as various animals. Atavists *love* the "alter self" ability at higher druid levels. They tend to be more attack & stealth oriented than most druids so parties can appreciate them.

Caller of animals: this summoner is the guy who talks to horses before buying a new mount, uses his wolf companion to see if the innkeep is cruel to the guard dogs, and tends to summon creatures that are appropriate for the environment. A Caller is more likely to heal a soldier's mount than the soldier. Callers will often pick up the Turn Animal feat and love nothing more than breaking a cavalry charge with a single word since it saves the horses' lives. Animal friendship/charm spells are used a lot in concert with critter buffs.

Force of nature: this druid is a "big picture" druid who embraces the power of the sun, the vibrance of the forest, the thrill of the snow, the solidity of the earth and the thunder of wind. They use weather spells to confuse foes, plant spells to contain them and elemental spells to anhiliate them. Nature druids speak to stones, the wind (commune w/nature), the forest and they all obey. Forces of Nature tend to think of themselves as the "spotter" for nature's righteous fury but occassionally mix it up. Flame blade is an oft-forgotten spell that's touch-attack nature offsets the druid's BAB.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Running an animal into a trap isn't exactly respecting nature.

Running a summoned elemental into a trap is another story.

Running an animal into a trap isn't very nice (though I think an evil druid could make a case). Running a summoned animal into a trap is another thing entirely, as the animal isn't "really there". It's just a spirit temporarily conjured up and given form by magic for a few seconds, and it's going to dissolve back into the ether anyway.

A druid archetype I like is "the naturalist". Someone who approaches nature magic from an academic perspective, cataloging new species and writing books on nature. A Jane Goodall type who tries to be the bridge to help civilization understand the natural world.

 

[tomBitonti]

Arcane Hierophant

Hey, this is really great information.

Any advice on playing an Druid/Wizard/Arcane Hierophant (one of my current characters)?
Mine has Skill Focus(Conjuration), Augment Summoning, and Practiced Spellcaster (twice).
My character is somewhat limited in obtaining wizard spells, so suggestions there would
be useful.

Side questions:

Can (or will) a summoned unicorn cast their spells for you?

Can you hitch a ride on a Xorn -- can they carry you and use Xorn movement?

How do you keep your animal companion alive? They tend to be a little weak, and even more-so when multiclassing.

And I have to say: Curses, curses, and curses on the new wild-shape rules.

Thx!