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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8108952" data-attributes="member: 6915329">I haven't played a druid since 3e, and I barely remember her, so I can't try to convert one of my characters this time. So just my initial thoughts:Expertise Die: I'm glad to see it's back.Cantrips: A large part of me thinks druids should just automatically get druidcraft for free.Wild Shape: I actually like the limited shapes, in a way. It reminds me of skin-walkers, and in a lot of mythology and stories, shapeshifters who aren't gods or monsters/spirits usually only have one shape. I also like that the druids can shapeshift into plants. Not only is this sorely needed for druids, but it's also very mythic-feeling. However, not having played a druid in forever, and not shapeshifting the time I did, I can't compare this to 5e druids in terms of ease of use.However, I'm feeling mathematically challenged at the moment: Druids get temp hp equal to 1d4 × the creature’s CR (minimum 1d4). So this means that unless you're turning into something that's CR 2--which is going to be the maximum for most druids except for moon druids--they'll always get 1d4 temp hit points. Because most of the time, they'll be changing into creatures that are CR 1 or lower. That's not a lot of temp hp. Don't druids normally get more than that?First-Hand Naturalist: Haven't all druids learned the intricacies of nature through first-hand experience rather than academic study?Leyline Awareness: as @[USER=72555]NotAYakk[/USER] said, this is pretty limited, since you can get a lot of the information from animals, and it's less useful or thematic for non-forest druids. In "real life," leylines are a source of magical power. Perhaps this grants a limited version of Natural Recovery, letting you gain back a spell slot or two once per long rest. Or something else like that.Druidic Secrets: I've never quite gotten why druids would operate in secret.  Nevertheless, I like the idea, but personally, I'd frame it as "you've learned to cast quietly, so as not to disturb the tranquility of nature."Waste Not: I'm sure players will be thrilled with the gold piece value of the corpses they loot, but are druids the type to care about it? I don't know if you're interested in working on crafting for LU, but you may want to say that druids can use the body parts to pay the gp cost for crafting. Since druids in general are likely to want to make their own armor, weapons, tools, and other equipment.Exploration Knacks: I feel like there should be a few more here. Thematically, a temperate forest druid isn't likely going to know from tundra or desert, so a few more generic knacks should help. Trapmaking, camouflage, making natural poisons, making tools, weapons, or armor from natural ingredients (as per Waste Not, above), and so on. If anyone is going to need Exploration Knacks, druids (and rangers) is the class to want a bunch of them!Perhaps include a few new types of land: fresh water has been sorely neglected by D&D, which seems to think that aquatic equals ocean (sorry, one of my current games takes place in a world with a world-river, and it's been hell trying to find things like creatures and adventures that are built along rivers). How about a boating ability? Rafts and canoes are perfectly in-flavor. You could use a grasslands knack as well.I'm glad you included Eldritch Survivor, but I feel you could go a bit further and divvy that up into two, three, or more types of landscapes. Faerylands are going to feel different than Hellscapes or Blasted Heaths or Mana Wastelands, and they all have very unique dangers.And, of course, the much-desired urban druid needs love. While "Urban Druid" is probably more of an archetype than you want for the base class, a knack for a druid who has learned to get along in a cityscape wouldn't go amiss.Have you given any thought to having all the knacks in one chapter, and then letting some be taken by more than one class?</blockquote>

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