My First Druid - tips?

[Jawar]

For healing, better adopt the Vigor type of spells and GET Extend Spell.
You'll heal much more than the tradicional cleric and you'll heal out of combat rounds, when thigs are calm.
During rounds of combat, you can specialize in one:
- The offensive caster or
- The master melee grapler with Wild Shape into bear forms.

 

[The Souljourner]

Really awesome replies guys. Ignoring wildshape isn't a terrible idea, but I'm not sure I want to give it up all together.... it's really handy for scouting, etc. I may have to get UA, since our DM is specifically using several things from it. What does Swift and Deadly Hunter do? Sounds like maybe you give up wildshape for something?

-Nate

 

[Emongnome]

Swift & Deadly Hunter: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid

The wizard / conjurer variant has the ability to cast summons spells as a standard action (give up a familiar to get it). You could request this as a feat (though it'll be a powerful one, may need prerequisites). I agree with Augment Summoning if you go that direction. Druid summons are very powerful and it's never a bad choice to focus in that direction.

 

[pallandrome]

The most important thing to remember about being a druid.

Hippogriffs have a +11 to grapple, can fly, can carry up to 300lbs and can be summoned at level 3. Also, that baddies take 1d6 falling damage for every ten feet they drop.

 

[sdt]

That sounds like a new amusement park ride, "The Hippogriff Drop"

 

[The Souljourner]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid

Bonus to Armor Class when unarmored (as monk, including Wisdom bonus to AC), fast movement (as monk), favored enemy (as ranger), swift tracker (as ranger), Track feat (as ranger)

Holy crap, that's wicked cool. You lose armor and shield proficiency and wildshape, but damn, look at those bonuses. Yeesh.

I don't know that I want to give up wildshape with my first druid, though.... kinda want to get the full experience before I start twiddling with it. I'll definitely keep that in mind for a future character, though!

-Nate

 

[Hypersmurf]

Hippogriffs have a +11 to grapple, can fly, can carry up to 300lbs and can be summoned at level 3. Also, that baddies take 1d6 falling damage for every ten feet they drop.

They also have an Int of 2 (so they don't understand Common), are Magical Beasts (so Speak With Animals doesn't work), and their natural tactics involve striking with their forelegs and slashing with their claws and beak.

How do you convey to an untrained monster "Pick that guy up and drop him!" in under twenty seconds?

-Hyp.

 

[pallandrome]

How do you convey to an untrained monster "Pick that guy up and drop him!" in under twenty seconds?

Carefully?




Seriously though, you'd probably need a helm of telepathy or something similarly overpowered for that level to actually pull it off. There might be some psionic abilities one could get, but frankly I know next to nothing about psionics, so I'm just not gonna stress tyring to find it. Such a trick, even if allowed, will not likely work past the first few levels anyway, but as a DM I find it amusing enough that I let it in, as long as it is not abused.

 

[The Souljourner]

So ANYWAY.... Oddly enough, the more I look at druids the more they look like they probably play like bards..... granted, stupidly powerful bards, but bards nonetheless. That is - fairly skillful (with wildshape, you can get bonuses to a lot of useful skills), ok in combat with some buffage but not a quality front liner (ignoring wildshape for the moment), and a decent spellcaster (which is where the druid totally kicks the bard's posterior).

Both are kind of generalists, it's just that druids also get kickass spells, wildshape, and an animal companion

-Nate