The Urban Druid

[Drowbane]

I don't fully understand the Urban Druid concept (dspite the OP's most excellent post), but I think it'd be fun to play one (Dragon Compendium's version) in Ptolus.

 

[Aus_Snow]

To each their own, most definitely, but. . . 'Urban Druid' sure looks like an oxymoron, to me. For my games, IMO and so forth.

In fact, I like 'Druids' (renamed, please) losing power when approaching - let alone in the heart of - full-on built up civilisation. Works for my tastes, and all that.

But, for them what likes 'em, that's a great OP. Kudos.

 

[Loonook]

Jumped here after reading your thread offshoot

Urban Druids... another thing I've been wanting to cover. However, since mine focus a lot on modern gaming... well, we'll try to go with it.

I see absolutely no issue with the Druid as an urban creature. Cities have life in them, they develop just as natural landscapes. Indeed, a city is like its own forest; fires burn out scrublands, new seeds grow, cycles change, bright foliage appears...

Not all Urban Druids should be 'hey, I am going to tend a city park'. Yeah, a city park serves as a great sanctum... but so does a natural feature of the city, or a great tree intertwined with the cornerstone of the city's theatre... or a tender to the strays who wander the city, a protector of the sewers which run beneath, a tracker who keeps himself in the deep tunnels or atop the high walls.

Urban Druid types which could exist (though none of these characters are expressly Druids) could include the Ratspeakers or Old Bailey from Neverwhere, or Francis of Asisi and his rapport with animals. Hell, a Doctor Doolittle who had the ability to speak with all who crawl through a king's house would prove quite useful. A lot of the folkmagic in the Appalachian Mountains can be considered near Druidic; rootworkers, conjure women, wisdoms, etc. could all fill the role.

Heck... I seem to recall a powerful 'wizard' who kept an owl, could perform feats of derring-do, spoke to animals, and even fought a battle where he shapeshifted into a dozen animal forms.

Not all wizards are wizards, and not all druids should be druids. Listens-to-Wind from the Dresden Files series is a great example of a wizard in name only;

Spoiler

he is a skilled healer, speaks to animals, understand the processes behind magic related to natural effects... oh yeah, and shapeshifts into half a dozen forms to send a demi-god powerful creature running out the back door.

I've been thinking about a former wing-walker who has an air elemental as her 'animal companion' in my series on Modern Druids...

Powers give what you make of them.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Thanael]

You'll want to read the Urban Druid article from Dragon Magazine #317. It was so good that it was included in the Dragon Compendium.

I love the urban druid. Urban Druids have all of the social skills and K:local, K:nobility, & K:history. They also get at 1st level +2 with Gather Information and K:local checks with City sense, along with adding his wisdom bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, and +2 to all Will saves while in a favored city. And they get good "manipulate people" and "find things" spells that bards normally get instead of affecting plants & animals. But I also recommend mixing in the urban-themed spells listed in Races of Destiny. Playing an urban druid in a city would be as awesome as playing a druid in a pure wilderness campaign.

Have the force that the urban druid taps and reveres be the "spirit of the city" that is created from communal subconsious minds of the people.

Does the urban druid from the Dragon article differ from the urban druid using the chttp://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228aityscape Alternate class features ?

I'll second using RoD. It also has the Urban Soul PrC.