Tips & tactics for playing a druid?

[Treebore]

Here is why I think druids should get whatever abilities of the form they take has. Literature predominantly portrays it that way. The game requires you to wait until your HD/lvl is equal to the creatures. The gift of your deity to wildshape combined with your knowledge about nature should mean you know a good bit about the creatures forms and abilities. The requirement for a Druid to be "familiar" with a particular animal implies a study of it (remember the polar bear example). Giving up domain spells and powers is a pretty substantial power loss and is a good balance to letting a druid have all abilities of the animal form it takes. The druid gets all of the abilities of elementals, so why not every other form they can assume?

To me it just makes a lot more sense than to arbitrarily say that even though you have the exact same nasal cavity you can't have the scent ability. When a Druid takes bat form they stay blind and cannot "see" because they cannot use the bats "sonar", so fly at your own risk. You have the eyes of a wolf but you can't have low light vision, your an octopus but you can't spray an ink cloud.

None of that makes sense, so in my games if it has it as a write up in the MM the Druid can do it in the animals form.

Besides, polymorph says you can't have extraordinary special qualities, could someone point out to me where scent, blindsight, low light vision, etc.. are listed as extraordianry (ex)? Not that it will change my mind, just so I know where it is written, other than in the polymorph spell description. Never mind, I found the labels in the glossary of the MM (3.5).

 

[neg]

Druid's Handbook

I have been bookmarking good threads about Druids for a few months now as I plan to play one once my friend's campaign starts up again.

Here is a thread on the WoTC site that I found very helpful for someone who hasn't played a Druid before. This is probably a little min/max for most tastes, but it is chock full of some good ideas.

Enjoy:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?threadid=81385

-neg

 

[Klaus]

Just as a sidenote, bats aren't blind. Their eyesight is no better than a human's (which renders it pretty useless at night).

And those lion cubs playing around in mock fights for their entire youth? They're training the skills that will be useful as adults, to hunt and survive.

 

[Errant]

Neg, great thread, thanks.