D&D General what are druids?

[J.Quondam]

Druids fill any role where a character needs to explode when encased in metal armor.
Admittedly, that's a pretty niche role, but it's nice that it's available.

 

[Corinnguard]

Druid: "I am one with nature, got a problem with that?"

 

[Laurefindel]

Druids fill any role where a character needs to explode when encased in metal armor.
Admittedly, that's a pretty niche role, but it's nice that it's available.

I'm curious to see how D&D '24 will handle that but my magic 8-ball says that all signs points to this clause being removed. Too bad, I liked it (among the very few, it seems).

 

[CreamCloud0]

druids exist as part of the ecosystem and are it's caretakers, they understand the nuances and intracacies of it and live by it's values, the circle of life and survival of the fittest.
nature clerics exist 'outside' of nature, they worship it or a god who represents it but are distanced from the nitty-gritty and are not truly part of it, their values are those of society and their religion's.

 

[Voadam]

They used to be nature priests seemingly in acknowledgement that D&D gods don't actually work for certain (then) popular conceptions of nature priests.

I think it is more that clerics being miracle casting knights with an oath to not use edged weapons did not fit with popular conceptions of druids than a case of D&D gods not working for druids.

Druids were added in as their own thing in OD&D supplement I Greyhawk as monsters then later as a PC class.

"DRUIDS: These men are priests of a neutral-type religion, and as such they differ in armor class and hit dice, as well as in movement capability, and are combination clerics/magic-users. Magic-use ranges from 5th through 7th level, while clericism ranges from 7th through 9th level. Druids may change shape three times per day, once each to any reptile, bird and animal respectively, from size as small as a raven to as large as a small bear. They will generally (70%) be accompanied by numbers of barbaric followers (fighters), with a few higher-level leaders (2–5 fighters of 2nd-5th levels) and a body of normal men (20–50)."

Greyhawk also mentions Crom in passing and Conan style Crom worship as a neutral religion with druid instead of D&D clerics seems not inappropriate.

"Gate: Employment of this spell opens a cosmic portal and allows an ultra-powerful being (such as Odin, Crom, Set, Cthulhu, the Shining One, a demi-god, or whatever) to come to this plane."

 

[Deset Gled]

If 5e kept 4e's sources of power (Arcane, Divine, Primal, Psionic, etc.), the Druid would be the Primal equivalent of a Wizard who focused on nature, spirits and transformation.

I go back on forth on whether I actually like the way 4e implemented this, but I think there's a lot of value behind the overall concept. As you said, it isn't just the source of the power, it's also what they do with the power.

Druids are the nature magic-users.
Wizards are the science magic-users.
Clerics are the divine magic-users.
Warlocks are borrowed magic-users.

There are lots of options in this general vein. And all of them can branch off in different directions, and even have significant overlap. Druids can easily branch off into the shape-changers (which would overlap with polymorphing wizards), or into casters focused on nature and healing (which would overlap with clerics).

I think 3.x did a better job of using mechanics that showed a "Magic A is Magic A, Magic B is Magic B" mindset that helped define this better. One of the weaknesses of 5e is that way that all magic is just generic magic, without enough game-based distinctions that can make it harder to feel like different casters are actually different.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I think it is more that clerics being miracle casting knights with an oath to not use edged weapons did not fit with popular conceptions of druids than a case of D&D gods not working for druids.

I forget that clerics didn't used to be cleric-y.

Combine that with druids being allergic to completely natural ores unless shaped into a curved edge and yeah, they fit even less.

 

[cbwjm]

I've used druids as adherents of the old faith, before the arrival of the gods and their priesthood.

I've used druids as simply another form if priest for a contemporary religion that accepts druids rather than clerics. In my setting world, I have a duchy that is ruled by the grand druid, voted by a council of archdruids. They follow this other religion, the Wyld Faith, and the duchy is very much harmonious with nature. Druids, rangers, and woodsmen keep the people safe from the more dangerous elements of nature while using their magic to help provide for the people. They even have a forestry industry, growing pine with their magic for use by the people of the duchy rather than having them cut down the old forest.

I've used druids as simply another form of spellcaster, focused on nature and the elements. They are necessarily part of a druid circle living in the woods, they might instead be part of a wizards guild teaching their form of magic right next to wizards and clerics (who are also just another form of spellcaster rather than a conduit for a god).

I think druids are easy to incorporate, they do have a niche but that's also a niche that can be smashed and put together in different ways.

 

[Laurefindel]

seriously what are they supposed to be?

how are you supposed to role-play something which is so vague as to what it even is?
how do you build them into a setting if they are so little descriptive?

Historically, they used to have a distinct and clear identity as faux-celtic human priests; different from the faux-judo-christian-mixed-with-pseudo-Greek-polytheistic-mythology clerics available to all races (species).

Lets see the "facts"

• They are a class of spellcasters. Their spell lists somewhat hangs in-between that of wizards and clerics in terms of type of spells.
• Their main thematic is "nature" and most of their spells and abilities reflect that.
• They draw their magical powers from "untamed nature". Unlike clerics, they are not bound to worship (although they can and do in several settings).
• They have taboos about armor (stating which they won't use) and weapons (stating which they do use). This bit is kinda wishy-washy and likely to go away in anniversary re-edition.
• They can shapechange into animals. One subclass can do so in a way that is pretty useful in combat.

Personally, I find it plenty to work with. It is implied that it is a very old spellcasting tradition, using a more raw and less sophisticated magic (possibly a less intrusive and more sustainable one). Many settings have them built-in as an older and declining spellcasting tradition losing grounds to "civilization", the latter preferring contemporary religious believes (and divine magic) and the advanced-academia of arcane magic (wizards, really). Settings that do not have this wilderness/civilization dichotomy can take a different spin on druids.

[edit] I like to see them as proto-wizards, a spellcasting tradition predating all the others except perhaps bards, dating from a time where magic, taboos, and religious believes were inseparable. In essence, druids and wizards draw magic from the same "place" but druids take it "raw" through nature (or else wizards have learned to purify and refine the nature out of magic?). This gives druidic magic a distinctive color, with its advantages and limitations. Wizard magic is more refined and purified, allowing for much greater versatility at the cost of some "natural" elements that cannot be recreated once filtered out (mainly magical healing). Modern druids consciously continue this magical tradition out of reverence and respect, perhaps because this proximity to the source of magic is comfortable, ethically sustainable, more intuitive, and allow them to create a few magical effects that wizard magic cannot recreate anymore.

 

[Zardnaar]

Generally between a wizard and cleric with wildshape.

Nature clerics don't have the boom spells.