Why are druids so dumb? (kidding - looking for druid experiences)

[Crothian]

Best druid moment:
Druid gets improved-grabbed by a wyvern,
Druid turns into Giant Squid, grapples and pins
Wyvern. Rest of party finish off wyvern.

You get +4 to grapple checks for each extra pair of arms, and so she was grappling with +16 ( +12 from arms, +4 from being Large ).

That's good. Our Druid like to fly around as an owl. Once he was being hunted by a griffen, so he let the griffen grab him and then turned into a Dire Bear.

Another time he was flying after a sorceress that had changed into an eagle. He flies up behind her as the owl, gets above here and shape changes into a Dire Gorrilla and tackles her in the air driving her to the ground.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

Best druid moments:

- Getting an enemy army out of a fortified city by walking in under diplomatic pretexts, telling those assembled that the gods have returned and would take out their fury on the army unless it stood down and relinquished thier position, poisoning and diseasing their commander, then calling a metric truckload of lightning down on the city the next night. Dead commander + dead army + dead civilians = victory


-Rolling three natural 20's in a row while firing at an Orog, which in my DM's campaign is more or less a demigod-power embodiment of evil. Taking out the Orog's eye with the shot, quickly turning the tide of battle and allowing us to rout the orcish army from the field. Later, being ambushed by the Orog and his bodyguards, where the orog pulls my eye out of its socket to replace the one I took from him. Eventually, using a powerful artifact to slay the orog and take his good eye, putting it into my socket and giving me a burning red, demonic eye which drips black pus every now and then. +2 to spot checks.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Druids have some really good terrain-altering spells. I would suggest Entangle and Control Plants. You opponents can only move at 5 feet every 2 rounds (if the effects stack), and the range of Control Plants is really good. You can slow melee fighters to a crawl, and Entangle really hurts archers (especially if you took Spell Focus [Transmutation], to make sure they get stuck). If you're high enough level, you can also use Wall of Thorns.

Then sit back and toss spells (like Flaming Sphere, Produce Flame, etc). Be sure to have only one animal companion with you, with as many Hit Dice as possible (don't go with a bunch of weak ones, and don't scout with them). Let them guard you, in case a rogue sneaks up on you or something like that.

Tree Stride is really sweet. Unlike Teleport, you can cast it ahead of combat (it lasts one hour per level). It takes a full-round action to escape, but it doesn't require Concentration.

For scouting: turn into a songbird (not a hawk; the +8 Spot bonus is nice, but smart villains tend to shoot at hawks). Do not use your animal companions for this; not only do they run the risk of getting killed, but they're not very bright (low Int) and you'll need to use Speak with Animals on them afterwards.

Druids have some sweet higher level spells, like Spellstaff (basically a free Pearl of Power [6th-level or higher]). Use Summon Monster to summon treants, which then animate trees, totally surrounding your foes (if you're fighting in a forest). It won't matter if the treants and trees are slow; your opponents won't be able to avoid them (unless they've got Tumble).

 

[Radius]

Spike Stones is extremely powerful for imobilizing an enemy. If they don't have missile weapons or spells, and they can't fly, they don't stand a chance.

Animal growth on an animal companion can turn a pathetic bear or lion into a hit point machine. I think our 10th level druid increased his sabre tooth lion's hp from 70 to 180 with Animal Growth. Add in Nature's Ally and Greater Magic Fang, and that underrated animal companion turns into a force to be reckoned with. Best of all, once the spells are cast, the druid is free to turn his attention to other things while his companion wrecks havoc.

There's a fourth level druid spell in MotW that is a combination of slow and a strength debuff. Very impressive too.

And let's no forget Summon Swarm and Insect Plague for those pesky casters and bow-equipped enemies.

 

[SteelDraco]

I've had a great time with my druid. We started the campaign at 9th level, and I wrote up a dwarven druid. Since we didn't yet realize that adventuring druids were limited to their level in Hit Dice of animal companions, I started with three animal companions - a maximum Hit Die Kodiak bear (Rumbleroar - using slightly-modified polar bear stats), a 4 HD wolverine (Snapquick), and a 2 HD raven (Silverthroat). I invested a bit in mounted combat - the Mounted Combat feat and maximum ranks in Ride, as well as a MW Military Saddle. I mostly used buff spells, particularly Greater Magic Fang, Greater Mark of Earth (BoEM I), Bear's Heart (DotF), and Animal Growth to improve the combat efficiency of myself and my mount. As SavageWombat (my DM for this campaign) noted above, not much can stand up to the wrath of a fully-buffed bear.

It's only gotten worse. I've researched a few custom spells to improve my capabilities in combat. I've done in-character research to pick up some spells from non-core resources, mostly notably Greater Mark of Earth and Bear's Heart. Greater Mark of Earth is from the first Book of Eldritch Might, and grants a touched recipient DR of 10/+1 for one hour per level, or until they use an attack that's built into the spell. It's GREAT. If I cast that on myself and my bear, we can wade through a vast horde of low-power opponents without taking much harm. Bear's Heart is from Defenders of the Faith. With that spell, I can give my whole party (1 subject/level) a boost of +4 enhancement bonus to Strength and +1d4 temporary hit points per level. It doesn't last long, and you take subdual damage at the end of the spell. However, it usually lasts long enough for a fight, and during that period, it's quite useful. A few other spells have rounded out my abilities - Speed Swim, Scent, and Remedy Moderate Wounds from Magic of Faerun are all useful.

Berrik Mountainheart is now a 13th level dwarven druid. His animal companions have been reduced to two - Snapquick retired after it became clear that all his association with Berrik was doing was putting him in danger, so now he just has two. Rumbleroar is a 12 HD dire bear, and Snapquick is the same 2 HD raven she's always been - even after a bit of a problem involving the group's alienist and HIS raven familiar. Still doesn't trust those raven chicks that hang around, evne if they are Silverthroat's. No raven that grows to maturity in two weeks is a natural creature. Rumbleroar has died twice in the course of the game, and has been left behind due to size constraints innumerable times. Sad, really, but inevitable. I should have gotten a Portable Hole to put him in, but that would have been degrading.

For the record, here's how I buff Rumbleroar for the day.

Constant
Rumbleroar wears a Collar of Health +2 (putting his Con at 21) and a Masterwork military saddle. He also wears a set of +2 Studded Leather barding, putting his AC at 22 (+5 armor, +7 nat armor, +1 Dex, -1 size).
Daily
Each day as we break camp, Berrik casts Greater Magic Fang on Rumbleroar's claws and bite, making all his natural attacks into +4 weapons. (He also casts this on himself - it lasts for 13 hours, after all, and he has Extend Spell if they're anticipating night work.) He also casts Greater Mark of Earth on Rumbleroar, granting the bear DR 10/+1.
Expecting Trouble
Should we be expecting trouble in the near future, Berrik will cast a fwe more spells on Rumbleroar. Endurance of the Mountains (+4 Con/-2 Dex, similar to the other such spells in Masters of the Wild) increases his Con to 23 (already has a +2 enhancement from the Collar of Health, remmber), but reduces his AC to 21 due to Dex dropping. Should combat begin, I drop a Bear's Heart on the party (+4 Str, +13d4 temp hp), and then Animal Growth seals the whole deal. This all turns my friendly bear into an engine of nature's fury. Here are his stats at this point.

Huge Animal
HD: 24d8+192+13d4 (318 hp + 32 avg = 350 hp)
Init: -1
Speed: 40 ft
AC: 22 (+5 armor, +11 nat armor, -1 Dex, -3 size)
Attacks: 2 claws +35 (+18 BAB, +16 Str, +4 enhancement, -3 size), bite +30 (+18 BAB, +16 Str, +4 enhancement, -3 size, -5 from secondary attack)
Damage: Claw 2d6+20, bite 4d6+12
Face/Reach: 10 ft by 20 ft/10 ft
Special Attacks: Improved Grab
Special Qualities: Scent, DR 10/+1
Saves: Fort +21, Ref +14, Will +9
Abilities: Str 35, Con 23, Dex 9, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
Skills: Listen +7, Spot +7, Swim +19

Spells Active: Animal Growth, Bear's Heart, Endurance of the Mountains, Greater Magic Fang x2, Greater Mark of Earth. This can be done by a 9th level druid, though the bear won't be dire and most of the spells will have less effects.

Conclusion? Druids are very powerful, thanks mostly to the animal companions they can pick up. A high-level druid can unleash amazing devastation if properly prepared.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Says it all, really.

 

[DM with a vengence]

Play LN Mnk1/DrdX if you want to mix it up in combat. For the price of 1 level of spellcasting ability, you get +2 to saves, improved unarmed strike, evasion, and your primary spellcasting attribute to AC that stacks with everything and works when wildshaped.

Also, animal companions are good.

 

[The Souljourner]

Wow, sounds like druids are pretty sweet. Thanks, guys

-The Souljourner