D&D General Why would a Druid want money in a “gold for XP” game?

[not-so-newguy]

The druid can collect the gold and "spend" it by hoarding it in a bog. And then use it at an appropriate time to flood the market and tank the local kingdom's economy, returning "civilization" to a state of nature.

Now that’s playing the long game

Of course the druid spends the money!

Cash Rules Everydruid Around Me
CREAM
Get the XP
Dollar dollar bill y'all.

Gangsta’ druids

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[not-so-newguy]

Here’s the list I compiled so far

-Buy a tract of land (with a twist)
-PUT IT BACK IN THE GROUND. Bonus xp for dwarf druids
-Feed aurumvoraxes with precious metals
-melt it down and create sickles, lotsa sickles.
-buy precious spell components
-Train villagers to maintain lands in the most efficient and nature-friendly way possible.
-Bribe villagers to import lumber and other natural resources.
-Import dangerous beasts to defend the land
-Pay rangers to protect the land
-Sacrifice loot to a lake or bog, just like the Ancient Celtic people.
-Donate money to Druidic order
-Get drunk, party like it’s 1999
-Hoard Gold, then saturate the market with gold, watch the value of gold drop. Destroy civilization and dance on its ashes.
-First you get the money, then you get the power.

 

[David Howery]

did druids have to pay those whopping high training costs in 1E to advance in levels? That was one thing that was kinda contradictory in 1E.... a few of the classes had to limit their worldly possessions (including cash), but still had to pay big training costs, so they ended up having to load up on the GPs anyway...

 

[MichaelSomething]

Paladins may be an issue also.

Orphanages arnt cheap ya know.

 

[Kurotowa]

Start by asking what the Druid wants. I mean, obviously they want something they can't get back at the druid grove, otherwise why would they have left to become an adventurer? You shouldn't assume that every Druid is a selfless devotee with no personal goals beyond the advancement of their faith, any more than you'd assume that of Clerics or Paladins. So besides the ideas that have already been offered...

Do they want revenge? Maybe someone burned down their grove, maybe someone killed their father, revenge tales are an ancient classic. Well, who says they have to do it themselves? Maybe they're putting bounties on the outlaws that did them wrong, setting the hunters of men to do their dirty work.

A natural life is not a monastic one. Druids don't have to live on roots and berries. In fact, what better way to enjoy nature's bounties and share them with others than by throwing lavish public feasts? They're a way to impress the masses, they give you an excuse to spread coin to hunters and farmers that follow your faith, and damn if you don't love a good roast boar.

Nature's wisdom means nothing if it isn't put into practice, and that means getting it into the ears of powerful and influential people. And if they won't come to the grove, well, you'll go to them. I mean, obviously not in person, that'd take forever. But you've written a set of scrolls distilling your philosophy and offering ideas on how it can be applied by city folk without abandoning their cities. Now you just need to hire scribes to make copies and send them around with the bribes gifts to get them into the right hands.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Idea 1: Yeah, the "buy land to keep it 'wild', with the power of the king and queen behind it".

Idea 2: To buy stuff, obviously! Nobody said a Druid can't partake in the pleasures of 'civilization'. At least in moderation. Especially if the Druid uses the money to "donate to influential noble houses" so that the druid can have a proxy "in the government" to present/oppose laws, edicts, endevours, etc that the druid would otherwise have no say-so. You know the saying..."Money is power..."

Idea 3: Buy land, start a "grotto" and pay for advertising to get started on the whole "followers" thing. A nice big camp to house trainees of 'wilderness guides' for the area that will hire themselves out to people wanting safer passage through the area. The druid can train the 'knowledge' part and he can hire a ranger, fighter, sylvan paladin, or other martial-based class to handle the 'physical' part of training. (This may step on some toes in regards to rules/allowing of followers and whatnot...I'm not sure...never played any 5e over 7th level, and that was only one PC since 5e came out with the Starter Set).

Idea 4: Gift it to powerful woodland creatures that DO want/like/need treasure. Dragons, Hags, Dryads, Giants, etc. all might be quite appreciative of a Druid who pays them for, well, just being themselves...but keeping the druid informed of various goings on's. Plus, it doesn't hurt to be able to call in a favour from a Green Dragon, a trio of Stone Giants and a Dryad when the need arises. Generous 'gifts' would likely ensure this.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Umbran]

Pay villagers to import wood, rather than logging

In a feudal system, farmers generally don't own their land - farmers typically work for a wealthy land-owner. The more land someone owns, the greater their political power. And, that land is where they get their yearly revenue. So, outright buying land is unlikely.

However - paying nobles to keep their land in a natural state, and paying to support farming families who are then not farming as much, is reasonable.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Serfs might be treated poorly. Use money to convert people to your religion and to sow propaganda among the masses. Convince them they're better off living in the wilderness where they can be free. The druid uses the money to afford them to leave their Lords, train them, feed them and then fight against the established government. Promise them their own lands and riches. Raze cities to the ground and pay for the war effort.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Current compiled list

-Buy a tract of land (with a twist)
-PUT IT BACK IN THE GROUND. Bonus xp for dwarf druids
-Feed aurumvoraxes with precious metals
-melt it down and create sickles, lotsa sickles.
-buy precious spell components
-Train villagers to maintain lands in the most efficient and nature-friendly way possible.
-Bribe villagers to import lumber and other natural resources.
-Import dangerous beasts to defend the land
-Pay rangers to protect the land
-Sacrifice treasure to a lake or bog, just like the Ancient Celtic people.
-Donate money to Druidic order
-Get drunk, party like it’s 1999
-Hoard Gold, then saturate the market with gold, watch the value of gold drop. Destroy civilization and dance on its ashes.
-First you get the money, then you get the power.
-training costs
-leave it to the player to decide.
-revenge for a past grievance.
-throw huge festivals, make converts
-Staying within the confines of the pseudo-medieval D&D political system…
—a) Go straight to the top! Get the king or queen to give land for precious treasure.
—b) Influence local nobles to return the land to its natural state.
-Find skilled Followers to serve as protectors and guides of the wilderness.
-Use it to gain favor, influence, and news from intelligent monsters in the wilderness (Dragons, Hags, Giants, etc).
-Find serfs being treated poorly, use money to buy converts and spread propaganda, train them to fight and promise them riches... Destroy civilization and dance on its ashes.

 

[CapnZapp]

Start by asking what the Druid wants. I mean, obviously they want something they can't get back at the druid grove, otherwise why would they have left to become an adventurer? You shouldn't assume that every Druid is a selfless devotee with no personal goals beyond the advancement of their faith, any more than you'd assume that of Clerics or Paladins. So besides the ideas that have already been offered...

Do they want revenge? Maybe someone burned down their grove, maybe someone killed their father, revenge tales are an ancient classic. Well, who says they have to do it themselves? Maybe they're putting bounties on the outlaws that did them wrong, setting the hunters of men to do their dirty work.

A natural life is not a monastic one. Druids don't have to live on roots and berries. In fact, what better way to enjoy nature's bounties and share them with others than by throwing lavish public feasts? They're a way to impress the masses, they give you an excuse to spread coin to hunters and farmers that follow your faith, and damn if you don't love a good roast boar.

Nature's wisdom means nothing if it isn't put into practice, and that means getting it into the ears of powerful and influential people. And if they won't come to the grove, well, you'll go to them. I mean, obviously not in person, that'd take forever. But you've written a set of scrolls distilling your philosophy and offering ideas on how it can be applied by city folk without abandoning their cities. Now you just need to hire scribes to make copies and send them around with the bribes gifts to get them into the right hands.

I think a more direct point can be made by saying:

Assuming that every Druid is a selfless devotee with no personal goals beyond the advancement of their faith...

...is entirely fair and okay EXCEPT IT DOESN'T WORK in the present campaign.

The onus is on you the player to come up with a character concept that fits the campaign style.

It is the idea I just show up with my special snowflake of a character and it's the DM's job to work that in somehow that is the core problem.

So while I appreciate you trying to reason with the Druid player, I think it's much faster to simply agree some Druids ARE selfless, and then get straight to the point:

"That character doesn't fit the campaign, please make up another"

After all, he doesn't HAVE to play a Druid this time.

Or, to be more precise, he's definitely not entitled to play whatever he wants. It's his responsibility to create a character that will be fun to play. Not ours, as the DM.

Tldr: if your idea of a Druid is selfless, idealistic with no material needs... then don't play one in xp for gold. Simple!

 

[Fanaelialae]

I think a more direct point can be made by saying:

Assuming that every Druid is a selfless devotee with no personal goals beyond the advancement of their faith...

...is entirely fair and okay EXCEPT IT DOESN'T WORK in the present campaign.

The onus is on you the player to come up with a character concept that fits the campaign style.

It is the idea I just show up with my special snowflake of a character and it's the DM's job to work that in somehow that is the core problem.

So while I appreciate you trying to reason with the Druid player, I think it's much faster to simply agree some Druids ARE selfless, and then get straight to the point:

"That character doesn't fit the campaign, please make up another"

After all, he doesn't HAVE to play a Druid this time.

Or, to be more precise, he's definitely not entitled to play whatever he wants. It's his responsibility to create a character that will be fun to play. Not ours, as the DM.

Tldr: if your idea of a Druid is selfless, idealistic with no material needs... then don't play one in xp for gold. Simple!

I disagree. That same argument could be made for any selfless character (with good clerics and paladins being high on that list).

How does a non-materialistic character spend gold in an XP-for-gold? The same way they have for decades. Donate it to charity / a good cause.

There's absolutely no reason to tell the player that they can't play their concept, outside the unlikely scenario where the player decides to be unreasonably obstinate and refuses to have their character even take gold (which I have not gotten the impression is the case here).

 

[Salthorae]

Hiya!

Idea 4: Gift it to powerful woodland creatures that DO want/like/need treasure. Dragons, Hags, Dryads, Giants, etc. all might be quite appreciative of a Druid who pays them for, well, just being themselves...but keeping the druid informed of various goings on's. Plus, it doesn't hurt to be able to call in a favour from a Green Dragon, a trio of Stone Giants and a Dryad when the need arises. Generous 'gifts' would likely ensure this.

Maybe it’s because I am walking into the grotto of a green dragon right now in one of my games, but this struck me when I read it.

You can Lure perhaps a green dragon specifically with the promises of continued funnel of treasure to take up residence and defend the woodland.

Idea the 5th hire The equivalent of a publicist, a rhetorician, A pamphleteer, something of that stripe to drum up support for the natural lands and your causes.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Idea the 5th hire The equivalent of a publicist, a rhetorician, A pamphleteer, something of that stripe to drum up support for the natural lands and your causes.

That was sort of where I was going with the "Wilderness Training Camp" for guides and whatnot to escort (and keep an eye on...) people travelling through the "Druids" home turf. Same with the idea of paying/donating to nobility and other aristocrats that would make sure to bring up and support/oppose things the Druid wants (re: support for developing some sort of Kingdom wide 'hunting/fishing limits', or oppose things like clear-cutting an ancient grove of trees, etc).

But that is a good idea on it's own: Hiring a 'town crier' to bring news to the folks and farmers of what's going on in the wilderness "Hear yea! Hear yea! Be it knows that the salmon run this year is low in numbers and Her Most Impressive Wildling, the Druid of the Dell, asks that no one take more than two fish each. Failure to adhere will have consequences both immediate and far-reaching". Or, equally useful, hire a bard to write songs or plays espousing the wonders and beauty of nature to the 'city folk', or hire a sculptor to sculpt nature-oriented statues to be donated to the cities park, or perhaps an artist to paint a mural on the side of the town wall (after paying the officals, of course) or on the side of a big warehouse or various barns leading into town. Hell, while we're at it, why not pay to "beautify" the city itself, with a program to plant trees, small flower gardens, etc and pay people to maintain them.

LOTS of things for a Druid to spend money on!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[CapnZapp]

I disagree. That same argument could be made for any selfless character (with good clerics and paladins being high on that list).

How does a non-materialistic character spend gold in an XP-for-gold? The same way they have for decades. Donate it to charity / a good cause.

There's absolutely no reason to tell the player that they can't play their concept, outside the unlikely scenario where the player decides to be unreasonably obstinate and refuses to have their character even take gold (which I have not gotten the impression is the case here).

Yeah, then we're discussing different things.

You seem to discuss a player who comes up with a selfless character but then also supplies a motivation for risking his life for gold.

Whereas I'm discussing the scenario that presents an actual problem.

So there doesn't seem to be anything for us to disagree about?

Cheers

 

[not-so-newguy]

I think it reasonable, usually preferable, for a DM to leave character creation completely up to the player. If the player can’t come up with a certain type of character that’ll work at the table, then too-bad-so-sad pick another character. That being said, I think it’s a better game if a DM (or others at the table) can provide some solutions to the impasse.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[not-so-newguy]

You missed one that should be obvious from this thread.

Use the gold pieces to purchase Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

I think we’re finally scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as”what motivates a Druid in a ‘gp = xp’ game.”

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

A druid wants money for the same reasons every other class wants money. If the druid wants to be separated from civilization they wouldn't be adventuring - they'd be living alone among the trees in the wilderness. They may not FAVOR civilization but they sure do interact with it, starting with all the other PC's that they hang out with all the time. Spending money in that civilization will buy you the same things it buys other characters. Even if there are a lot of things OTHERS buy that you don't need, there are things of value that you can spend your money on, and in fact be able to spend more on them than those others do because you don't need to buy a lot of what they do need to buy.