Level Up (A5E) Will a Druid ruin my exploration heavy game?

[Stalker0]

So to kick off my LU experience, I am planning a new campaign. Basic premise, the party (which will start at 5th level) and a large group of refugees is transported to an unknown world. They have bare supplies and no knowledge of where they have landed. They will have to build up a camp (stronghold style), and ultimately explore their new home, which is filled with ancient mysteries....and dangers. This is going to be a sandbox style game, the first I have run in a very long time. My plan is to have most of the major sites planned out before the party even starts, and then they explore what they want to explore and we go from there.

So as I get familiarized with the various classes and what they can do, I of course paid special attention to the Ranger and Druid. Considering my party knows this will be an exploration heavy game, I have full confidence one or more of them will "focus" on that aspect. The Ranger is super strong no doubt, able to nigh ignore supply for the party. However, its the druid that has me a bit concerned.

So a 5th level druid can easily transform into a Giant Eagle gaining an 80 ft fly for 5 hours (90 feet if they want to commit a few spells to longstrider), and now with advantage on perception checks. Throw in something like Aerial Surveyor for even more bonuses.

Now there will be forests and the like that the eagle would have to go into to really see things, but there will also be more open territory, and I see no reason the druid wouldn't be able to spot these things.

Of course the immediate answer I'll get is "oh they want to split the party, will then just take the druid down!".... but part of this game will be protecting the refugees from their new environment and ensuring their survival. So under that idea, it honestly makes plenty of sense that they would risk one person scouting while the rest of the party keeps the refugees safe. And this is a druid IN NATURE, I mean its literally what they do.


So my fear is a huge part of the exploration is going to be druid only, not all of it of course (there will always be some things that will warrant the full party's attention), but the druid will singlehandedly suss out a lot of the interesting things and steal a lot of the screentime.

So I wanted to get other people's thoughts, am I overthinking this, are the druid abilities not as good as I'm thinking?

 

[tetrasodium]

I don't see how it would, there are lots of ways to get flight as early as character creation. Druids have things that can help gather supply, but that will only help so much & there are still going to be exploration challenges

 

[Timespike]

If the druid player starts doing what you describe (they may not; some players don't use their characters' abilities very much for whatever reason) then make it essential for them to keep doing so and account for it.

Design your encounters and sessions so they'll have a much harder time if the druid doesn't do their thing.

In other words, let the player have the cool stuff they wanted during character creation.

By all means, throw the occasional scare or challenge at them or the party when separated, too, but don't do it constantly, or it'll feel like punishment.

 

[Stalker0]

I don't see how it would, there are lots of ways to get flight as early as character creation. Druids have things that can help gather supply, but that will only help so much & there are still going to be exploration challenges

There is the speed of their flight, but fair enough, I'm not used to players have unlimited fly either, so we could look at the concern there.

 

[Skyscraper]

A thick jungle or forest canopy could hinder overland flight reconnaissance.

Of course, the other answer might be: start at level 1 Flight (or using a familiar that has flight) is pretty common at levels 5+.

 

[tetrasodium]

There is the speed of their flight, but fair enough, I'm not used to players have unlimited fly either, so we could look at the concern there.

I might be jaded wrt PC flight from experience running an AL legal LMOP with a party where every PC was an aarakokra. Yes it's possible for flight to really twist things if the rest of the world is stuck in 2d always below them, but tree cover ceilings poor weather & so much more can trivially limit flight. Players will quickly learn that they too need to ask questions relevant to thinking in 3d like "how high is the ceiling" before declaring that they are going to take flight & snipe from beyond reach.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

First:
I always found it rare to use druid abilities to their fullest potential. This seems like a perfect scenario for the Druid to shine. Let them be awesome! Having an aerial view should make it easier. At least you won't get lost.

Second:
If the canopy is thick, they will need to swoop in closer. I think skill checks are important but they won't always be perception. Survival will be key. They will need to read the terrain and be able to judge which direction will be ideal for the refugees to travel. If the druid leads them into a swamp, things will be tricky.

So, skill checks with complications if he fails: Obstacles, loss of trail(sure it's easy for an eagle to travel cross-country, but if the group loses the trail, they could get off track and it could take longer which could mean staying overnight and risking encounters); Spotting enemies - they could just totally miss stuff - ; needing to avoid enemies like other birds of prey or monsters. It might not mean combat, but it might mean having to redirect the group or prevent them from scouting farther without risking themselves.

3rd:
Certain areas might be difficult to scout from above (see the thick conopy or tunnels or ravines). Should they land and change form to scout? Give them difficult decisions. They can't actually communicate when in bird form.

4th
Maybe they spot something happening! Should they help? Should they go get the party to help? Will it delay the trip? YAY, SIDE QUESTS! What are the consequences of taking more time in the jungle?

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

double post:
If you want to make exploration with actual stakes then take a note from a game I was in.

We travelled in the jungle with 100 porters and donkeys and mercenaries. We had limited supplies and everything in the jungle was poison. Some things wouldn't kill you, but most things would mess you up: diahrea(exhaustion), hallucinations etc..

Every session, NPCs would get hurt or killed. Every game day or so, the DM said, "Roll a d6 to see how many porters die in the jungle today". My character spent lots of time healing porters of festering wounds from stepping on thorns or dying of dehydration because they drank the water and were puking. The Dm said, "you make a good heal check. Roll 1d3 to see how many porters die instead of 1d6."

So, yeah. It was stressful. spending extra time in the jungle was not an option.

 

[lichmaster]

I understand your concern, but that may be dictated by the last editions nerf of many spells and abilities in general, especially fly. May take a bit to readjust, but you'll get there (plus reasoning in 3D is always a bit trickier than i 2D).
I remember in 2e people could fly for hours on, and many buffs lasted 10min/level. IIRC in the FR there was an elite patrol of elves that were using fly, invisibility and nondetection to scout around the borders of their nation. That was some high fantasy badassery (that I still miss)!

That said, once in a while you could also have bad weather to make flying around not a viable option, hostile flying creatures already around acting as a deterrent, etc. But all in all you should try to embrace the PCs capabilities and design around those.

 

[Larnievc]

So to kick off my LU experience, I am planning a new campaign. Basic premise, the party (which will start at 5th level) and a large group of refugees is transported to an unknown world. They have bare supplies and no knowledge of where they have landed. They will have to build up a camp (stronghold style), and ultimately explore their new home, which is filled with ancient mysteries....and dangers. This is going to be a sandbox style game, the first I have run in a very long time. My plan is to have most of the major sites planned out before the party even starts, and then they explore what they want to explore and we go from there.

So as I get familiarized with the various classes and what they can do, I of course paid special attention to the Ranger and Druid. Considering my party knows this will be an exploration heavy game, I have full confidence one or more of them will "focus" on that aspect. The Ranger is super strong no doubt, able to nigh ignore supply for the party. However, its the druid that has me a bit concerned.

So a 5th level druid can easily transform into a Giant Eagle gaining an 80 ft fly for 5 hours (90 feet if they want to commit a few spells to longstrider), and now with advantage on perception checks. Throw in something like Aerial Surveyor for even more bonuses.

Now there will be forests and the like that the eagle would have to go into to really see things, but there will also be more open territory, and I see no reason the druid wouldn't be able to spot these things.

Of course the immediate answer I'll get is "oh they want to split the party, will then just take the druid down!".... but part of this game will be protecting the refugees from their new environment and ensuring their survival. So under that idea, it honestly makes plenty of sense that they would risk one person scouting while the rest of the party keeps the refugees safe. And this is a druid IN NATURE, I mean its literally what they do.


So my fear is a huge part of the exploration is going to be druid only, not all of it of course (there will always be some things that will warrant the full party's attention), but the druid will singlehandedly suss out a lot of the interesting things and steal a lot of the screentime.

So I wanted to get other people's thoughts, am I overthinking this, are the druid abilities not as good as I'm thinking?

Having the Druid scout is a great idea. Let the party have fun coming up with plans on how to approach the object of interest.

It’ll come down to Druid goes out to scout, sees something interesting, party goes to check it out. Sounds fun