Wo only need the druid class!

[Mournblade94]

Then the gane stalls while the druid player goes through a ton of photocopied animals from the MM. Which is only slightly faster.

It actually works pretty well in my game anyway. My players are behind it as well, you can't shape shift into an animal for which you do not have statistics for, all in the name of speeding up the game.

Its a management tool, but it works in two ways. The druid player already knows what his range of animals are (And it is up to him), and the statistics are convenient. I make the wizards summoning spells along the same lines, and they are all printed out ahead of time in Hero Lab.

My players, even when I start with players I have not gamed with before seem to have no problem with my stipulation that you can use summoning spells only when you have the monsters statistics. With Hero Lab there is no excuse for not having them.

 

[triqui]

But it comes from belief/faith/communing with a greater power, and is used by priests.

In which setting? Because in a lot of them, a druid will look more like a nature wizard than a nature priest. Merlin was a druid. So is Panoramix. A Warlock also get his powers from communing with a greater power, and they are as much "priests" as druids are. Eastern monks ki power also come from belief with a greater power (just that it's an inner one), yet they aren't divine.

It's different enough to not being "divine". That's why you have "druids", and "priests from a nature goddess", which are different in every way.

 

[triqui]

It actually works pretty well in my game anyway. My players are behind it as well, you can't shape shift into an animal for which you do not have statistics for, all in the name of speeding up the game.

Its a management tool, but it works in two ways. The druid player already knows what his range of animals are (And it is up to him), and the statistics are convenient. I make the wizards summoning spells along the same lines, and they are all printed out ahead of time in Hero Lab.

My players, even when I start with players I have not gamed with before seem to have no problem with my stipulation that you can use summoning spells only when you have the monsters statistics. With Hero Lab there is no excuse for not having them.

I use it too. It works, depending on the wizard/druid player. I had a druid player which came with *every* printed animal that exists (and every summonable creature he has access too). It was faster than going through the MM, anyways, but not really that much.

I'd rather say the druid should have 1 single creature to shapshift into, in a given "size" or "cathegory". So a given druid might transform into "mouse, owl, wolf, bear and fire elemental", while a different one would do into "spider, raven, panther, rhino and treant", or whatever. I really hope 5e goes this route.

 

[slobster]

I'd rather say the druid should have 1 single creature to shapshift into, in a given "size" or "cathegory". So a given druid might transform into "mouse, owl, wolf, bear and fire elemental", while a different one would do into "spider, raven, panther, rhino and treant", or whatever. I really hope 5e goes this route.

Due to a misreading of the rules, this is actually how we played the Druid for a long time in my old 3.x game. It worked out fine, and gave the druid an extra something to obsess over (he was the kind of player that enjoyed that).

 

[Mournblade94]

I'd rather say the druid should have 1 single creature to shapshift into, in a given "size" or "cathegory". So a given druid might transform into "mouse, owl, wolf, bear and fire elemental", while a different one would do into "spider, raven, panther, rhino and treant", or whatever. I really hope 5e goes this route.

I agree like they pick a totem and can transform into a paragon of that animal. I llike the idea of limiting the choice of Druid to one for each category they can shift into.

 

[GX.Sigma]

In which setting?

Greyhawk
Forgotten Realms
Dragonlance (? pretty sure)
AD&D 1st Edition (Druid was a subclass of Cleric)
AD&D 2nd Edition (Druid was in the "Priest" group, along with Cleric)
Real life (not in the sense of magic, but the word "druid" actually refers to a certain class of pagan priests in Celtic Europe)

It's different enough to not being "divine". That's why you have "druids", and "priests from a nature goddess", which are different in every way.

I don't have the other books in front of me, but 3.5 mentions that the druid may get her powers from a nature deity (though to be fair, 3.5 provided a lot of wiggle room for stuff like that).

 

[Kobold Stew]

Provide the tools, but make them choices... give Wildshape, but limit it. Give nature powers, but in some way make them more like an Affinity. Make Druids awesome but they have to specialize to gain their awesomeness.

Then no two Druids would ever be the same.

This is the most compelling approach to shapeshifting druids I've seen.

Without serious constraints on shapeshifting, the Druid becomes a mess of a class, which is why I always liked the UA variant that had elements of the monk and the ranger instead of shapeshifting: it offered a force for nature without photocopies of everything that had ever been called an animal in a licensed product becoming relevant.

Thanks.

 

[Prickly]

I think we can see why 4e went the route it did for wild shape even though some dont like it.
An advantage of the 4e approach though was that the druid player could narrate his druid shifting in to multiple animals in a battle ala Beast Boy without worrying about mechanics.

Another important question concerning the druid is how summoning spells will be handled in DnD Next.
Summoning is a very tricky game mechanic to get right. Neither 4e or 3e did a good job IMO.

 

[dnlas]

I think we can see why 4e went the route it did for wild shape even though some dont like it.
An advantage of the 4e approach though was that the druid player could narrate his druid shifting in to multiple animals in a battle ala Beast Boy without worrying about mechanics.

Another important question concerning the druid is how summoning spells will be handled in DnD Next.
Summoning is a very tricky game mechanic to get right. Neither 4e or 3e did a good job IMO.

And it's why not all player Like 4e and go back to 3.X or PF

4E's druid can looked like a Bird but can only fly 6sec/5min
4E's druid can looked like a Fish but worse swim skill and would be drowned in the water
4E's druid can looked like a Bear but it's Strength like a sheep.
4E's druid can looked like a Panther but sneak like Rhinoceros
It's not the wildshape but the skinchange. it works like illusion, seems cool but do nothing.
Yes, it's balance. but balance aren't everything in role playing game

 

[Li Shenron]

Why not look to the new Sorcerer as a source of inspiration for the new Druid class.

Let's say all Druids have links to different aspects of nature, but not all of nature. Maybe these links to nature come in the form of certain... I guess for lack of better terminology... Forms (insert better term if you have one).
~ these Forms... an example: Feline Form... the Druid gains a Wildshape to felines, gains Feline animal traits like nightvision and cats fall, gains cats grace spell ability, a boost to Dexterity, and later on can become different sizes, from housecats to gigantic Lions.
~ another Form: Tree Form... the Druid gains a Wildshape to plants and trees, basically like a Treant, gains the ability to heal through photosynthesis, able to teleport through trees, gains barkskin like abilities, and later on can grow into Gigantic walking Treants with the strength to wield giant freaking clubs.

Another ways to link Druids to Nature is through the land. Maybe make each Druid begin with an Affinity to a land type, and they gain powers through this link, while in the land type.

A third way is through an Element... Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Spirit, Dark, and gains spell-like powers through their element.

Imagine an Avian Form Druid with Air element powers... turn into a large eagle and fire lightning from your beak... or a Feline Form Druid with a special link to thee Spirit plane, summoning other Spirit forms and channeling powers through those Spirit forms.

Provide the tools, but make them choices... give Wildshape, but limit it. Give nature powers, but in some way make them more like an Affinity. Make Druids awesome but they have to specialize to gain their awesomeness.

Then no two Druids would ever be the same.

I like all these ideas.

Fighters have fighting styles, Rogues have schemes, Sorcerers have heritages, Warlocks have pacts, Clerics have domains, Wizards will have traditions... seems natural to me that at this point Druids should have something similar!

How would you call it? Druids' circles? Druidic societies? Or traditions (if Wizard ones go back to being called schools)?