Silverstar of Selûne and Shapeshifters....

[Rathwellin the Bard]

So you have Keli and Inara in your party ... what happens if the PC is a Shapeshifter Druid or Cernd is in the party?

 

From the Cleric Remix....

Non-evil lyncanthropes honor Selûne as the master of their fate

 

So how will Keli respond to such a one?

[jester]

There will be much rejoicing, since they have to be non-evil by definition.

[NiGHTMARE]

Since (as far as I know) Cernd never mentions which deity he worships, there's a good chance it's Selûne .

[BevH]

I would think Cernd worships Mielikki since he's all forest-y and stuff. As for Keli, part of her training is the acceptance of non-evil lycanthropes, so she'll have no objection to Cernd in the party.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

I would think Cernd worships Mielikki since he's all forest-y and stuff.  As for Keli, part of her training is the acceptance of non-evil lycanthropes, so she'll have no objection to Cernd in the party.

IMO either case would just beg for a interesting banter.

[NiGHTMARE]

Judging by the fact that he's been sent to investigate a druid grove that's in a swamp - and thus it's almost certainly a grove of the swamp druidic branch rather than the forest druidic branch - I'd say he's all swamp-y and stuff And there isn't a god of swamps in the Realms (well, not in the human pantheon anyway) .

[jester]

There is a swamp druidic branch I now the followers of the quicksand have vanished centuries ago, but swampies, I dunno.

[JPS]

There is a swamp druidic branch I now the followers of the quicksand have vanished centuries ago, but swampies, I dunno.

If Cernd is a swamp druid, there has to be a banter where Cernd explains to Keli that the druid circle he comes from once built a castle, but it sank into the swamp...

[NiGHTMARE]

There is a swamp druidic branch I now the followers of the quicksand have vanished centuries ago, but swampies, I dunno.

Druidic branches are:

- Arctic

- Desert

- Forest

- Gray

- Jungle

- Mountain

- Plains

- Swamp

 

I'm not sure, but I think Shadow druids are considered a seperate branch too. I'm not sure why there isn't an Aquatic druid branch, so I like to pretend there is

[jester]

To promote wholeness and balance and split up into groups seems somewhat odd to me. I can imagine regional differentiation like up near the Spine of the World or in Chult druids may be different, but not as a general school. The other distinction would be how zealous they are and what means they deem sensible. A shadow druid could be a forest druid or a swamp druid too IMO.

[JPS]

OMG teh druidic comunity is FRACTURED!!!!11oneone

[NiGHTMARE]

From the Complete Druid's Handbook:

 

The basic druid as described in the PH is referred to here as the “forest druid.†The names of the other branches reflect their geographic specialty: arctic druids, desert druids, and so on.

 

Members of all the branches of the druidic order have the same alignmentâ€â€true neutralâ€â€and worship Nature. They share one ethos and owe at least nominal allegiance to the world’s Grand Druid. But, as befits the infinite diversity of Nature, every branch differs in details and approach to its mission. The granted powers and spells that Nature finds appropriate for a druid in one region are often inappropriate for a druid from a very different climate and terrain.

 

For instance, while the forest druids described in the PH have major access to the Plant sphere of priest spells, the branch of desert druids has only minor access to that sphere, reflecting the less abundant plant life in the desert. Similarly, while a forest druid’s ability to pass through overgrowth is very useful in the woods, it has much less utility for a desert druid. Instead, the branch of desert druids has granted powers enabling them to survive in arid country.

 

Some rivalry exists between the different branches of druids. On most worlds, the forest druids belong to the dominant branch. However, on a few worlds (such as one in the midst of an ice age) another branch might wield the most power.

[jester]

Am I the only one that finds this description lame and lacking depth (no offense to your research Nightmare ) ?

 

First of all what does granted by Nature mean and how can you describe an appropriate spell?

 

Let us just say a druid from the desert who does not have many plant related spells as quoted above ventures on a quest to save his desert hamlet from the onslaught of the evil vines of the neighbouring jungle. As much as I like the concept of adaption for plants and animals. For a guardian of 'Nature' the hindrance is eminent and overwhelming. Instead one can argue that s/he would not use a certain power much where s/he does not see much use for it, not that s/he doesn't have it in the first place. So basically whenever the desert druid is on home turf his chances are pretty good, while whenever s/he is in 'enemy' territory her/his abilities are stripped down to the bare essentials. The special ability of any druid is to draw upon the immediate surrounding to master her/his fights. Could that be still called the 'champion of Nature' or just the housekeeper of the next door swamp?

 

In a moderate climate whatever the immediate veregation a druid should be able from everything that is available even things that do not seem useful at first. Ok, this was just my 'but it says so in the guidebooks' rant. The more I read them the more I find many things that seem to accommodate any playing scenario, any personality and any campaign setting which can ever be published and sold. Like clerics get there spells from their respective deities, druids get them from Nature. How can Nature be picky about certain druidic branches?

[NiGHTMARE]

It goes into far more detail, including what spells (or rather what groups - or "spheres" - of spell) they get in the descriptions for each individual branch. I didn't want to clutter this thread up too much though .

 

In your example, the desert druid would have major access (can cast spells of levels 1-7) to the spheres of All, Animal, Elemental (air, earth, fire), Healing and Weather. He'd have minor access (can only cast levels 1-3) to the spheres of Divination, Elemental (water), and Plant. Minor access to Elemental (water) and Plant for a Druid attuned to an environment where water plants are scarce seems appropriate to me . He'd also have +2 to saves vs. fire & electricity, shapechange into creatures native to the desert (e.g. vultures and lizards), be able to go without water for one day per level and have various other special abilities.

 

A druid in the neighbouring jungle would in contrast have major access to the spheres of All, Animal, Elemental, Healing, Plant, and Weather, plus minor access to Divination. Because he has access to a slightly wider variety of spells, he has less special abilities - he has no extra saves, but can pass through dense vegetation without hinderance or leaving a trail, and has the same shapechanging abilities as a "standard" (forest) druid.

 

Their spells and abilities do not change if they move to a different environment - they desert druid would still have the same spells even if they were in an arctic environment.

 

BTW the desert druid wouldn'tt battle against an encroaching jungle, nor a jungle druid against an encroaching desert. The event, unless caused by dark magic or something, is part of the natural cycle - something they're supposed to be trying to preserve, not fight against.

 

Also, while D&D druids serve nature, they don't recieve their powers from it; just as with clerics, their spells come from deities. Of course, the deities who grant druids their spells are all ones who have something to do with nature, such as Chauntea, Eldath, Mielliki, Shialla, Silvanus, etc. In 3E, where evil aligned druids are allowed, evil druids get their powers from deities such as Auril, Malar, Talos and Umberlee.

[jester]

I C, a lot clearer now.