Divine Favor: The Druid (PFRPG) PDF

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Designed by Stefen Styrsky and developed by Sigfried Trent and Wolfgang Baur, Divine Favor: The Druid gives an in-depth exploration of the druid class and useful advice on making the most of it.

The second in the Divine Favor series covering cleric, druid, paladin, inquisitor and oracle, this volume includes:

  • New domains for druids, clerics and rangers, including Bird, Hunting, Transformation, Tree, and more
  • New wild shape options
  • New animal companions including electric lizard and brain ooze (ew!)
  • Druid archetypes such as Moon Druid, Greenmen, and Elemental Shaman
  • New feats such as Defend the Master, Healing Tongue and Primeval Counsel

Pick up Divine Favor: the Druid and unleash nature’s fury! And check out the other books in the Divine Favor series.

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Not too impressed by these Druidoptions...

3/5

This pdf is 19 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving 16 pages of content, so let's check out the new material for the Druid, shall we?

The pdf opens with a short one-page discussion of the druid's role in an adventuring group and how to play him before introducing 2 alternatives to wildshape: The rather simple swarm shape that lets the druid mimic the swarm skin spell and the other, more complex alternative, Nature's Multitude, which lets you not morph into one animal, but rather split up into e.g. a flock of birds. The rules for said ability need to be concise and concise they are, though I'm reluctant to say whether this form can be considered balanced. Recalling the natural spell feat and the possibility to combine nature's multitude and said feat, my DM-senses start to tingle a bit. While damage that exceeds one animal's HP is handed over to other members of the multitude, I KNOW in my guts that players will find some way to exploit the hell out of this one. Prior to some extensive playtesting, I wouldn't allow this particular option. Similar concerns can be addressed on a lesser scale with reagrds to the option to gain flock companions instead of regular animal companions, though I'm less reluctant to allow them in my game due to the lack of direct casting capability sans massive investment on parts of the palyer. We also gain three alternate qualities for companions, one of which grants spells equal to 1/3 of its HD to the companion, another granting it the ability to speak and a thrid one enabling the druid to magic jar into her companions. Combine Nature's Multitude, Flock Companion and this quality and at 13th level you have a practically unkillable PC. While I can see NPCs pulling this off, I wouldn't allow this particular combination for my players. Some additional restriction might have been appropriate here.

Next are new archetypes, 3 of which pertain to the phases of the moon, 4 (for the animal shaman)to the elements and 2 to forests in general: All Archetypes have in common that they are rather simple and, unfortunately, bland. Channel energy and enhanced domain access? Come on, if I wanted to play a cleric, I would have rolled a cleric! Elements? *Snore* I've seen that done before - over 9000 times. Some of them more compelling. The Green Warden is a foe of undead who gains disease immunity, channel energy and turn undead (but not to heal) and bonuses against supernatural attacks by undead. Boring? Rather clericy? Then there's the Forest Child, per se a cool idea, as she can damage natural foes7fey etc and undergoes an apotheoses into a plant. However, two abilities feel rather light on the new-ability-section for an archetype. I was utterly underwhelmed by the archetypes, as the alternate class-features felt much more interesting and inspired than these boring archetypes.

We also get 5 new domains (Bird, Hunter, Insect, Transformation, Tree) with 2 subdomains each. The abilities for said domains were nice, however, I would have loved to see some unique abilities for the respective subdomains instead of the usage of already existent ones, especially due to some of the abilities like Primal Cancellation (which cancels all moral distinctions like subtypes of creatures and spells, DRs etc.) being rather creative and neat.

The 5 new animal companions are rather creative, though: A Brain Ooze (!!!), an electric lizard, a mobile flytrap, a forest worm and an acid-spitting green slug are introduced. I would have loved for artworks or small ecologies for them, though, as they seem to be interesting animals, not only as companions.
The pdf closes by providing 10 new feats that improve the capabilities of animal companions and druids - a feat that duplicates improved natural attack for wildshaping druids by doing the same and stacking would be one example, better spells with the creation-descriptor being two more. The Totem Aspect feat should have been more detailed/split into several feats, though: It enables you to temporarily add +4 to an attribute corresponding to the animal for uses of wildshape abilities. I think each animal should have come with additional benefits, making them more distinct. Healing Tongue is a strange feat - it enables you to use heal checks via licking wounds. While I can see the druid taking it, an animal companion taking it would be strange indeed, as the user still has to make heal-checks and most animals don't have that particular skill. Nevertheless, that seems to be one of the prime intentions of the feat's design. Strange.

Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to an easy-to-read two-column standard and artworks are stock, but fitting. The pages have an used-parchment look and the pdf comes without a printer-friendly version. The pdf comes with extensive bookmarks. When all's said and done, this pdf underwhelmed me - while some components are imaginative and haven't been done like this before, the majority of the content left me unimpressed. The options to get flock companions and split into more animals is cool (though I have some minor balance concerns) and the new animal companions are neat. Especially the feats and archetypes left me unimpressed and provided a jarring contrast to the better ideas herein. There is some quality to be scavenged here, though, thus, in spite of the subpar parts, I'll settle for a final verdict of 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Endzeitgeist out.


Some nice Druid options.

4/5

Divine Favor: The Druid by Open Design

This product is 19 pages long. It starts with a cover, ToC, and credits. (2 pages)

The Druid (1 pages)
It starts off looking at the class, it's spells, wildshape, multiclassing etc.

New Class Abilities (3 pages)
This section offers some new wildshape and animal companion options.
Natures Multitude – change into a number of tiny animals.
Swarm Shape – turn into a swarm.
Flock Companion – get a bunch of smaller creatures that total up to the same HD as the normal companion would.

New Archetypes (5 ½ pages)
Full Moon Druid – loses some powers including their animal companion but gains positive channeling and some other healing powers.
New Moon Druid - loses some powers including their animal companion but gains negative channeling and some death domains powers.
Phase Moon Druid – loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains bonuses to wildshape and changing abilities.
Green Warden - loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains bonuses vs undead, as well as channeling to damage undead only.
Forest Child - loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains plant creature type, as well as channeling to damage fey, plant and magical beasts only.
Air Shaman - loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains elemental empathy, elemental shape and summon elemental.
Earth Shaman - loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains elemental empathy, elemental shape and summon elemental.
Fire Shaman - loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains elemental empathy, elemental shape and summon elemental.
Water Shaman - loses their animal companion and some other powers but gains elemental empathy, elemental shape and summon elemental.

New Domains (3 ½ pages)
Here is a few new domains and there subdomains.
Bird Domain – hawk sight and wings... yes you get wings.
Hunting Domain – tracking bonus, become a little bit of a ranger in that area.
Insect Domain – gain a bite attack and hive mind(sorta blank mind making you immune to some mind effects)
Transformation Domain – Ability to alter self a few times a day and cancel all moral and ethical distractions a few times a day around you. I honestly don't get the last power in this domain it doesn't really match the chaos them as well as some other powers I can think of.
Tree Domain – gain con bonus for being tough as a tree and animate trees.

New Animal Companions (2 pages)
There is 5 new animal companions in this section. Brain Ooze, Electric Lizard, Fast Flytrap, Forest Worm, and Green Slug.

New Feats (2 pages)
There is 10 new druid focused feats. Some are for the druid and some for their animal companion. Honestly I like all the feats I think they are well done.

It ends with a OGL. (1 pages)

Closing thoughts. The art work is black and white and good. Editing and layout are ok, I noticed a few errors here and there. Like Full Moon being spelled Full Mood, nothing to make the product unusable or hard to understand. As for the content I thought it was a bit of a mixed bag. Loved the new class abilities, feats and all but one of the new domains. The new animal companions where ok but not great. The Archetypes where mixed a couple was very good, most was ok and a couple I felt was kinda meh. So what's my rating? I found this one hard to rate. The stuff I liked I really liked but there was several things I didn't care for. I think really it depends on what parts of the book most interest you. For me as a whole I am giving it a 4 star review.

Trust me, I'm a Succubus.


An RPG Resource Review

4/5

The Introduction begins with an overview of the Druid class - a divine spellcaster drawing on the limitless power of the natural world, and with Wisdom as his primary ability. Special abilities include Wildshape, the ability to change form; whilst druids need to concentrate on the things they are good at with their spells - controlling the natural environment, participating in combat and acting in concert with their animal companion. This page is illustrated with a delightful sketch of a Welsh Archdruid from the 18th century, a time when romantics tried to recreate ancient practices, something that led to the establishment of the Gorsedd and the Eisteddfod, something completely different from Druidism as practiced within a fantasy game!

After some advice on feat selection, the discussion moves on to introduce some new class abilities for druids. This begins by exploring a novel option for Wildshape: namely being able to change into several identical animals or even a whole swarm of critters instead of but a single one. Similarly, druids may choose to have a flock of creatures as companions - rats, crows, bats... - instead of a single individual, numbers and size being restricted on a Hit Dice basis, with various options becoming available as the druid rises in level. They can also grant companions the power of speech, and at high levels empower them to cast spells as well.

Next comes some new Druid archetypes. Moon Druids (not, as one single solitary typo would have, Mood Druids!) embody the cycles inherent in nature, life and death, and transformation; and may favour the full moon or the new one. Phase Druids are also interested in change, but for them it is the continuous flux, the fluidity of nature that is important. Green Wardens care about life, growth and renewal, hating anything that disrupts the natural flow or which mimic it in an artificial manner. They are able to harm undead creatures as a result of this hatred. The Forest Child connects with the deepest, darkest reaches of the woods, being particularly close to fey and others who dwell there... including the very plants themselves, enabling them to take on some of the characteristics of a plant. Elemental Shamans form close bonds with one of the elements: air, earth, fire or water; gaining specific abilities related to the element chosen.

These are followed by some new spell domains that druids may acces. Bird, Hunting, Insect, Transformation, and Tree: each with their own specific powers and appropriate spell lists. Then there are a few new creatures suitable - or so tis claimed - to be animal companions. Electic lizards I can understand, but a brain ooze? Or a fast flytrap? (A Venus flytrap-style plant, in case you are wondering. Can you really see your druid wandering around with a plant pot under one arm?). Finally, some new feats.

This is a nice exploration and enhancement of the Druid class, although not all the options sound as if they would be easy or interesting to play. A Forest Child, for example, would thrive in a group that spent a lot of time in wild primordal forests, but would be at a loss in a city or a desert. Some may work better for NPC druids whose location and part in your plot is served by the option in question. There's certainly scope, and druids tend to be rather neglected amidst the flashier and more exciting spell users. Worth a read if you like playing druids, or run campaigns where wilderness adventures feature.



I love this book but i do have a few questions if anyone has time to answer....

When wildshaping into multiple creatures if you cast a spell do all the creatures have to cast or just one?

If you are targeted by a spell you cast or someone else casts do all the creatures get it or just one?

If you have mage armor on before you shift. do all the creatures have mage armor or just one?

I have a great idea for a build and will be playing with this book soon so i realy want to know.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

This bumped the paladin book in my side cart for the next block of purchases.


daken201 wrote:

I love this book but i do have a few questions if anyone has time to answer....

1) When wildshaping into multiple creatures if you cast a spell do all the creatures have to cast or just one?

2) If you are targeted by a spell you cast or someone else casts do all the creatures get it or just one?

3) If you have mage armor on before you shift. do all the creatures have mage armor or just one?

4) I have a great idea for a build and will be playing with this book soon so i realy want to know.

Daken201,

As a general rule you should treat each member of the multitude as a separate creature. So:

1) Only one creature has to cast the spell.

2) Only one creature becomes the target of the spell, unless the spell can affect more than one creature or is an area spell of some sort. Be careful! If you think about it, its easier for you to die in a fireball spell if all your multitude members are caught in the blast than if you were in your normal shape.

3) Just one, since the description of mage armor says it affects only one creature, and each member of the multitude is considered an individual.

4) Thanks for your interest in DF: Druid. When a player says they want to use in a game something I wrote, that makes my day!

Stefen

P.S. It might be a good idea to sit down with your DM and hash out any problems or interpretations you have with the rules before the game.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Phase Druid. Seems kind of, well, a bit much. They give up Nature Bond and not only get WildShape 3 levels earlier but also get to boost their physical stats every time they rest? That seems a little unfair on the exchange. Did I miss something? I like the idea of early wild shape but this doesn't seem to give up enough.

Also, why can the Multiform Druid shape change into Magical Beasts when regular Druids can't? Oversight or intentional change?

I like the product a lot, but these two stood out as nails to be hammered on.


Paul Watson wrote:

Phase Druid. Seems kind of, well, a bit much. They give up Nature Bond and not only get WildShape 3 levels earlier but also get to boost their physical stats every time they rest? That seems a little unfair on the exchange. Did I miss something? I like the idea of early wild shape but this doesn't seem to give up enough.

Also, why can the Multiform Druid shape change into Magical Beasts when regular Druids can't? Oversight or intentional change?

I like the product a lot, but these two stood out as nails to be hammered on.

The thinking behind this went as such. The phase druid looses access to domain powers and spells or looses an animal companion. Both of those, especially the later, are powerful class options. In exchange they get to wildshape earlier, an ability that takes a few levels to become truly potent.

The phase druid gets to boost one physical ability score, but not his primary score of Wisdom. Also, this boost is an "enhancement" bonus which means it won't stack with the buff spells, nor will it stack with most magic items such that do the same thing. So it might not be as powerful as it seems at first glance.

I gave the multiform druid the ability to become a magical beast for a few reasons. Each individual creature in the multiform is much more vulnerable than a single wildshaped druid, so they need a little help surviving. Also, the regular druid gets to be larger creature sooner. The tradeoff being the multiform gets to be a magical beast. Lastly, this was also to make for the fact the multiform druid can NOT change into an elemental or plant, a severe restriction in my opinion.

Thank you for reading DF: Druid! That really makes me happy. I hope you enjoy it and the others in the series.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

So is Cleric or Oracle next? :)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Stefen Styrsky wrote:
Paul Watson wrote:

Phase Druid. Seems kind of, well, a bit much. They give up Nature Bond and not only get WildShape 3 levels earlier but also get to boost their physical stats every time they rest? That seems a little unfair on the exchange. Did I miss something? I like the idea of early wild shape but this doesn't seem to give up enough.

Also, why can the Multiform Druid shape change into Magical Beasts when regular Druids can't? Oversight or intentional change?

I like the product a lot, but these two stood out as nails to be hammered on.

The thinking behind this went as such. The phase druid looses access to domain powers and spells or looses an animal companion. Both of those, especially the later, are powerful class options. In exchange they get to wildshape earlier, an ability that takes a few levels to become truly potent.

The phase druid gets to boost one physical ability score, but not his primary score of Wisdom. Also, this boost is an "enhancement" bonus which means it won't stack with the buff spells, nor will it stack with most magic items such that do the same thing. So it might not be as powerful as it seems at first glance.

I gave the multiform druid the ability to become a magical beast for a few reasons. Each individual creature in the multiform is much more vulnerable than a single wildshaped druid, so they need a little help surviving. Also, the regular druid gets to be larger creature sooner. The tradeoff being the multiform gets to be a magical beast. Lastly, this was also to make for the fact the multiform druid can NOT change into an elemental or plant, a severe restriction in my opinion.

Thank you for reading DF: Druid! That really makes me happy. I hope you enjoy it and the others in the series.

Thanks for replying. I'm glad my nitpicking makes you happy. I'm not sure I agree on the Phase Druid but I'll certainly wait to see it in play before screaming about it. Hadn't noticed that the Multiude Druid couldn't become elementals or plants. You're right, that is a significant limitation. Could a Phase Druid take the multiple or swarm form options? That would be interesting.

Liberty's Edge

Congrats Stefen, this looks very cool!

I've been in a very druid'y state of mind as of late and this sounds very interesting!

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

As I said about the Paladin book, definitely interested, but also definitely not buying until the Complete Divine Favor is released.

Or the Dreamscarred release model is followed, ie, pay the full price for Complete Divine Favor now and get the individual releases as they're finished.

The Exchange Kobold Press

Kvantum wrote:
As I said about the Paladin book, definitely interested, but also definitely not buying until the Complete Divine Favor is released.

Good feedback to have. There might be a Complete Divine Favor sometime next year, but it'll be a while.

The Dreamscarred model is interesting, but I have no way to implement it here on the Paizo site. Or at least, I don't know of any way to do it. Might have to consult Vic.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Wolfgang Baur wrote:
Kvantum wrote:
As I said about the Paladin book, definitely interested, but also definitely not buying until the Complete Divine Favor is released.

Good feedback to have. There might be a Complete Divine Favor sometime next year, but it'll be a while.

The Dreamscarred model is interesting, but I have no way to implement it here on the Paizo site. Or at least, I don't know of any way to do it. Might have to consult Vic.

Dreamscarred has Psionics Expanded's work-in-progress version set up as a PDF at the full final price, but each time a new chapter comes out, the Zip file for the book gets updated, and those of us who've pre-ordered get a message that we can redownload it with the new chapter added on.

I'll happily put up the full price now if you can get something along those lines set up.

Liberty's Edge

Dark_Mistress wrote:
So is Cleric or Oracle next? :)

It would appear Oracle, as said item just plopped onto my review pile! Off to read it...

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

reviewed. I should have the Oracle up tomorrow.


Reviewed here, on DTRPG and sent to GMS magazine. Cheers!

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