So I'm currently running (as the DM) an adventure that will be coming to an end in the coming months. One of the guys in the group has already stepped up and said that he would like to run Skulls & Shackles as the next campaign. Hearing of a sea-faring adventure, I immediately jumped to a Druid of the Storms & Sease - Weather Domain with the Storms sub domain.
So the one thing that I'm not a huge fan of in general is summoning - particularity since we have a group of 6 players - it tends to slow things down somewhat significantly. But that is a pretty solid part of the Druid class... So I'm planning to ask the guy who will be running the next campaign to consider letting me spontaneously convert my spells to those from my domain list instead of Summon Nature's Ally. I would place the limitation that every single domain spell be one from the Druid list already. This rules out picking something like the Fire domain, which would grant me more access to spells off another classes list - obviously more powerful. I was curious if anyone had allowed this in the past or considered it? If so, did it seem balanced and were there any unintended consequences?
As the guy currently running the adventure, I've been reluctant to stray far from the rules as a few of my players always want things that are more powerful than the abilities they're currently given... So I don't want to turn into that guy myself, lol. To me, this seems like a request that would not be any more powerful than summoning loads of eagles or sharks or whatever else I need at the moment - thus slowing the game down.
tl;dr - see title.
For reference, here's a list of the spells I would be able to spontaneously convert to instead of SNA.
Weather Domain - Storms Subdomain - Spell Slot Level, Spell Name, Class List & Level
1, Obscuring Mist, Druid 1
2, Fog Cloud, Druid 2
3, Call Lightning, Druid 3
4, Sleet Storm, Druid 3
5, Call Lightning Storm, Druid 5
6, Sirocco, Druid 6
7, Control Weather, Druid 7
8, Whirlwind, Druid 8
9, Storm of Vengeance, Druid 9
There are archetypes that grant this ability. The Storm Druid and Tempest Druids both would allow you to pick the Weather/Storms domain, and spont cast domain spells instead of summoning. Storm Druid even lets you pick up a second domain at 9th level. They both have a shorter list of domains to choose from: either the Air or Weather domain, or one of the subdomains associated with those domains.
Bah, I'm not sure why I didn't think of this, haha. I sorta had my mind set on the Reincarnated Druid archetype just because that seemed like a super awesome ability for roleplaying/flavor purposes. The Storm Druid archetype, however, is completely perfect for this character, so I'll have to go with that.
Thanks.
No problem! I do have to agree, though, Reincarnated Druid does look awesome to play. I was tempted to make one myself just recently! (Ended up going for Menhir Savant instead, though.) I love the Storm Druid archetype, too. People seem to go on about how awesome summons are, but I've never really used them much.
Summons = Powerful.
Storm Druid = Awesome (in a much less power gamey way)
Playing a female storm druid just gives me visions of "Storm" from X-men... "As we approached the enemy's ship, I took the spyglass from my first mate and looked through to see a wench standing at the front of the bow, her head tilted back and her eyes flickering as if she were about to faint. The moment I put the spyglass down, the sky darkened, a tumultuous storm in the brew. Next, a thunderous female voice roared out from the black clouds and my crew's livelihood died immediately... the shouts of an impending boarding stifled. Before I could consider calling back to the clouds, a bolt of lightning struck the mast of the ship, and the resolve of my crew was immediately broke - they cried for us to turn back... Picking my spyglass back up, I stared at the wench at the bow, who stared back it me, eerily. Her lips began to move and second later, the voice thundered down again just before a second bolt of lightning struck the ship not 5 feet from me... It seems the god of fate is just not on my side today..."