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It's well known that wildshape is an important part of the druid's arsenal of class features. Virtually all builds I've seen for druids rely on it to some extent. Which makes what I want a frightening proposition: I want to fight with a sword rather than claws or teeth. Blasphemous, I know, but I'm less interested in turning into a giant boar or serpent than I am riding at the head of an army with sword flashing and summoning storms to follow in my wake or something. I want to sort of act like a druidic Gandalf, inspiring and bolstering my allies with the power of nature and not afraid to wade in with a sword personally.
So my question is this: can it be done? Can I play an effective Druid who eschews wildshape in favor of hacking and slashing? How? I plan on using this character for Wrath of the Righteous, so mythic stuff is also something I wanna plan for, especially with the Divine Source mythic ability.
Thank you all for your hopefully wise and insightful advice! :)
There's a druid archetype that loses wild shape and gains the study ability of a Slayer. It sounds just like what you are after. Also note that the study increases the DC of your class features versus your target... yay, spell DC increases!
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Nature Fang from ACG. Even gets bonus pre-req free Ranger feats from its Slayer Talents.
I had plans for a Dwarven Nature Fang Druid that'd use Blessed Hammer to be a divine psuedo-magus (albeit with a much less effective weapon) but then Goliath Druid came out and I figured turning into a giant is way cooler than some bonus feats and sneak attack.
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So, first off, why do you think wild shape and wielding a weapon are incompatible? Sure animals can't wield weapons but elementals (at least, some of them) are described as humanoid in shape.
That's pretty much it. The majority of the time I'd be wildshaping into some sort of powerful animal, which can't wield a weapon, and I was hoping to use a sword for my entire career.
There's a better option now though from the Giant Hunter's Handbook. Goliath druid trades a bunch of nature things (nature sense, wild empathy, nature bond, resist nature's lure) for things that are either anti-giant (nature sense and resist nature's lure) or restricted only to large things (nature bond, wild empathy). In addition they drop elementals and plants from wild shape and gain the ability to turn into giants. It's really supremely useful if you want to be a weapon-wielding druid.+8 size bonus to Strength
-2 penalty to Dexterity
+6 size bonus to Constitution
+6 natural armor bonus
low-light vision
+10 foot enhancement bonus to your speed
Tempting, but not exactly what I'm looking for. Giants aren't very common in the Worldwound.
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Something I've been grappling with is that I'm interested in the Green Faith Acolyte prestige class, but the class sticks me with Wild Shape even if I don't really want it, and I'm wondering if it's better to just be a regular druid that gets Wild Shape so I have a more powerful Wild Shape instead of both a Wild Shape and Nature Fang benefits that are weaker.
I don't HAVE to take Green Faith Acolyte, but it would go a long way to showing my dedication to the world and the GM...
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Tempting, but not exactly what I'm looking for. Giants aren't very common in the Worldwound.
Actually, they're more common than you might think. Sarkoris of old had a number of giants, and those that didn't flee the demon invasion gradually became ash giants. There's a compelling narrative to be made for a druid purifying and tending the land in the form of a 15-foot tall champion of nature.
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Nagaji aspirants give up most wild shape progression (gaining naga form instead), and losing spotaneous natures ally but you gain some pretty sweet stuff like divine favour and divine power, not to mention defensive stuff like shield, shield of faith, displacement and mirror image. Not sure if a lizard was what you had in mind though (you need to be nagaji).
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Actually, they're more common than you might think. Sarkoris of old had a number of giants, and those that didn't flee the demon invasion gradually became ash giants. There's a compelling narrative to be made for a druid purifying and tending the land in the form of a 15-foot tall champion of nature.
Tempting, but not exactly what I'm looking for. Giants aren't very common in the Worldwound.
Yep, if my Warder/Cavalier in my gestalt WotR game gets offed, I know what I'm playing next! Goliath Druid/something with a big honking hammer!
As Mort mentioned, if you're OK playing a Nagaji, their racial Druid archetype lets you add divine favor/power to your spell list (combo it with Fate's Favored, of course).
You can also get divine favor from the Nobility domain (accessible via Urban Druid, Lion Shaman, and Eagle Shaman archetypes), and divine power via the War domain (accessible via Saurian, Dragon, and Shark Shaman archetypes).
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That and becoming a giant won't make your sword larger.
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form. While in such a form, you cannot cast any spells that require material components (unless you have the Eschew Materials or Natural Spell feat), and can only cast spells with somatic or verbal components if the form you choose has the capability to make such movements or speak, such as a dragon. Other polymorph spells might be subject to this restriction as well, if they change you into a form that is unlike your original form (subject to GM discretion). If your new form does not cause your equipment to meld into your form, the equipment resizes to match your new size.
Giant is not one of the forms that causes your equipment to meld, so it resizes.
Honestly, I think Nature Fang fits Zousha's character idea just fine.
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That and becoming a giant won't make your sword larger.
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form. While in such a form, you cannot cast any spells that require material components (unless you have the Eschew Materials or Natural Spell feat), and can only cast spells with somatic or verbal components if the form you choose has the capability to make such movements or speak, such as a dragon. Other polymorph spells might be subject to this restriction as well, if they change you into a form that is unlike your original form (subject to GM discretion). If your new form does not cause your equipment to meld into your form, the equipment resizes to match your new size.Giant is not one of the forms that causes your equipment to meld, so it resizes.
Admittedly, if you drop your stuff, it automatically goes back to its normal size. But that's not really a problem as long as you've got some armor spikes/spiked gauntlets/something tucked in your belt/etc. as a backup weapon.
Honestly, I think Nature Fang fits Zousha's character idea just fine.
I absolutely agree with this. It's exactly what he wants, and there's totally nothing preventing him from saying he's a Green Faith Acolyte without any levels in the prestige class.
Here! This druid character multi classed with wizard to go mystic theurge.
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I'm thinking that, yes, Nature Fang is the way I want to go. It's less that I wanna say I'm a Green Faith Acolyte and more "I'm the Archdruid/Grand Druid of Sarkoris," and that heirarchy doesn't exist in Sarkoris anymore since the opening of the Worldwound and the corruption of the surviving druids into siabres. I'm supposed to defeat higher druids in order to advance, and Wrath of the Righteous doesn't take the PCs anywhere near the Forest of Stones or the siabres.
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I'm thinking that, yes, Nature Fang is the way I want to go. It's less that I wanna say I'm a Green Faith Acolyte and more "I'm the Archdruid/Grand Druid of Sarkoris," and that heirarchy doesn't exist in Sarkoris anymore since the opening of the Worldwound and the corruption of the surviving druids into siabres. I'm supposed to defeat higher druids in order to advance, and Wrath of the Righteous doesn't take the PCs anywhere near the Forest of Stones or the siabres.
It's a very flexible AP, and there are scripted sections of it where the PCs have the potential to encounter evil druids and siabres.
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I see. Well, now to figure out the nuts and bolts of the character. Human is the way I wanna go (Kellid, specifically) and there is something I wanted to do, though it's kinda crazy. I'm going to take a horse for my animal companion, and worst comes to worst I'll just ride it like a normal mount, but what I really want is to ride in a chariot like the Celtic warriors of old...I'm not really sure how feasible such a plan is, though...
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Then why'd Julius Caesar write about them in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico? Ostensibly, Caesar's failed invasion of Britain was the first Roman presence there and they hadn't built the famous roads yet:
"Their mode of fighting with their chariots is this: firstly, they drive about in all directions and throw their weapons and generally break the ranks of the enemy with the very dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels; and when they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse, leap from their chariots and engage on foot. The charioteers in the mean time withdraw some little distance from the battle, and so place themselves with the chariots that, if their masters are overpowered by the number of the enemy, they may have a ready retreat to their own troops. Thus they display in battle the speed of horse, [together with] the firmness of infantry; and by daily practice and exercise attain to such expertness that they are accustomed, even on a declining and steep place, to check their horses at full speed, and manage and turn them in an instant and run along the pole, and stand on the yoke, and thence betake themselves with the greatest celerity to their chariots again."
There's a druid archetype that loses wild shape and gains the study ability of a Slayer. It sounds just like what you are after. Also note that the study increases the DC of your class features versus your target... yay, spell DC increases!
Ooh, I didn't even think about that. Sneakily good choice for a caster druid that doesn't care about wildshaping anyways?
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The Worldwound is definitely a rough place to drive a chariot. There's supernaturally challenging terrain: puddles of acid, thickets of semi-sentient brambles, and rivers of lava. That said, you are a mythic hero, and, if you want to be the very best at riding chariots, you and your GM may be able to work out a custom path ability that lets you do exactly that.