Advice me on druid


Advice


Hi!
One of my players plays druid. But his druid is very unconventional:
he doesn't have Animal Companion
he is not using summons
and he traded his Wildshape for ability to speak with women (JK, but he is not using Wildshape).

From what I can see he has no build plan and his current build is mostly eared for survival.

I want to be able to give him some build advices (especially about what to do in combat) when the need arises (and I believe it will).

Aside from buffing and healing (which is boring) I don't see readily available options for him.

He has moderate strength (16) and low dexterity (10),so I was considering "bad touch" rote for him, but I'm not sure if it is viable for druid.

Party level is currently 4


When I play Druids, I do not take the animal companion either, but not using Wild Shape denies the druid class their best feature - Even if not used for combat. Reconnaissance, "object recovery," distraction, ability to alter the battlefield, the utility list goes on even if you want to avoid Wild Shape combat.

Allow him to retrain; I've found a fun combination at lower levels is a Druid that concentrates on one or more of the Elements and takes Craft:Alchemy.

If he stat's up INT just below WIS, he could be the party Crafter - not optimal (for those concerned with that), but a neat addition to the skillset that might make him more "stand-outish" in the party.

A decent low-level combo (with the high strength) is the sling and Magic Stone spell when it comes to participating in combat. He'll get DEX bonus to hit, STR bonus to damage.

You could have him retrain with a Longspear Reach build and have him stay back poking at enemies behind the sword and board melee guys but that distracts him from battlefield control.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

The entire point of the game is to have fun, are the strangeness of his build preventing any in the group including the GM from having fun?
Anny advice the GM gives to a player about his character should be aimed at increasing the enjoyment of playing nothing else.

Grand Lodge

Ehh I can do some work with that.

For 3k he can afford a Lesser Rime Rod.

Pair it with Flurry of Snowballs and you have a nice Cone of Entangle condition.

Since he isn't wildshaping he might want to invest in Spellstoring armor. Rime Frigid Touch is a nice defense option as Staggerd + Entangle is brutal. Shield + Armor that is 2 extra spells a day.

With a 16 str and Shillelagh he can smack some skulls.

But now that he is level 4 he can start using Wildshape for utility if anything. Flight and scouting methods if he does not want to us it for combats. But also it is hard prior to Natural spell to rely heavily on wildshape.


You should be happy, at least your Druid talks to women (and casts spells?).
Natural Spell (and a good system mastery, about prepared casters and wilde shape options) is about all a Druid needs to be great and fun.

I would not recomend a bad-touch approach, he can probably pull of a good buff-up front-liner with Wild Shape and +X Wild Hide armour.


+1 to the "Are they having fun" question.


I'd suggest he pick another class since he is nerfing himself. Animal companion and wildshaping are the two key abilities of a Druid. Granted a domain instead of an animal companion is a trade it isn't always a good trade. Even archtypes that change that offer something almost equal. He sounds like he wants a faceman there are classes better suited then a Druid and most offer Survival skills. Even if they don't he can still take them just without the +3 for it being a class skill.
If he insists on being a Druid I'd suggest he tank up Hide armor and heavy wooden shield. At second start taking the spells that buff him and his armor. Later on spend a feat take heavy armor profiency and get a set of dragonhide armor.


It is quite possible if he is a casting focused Druid, rather than a combat focused Druid, he isn't wildshaping because he doesn't have the natural spell feat yet. That is a pretty valid, and common choice, although if the opportunity arises he can, and should, still use wildshape for scouting and the like.

One of the best ways to make sure everyone has fun and is able to contribute is to define each of the characters combat roles into striker, support or control. Although a character may be capable in a secondary role (and fall back into that from time to time) understanding what their primary job (and usually what first few actions in any combat will be) clarifies how they should build, what spells they should prepare and gives them something to do and a way to contribute.

A casting druid can be capable in either the support or control role, which one they should go for probably depends on the capabilities of the rest of the party.


The ideal for a Druid who doesn't use Wildshape or an animal Companion would be Urban Druid with the Nobility domain; they can spontaneously cast Divine Favor, so they work as a 'battle cleric' but with druid features. Free Alter Self is a nice little boost as well, and at higher levels, Aspect of the Wolf can do some pretty cool stuff.

Eagle Shaman can also take the Nobility domain, and ignore their weaker Wild Shape in favor of using their Totem Transformation ability (Flight and free Flyby Attack is pretty cool). They would probably want to take Preferred Spell with Divine Favor.

A Nature Fang Druid with the Wolf Domain could probably also do something pretty great with Aspect of the Wolf, Study Target and Ranger Combat Style feats.


There's nothing wrong with your player's druid.

He's level 4. Wildshape doesn't start to get really good until level 6 when large forms and pounce are available. At level 4 it's entirely reasonable to want to retain the ability to cast spells and wield a masterwork scimitar, scythe, or spear, or with Shillelegh a club or quarterstaff.

Pets and summons just aren't fun for some people. It would probably be better to archetype for spontaneous domain casting, but it's not necessary if he has a domain that isn't weather or air.

If at level 5 he doesn't take natural spell then you have a complaint.


Ok, a little more info about his druid.
His build is kinda secret for the party, so I hide it inside a spoiler tag.

don't read it if you play my game:

First of all, he's not a simple druid, he is Reincarnated Druid with Vulture Domain.
And we are playing Way of the Wicked, so he is basically the evil Doctor with a nature twist.
He's not using Wildshape right now because he doesn't have it. He'll get it later though.

I've tinkered a little with some of his class features so he can spontaneously cast his Domain spells and I'm thinking to let him wildshape into his past incarnations. We also made a custom Reincatnate table expanding options and adding some random thing like plants and oozes.

He pumps his feats into saves: he already has Great Fortitude and Improved Great Fortitude and he said that he plans to get Iron Will chain as well.

Also I should point that I started this thread not because someone is not having fun or disappointed with his character. It's simply because I know that build without some battle plan tend to fall into "I do nothing" pit. Right now he deals OK damage with his quarterstaff and produce flame, but I'm kinda concerned that he can fall into it later (Yes, I know that casters are still overpowered, but druid's spelllist is kinda tricky - I'm not sure if you can simply pick a random spell and be good by using it)

Anyway, he seems to be very defensive when I try to talk about his build, so I think I have to back off for now and see what happens next.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Advice me on druid All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.