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Does anyone here think that a druid would WILLINGLY sleep in an inn?? (i.e. pay for a bed and sleep in it.) It is a subject of immense discussion amongst my D&D group with half of us saying that, while druids would PREFER to sleep outside under the stars and in trees, they also understand that a well defended city is safer than the outdoors. The other half's argument is that druids aren't all that fond of civilization and are quite at home with the "perils of the outdoors".
Tell me what you all think.
Does anyone here think that a druid would WILLINGLY sleep in an inn?? (i.e. pay for a bed and sleep in it.) It is a subject of immense discussion amongst my D&D group with half of us saying that, while druids would PREFER to sleep outside under the stars and in trees, they also understand that a well defended city is safer than the outdoors. The other half's argument is that druids aren't all that fond of civilization and are quite at home with the "perils of the outdoors".
Tell me what you all think.
What if it's raining?
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The following is all IN MY OPINION!!!!
I think that a druid would and should be bedding down in the outdoors as a matter of comfort. Even in the rain and inclement weather they are far more at ease in the wild than in civilization surrounded by the prejudiced and intrinsic evils of mankind. I could see some reasoning for forgoing that ethos such as staying with the group for protection in a possibly hostile area or because the group has some enemies in town, but without a reason to do otherwise, I feel that druids would be more at home in the wild sleeping and such among nature. I always saw them as existing by nature's rules.
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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I think a Druid's preference would be to always sleep outside of an inn. This doesn't mean he won't sleep in the inn, but that he prefers not to.
I think of it this way: Druids may live very closely with the natural world, but they're not stupid. They won't just sleep out under the stars every night. They are aware of weather changes, nocturnal predators, and other potential issues of living hand in hand with nature. With that in mind, Druids will seek shelter. They may live in a cave, in a burrow under a large tree, or may even build a hut of sorts out of branches and brush strewn on the forest floor.
When faced with a choice of an inn or sleeping outside in an area far from home, the Druid may likely choose the inn. Especially if he is unfamiliar with the area. He may elect a stable over an inn to get away from those pesky "civilized" people, but I think it's fair to say he would stay in an inn under the right circumstances.
YMMV.
What if it's raining?
That's why nature created trees with wide, comforting limbs. They're nature's umbrellas. Besides, rain is just nature's version of plumming linked to a really great showerhead.
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That's why nature created trees with wide, comforting limbs. They're nature's umbrellas. Besides, rain is just nature's version of plumming linked to a really great showerhead.
What if it's raining?
This was used several times in the Sword of Truth series if you want an example. although the character is more of a ranger at that point, i think it still applies. and some trees are big enough to shelter the entire party comfortably, so you don't have to split up the party. just have them go to the taverns and inns durnig the day for adventure hooks, and stay in the wilderness at night.
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My take
I would say that it really depends on the individual druid, and the views of the order he belongs to. In many cases he would feel uncomfortable even hanging out in a crowded town..he may go for some info and provisions and then end up hanging out on the outskirts of town till the rest of the PC are ready to pick him up.
And then again he may be 100% comfortable with the trappings of civilization...his belief is in the strength of nature and doing what townsfolk do while in town may serve a greater end in protecting the thing he is all about. In other words an emissary of the woods/nature and he would not act like an ass while he is in town, just focused on his priorities.
Of course if the town/inn/community is doing harm to the environment (more than they should for their size), the druid in question might take a very hostile approach to the community, more rp complications.
I would say that rangers, druids and barbarians would probably not want to hang around in mid to large sized towns too long and would probably feel like they are out of their element for most of their stay (at least while the barbarian is sober).
I don't think that a Druid objecting to staying in an Inn is grounds for punishment...if the group is on a mission and going to the inn is part of the deal then he should also go to the inn, at least to communicate with NPCs, he doesn't have to sleep there.
and who knows, maybe while he is camping on the outskirts of town he may even see something relevant to the adventure.
When we had this come up in our game, we ended up negotiating a compromise with the druid who slept in the stables. Actually behind the stables since the horses didn't like the animal companion. But close enough. It worked well enough. And out of deference to the druid the group wouldn't stay in towns that often.
smart@$$ :P
LOL... sorry it was the first thing that came to my mind. :)
I agree with Auxmaulous -- it depends on the druid. A druid could be anything from a wild hermit who despises civilization to an urban gardener who thinks that civilization and nature can co-exist in balance with each other.
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I agree with Auxmaulous -- it depends on the druid. A druid could be anything from a wild hermit who despises civilization to an urban gardener who thinks that civilization and nature can co-exist in balance with each other.
I actually had some of those thoughts in mind. I think both Dragon and wotc has some urban druid/ranger type write ups.
Also in some smaller frontier villages and towns the Druid may play as an important role as the local priest of even witch/hedge wizard. In FR, in particular with Dalelands, I can see a druid even living in or right by a small town and providing services to the community much like a cleric would, esp. if the people venerate gods of agriculture, wilderness, hunting etc. A very pre-christian european role.
I am of the school of thought which thinks that paladins can infiltrate thieves/assasin guilds (with the help of some good rogues) and I think good druids are an asset to civilization, not a liability. It can be tough to DM, but I don't think players should be punished or hindered for picking certain classes or alignments. Just find a creative workaround.
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I agree with Auxmaulous -- it depends on the druid. A druid could be anything from a wild hermit who despises civilization to an urban gardener who thinks that civilization and nature can co-exist in balance with each other.I actually had some of those thoughts in mind. I think both Dragon and wotc has some urban druid/ranger type write ups....
I wrote an adventure a while back that had a group of urban druids and a group of forest druids at war, each trying to expand their domain. it culminated in a giant battle with animated houses fighting trees and whatnot. the PC's had to pick a side to fight with. I ended up not using it since my players don't really get moral dillemas and would have torched everything for the XP...
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I would say yes, but that is a matter of extreme roleplaying and is up to you and your group to decide.
But, since you are asking for opinion: I am currently playing a Scout who will not sleep in an inn, he finds a quiet spot nearby, nor will he eat anything he doesn't find, catch, kill, or cook himself. So, if I do this with a Scout, you can believe I would with a Druid or Ranger too, but maybe in different ways. My Scout is pretty beligerent.
The biggest thing is balance - perhaps your Druid feels that a certain Inn in town is not as prosperous as another, for whatever reason. That could prompt a stay at the poorer Inn.
In my current game, my druid strongly prefers to avoid cities altogether and sleep in the comforting bosom of Nature. With gigantic bonuses to Survival, finding a good spot to rest is pretty darn easy, even in what most folk would call terrible weather. We have a fey and a barabarian who don't mind so much either.
But we also have some "city-folk" in our party who are really more at home in the city. One even despises the wilderness. So just as we do in teh real world, our characters make compromises, sometimes enterig cities, those bastions of bad things, and sometimes camping out in Nature.
My druid will generally stay with the party, depending on the circumstances. When we enter the huge capital city, the comforting woods are pretty far away. It's easier to buckle down and bear sleeping in a bed so that the business in town can be finished sooner and the party can return to better environs. In small towns, the druid may stay outside, or in the stables if there aren't enough rooms, etc. Ultimately it comes down to the reason for being where they are, and security concerns.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I'd say it's up to the individual personality of the druid, unless the rules of the druid's order should forbid it. Sometimes we forget that most religious orders have rules.
Also, inns are not at all like modern hotels. A druid staying at an inn who wanted to stay in touch with nature need only take a room with lots of windows and open them, preferably from the top story. He might even cast spells that would allow him to "naturalize" the room.
A druid might have little concern for the care of the room. Here is a good chance for a little role play with an angry innkeeper too. The druid's animal companion would leave droppings and rain on the floor from the open windows wouldn't be welcomed either.
Indoors or outdoors, nature is where you see it.
I played an elf druid who was an ex-member of the Unseelie Court, and he loved staying at inns. Ladies stay at inns too. And what is more natural than experiencing nature's entertainment?
It all depends on the druid. Even hippies sleep in tents. A lot of druids were advisors to royalty, so they lived in castles and such.
It takes all kinds to make a world.
EDIT:
Of course, my druid started out so poor, he couldn't AFFORD an inn. He COULD afford a backpack, but then he wouldn't have been able to afford to buy anything to put IN the backpack. (Not even 1 cp torches!)
Generally, in our games, the druids sleep inside like everyone else.
'Course as we treat class as far more metagame construct than social construct, most of the druids are more "dude who casts lots of nature-affiliated spells, can turn into animals and probably has a pet and some reasonably firm ideas about conservation" than "civilisation is the opposite of nature and cities are the Root of All Evil" anyway.
A druid should sleep indoors if its cheap and comfy! If the Innkeeper is a cute lady/handsome guy that's a plus! Also you get a stableboy to groom your animal companion, that's less work for you!...
Now seriously, sleeping indoors its up to the druid's PC point of view. I don't mind if my PC's druids sleep indoors as long as he can come up with a good reason why he prefers that over a nice sleep under a beautiful starlit sky. Rocks, bugs, rain, wild animals and that kind of stuff is what usually a druid loves, so, it has to be a really good reason like: Looong walking distance from the rest of the party, scores of assassings looking for you, valuable trasure screaming to get stolen if visible or easely accesible, etc these are some reasonable arguments for a druid to sleep indoors in my games.
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Keep this in the context of the individual character and the story. Sure, all of the time druids prefer nature. Most of the time they can make that happen. Some of the time they can't. What matters most is staying true to the story, the character, and as a small portion (percent) of the overall picture, there isn't any druidic moral imperative that prevents an in-town stay.
In fact, the druids "first time" is always an excellent role-play piece. Reaction to strange customs, uncomfortable beds (even though its comfortable for other PCs), and seeking a room with a view (that isn't available) is always fun. Not to mention, the amount of "wood" furnature, rather than living wood, or designs created in harmony with nature. Oftentimes, in towns, others will get the sense of the druid as like that scene in Star Trek IV with Spock appearing to "live" in the park, being explained away by close friends as, "thats just his ...way."
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Does anyone here think that a druid would WILLINGLY sleep in an inn?? (i.e. pay for a bed and sleep in it.) It is a subject of immense discussion amongst my D&D group with half of us saying that, while druids would PREFER to sleep outside under the stars and in trees, they also understand that a well defended city is safer than the outdoors. The other half's argument is that druids aren't all that fond of civilization and are quite at home with the "perils of the outdoors".
Tell me what you all think.
Depends on the Druid.
Some Druids are Lawful Neutral humans who serve kings and regents as the wardens and stewards of their royal preserves, keeping poachers and other riff-raff away from the noble's hunting grounds. They would likely have a cabin on the edge of their territory, and would lead the royal parties into the woods on boar hunts, accepting these very controlled hunting parties as a minor sacrifice to keep the woods from being cut down for firewood and the creatures within hunted to extinction by every hungry peasant in the kingdom.
Some Druids are Neutral Evil Gnolls, and enjoy twisting the natural world to punish others, using it's powers to serve their own ends and maintain their own power within their packs, even if it means sending entire packs of hyenas and vultures to their death in their service. Given a choice of having their cowed packmates (or slaves) erect some sort of shelter for them to lay under, and have their meals brought to them, or sleeping out under the fur-drenching weather, they'll go for the tent, lean-to or abandoned barn.
Some Druids are wholesome Neutral Good Halflings, who help the people of their village with crop rotations, livestock births and preparing for (and anticipating) bad weather, and return home to their own tidy cottage every evening.
Some Druids are antisocial hermits who look like the Unabomber, have all-but forgotten the Common tongue, spend an inordinate amount of time muttering to animals and playing with bugs, are covered with dirt and have a stench that could stun a cow at thirty paces. These sorts of Druids would likely not be comfortable sleeping indoors, and, most likely, would be thrown out of any reputable inn anyway! They might be allowed to sleep in the stable, by someone not too terribly offended by their behavior, and given the presence of horses and soft straw, they might even enjoy these arrangements.
And yeah, there might be some who have a specific taboo about sleeping under another's roof (but, no matter the climate, very few would *never* sleep under any roof, since being a Druid doesn't make one immune to dying of exposure!). Nothing like sleeping unprotected in the rain to suck the heat out of your body and leave a lucky man alive, but too stiff to move for much of the next day, or sleeping in puddles to promote fungal rot on the skin, after all.
A druid could be anything from a wild hermit who despises civilization to an urban gardener who thinks that civilization and nature can co-exist in balance with each other.
This. Reverence for nature != antipathy toward civilization.
I think it might matter more how their animal companion is treated to determine if they stay in the inn or not. If the druid has a riding dog as an animal companion they can probably bring it in and have it stay with them in their room. On the other hand, most inns wouldn't want a dire lion staying there and so the druid would probably stay in the woods with it.
