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Okay, I am REALLY interested in playing a Druid. I made a build and was thrilled. I was so excited.
Then I thought of all of the Society games I have played in.
Level 1 Nature Sense, Wild Empathy will get very very very very little game play. I get a companion animal though. Very cool!
Level 2 Woodland Stride would also get extremely little use. I can think of one adventure it MIGHT have been useful in. But then again I THINK the difficult terrain was caused by a spell, so even then this ability is almost useless.
Level 3 the Druid gets Trackless step is real cool, except the rest of the party leaves a trail, and I can't remember even once being followed in a Society game.
Level 4 Resist Nature's Lure would have been useless even in the one game we encountered fey in. Considering they never tried to charm us, just tried to kill us. Might have been useful to overcome the spells making terrain difficult.
Level 4 Wild Shape The iconic ability of the Druid is finally available! I just need to survive NINE games as a sub-par fighter sub-par cleric with an AWESOME animal companion before I can actually do what I do.
So, for those of you playing Druids what are your secrets to making it work and having fun? Do you just sit back and sick your companion on everything, summon a monster on occasion? Do you use all of your spell slots for Cure spells and hope you don't have to summon something? Are there any monsters you can summon at lower levels that heal?
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Sadly my druid died on her second scenario... :( But, we do have another druid in our group that's making a lot of progress.
Really it has come down being a club/scimitar wielding maniac that flanks with your pet (who always seems to turn into a damage spawn).
Your second level ability isn't worthless, maybe its just the way my DMs have done things, but there have been a couple of scenarios where ignoring nonmagical difficult terrain would have opened up the battlefield for me.
Regardless of build, you're going to suffer from not having many spells for the first level or two. So that sucks. Enhancing your club is one option, it makes you a decent contender in melee (particularly if you have a decent str). Really, after your first mission hopefully you'll have 2 prestige points and can buy a wand of CLW...sucks if you dont want to be the healer, I know, but if you're the only one able to heal...well you're going to pretty much be invaluable.
IMO druids can really feel...ineffective if you look at only your PCs contribution (yay...I used a wand of CLW...) but when you take that into account your animal companion you become invaluable.
Druids flippin' rock, though, so just wait a few levels and you'll be happy.
Take a point in heal, no one ever seems to have it, and it seems to come up A LOT...
As an aside, if you join Cheliax or Qadira, there is a trait that lets you increase your caster level by 2 for summoning spells once per day...if you save a spell slot, totally worth it against the BBEG of the scenario.
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yeah in our group I tend to be the healer. So the Druid would be the healer of the group. A wand will help a LOT. Good point.
My current character is a Cleric with the Travel domain so I can get extra movement and ignore difficult terrain. That is a FANTASTIC advantage. But as I understand the Woodland Stride ability it is only available for use out in the wilderness. Almost all of the scenarios we have played in seem to be in caves (used magic spells and abilities to make the terrain difficult), or in basements, sewers, buildings of some kind. In fact this last week was the first time I recall any difficult terrain outside that was not magically produced.
Maybe I am just missing something in the scenarios.
I'll be taking the Osirion faction, purely for a roleplaying reason. Though my Cleric is Chelish for the feats.
The reasons I am wanting an Osirion Druid, are:
1) wanted to pay a Druid cause it just looks cool, and I want to play something besides the Cleric or Fighter.
2) Osirion because a friend here managed to twist some arms at Paizocon and become a Hellknight for Cheliax, so I want to become a Risen Guard for Osirion. One steep requirement to get in though! Got to die and be brought back!
3) Druid's animal companion will be a lion, because I like the fit with Osirion, and this character was originally developed as an NPC for an adventure and in his back story there was a lot about lions. When I saw the Druid could take a lion companion I knew what I wanted.
I just want to survive to get high enough to afford the Resurrection before I die! lol and I really want to be able to contribute to the party and adventures.
Now remember these concerns are because I never played a Druid before in 20+ years of playing. This version of the Druid is the first that made me interested. I know what I can do and contribute with a Fighter or Cleric, or even Wizard and Rogue. But the Druid is new ground for me and I want to be useful and not just a target for the CLW wand! lol
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BTW like you mentioned, Summoning Spells ARE THE BOMB. We have a guy that specializes in summoning, and really it is a TREMENDOUS advantage in combat.
That optional class they mentioned for the Advanced Players Guide that will be a summoner will be AWESOME in Society if it is legal to play.
I'm working on statting up my usual summoned monsters now so I will be ready.
2) Osirion because a friend here managed to twist some arms at Paizocon and become a Hellknight for Cheliax, so I want to become a Risen Guard for Osirion. One steep requirement to get in though! Got to die and be brought back!
How did he do that???? Is he just a paladin?
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Well I am new to Pathfinder, though I have played 3.5 before, I was wondering how effective Summoning is? The problem is the 1 round casting, it seems that all a DM needs to do is have you attempt one or two concentration checks to loose the spell?
It also seems rough to Wild Shape.
I have an unplayed druid and I am having second thoughts on how to build him. Should I take Spell Focus Conjuration at 1st level? Shoudl I adjust my 10 str and 12 dex, this could be important when I can Wild Shape?
Thanks
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How did he do that???? Is he just a paladin?
2) Osirion because a friend here managed to twist some arms at Paizocon and become a Hellknight for Cheliax, so I want to become a Risen Guard for Osirion. One steep requirement to get in though! Got to die and be brought back!
lol no he's playing a Cleric of Asmodeus. At Paizocon he and one other managed to get the powers that be to recognize them as official members of the Hellknights. You don't HAVE to have a Hellknight class to be a Hellknight.
I'm hoping to go to next year's Paizocon and getting an official recognition for the Risen Guard. :)
To be a Hellknight they had to sacrifice something for a set time. Not too bad. To be a Risen Guard you would certainly have to die and be brought back! A bit rougher! lol
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Well I am new to Pathfinder, though I have played 3.5 before, I was wondering how effective Summoning is? The problem is the 1 round casting, it seems that all a DM needs to do is have you attempt one or two concentration checks to loose the spell?
It also seems rough to Wild Shape.
I have an unplayed druid and I am having second thoughts on how to build him. Should I take Spell Focus Conjuration at 1st level? Shoudl I adjust my 10 str and 12 dex, this could be important when I can Wild Shape?
Thanks
I cannot say for certain at higher levels yet. But at the lower levels it is really turning out to be VERY effective.
If I remember right we used it to good effect in 3.5 at lower levels but then at mid to high levels it broke down and was almost useless.
But so far (were are about levels 5-6) the summoner is one of the more effective characters in the group.
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Well I am new to Pathfinder, though I have played 3.5 before, I was wondering how effective Summoning is? The problem is the 1 round casting, it seems that all a DM needs to do is have you attempt one or two concentration checks to loose the spell?
It also seems rough to Wild Shape.
I have an unplayed druid and I am having second thoughts on how to build him. Should I take Spell Focus Conjuration at 1st level? Shoudl I adjust my 10 str and 12 dex, this could be important when I can Wild Shape?
Thanks
If you build around summoning, it can be extremely effective. I'd recommend being a human for the extra feat, but this isn't mandatory. Spell focus conjuration ---> Augment summoning is just plain awesome if you plan on summoning. That in mind, if you chose a non-human race, thats no big deal as you won't be summoning much until level 3. That said, a lot of min/maxers are going to complain that summons for the first few levels don't last long enough, and in the later levels don't scale as well as equal level spells. I wouldn't let that discourage you, its still a very effective route (in my experience) and honestly, in PFS even if all those beasties do is absorb a few hits and provide a flanker for the fighter, it was worth it. It keeps you really flexible, too...fighting harpies? Summon an Eagle! Fighting underwater ghouls? To my aid, dire dolphins (lol?).
Build wise, as I've said---consider Cheliax/Qadira for a trait that lets you improve your summons by +2 caster level once per day. Feat wise, I say SP focus Conj and Aug Summon ASAP, then I like Improved Initiative at 3 if Im a human. If non human, then obviously you're going to get Natural Spell at 5.I wouldn't worry too much about losing the spell, if you play it right you probably won't get interrupted too often (although it will happen, thus you want a respectable wis score)...stay in the back, don't do it if you've been jumped by scouts, try NOT to make yourself appear like a threat before you summon something, keep your Animal Companion by your side to protect you/discourage someone from attacking you, etc.
As far as your physical stats, I'd consider raising them if you plan on entering melee range as wildshape will augment your scores, but your combat effectiveness will still be heavily affected by your score.
Now, Im sure someone can tell me this isn't the best so Im not saying its optimal, but an array I really liked for a summoning/wildshape oriented druid was 14 Str 14 Dex 12 Con 8 Int 18(16+2 human)Wis 10 Cha
Honestly probably could have brought down the Wis to 16 for more con/cha...
IMO you should really balance str and dex as you need the dex for things like your (crappy) reflex save, initiative, and your AC (which may be dropping when you wildshape)...and str is important...so you can hit things...and hurt them...
Finally, if making a summoner is more important than making a druid
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lol no he's playing a Cleric of Asmodeus. At Paizocon he and one other managed to get the powers that be to recognize them as official members of the Hellknights. You don't HAVE to have a Hellknight class to be a Hellknight.
Hows that Cleric of Asmodeus treating your friend? Im starting a Cleric of Asmodeus this Friday that focuses on negative energy channeling (Imp Channel, Selective Channel with +3 cha mod) and blasting spells from the Fire/Magic Domain (although Im still trying to decide between Magic and Trickery!)...Might take a level in fighter for Heavy Armor+Tower Shield+Dodge craziness.
/Threadjack|
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Thanks for all the insight Kjob. There is not much PFS going on around here, I am hoping to get the Druid (Rufus Thorngage) some action at PentaCon, if I can make it?
Cleric of Asmodeus, huh. How does that work, you can worship an evil deity just as lond as your not evil. Cool.
Thanks again.
Hopefully my "DROODS R TEH AWESUM" rant was more helpful than not. As a random aside, if you find you really enjoy PFS, look around on the forums here, a surprising amount of people (my main play group included) use online programs that work really smoothly to play, and its all legal to boot!
RAW, yea. Cleric has to be one step from deity's alignment (Asmodeus is LE, so I'll be LN). Asmodeus seems like a pretty even-headed guy, so I think I can be a pretty devout cleric without breaking any PFS rules. Hell, as a LN PC I should make a pretty good PFS Adventurer---I'd follow the letter of the law (no PVP action), do my duty, etc.I'm pretty excited for it...if it turns out my PC concept sucks, well...PFS writers seem pretty effective and removing sucky characters from the ranks of PFS...
