I am playing a druid who so far has lost a mount and an animal companion in the course of her adventures. This is not good for a priestess who actually cares about whether the animals she summons are or are not likely to survive the battle they are summoned to fight.
What I am thinking is perhaps designing a simple 1st level spell to help her animal friends survive. Nothing munchkinic. Maybe a spell cast as an immediate action that grants an animal or magical animal temporary hit points that get lost first, so if the party is hit by something like a fireball, the animal has a better chance of survival.
I don't know if there is a mechanic for a druid to research a spell not defined for the spell list though. When I ran a 1st edition game, I ruled that divine spellcasters researched spells by making a petition to their gods, and had the player write out why the caster should have that spell.
(It's a pity I had to deny the PC's petition for the one time that rule was used. The player had designed a pretty cool spell, sort of like Planar Ally, but I reasoned that the deity felt the PC was relying too much on supernatural allies and not enough on the mortal resources available to him.)
Maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to write up a good spell and run it by the DM. But I thought I'd see what the consensus was here regarding this kind of action.
Druids are divine casters. Their spells are granted by their deities or nature itself. Druids can pray or meditate for specific spells and if the deity (GM) agrees then they can be granted. If the deity (GM) agrees, then they can become standard spells which can be granted and received in future days.
It's totally up to your GM.
Independent Research: A divine spellcaster can also research a spell independently, much as an arcane spellcaster can. Only the creator of such a spell can prepare and cast it, unless she decides to share it with others.
Independent Research: A wizard can also research a spell independently, duplicating an existing spell or creating an entirely new one. The cost to research a new spell, and the time required, are left up to GM discretion, but it should probably take at least 1 week and cost at least 1,000 gp per level of the spell to be researched. This should also require a number of Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana) checks.
All from the Magic chapter of the core book. Does that answer your question? I would however suggest Knowledge Religion in place of Knowledge Arcane in devising a new prayer to channel the divine power of nature or whichever god(s) your druid looks to.
There is a 4th level Paladin spell called Heal Mount. If you could research something similar that would work on your animal companion that would probably be what you need.
Its not low-level, but there is a 5th level druid spell in Ultimate Magic called "Raise Animal Companion" but its costly (1000 gp) and acts as Raise Dead.
I think that Druids CAN research new spells, but I wonder, can't a Druid use "research" to add a divine spell from another class to his spell list? Essentially making a druidic knock-off of a spell, perhaps with a little druid-flavor sprinkled on it?
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I think that Druids CAN research new spells, but I wonder, can't a Druid use "research" to add a divine spell from another class to his spell list? Essentially making a druidic knock-off of a spell, perhaps with a little druid-flavor sprinkled on it?
That's a question that's answerd on a case by case basis. After all Druids DO share some spells with Clerics as it is now. But there are thematic lines that should be maintained.
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A version of the cleric spell shield other that you can only cast on your animal companion (or other class feature critter, like a paladin's mount or wizard's familiar) could be neat. Since it's more specialized, it could even be a workable 1st level spell.