I don't feel like it's quite finished yet. It's supposed to be a Druid that enjoys civilization and it's trappings, but also enjoys nature. They seek to uphold a healthy balance between development and wilderness, and the adventurers among them love to seek out the fabulous variety of civilizations and natural wonders the world has to offer. They have a bond with nature, but it isn't as deep as it is for other Druids. They are very social, and spend so much time trying to convince people to take better care of nature or gathering information about their cultures, technology, and buildings that they rely on their Charisma rather than Wisdom for spells. The Order these Druids belong to is a major faction within my setting, so this is an important archetype.
Disciple of the Iron Rose
Some Druids are actually quite fond of civilization and it’s trappings. They just believe that a balance between development and wilderness needs to be reached. These Druids belong to the Order of the Iron Rose. Some of them live in settlements, advocating for environmentally friendly construction and economic practices and so-called “green cities”. Some others are less politically active, preferring to travel the world and see all sorts of interesting things, both in the city and out in the wilderness. Some of those end up wrapped up with adventurers at some point during their journeys. Their uniting feature is that they all love experiencing and studying civilization and the wild in equal or similar measure, and are often much more social than other Druids.
Alignment: Any. Some Disciples of the Iron Rose maintain philosophical neutrality, but many are politically active. The Order itself is LN, but all the good and neutral alignments are common within the Order. Evil is rare, but not unheard of.
Weapons and Armor: Disciples of the Iron Rose gain proficiency with rapiers, light crossbows, and heavy crossbows. Unlike other Druids, they are not prohibited from using metal armor or shields.
Skills: Disciples of the Iron Rose add all Knowledge skills, Linguistics, Perform, and Diplomacy to their list of class skills.
Casting: Disciples of the Iron Rose focus more on dealing with and learning about people than other Druids, and just don’t have as deep a connection with nature. As a result, their spellcasting functions using their Charisma rather than their Wisdom.
Nature Bond: Disciples of the Iron Rose cannot gain an animal companion. Their choices of domain are Artifice, Charm, Community, Travel, Knowledge, Nobility, Repose, Cooperation, Rune, Plant, or Animal.
Disciples of the Iron Rose do not gain Wild Empathy or Nature Sense.
Disciples of the Iron Rose have the same Spontaneous Casting ability as the Urban Druid archetype.
At 4th level, Disciples of the Iron Rose gain Bardic Knowledge as a Bard of their Druid level -3. This ability replaces Resist Nature’s Lure.
It just doesn't feel complete, but I can't put my finger on precisely what it is missing.
I wouldn't reduce their bardic knowledge at all, I'd keep it at their druid level. I would, however, consider adding the Wild Whisperer's wild shape version to yours.
They seem to get a lot more than they give up. They get any alignment they want instead of any neutral, many new class skills, new weapon proficiencies, the ability to wear metal armor, bardic knowledge, and only lose some crappy less-used abilities of the druid. Casting off Cha is kinda neutral, and losing an animal companion kinda sucks, but many people choose domains instead of ACs anyway, so there's not a major loss there.
It seems too powerful IMO.
Hmm. I don't generally consider alignment a factor at all with balance, because I don't ever try to balance mechanics with roleplay. I did that because this faction of Druids is much more socially involved and political than the standard Pathfinder Druid is, so requiring philosophical neutrality wouldn't work.
If I go for the Wild Whisperer style wild shape, how does that effect matters?
I do wonder how significant a jump the extra weapon proficiencies are. The rapier is about equal in stats to the scimitar, which the Druid already has proficiency with, and crossbows take a feat to start being truly effective. I provided them because they fit a more urbane flavor.
The metal armor is a big give. It's +2 AC right off the bat to wear a breastplate compared to hide armor. It allows access to full plate with a single feat, which is 5 more AC than hide.
One of the things about druids is they're a pain to outfit with stronger armor, but if you're persistent and willing to work for it, it can be done. That gets rid of the need to cast ironwood or find dragonhide or anything else. It's a pretty big plus.
As green tea mentions, they're getting more, in some ways than they're giving up. Dumping the plant and elemental shapes would, in my opinion, tip that scale a bit. I'll admit I'm partial to the original shapes of the AD&D druid, anyway.
It almost seems to me you're basing your druid a little more off the real world druid in terms of role in many respects than the 3.x version, no?
It almost seems to me you're basing your druid a little more off the real world druid in terms of role in many respects than the 3.x version, no?
I was thinking more of the modern environmentalists that like the outdoors but live in urban areas, tend to be pro-technology, and speak in terms of sustainable growth. I have a magitech, urbanized Golarion, so I wanted to have a faction of Druids that supports that sort of ideal rather than avoiding civilization.
Having just light armor is a possibility if it's necessary.
Hm, I retract my suggestions then. I need to think more on that.
Do you have rules for your magitech that one could view or is it more of a fluff thing?
Hm, I retract my suggestions then. I need to think more on that.
Do you have rules for your magitech that one could view or is it more of a fluff thing?
Mostly it's fluff, with alchemist's fire fueling trains and ships, urbanization having taken hold, cable car networks being ubiquitous in cities too big to walk easily, and alchemists and machinesmiths being very common. Gunslingers are available and the arquebus is common knowledge, but militaries fight in scattered units that engage the enemy at the squad or platoon level than mass formations that fire volleys at a general area do to the threat posed to clumps of troops by spells and magical artillery, so bows and crossbows are still often preferred to firearms, and soldiers tend to be trained professionals unless reserves are being called up. The only mechanic specifically related to the technology level I introduced that I can think of was that machinesmith class I linked to.
Okay, so I'm thinking of going light armor only and restricting the wild shape to animals, but having the Bardic Knowledge at full Druid level. Does that work out?