Low to "no-magic" setting Druid - advise sought

[mardaddy]

This is under the Dark Sun setting, so the rules are kinda hinky anyways, with my PC being a druid focusing on water. It started as almost a 2Ed AD&D and PF mash-up, though as we progressed in levels, the DM has been really good about making things more PF than AD&D.

We are 6th level now, and stuck on one of Athas' moons. Basically, it is a waterworld, sailing ships and whatnot, and mundane (meaning NOBODY wields magic.) Magic works, but no one native to this moon can cast, arcane or divine. If the native witness any magic, they go superstitious and banishment-minded, so any casting we do is secretive, on the down-low.

She has used up what few magic items with charges she had, and Dark Sun being the sparse magic setting it is, has no other magic besides her spells.

I took Craft Potions early on, but "the moon" is completely foreign flora and fauna to where she learned how to make potions, so the ability to use that is quite a ways off as she gets to know this moon.

All that being said, our current party situation is... We captured two pirate vessels over the course of four game sessions, and our encounters revolve around just that - ship to ship combat and pirate hunting with very little ground actions.

So I am trying to find a way to stay relevant as a druid. So far the only thing I can offer to help out is to Wildshape into a local coastal bird and fly over the opponent vessels casting spells like Warp Wood on the weapons (catapult/ballistae), or Summon Natures Ally on their vessels to attack and distract them, or Lightning Storm-strike their vessels.

She cannot do anything fire-related (druid focused on water), and cannot do anything overtly magical in front of the native ally crews of the two vessels or they will mutiny.

[Charon's Little Helper]

Just focus on buffing yourself and your buddies? (I'm assuming that the casting itself isn't a no-no or you couldn't do the spells you mentioned already doing.)

[mardaddy]

Oh, yea, casting spells is no problem, we just have to do it secretively (or in wildshapoe form.)

She already goes belowdecks to the Captain's room (her brother) that has a porthole so she can wildshape and then fly out & return to change back.

I was thinking about asking the DM if we can roleplaying out the gradual, "acceptance," of magic by the crew so we can more overtly do things (I'm not the only caster in the party.)

[Scott Wilhelm]

There is always wildshaping. You are in an aquatic setting anyway: wildshape into a giant octopus with a bite and 8 tentacles all with Grab and Constrict. For your next levels, or maybe to retrain, gain Feats that develop your Tentacle Attacks. You have Natural Spell, right? The locals might feel differently about some animal that uses magic than they would about a person using magic: prejudice is not rational.

A level in Warpriest, and take Weapon Focus Tentacles and Bite. That will raise the Base Damage to 1d6, for size large, 1d8.

Take 1 more level in Druid, and you can cast Strong Jaw so your Natural Attacks do 3d6.

Take Mulitattack to offset the -5 Penalty for tentacles being secondary natural attacks down to -2.

Take a level in Brawler, take 2 Weapon Fighting, and add Unarmed Strikes to your Full Attack.

Have Armor made for yourself while in your Octopus Form. Get Armor Spikes Size Large Armor Spikes will do 1d8 damage as a bonus on top of your Constrict with every Grapple Attack, and when you are a Giant Octopus, that's 8 times/round!

[mardaddy]

Neat work-around, but not possible for some time, until she learns more about this moon.

Octopi are extinct on the planet where my druid is from. The Dark Sun "Athas" world is sort of a post-magical apocalypse world; the oceans all dried up hundreds (maybe thousands) of years ago. There are VERY few lakes, none of the PC's have ever seen any or know how to swim. Athas is a desert world where noontime temps regularly hit 130F.

This moon is SO foreign to the PC's; all this water, and none of it good to drink. They have no clue that such an animal even exists.

Until we reach a point where she encounters, and can study them for a while, I cannot see the DM allowing Wildshaping and doing combat as one.

[Scott Wilhelm]

mardaddy wrote:

Neat work-around, but not possible for some time, until she learns more about this moon.

Octopi are extinct on the planet where my druid is from. The Dark Sun "Athas" world is sort of a post-magical apocalypse world; the oceans all dried up hundreds (maybe thousands) of years ago. There are VERY few lakes, none of the PC's have ever seen any or know how to swim. Athas is a desert world where noontime temps regularly hit 130F.

This moon is SO foreign to the PC's; all this water, and none of it good to drink. They have no clue that such an animal even exists.

Until we reach a point where she encounters, and can study them for a while, I cannot see the DM allowing Wildshaping and doing combat as one.

Well, there must be something impressive you can Wildshape into. Perhaps as you have some more adventures on this waterworld, you can reconnoiter and find out. Also, after spending enough time, you should be able to become familiar enough with the local flora and fauna to start making potions again. Perhaps you can look for opportunities to tell the GM that you are surveying the wildlife and investigating new plants and such with that goal in mind.

[Dave Justus]

It seems to me that you are extremely relevant as is. Low magic means full casters are the ultimate. Having to keep your magic hidden is a pain, but you are managing that just fine it seems.

Being about to scout encounters as a bird is priceless. What you are currently doing seems like it should be very effective.

I'm somewhat familiar with darksun, but I don't recall a lot about that moon, however people that don't have and fear magic might mutiny if you display it, but they also might decide instead to worship you as a god. And at the end of they day, you have all sorts of awesome magic, and they don't, so what are they gonna do about it?

[Gevaudan]

Convince muggles that one of your friends can tame sea creatures. Then "tame" a Giant Octopus, i.e. you. Those things are a pretty fantastic mess on the battle field and have both land and water move speed.