I have been looking over Blood of Shadows. It strikes me as odd that Wayang's favorite class bonus for Druids is extra uses of a Domain ability, plus access to the Darkness Domain. It just seems odd to me that they would be pushed toward being a caster when they suffer a penalty to the Druid's caster stat. Anyone else have any thoughts?
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Wellll...playing a class that has a clear "prime stat" with a race that suffers a penalty to that very stat is unquestionably choosing a difficult road - but it's doable nonetheless (I keep thinking of the Oread Shaitan Binder Summoner Archetype, which richly rewards a Charisma-challenged race for pursuing a class that needs substantial Charisma). With regard to their favored class bonus, extra uses of a domain ability is great for a Wisdom-challenged race, since it helps them get around precisely that. Access to the Darkness domain is an option most Druids can never get, which opens the door to options and tricks that most Druids are incapable of. You're trading raw prowess for a mold-breaking bag of tricks, and enemies who might be well-prepared for a more 'conventional' Druid will be in for a few surprises when they face you. Believe me, being weird and different is more often than not a worthy boon in and of itself.
Also, given Wayangs' reclusive and otherworldly nature, it does make some sense that their Druids might be more comfortable as lone mystics rather than palling around with some big scary beast of Golarion who is as alien to them as they are to it.
In short, succeeding as a Wayang Druid simply requires that you think about it differently than if you were playing a Druid of a wiser race - BEWARE of thought grooves and shrinking horizons!
That does make a lot of sense. It does seem that pulling off such a Druid may require more effort, but could be worth the effort if one wanted.
Helps that the Darkness domain is really freaking good. Druids are assumed to have access to subdomains, right? Loss on a Druid is definitely worth considering even with the wisdom penalty.