Druid (Dungeons & Dragons)
Encyclopedia
The druid is a playable character class
in the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
role-playing game
. Druids wield nature-themed magic. Prior to 4th edition, they gain divine magic from being at one with nature, or from one of several patron gods of the wild, while in 4th edition, they gain primal magic from the world and its nature spirits. Unlike the cleric
, druids do not have special powers against undead
and, in some editions, cannot use metal armor. Druids have a unique ability that allows them to change into various animal forms, and various other qualities that assist them in natural settings. Prior to 4th edition, druids work very well with animals, and can try to improve a wild creature's attitude the same way they would improve an NPC with diplomacy. Prior to 4th edition, druids gain a greater control of their body and at higher levels they can change appearance at will, become immune to natural poisons and even stop aging.
from 1974. They were presented as a player character class in the Eldritch Wizardry
supplement in 1976.
, and appeared as a sub-class of cleric. Originally, druids were very limited in their choice of weapons and armor (almost as much as magic-users
), and were of True Neutral alignment, but were able to cast spells more times per day than the magic-user and at a faster speed than clerics; they also had access to both healing and attack spells (albeit at different levels). Essentially, they were in many ways in between the cleric and the magic-user in function and use, with different special abilities. There were also a set of societal rules governing druidic life as well as higher-level abilities. In order to reach some of the higher levels, players had to defeat a higher-level druid in combat; after accomplishing this, they earned different titles (such as Archdruid) and gained lower-level druids as followers. The later-published Unearthed Arcana
featured several higher-level abilities for druids, including the ability to summon various elementals and para-elementals, the ability to enter and survive in various planes (such as the elemental planes and the Plane of Shadow), and so on.
. Druids were clerics who adhered to a special code of conduct, maintaining a Neutral alignment; in exchange they gained some special powers and additional spells.
s of Europe during the days of the Roman Empire and acted as advisors to chieftains with great influence over the tribesmen.
The second edition Player's Handbook changed druids somewhat, making them more similar to the cleric in terms of spellcasting (druids now learned spells at the same rate and level as clerics, as long as the spells were available to them; casting times were also the same). Certain higher level abilities as introduced in Unearthed Arcana were also removed (or ignored), such as the ability to enter the Plane of Shadow. The Complete Druid's Handbook, published in 1994, provided more details on the druid class, including druidic society, magic groves, class kits and herbal lore.
(2000). In the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Druids are free to use different forms of weaponry, but they lose the ability to cast spells or change into animal form for a day if they wear metal armor. The alignment restriction now requires that druids remain neutral on at least one (but not necessarily both) alignment axis (Good vs. Evil and Law vs. Chaos). i.e., they are restricted to Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, or True Neutral, to reflect belief in the balance and amoral, impartial character of the natural world. Druids have also gained the ability to have a special animal companion; other abilities have been added or modified as well. For example, they can spontaneously convert a prepared spell in order to summon an animal that will serve as a temporary but loyal ally.
In the 3rd edition Player's Handbook, Druids were limited to a single animal shape. In the 3.5 edition, Druids are allowed significantly more freedom so that an appropriate animal shape can be chosen to match the circumstances. At higher levels Druids can even change into elementals. Animal companions are more clearly defined in the 3.5 edition as well.
Sourcebook for D&D, develops a blighter Prestige class for fallen druids. The blighter can be considered the Druidic version of the Blackguard. Just as a Blackguard is a champion of evil (whereas a Paladin is a champion of good), the blighter gains spells by destroying nature, rather than preserving it.
Unlike most classes, druids know a third at-will attack power, however they must have at least one and at most two at-will attack powers with the "Beast Form" keyword. Each of the two Druid builds presented in the Player's Handbook 2
emphasizes one of the class's two secondary roles. Guardian druids lean towards the Leader role, focus on Constitution and ranged evocations, and take the "Primal Guardian" class feature, which allows them to use their Constitution bonus in place of their Dexterity or Intelligence bonus when determining AC while wearing light armour, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Constitution. Predator druids lean towards the Striker role, focus on Dexterity and melee and short range evocations, and take the "Primal Predator" class feature, which makes them more mobile while wearing light armor, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Dexterity.
All druids also have "Wild Shape", an at-will power which allows them to switch between their natural and beast forms. While in beast form, they cannot use weapons and can only use powers with the "Beast Form" keyword. Like cleric
s and wizard
s, druids gain Ritual Caster as a bonus feat.
both play a role of wilderness adventurer in Dungeons & Dragons
, but a ranger is more martially inclined, while a druid has more magical skill. Druids are typically less suited to front-rank combat than divine casters such as Clerics or Paladins, (as they cannot make use of metal armor,) nor are their overall healing powers as strong. They can, however, use their wild shape ability to propel them beyond the ability of the cleric or the paladin. They excel, however, in marshalling large groups of summoned allies and are perhaps the most self-sufficient of all classes.
Druids work well as supportive characters, being both versatile primary spellcasters and capable fighters. Druids can cast transportation, augmenting, defensive, destructive and recuperative magic, while spontaneous casting allows them to summon animal allies to their side. At higher levels, Druids become increasingly powerful; the wild shape ability allows them to assume the form of animals specialised for differing purposes - they can become a hawk to scout, a cat for stealth, a horse for transport, a snake to climb, or a bear for combat.
Their animal companions can also fill some of these functions to a lesser extent, and like most primary casters, they benefit greatly from advance notice of their enemies' plans and time to prepare, which makes recon abilities especially useful.
Wisdom is crucial to druids, as it determines their access to divine magic and aids many of their wilderness skills. Their role as shapeshifters also makes high Constitution useful, as animal forms gain no benefit from armour, are limited to melee attacks and retain existing hit points. In addition, Constitution complements defensive casting via Concentration checks and the Natural Spell feat, while animal forms substitute for Strength and Dexterity. The general de-emphasis on physical attributes means druids can often afford to invest heavily in mental attributes.
. Like all controllers, druids' capabilities are focused on multi-target damage, debuffing and battlefield control. In addition to their controller capabilities, druids can also lean towards the leader role, gaining buffing and damage prevention capabilities, or the striker role, emphasizing mobility and single-target damage.
Character class (Dungeons & Dragons)
A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by his or her chosen class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes in order to...
in the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
. Druids wield nature-themed magic. Prior to 4th edition, they gain divine magic from being at one with nature, or from one of several patron gods of the wild, while in 4th edition, they gain primal magic from the world and its nature spirits. Unlike the cleric
Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In the game, clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative...
, druids do not have special powers against undead
Undead (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, undead is a classification of monsters that can be encountered by player characters. Undead creatures are most often once-living creatures, which have been animated by spiritual or supernatural forces....
and, in some editions, cannot use metal armor. Druids have a unique ability that allows them to change into various animal forms, and various other qualities that assist them in natural settings. Prior to 4th edition, druids work very well with animals, and can try to improve a wild creature's attitude the same way they would improve an NPC with diplomacy. Prior to 4th edition, druids gain a greater control of their body and at higher levels they can change appearance at will, become immune to natural poisons and even stop aging.
Creative origins
The druid is based on the pre-Christian Celtic priests called druids. However, they have little in common with these druids.Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)
Druids appeared, but not as player characters, in the original Greyhawk supplementGreyhawk (supplement)
Greyhawk is a supplementary rulebook written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
from 1974. They were presented as a player character class in the Eldritch Wizardry
Eldritch Wizardry
Eldritch Wizardry is a supplementary rulebook by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, written for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, which included a number of significant additions to the core game.-Contents:...
supplement in 1976.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The druid was one of the standard character classes available in the original Player's HandbookPlayer's Handbook
The Player's Handbook is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those for use by players of the game...
, and appeared as a sub-class of cleric. Originally, druids were very limited in their choice of weapons and armor (almost as much as magic-users
Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
), and were of True Neutral alignment, but were able to cast spells more times per day than the magic-user and at a faster speed than clerics; they also had access to both healing and attack spells (albeit at different levels). Essentially, they were in many ways in between the cleric and the magic-user in function and use, with different special abilities. There were also a set of societal rules governing druidic life as well as higher-level abilities. In order to reach some of the higher levels, players had to defeat a higher-level druid in combat; after accomplishing this, they earned different titles (such as Archdruid) and gained lower-level druids as followers. The later-published Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana
Unearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
featured several higher-level abilities for druids, including the ability to summon various elementals and para-elementals, the ability to enter and survive in various planes (such as the elemental planes and the Plane of Shadow), and so on.
Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
The druid was available as a character class in the game's "Basic" edition, introduced in the Companion setDungeons & Dragons Companion Set
The Companion Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1984 as an expansion to the Basic Set.-Publication history:...
. Druids were clerics who adhered to a special code of conduct, maintaining a Neutral alignment; in exchange they gained some special powers and additional spells.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
According to the second edition Player's Handbook, the druid class is only loosely patterned after the historical druidDruid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
s of Europe during the days of the Roman Empire and acted as advisors to chieftains with great influence over the tribesmen.
The second edition Player's Handbook changed druids somewhat, making them more similar to the cleric in terms of spellcasting (druids now learned spells at the same rate and level as clerics, as long as the spells were available to them; casting times were also the same). Certain higher level abilities as introduced in Unearthed Arcana were also removed (or ignored), such as the ability to enter the Plane of Shadow. The Complete Druid's Handbook, published in 1994, provided more details on the druid class, including druidic society, magic groves, class kits and herbal lore.
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)
Druid is one of the base character classes presented in the 3rd edition Player's HandbookPlayer's Handbook
The Player's Handbook is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those for use by players of the game...
(2000). In the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Druids are free to use different forms of weaponry, but they lose the ability to cast spells or change into animal form for a day if they wear metal armor. The alignment restriction now requires that druids remain neutral on at least one (but not necessarily both) alignment axis (Good vs. Evil and Law vs. Chaos). i.e., they are restricted to Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, or True Neutral, to reflect belief in the balance and amoral, impartial character of the natural world. Druids have also gained the ability to have a special animal companion; other abilities have been added or modified as well. For example, they can spontaneously convert a prepared spell in order to summon an animal that will serve as a temporary but loyal ally.
In the 3rd edition Player's Handbook, Druids were limited to a single animal shape. In the 3.5 edition, Druids are allowed significantly more freedom so that an appropriate animal shape can be chosen to match the circumstances. At higher levels Druids can even change into elementals. Animal companions are more clearly defined in the 3.5 edition as well.
Urban Druid
In the Dungeons and Dragons official magazine series Dragon, issue #317, a new Core Class is introduced in the form of the Urban Druid- a kind of "Anti-Druid" who is tied to civilization in the same way normal Druids are tied to nature. Urban Druids are similar but different, receiving certain spells (including several unique ones), possessing different animal forms and also different animal companions; such as Monstrous Scorpions/Spiders, Animated Objects and Carrion Crawlers.Blighter
The Complete DivineComplete Divine
Complete Divine is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast...
Sourcebook for D&D, develops a blighter Prestige class for fallen druids. The blighter can be considered the Druidic version of the Blackguard. Just as a Blackguard is a champion of evil (whereas a Paladin is a champion of good), the blighter gains spells by destroying nature, rather than preserving it.
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008–)
The Druid was introduced to Fourth Edition with Player's Handbook 2. The newest incarnation of the class has the Primal power source and the Controller role. They are proficient in simple weapons and light armor, use staves and totems as implements, generally use Wisdom for power attack and damage rolls and, like all primal classes, their powers are called evocations.Unlike most classes, druids know a third at-will attack power, however they must have at least one and at most two at-will attack powers with the "Beast Form" keyword. Each of the two Druid builds presented in the Player's Handbook 2
Player's Handbook
The Player's Handbook is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those for use by players of the game...
emphasizes one of the class's two secondary roles. Guardian druids lean towards the Leader role, focus on Constitution and ranged evocations, and take the "Primal Guardian" class feature, which allows them to use their Constitution bonus in place of their Dexterity or Intelligence bonus when determining AC while wearing light armour, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Constitution. Predator druids lean towards the Striker role, focus on Dexterity and melee and short range evocations, and take the "Primal Predator" class feature, which makes them more mobile while wearing light armor, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Dexterity.
All druids also have "Wild Shape", an at-will power which allows them to switch between their natural and beast forms. While in beast form, they cannot use weapons and can only use powers with the "Beast Form" keyword. Like cleric
Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In the game, clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative...
s and wizard
Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
s, druids gain Ritual Caster as a bonus feat.
Prior to 4th edition
Druids and rangersRanger (Dungeons & Dragons)
The ranger is one of the standard playable character class in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. They are protectors of nature, skilled woodsmen, and often live reclusive lives as hermits....
both play a role of wilderness adventurer in Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
, but a ranger is more martially inclined, while a druid has more magical skill. Druids are typically less suited to front-rank combat than divine casters such as Clerics or Paladins, (as they cannot make use of metal armor,) nor are their overall healing powers as strong. They can, however, use their wild shape ability to propel them beyond the ability of the cleric or the paladin. They excel, however, in marshalling large groups of summoned allies and are perhaps the most self-sufficient of all classes.
Druids work well as supportive characters, being both versatile primary spellcasters and capable fighters. Druids can cast transportation, augmenting, defensive, destructive and recuperative magic, while spontaneous casting allows them to summon animal allies to their side. At higher levels, Druids become increasingly powerful; the wild shape ability allows them to assume the form of animals specialised for differing purposes - they can become a hawk to scout, a cat for stealth, a horse for transport, a snake to climb, or a bear for combat.
Their animal companions can also fill some of these functions to a lesser extent, and like most primary casters, they benefit greatly from advance notice of their enemies' plans and time to prepare, which makes recon abilities especially useful.
Wisdom is crucial to druids, as it determines their access to divine magic and aids many of their wilderness skills. Their role as shapeshifters also makes high Constitution useful, as animal forms gain no benefit from armour, are limited to melee attacks and retain existing hit points. In addition, Constitution complements defensive casting via Concentration checks and the Natural Spell feat, while animal forms substitute for Strength and Dexterity. The general de-emphasis on physical attributes means druids can often afford to invest heavily in mental attributes.
4th edition
In 4th edition, druids are controllers, the same role as wizardsWizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
. Like all controllers, druids' capabilities are focused on multi-target damage, debuffing and battlefield control. In addition to their controller capabilities, druids can also lean towards the leader role, gaining buffing and damage prevention capabilities, or the striker role, emphasizing mobility and single-target damage.
External links
- D&D Wiki has all the SRDSystem Reference DocumentThe System Reference Document, or SRD, is a set of reference role playing game mechanics licensed under the Open Game License by Wizards of the Coast and based upon their Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. The SRD forms the basis of WotC's various d20 System role-playing games, including the...
Classes, along with the Druid.