Of Being a Druid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Of Being a Druid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger
12-20-03, 07:56 PM I would like some input on how to expand, make better, suggest improvements or changes, and tips on this background and character personality + quirks as I have never played a Druid before. Also a name would be appreciated.

I'm leaning towards playing a Half-Elf Druid who is neutral good in our next campaign.

Now the storyline for the begining of the campaign is that all the party members have either been born and raised in this small town (I'm assuming it's less than 1k people) or have lived near it or otherwise interacted with the town for a number of years, meaning that all our character's know each other on a pretty friendly basis. I don't know the exact geography of the surrounding area or really of the town at this exact moment, but again I'm going to assume that their is some sort of forest/grove or an area that would be decent for a Druid territory (which is pretty much anywhere)

I was thinking that the orgin of my character would be that he wasn't born from the town mentioned above but due to circumstances which I don't yet have a clue of, he somehow fell under the care of an old human Druid. This Druid ended up teaching my character about nature and when my character became old enough he undergoed the riturals of Druids. Not long after being a Druid the older human Druid passed away from natural causes, my character travelled for awhile going from city to city trying to convince people not to turn their backs on nature, and be good not to be gluttnous about the gifts nature gives mankind. (in a general sense of every race) After a couple years of this, my Druid decided to settle down near the town mentioned above due to the fact that the land around the town was not corrupted by the people who lived in the community and the fact that the people seemed friendly enough. And so he's been there for about 23 or years. (thinking my character will be about 45ish) He visits the town every two weeks to find out any news of the world and just to make sure that the community isn't abusing the land.

I'll probably add more as I find out more about other people's characters, I know that one person want's to be a ranger so I might stick more into it about prehaps my character was the one who trained her.

Generally the attitude my character has is that he isn't really a reclusive type of Druid like they seem sterotyped in the PHB. He belives that is people try they can live in harmony with nature and use nature's gift's wisely. I'm not so sure about the whole nature's way way better than people that the PHB again seems to sterotype in that it sounds like a Druid would rather save a tree than an innocent person's life. So it's a bit confusing to me to try to balence this love of nature thing with people. Would he go crazy if someone broke off a branch to a tree? Is a Druid allowed to crave into a tree or rip a branch off.

So anyways, thanks for reading, and replying if anyone does.
Morka
12-21-03, 11:20 AM Your druid could have been born in the 1K city, from a normal commoner familly. He could be the 3rd son of a familly of 7, everything normal. One day, he mets the druid living in a groove nearby; the druid teach him the basics of his oath, and your character think it is the best thing he ever heard. So he left his familly (either he fugue or it is a respected choice) to go live in the groove (there could be a small community living there).

Alternatively, the character's familly could be some greeedy bourgeois, and sick of the materialism of his parents, he left to live a better life. Or it could be someone else of his direct neighborhood who is too materialist for him, a former girlfriend or something else.
Elith E'Lyan
12-21-03, 12:34 PM Just thought I'd throw in my 2cp, as I'm playing my first Druid right now.

My Druid would never have a real problem if someone broke a branch off the tree. It all comes down to need for him. If Firewood is needed to build a fire and keep people warm, it's all good. If someone wants to cut down trees so they can build the biggest toothpick Faerun has ever seen....not so good.

Druids are all about the balance, including the balance of nature and civilization. Druids aren't opposed to clearing land for farming, because farming is necessary to feed the people. However, if you're gonna clear the land, you should make an effort to plant some trees elsewhere. If you can gather deadwood for your fire, why cut down a tree in the prime of it's life?

My Druid would certainly never save a tree over an innocent person's life. However, he's highly liable to kill a not neccessarily evil person to save an innocent animals life. He has actually (Chaotic Neutral).

We always make jokes about my Druid (our Dwarven fighter jokingly threatens to cut down a tree if I don't behave), but he's not a nature zealot. And he certainly seems Druish to me.

As for your character ideas, if you're going for Half-Elf, you could try this if you wanted: A Human woman, who fell in life with a passing Elven adventure, had a passionate night of romance which she deeply regretted nine months later. Not being able to deal with scandal and burdon of raising a child, she abandoned him in the woods to his fate.

Fate smiled on him, and he was found by a kindly Druid, who took the child in and raised him as a father, teaching him the ways of the Druid. As he grew older, the child proved a natural talent, but always seemed less than happy.

He's a half-elf who has never truley belonged, but really wants to. Especially when he learned that he's never met his true parents (possible adventure hook for your DM, your Dad could be a famous adventurer). Feeling like he's on the outskirts, wishing he wasn't....you know that sort of thing.

Anyways, I'd be interested in hearing how your character fleshes out, so you should post it when you finalize! It seems like there are so few of us Druids left these days.
LiXinjian
12-22-03, 09:44 AM If he's so convinced that mankind and nature can live in a perfect balance, he could constantly be on the underdog's side in an argument. He can understand why this druid thinks this, and why that mayor thinks that, and he's making real efforts to make each other see eye to eye, or at least reach an agreement.

Half-elves are born diplomats. Your druid should be too, I think. It makes perfect sense.

I'm off to bed right now... ;)
Boxphet
12-25-03, 09:00 AM Well, in my view, druids are not as far removed from civilization as some people would like to see them.
In your average, Faerunian, rural town, a druid would probably be a person of rather high social standing.
A druid is the person the local farmers call when their cows are having problems with the milk, the hens are loosing feathers and the soil becomes infertile.
This is not the work of a Tempus priest, but the work of a Druid.
Where would this little society be without a person to handle all this.
Why, a druid might even live on the town square in a small cottage, readily available for peasents and folks to call upon in times of need.

I guess your character could be the son or daughter of the local Human Druid and an elf woman from the forest.
To makr your upbringing as painless as possible, avoiding the often venomous remarks from haughty elfs, your parents decided to raise you in the town.

Because of your fathers standing in the community, as the town Druid, you are unaware that most other places half elves are the target of vicious jokes and laughs.

Thats my five cents.
Mr.Musgrave
12-26-03, 12:58 AM Originally posted by Boxphet
Well, in my view, druids are not as far removed from civilization as some people would like to see them.

A druid is the person the local farmers call when their cows are having problems with the milk, the hens are loosing feathers and the soil becomes infertile.

This is a really cool idea. I'm about to start playing a druid myself and I've been shaping him to be more of a "man of the little people" than your standard issue "Druid HATE town! Druid SMASH!"

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 12-20-03, 07:56 PM	I would like some input on how to expand, make better, suggest improvements or changes, and tips on this background and character personality + quirks as I have never played a Druid before. Also a name would be appreciated. I'm leaning towards playing a Half-Elf Druid who is neutral good in our next campaign. Now the storyline for the begining of the campaign is that all the party members have either been born and raised in this small town (I'm assuming it's less than 1k people) or have lived near it or otherwise interacted with the town for a number of years, meaning that all our character's know each other on a pretty friendly basis. I don't know the exact geography of the surrounding area or really of the town at this exact moment, but again I'm going to assume that their is some sort of forest/grove or an area that would be decent for a Druid territory (which is pretty much anywhere) I was thinking that the orgin of my character would be that he wasn't born from the town mentioned above but due to circumstances which I don't yet have a clue of, he somehow fell under the care of an old human Druid. This Druid ended up teaching my character about nature and when my character became old enough he undergoed the riturals of Druids. Not long after being a Druid the older human Druid passed away from natural causes, my character travelled for awhile going from city to city trying to convince people not to turn their backs on nature, and be good not to be gluttnous about the gifts nature gives mankind. (in a general sense of every race) After a couple years of this, my Druid decided to settle down near the town mentioned above due to the fact that the land around the town was not corrupted by the people who lived in the community and the fact that the people seemed friendly enough. And so he's been there for about 23 or years. (thinking my character will be about 45ish) He visits the town every two weeks to find out any news of the world and just to make sure that the community isn't abusing the land. I'll probably add more as I find out more about other people's characters, I know that one person want's to be a ranger so I might stick more into it about prehaps my character was the one who trained her. Generally the attitude my character has is that he isn't really a reclusive type of Druid like they seem sterotyped in the PHB. He belives that is people try they can live in harmony with nature and use nature's gift's wisely. I'm not so sure about the whole nature's way way better than people that the PHB again seems to sterotype in that it sounds like a Druid would rather save a tree than an innocent person's life. So it's a bit confusing to me to try to balence this love of nature thing with people. Would he go crazy if someone broke off a branch to a tree? Is a Druid allowed to crave into a tree or rip a branch off. So anyways, thanks for reading, and replying if anyone does.
Morka 12-21-03, 11:20 AM	Your druid could have been born in the 1K city, from a normal commoner familly. He could be the 3rd son of a familly of 7, everything normal. One day, he mets the druid living in a groove nearby; the druid teach him the basics of his oath, and your character think it is the best thing he ever heard. So he left his familly (either he fugue or it is a respected choice) to go live in the groove (there could be a small community living there). Alternatively, the character's familly could be some greeedy bourgeois, and sick of the materialism of his parents, he left to live a better life. Or it could be someone else of his direct neighborhood who is too materialist for him, a former girlfriend or something else.
Elith E'Lyan 12-21-03, 12:34 PM	Just thought I'd throw in my 2cp, as I'm playing my first Druid right now. My Druid would never have a real problem if someone broke a branch off the tree. It all comes down to need for him. If Firewood is needed to build a fire and keep people warm, it's all good. If someone wants to cut down trees so they can build the biggest toothpick Faerun has ever seen....not so good. Druids are all about the balance, including the balance of nature and civilization. Druids aren't opposed to clearing land for farming, because farming is necessary to feed the people. However, if you're gonna clear the land, you should make an effort to plant some trees elsewhere. If you can gather deadwood for your fire, why cut down a tree in the prime of it's life? My Druid would certainly never save a tree over an innocent person's life. However, he's highly liable to kill a not neccessarily evil person to save an innocent animals life. He has actually (Chaotic Neutral). We always make jokes about my Druid (our Dwarven fighter jokingly threatens to cut down a tree if I don't behave), but he's not a nature zealot. And he certainly seems Druish to me. As for your character ideas, if you're going for Half-Elf, you could try this if you wanted: A Human woman, who fell in life with a passing Elven adventure, had a passionate night of romance which she deeply regretted nine months later. Not being able to deal with scandal and burdon of raising a child, she abandoned him in the woods to his fate. Fate smiled on him, and he was found by a kindly Druid, who took the child in and raised him as a father, teaching him the ways of the Druid. As he grew older, the child proved a natural talent, but always seemed less than happy. He's a half-elf who has never truley belonged, but really wants to. Especially when he learned that he's never met his true parents (possible adventure hook for your DM, your Dad could be a famous adventurer). Feeling like he's on the outskirts, wishing he wasn't....you know that sort of thing. Anyways, I'd be interested in hearing how your character fleshes out, so you should post it when you finalize! It seems like there are so few of us Druids left these days.
LiXinjian 12-22-03, 09:44 AM	If he's so convinced that mankind and nature can live in a perfect balance, he could constantly be on the underdog's side in an argument. He can understand why this druid thinks this, and why that mayor thinks that, and he's making real efforts to make each other see eye to eye, or at least reach an agreement. Half-elves are born diplomats. Your druid should be too, I think. It makes perfect sense. I'm off to bed right now... ;)
Boxphet 12-25-03, 09:00 AM	Well, in my view, druids are not as far removed from civilization as some people would like to see them. In your average, Faerunian, rural town, a druid would probably be a person of rather high social standing. A druid is the person the local farmers call when their cows are having problems with the milk, the hens are loosing feathers and the soil becomes infertile. This is not the work of a Tempus priest, but the work of a Druid. Where would this little society be without a person to handle all this. Why, a druid might even live on the town square in a small cottage, readily available for peasents and folks to call upon in times of need. I guess your character could be the son or daughter of the local Human Druid and an elf woman from the forest. To makr your upbringing as painless as possible, avoiding the often venomous remarks from haughty elfs, your parents decided to raise you in the town. Because of your fathers standing in the community, as the town Druid, you are unaware that most other places half elves are the target of vicious jokes and laughs. Thats my five cents.
Mr.Musgrave 12-26-03, 12:58 AM	Originally posted by Boxphet Well, in my view, druids are not as far removed from civilization as some people would like to see them. A druid is the person the local farmers call when their cows are having problems with the milk, the hens are loosing feathers and the soil becomes infertile. This is a really cool idea. I'm about to start playing a druid myself and I've been shaping him to be more of a "man of the little people" than your standard issue "Druid HATE town! Druid SMASH!"