Best race for a druid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best race for a druid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
trickysam
08-11-07, 01:24 PM So I started a campaign with a new group and they told me to make a 14th level character. I asked what sort of limitations they wanted me to go with and they kind of laughed and said whatever I could do to survive...

So, I figured a Shifter (from eberron campaign) going 9 druid/5 weretouched master or whatever it's called. I could walk around with a dire wolverine pet, shift into a hybrid werebear to give myself a +16 to strength, and ask the DM if I'd count as an animal enough to cast animal growth on my animal companion and myself for another +8 to strength, etc. They said no eberron. I went through my old characters and found an ECL 14 toon... but it had some psionic feats that it was sort of built around... no psionics. I tried a half orc monk with a spiked chain (tripper build)... he said half orcs aren't smart enough to use a spiked chain... even with a 13 INT and the specific feat for exotic weapon prof.

SO... I made him a human for that session because I'd remade my character 3 times and just wanted to play. So I'm switching to another character...

straight druid... but I can't decide on a race. As long as it's not eberron or psionic, I think it's OK... but I want to keep it simple, preferably no LA/HD...

What would you guys suggest for 0 LA races for a straight mid/high level druid?

I'm thinking just going human so he can't complain... but I'm looking for something elser.
Roam7
08-11-07, 03:15 PM Your Dm is an idiot.
Any race can use any weapon.
Just tell him he's wrong.
Show him proof. (I.E. your players handbook.)
natzero
08-11-07, 04:14 PM well u could try kobold, specially if u are not planning to master shapeshift and are planning a more caster oriented char.

u get bonus dex, tho -con and str hurt.

u do get +1 nat armor tho, and + 1 ac from small size.

hmm wut else, dragonwrought kobold would give u sleep/paral immunity.

and since you would be straight dragon none of that humanoid stuff will get ya, and a few abilities such as frightful presence and imp nat weapons could make up for str in a way.

really anything you want could be used for a drood, what kind of build you going for?
u want to spend points for wildshape (ie feats, etc) or you wanna be a more healing or summoning druid?
trickysam
08-11-07, 04:33 PM From what I've been told the campeign's less "you four take on this one powerful guy" and more "you lead a horde of 300 orcs and 1000 goblins to attack a city full of low level commoners and guards." No single challanging target... but a numbers game... which so far is pretty crappy.

Going with an elephant animal companion for trample squishing lines of good guys at a time and lots of AoE nuking. I don't really plan on wild shaping until I'm out of spells, which I hope I won't be... but wild shape is always quite handy. Then again, even when I'm "out" of spells, I usually have call lightning, flame sphere and produce flame racked. Flame sphere is a free action to control (guiding it to blaze on a line of people), and I can choose each round between tossing around lightning bolts or smiting things near death with a little 1d6+5 boogers from produce flame. Produce flame's hardly a nuke for the round, but it adds up to a total of 14d6+70 damage... with a level 1 spell... of course that'd be over 14 rounds of tossing boogers... but it's a cheap thing to fling at whatever's out of reach and wants to be on fire.
Context
08-11-07, 04:34 PM Humans are really good for druids as most builds tend to be feat and skill starved.

Lesser Aasimar (LA+0) are also very nice for the +2Wis/+2Cha.

Still, I'd go with human for strict optimization.

Your DM sounds like a bit of an unreasonable idiot though, so you may have difficulty regardless of what you choose.
natzero
08-11-07, 04:50 PM ok sam, well in that case str and con are not as serious as they could be. a small creature with nat armor and +2 dex is 3 to your AC.

with the correct feats, (and dragonic rite of passage) you can be effective.

rite of passage allows you to cast any 1st level sorc/wiz spall once per day caster lvl is your char level. magic missle is a good one, expedious retreat helps, im sure it isnt hard to find a useful 1st level spell. and remember the rite is not a feat its a lvl 1 choice of which the only requirements are sacrificing a 100gp gem and 1 hp.

also heres a feat for ya:
Draconic Reservoir

You can cast your Draconic Rite of Passage spell-like ability more often than normal.

Prerequisite: Kobold, must have completed the Draconic Rite of Passage, 3 HD.

Benefit: You can cast your 1st-level sorcerer spell-like ability gained from Draconic Rite of Passage 3/day. A kobold must complete the Searching for the Dragon meditation in order to recharge their spell-like ability, but does not have to increase the 15 minute duration for the additional castings.

Normal: The spell-like ability gained from Draconic Rite of Passage can only be cast 1/day.

also take 2 flaws at level one from the unearthed arcana and get 2 feats out of it. may even consider taking the quick trait, giving you a +10 speed though -1hp/lvl

this gives a kobold druid a movement speed of 40. with the right dragonic feat and dragonic wings feat/imp wings you will have a ground speed of 50 and a fly speed of 50.(avg)

its all how you want to play, those feats may not be useful if u just wanna wild shape to bird fly up and cast with natural spell.
Context
08-11-07, 05:21 PM Pretty much anything you get from being part dragon is lost when you wildshape... like your dexterity, natural armor, size, and wings.

As fun as they are, because you spend most of your time in combat as something that is not you... kobold is probably not your best choice for the druid.
natzero
08-11-07, 09:03 PM well he said he was only going to wildshape when out out of spells.
my point listing those dragonic feats is for the purposes of escape and safe casting.

unless u take shapeshifting ability from PHB2 yes ur abilites change.

the flight speed is to get him out of melee to cast, as is the imp movement speed.
the dragonic rite could be used to gain 30ft speed increase 3 times per day for 1 min / caster lvl i believe

just some ideas
queenfange
08-11-07, 10:28 PM I'd say go with human, actually. Or gnome. They're tough, can already speak with animals (though only burrowing ones) once per day, low light vision, and a bonus to Listen.

Would anyone hit me if I said tauren? :looloo: Yeah, I know.

A kobold would make an interesting druid, if you were up to the challenge.

I do agree that your GM is narrow-minded, to put in nicely, to ban a half-orc from using a spike chain. If you have the proficiency, it means you are trained to use it. Neither intelligence (which you had anyway!) nor racial stereotypes should prevent it, unless he has a super unique setting where some races have unbreakable oaths to their creator deities to not use certain weapons or inheritable brain defects that prevent them from understanding how certain weapons work.
BreegJac17
08-11-07, 10:51 PM Human would be good for the extra feat and skill points. Dwarf and gnome or anything with a CON bonus would be great with the wildshape errata, or anything with a Wis boost.
But really anything would be good, unless it gets a Con or Wis decrease, or a LA.

But that's just my opinion, play whatever you feel like, it's your character, fun is the most important thing in your character. :)
runestar
08-11-07, 11:03 PM At that point, you can pretty much stay in wildshape 24/7, so base physical stats aren't really that important (save for con).

If your DM gives the green light, consider the anthropomorphic bat (SS) or jermlaine (MM2) for the +6 wis they give.
Ecalsneerg
08-12-07, 04:32 AM I asked what sort of limitations they wanted me to go with and they kind of laughed and said whatever I could do to survive...

Half-orcs can't use spiked chain? Eberron banned (not saying that's anything good or bad depending on the group's setting, but it's still a limitation)? I'd hate to see the limitations.

Can I ask how a half-orc can't use a spiked chain? Because, yes, they are stupid. But you get smart ones, hence the intelligence stat only having a penalty, not being set to 3. And, in any case, dumb half-orc would probably be good at fighting, so would be able to use weaponry.
wolf_man007
08-14-07, 12:08 PM Lesser Aasimar (LA+0) are also very nice for the +2Wis/+2Cha.

Where can I find this mofo?
Lawlicron
08-14-07, 12:17 PM To be honest Lesser Aasimar is LA+1 (They just printed it as LA+0 for no reason, this isn't a joke. That is what they did). Any DM that sees you trying to roll up a Lesser Aasimar is going to say "That has a level adjustment". And if your DM has already ruled that half-orcs can't use spiked chains your going to have a hard time passing things like this by him.
AndrewRF
08-14-07, 03:15 PM Uldra (from Frostburn) make nice druids, particularly if you're in a game that allows for LA buyoff.

Pros: Bonuses to CON & WIS and extra Cold type damage to melee attacks (although strict RAW it won't work when wildshaped).
Cons: Strength penalty and slow movement speed which are both negated when wildshaped.
Baernwulf_of_Nor
08-14-07, 07:17 PM DWARF! PICK DWARF!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
trickysam 08-11-07, 01:24 PM	So I started a campaign with a new group and they told me to make a 14th level character. I asked what sort of limitations they wanted me to go with and they kind of laughed and said whatever I could do to survive... So, I figured a Shifter (from eberron campaign) going 9 druid/5 weretouched master or whatever it's called. I could walk around with a dire wolverine pet, shift into a hybrid werebear to give myself a +16 to strength, and ask the DM if I'd count as an animal enough to cast animal growth on my animal companion and myself for another +8 to strength, etc. They said no eberron. I went through my old characters and found an ECL 14 toon... but it had some psionic feats that it was sort of built around... no psionics. I tried a half orc monk with a spiked chain (tripper build)... he said half orcs aren't smart enough to use a spiked chain... even with a 13 INT and the specific feat for exotic weapon prof. SO... I made him a human for that session because I'd remade my character 3 times and just wanted to play. So I'm switching to another character... straight druid... but I can't decide on a race. As long as it's not eberron or psionic, I think it's OK... but I want to keep it simple, preferably no LA/HD... What would you guys suggest for 0 LA races for a straight mid/high level druid? I'm thinking just going human so he can't complain... but I'm looking for something elser.
Roam7 08-11-07, 03:15 PM	Your Dm is an idiot. Any race can use any weapon. Just tell him he's wrong. Show him proof. (I.E. your players handbook.)
natzero 08-11-07, 04:14 PM	well u could try kobold, specially if u are not planning to master shapeshift and are planning a more caster oriented char. u get bonus dex, tho -con and str hurt. u do get +1 nat armor tho, and + 1 ac from small size. hmm wut else, dragonwrought kobold would give u sleep/paral immunity. and since you would be straight dragon none of that humanoid stuff will get ya, and a few abilities such as frightful presence and imp nat weapons could make up for str in a way. really anything you want could be used for a drood, what kind of build you going for? u want to spend points for wildshape (ie feats, etc) or you wanna be a more healing or summoning druid?
trickysam 08-11-07, 04:33 PM	From what I've been told the campeign's less "you four take on this one powerful guy" and more "you lead a horde of 300 orcs and 1000 goblins to attack a city full of low level commoners and guards." No single challanging target... but a numbers game... which so far is pretty crappy. Going with an elephant animal companion for trample squishing lines of good guys at a time and lots of AoE nuking. I don't really plan on wild shaping until I'm out of spells, which I hope I won't be... but wild shape is always quite handy. Then again, even when I'm "out" of spells, I usually have call lightning, flame sphere and produce flame racked. Flame sphere is a free action to control (guiding it to blaze on a line of people), and I can choose each round between tossing around lightning bolts or smiting things near death with a little 1d6+5 boogers from produce flame. Produce flame's hardly a nuke for the round, but it adds up to a total of 14d6+70 damage... with a level 1 spell... of course that'd be over 14 rounds of tossing boogers... but it's a cheap thing to fling at whatever's out of reach and wants to be on fire.
Context 08-11-07, 04:34 PM	Humans are really good for druids as most builds tend to be feat and skill starved. Lesser Aasimar (LA+0) are also very nice for the +2Wis/+2Cha. Still, I'd go with human for strict optimization. Your DM sounds like a bit of an unreasonable idiot though, so you may have difficulty regardless of what you choose.
natzero 08-11-07, 04:50 PM	ok sam, well in that case str and con are not as serious as they could be. a small creature with nat armor and +2 dex is 3 to your AC. with the correct feats, (and dragonic rite of passage) you can be effective. rite of passage allows you to cast any 1st level sorc/wiz spall once per day caster lvl is your char level. magic missle is a good one, expedious retreat helps, im sure it isnt hard to find a useful 1st level spell. and remember the rite is not a feat its a lvl 1 choice of which the only requirements are sacrificing a 100gp gem and 1 hp. also heres a feat for ya: Draconic Reservoir You can cast your Draconic Rite of Passage spell-like ability more often than normal. Prerequisite: Kobold, must have completed the Draconic Rite of Passage, 3 HD. Benefit: You can cast your 1st-level sorcerer spell-like ability gained from Draconic Rite of Passage 3/day. A kobold must complete the Searching for the Dragon meditation in order to recharge their spell-like ability, but does not have to increase the 15 minute duration for the additional castings. Normal: The spell-like ability gained from Draconic Rite of Passage can only be cast 1/day. also take 2 flaws at level one from the unearthed arcana and get 2 feats out of it. may even consider taking the quick trait, giving you a +10 speed though -1hp/lvl this gives a kobold druid a movement speed of 40. with the right dragonic feat and dragonic wings feat/imp wings you will have a ground speed of 50 and a fly speed of 50.(avg) its all how you want to play, those feats may not be useful if u just wanna wild shape to bird fly up and cast with natural spell.
Context 08-11-07, 05:21 PM	Pretty much anything you get from being part dragon is lost when you wildshape... like your dexterity, natural armor, size, and wings. As fun as they are, because you spend most of your time in combat as something that is not you... kobold is probably not your best choice for the druid.
natzero 08-11-07, 09:03 PM	well he said he was only going to wildshape when out out of spells. my point listing those dragonic feats is for the purposes of escape and safe casting. unless u take shapeshifting ability from PHB2 yes ur abilites change. the flight speed is to get him out of melee to cast, as is the imp movement speed. the dragonic rite could be used to gain 30ft speed increase 3 times per day for 1 min / caster lvl i believe just some ideas
queenfange 08-11-07, 10:28 PM	I'd say go with human, actually. Or gnome. They're tough, can already speak with animals (though only burrowing ones) once per day, low light vision, and a bonus to Listen. Would anyone hit me if I said tauren? :looloo: Yeah, I know. A kobold would make an interesting druid, if you were up to the challenge. I do agree that your GM is narrow-minded, to put in nicely, to ban a half-orc from using a spike chain. If you have the proficiency, it means you are trained to use it. Neither intelligence (which you had anyway!) nor racial stereotypes should prevent it, unless he has a super unique setting where some races have unbreakable oaths to their creator deities to not use certain weapons or inheritable brain defects that prevent them from understanding how certain weapons work.
BreegJac17 08-11-07, 10:51 PM	Human would be good for the extra feat and skill points. Dwarf and gnome or anything with a CON bonus would be great with the wildshape errata, or anything with a Wis boost. But really anything would be good, unless it gets a Con or Wis decrease, or a LA. But that's just my opinion, play whatever you feel like, it's your character, fun is the most important thing in your character. :)
runestar 08-11-07, 11:03 PM	At that point, you can pretty much stay in wildshape 24/7, so base physical stats aren't really that important (save for con). If your DM gives the green light, consider the anthropomorphic bat (SS) or jermlaine (MM2) for the +6 wis they give.
Ecalsneerg 08-12-07, 04:32 AM	I asked what sort of limitations they wanted me to go with and they kind of laughed and said whatever I could do to survive... Half-orcs can't use spiked chain? Eberron banned (not saying that's anything good or bad depending on the group's setting, but it's still a limitation)? I'd hate to see the limitations. Can I ask how a half-orc can't use a spiked chain? Because, yes, they are stupid. But you get smart ones, hence the intelligence stat only having a penalty, not being set to 3. And, in any case, dumb half-orc would probably be good at fighting, so would be able to use weaponry.
wolf_man007 08-14-07, 12:08 PM	Lesser Aasimar (LA+0) are also very nice for the +2Wis/+2Cha. Where can I find this mofo?
Lawlicron 08-14-07, 12:17 PM	To be honest Lesser Aasimar is LA+1 (They just printed it as LA+0 for no reason, this isn't a joke. That is what they did). Any DM that sees you trying to roll up a Lesser Aasimar is going to say "That has a level adjustment". And if your DM has already ruled that half-orcs can't use spiked chains your going to have a hard time passing things like this by him.
AndrewRF 08-14-07, 03:15 PM	Uldra (from Frostburn) make nice druids, particularly if you're in a game that allows for LA buyoff. Pros: Bonuses to CON & WIS and extra Cold type damage to melee attacks (although strict RAW it won't work when wildshaped). Cons: Strength penalty and slow movement speed which are both negated when wildshaped.
Baernwulf_of_Nor 08-14-07, 07:17 PM	DWARF! PICK DWARF!