Druids are protectors of the wilderness, ensuring that civilization does not encroach on the pristine wilds. They are shepherds of their environment, channeling primal magic to ensure its survival and well-being. Unlike rangers, druids rely primarily on their magical abilities.
Some druids favor more direct intervention when nature is threatened, while others are content to observe until the threat becomes too much for nature to handle on its own.
Subclasses
Likeminded druids often band together in groves, small communities far from civilization protected by primal magic. Here, they share their teachings with younger druids. Usually, all druids in a grove are part of the same Circle. Druids who are not part of a circle often make their living as healers in remote settlements, or as gardeners on a lord's estate.
Circle of the Land
Druids of the Land are versatile, ready to adapt their toolkit to wherever their travels take them. They are often nomads, roaming the lands far and wide, on the lookout for corruption in need of cleansing.
Circle of the Moon
Some druids worship the Moon almost as a deity, its ever-changing face reflecting their own ever-changing forms. These druids are known to hunt with the tigers of the jungle, or roam the snowy tundra with a pack of wolves. Some prefer the company of animals to humans to such an extent that they almost never take on their human form. There are several known groves of moon druids, including on Iacaris and Palecliff.
Circle of the Sea
The sea is wild and unprectable, just like the druids who channel its awesome power. They live near water, or even underneath it in groves hidden by kelp forests. They are one of the most secretive orders of druids, only rarely appearing in society.
Circle of the Stars
Druids who study the stars are pensive astronomers, happy to categorize and study nature, but only rarely intervening until nature's need is dire. The lunar elves of Maerdris are perhaps the foremost experts on the stars and their movements.
Ideals
- Nature: The splendor of the wild is beautiful. (Any)
- Prosperity: The verdant forest and the blossoming orchards. (Good)
- Decay: Some things must rot for me to grow. (Evil)
- Cycle of Life: Not all death is evil. (Neutral)
- Guidance: I must usher flora and fauna through the seasons. (Lawful)
- Wilderness: Unpredictable, like a thunderstorm. (Chaotic)
Backstory Questions
- What is your connection to nature?
- Do you work alone, or are you part of a circle?
- What is your view on civilization?
- What are your preferred Wild Shapes?
Druids of the Past
Atadan Aerilex
(wood elf, CE, 613-782): Atadan was the protector of a large forest on the mainland, but succumbed to a corrupting extraplanar force. Crazed and delusional, Atadan walked through his beloved forest, incinerating it behind him. He was finally stopped by a party of brave adventurers, who braved his flaming minions to put an end to his reign of terror on a field of ashes.
Tenelie Sildoren
(lunar elf, LN, 452-1253): Archdruid who was the greatest astronomer who ever lived. She charted the entire sky during her very long lifetime, and learned much about the nature of the heavens. Near the end of her life, she became a hermit, focusing solely on the skies. No one knows where her laboratory was located, but many have searched for her lost research.