The Complete Druid's Handbook

Afivaoced Dun^eonsfrDra^ons nd Player's Handbook 2 Edition Rules Supplement The Complete Druid's Handbook

Sample file by David Pulver Table of Contents

Introduction 3 Chapter 4: Role-playing Druids 58 Druidic Faith 58 The Neutral Alignment 59 A Druid's Responsibilities 62 Character Strategy 69 Relations with Others 73 Personality Types 76 Chapter 1: Diplomat 76 Druid Characters 4 Gardener 77 Druidic Organization 4 Idealist 77 The Essential Druid 5 Mysterious Figure 78 Druidic Branches 8 Nurturer 78 Branch Portraits 10 Rustic 79 Arctic Druid 10 Traditionalist 79 Desert Druid 12 Fanatic 79 Gray Druid 13 Misanthrope 80 Forest Druid 14 Druid Campaigns 80 Jungle Druid 16 Mountain Druid 17 Chapter 5: Plains Druid 17 Druidic Magic 86 Swamp Druid 18 New Spells 86 Multi- and Dual-Class Druids 20 First-level 86 Agriculture: Expanded Rules 22 Second-level 87 Third-level 90 Chapter 2: Fourth-level 90 \ Druid Kits 24 Fifth-level 93 Using Kits 24 Sixth-level 95 A Look at Druid Kits 25 Seventh-level 96 Adviser 25 New Magical Items 98 Avenger 27 Herbal Magic 103 Beastfriend Sample28 file Guardian 30 Chapter 6: Hivemaster 31 Sacred Groves 107 Lost Druid 32 Features of a Sacred Grove ... 107 Natural Philosopher 33 Stewardship , 108 Outlaw 34 Sanctifying and Awakening Pacifist 35 a Grove Ill Savage 36 Magical Sacred Groves 112 Shapeshif ter 37 Defiled and Cursed Groves ... 115 Totemic Druid 39 Standing Stones 117 Village Druid 39 Wanderer 41 Appendixes: Abandoning Kits 42 A: AD&D® Original Modifying and Creating Kits 42 Edition Druids 119 B: Bibliography 124 Chapter 3: The Druidic Order 43 Druid Character The Circles 43 Record Sheet.. ,125 High-level Druids 45 The Shadow Circle 53 Druid Kit Record Sheet 127 Creating a Druidic History 56

2 • Table of Contents Introduction

Tables: Mysterious guardian of a sacred grove, 1: Farm Rating 22 2: Farm Random Events 23 wise counselor to monarchs, cunning master 3: Lesser Grove Powers 112 of many shapes, friend of animals, and ter- 4: Greater Grove Powers 114 rible defender of unspoiled Nature: This is 5: Properties of Cursed Groves 115 the druid of the ADVANCED DUNGEONS & 6: Powers of Standing Stones 118 DRAGONS® game. 7: Original Druid Experience Points 120 8: Original Hierophant Experience Points 121 Although the priests of the Celtic tribes of 9: Elemental Conjurings 122 Western Europe in the time of Rome called 10: Druidic Spells by Class and Level 123 themselves druids, the druids of the AD&D® game are not Celtic priests, nor do they prac- CREDITS tice the bloody rites that made the ancient druids infamous in the eyes of Rome. Rather, Design: David Pulver these druids more closely resemble creatures Editing: Sue Weinlein of Victorian romance and modern fantasy, New Black and White Art: Jeff Easley Merlin figures who revere Nature and wield Color Art: Larry Elmore, power over plants, animals, the weather, and Keith Parkinson, Alan Pollack the elements. Typography: Angelika Lokotz This book is designed to illuminate the Production: Paul Hanchette many abilities of druids and show how the Special Thanks: Peter Donald, Chris Murray, neutral and "unaligned" druid can best ad- Bruce Norman, and Tim Pulver. venture with a party of predominantly good characters. It also reveals what a druid does when not adventuring and demonstrates how TSR,Inc. AftK5gi§K TSR'Ltd- a druid can become the center of a new and POB 756 /jffljgGSfijffl 120 Church End, exciting campaign. Lake Geneva, W\ir^mm Cherry SampleHinton The file Complete Druid's Handbook adds numer- WI53147 ^|*jSmgW Cambridge CBl 3LB ous options to the druid class from the Play- U.S.A. t:s!=s^X United Kingdom er's Handbook, including druids from regions other than the woodlands, and introduces many specialized druid kits. Also included are new spells and magical items, as well as ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DRAGON, SPELLJAMMER, DUNGEON MASTER, FORGOTTEN REALMS, rules for a druid's sacred grove. and WORLD OF GREYHAWK are registered trademarks owned Those using this book with the AD&D by TSR, Inc. PLANESCAPE, MONSTROUS MANUAL, and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Original Edition game should know that page All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses references correspond with the AD&D 2nd thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Edition Player's Handbook (PH) and DUNGEON © 1994 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. MASTER® Guide (DMG). The original druid Random House and its affiliates have worldwide distribution class appears here as an appendix, with some rights in the book trade for English language products of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by material from the AD&D Original Edition ref- TSR Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distrib- erence book Unearthed Arcana. utors. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR, Inc.

Introduction • 3 CHAPTER

Druid Characters

Sample file The traditional druid is a guardian of the Members of all the branches of the druidic woodlands. Nature, however, is vast and order have the same alignment—true neu- diverse; thus the druids detailed in this book tral—and worship Nature. They share one might live their lives protecting jungle rain ethos and owe at least nominal allegiance to forests, arctic tundra, or even the subter- the world's Grand Druid. But, as befits the ranean Underdark. As a result, several dis- infinite diversity of Nature, every branch dif- tinct branches of druid are presented here, fers in details and approach to its mission. each essentially a new subclass built around The granted powers and spells that Nature the basic concept of the druid class. As a finds appropriate for a druid in one region player, choose your druidic branch right after are often inappropriate for a druid from a deciding to play a druid character. very different climate and terrain. For instance, while the forest druids described in the PH have major access to the Druidic Organization Plant sphere of priest spells, the branch of The basic druid as described in the PH is desert druids has only minor access to that referred to here as the "forest druid." The sphere, reflecting the less abundant plant life names of the other branches reflect their geo- in the desert. Similarly, while a forest druid's graphic specialty: arctic druids, desert druids, ability to pass through overgrowth is very and so on. useful in the woods, it has much less utility

4 • Chapter One for a desert druid. Instead, the branch of alignment and the beliefs of druids, refer to desert druids has granted powers enabling Chapter 4: Role-playing Druids. them to survive in arid country. Some rivalry exists between the different Experience and Hit Dice branches of druids. On most worlds, the forest druids belong to the dominant branch. All druids must use the druid column of However, on a few worlds (such as one in the Table 23: Priest Experience Levels (PH, p. 33). midst of an ice age) another branch might Druids, like other members of the priest wield the most power. For more details on group, use eight-sided Hit Dice (HD), gaining rivalry between branches, see Chapter 3: The one die per level from 1st through 9th level. Druidic Order. After 9th level, druids receive an additional 2 The Dungeon Master can restrict some hit points per level, but gain no special bonus branches to nonplayer characters (NPCs) or for high Constitution. even prohibit them to suit the background or direction of a campaign. For example, the Proficiencies and Crossovers Dungeon Master (DM) might decide that the gray druids of the Underdark would make Druids gain proficiencies just like other exciting adversaries for the characters. Since priests (PH, p. 50), starting with two weapon having player characters (PCs) as gray druids and four nonweapon proficiencies. would water down the impact of the gray It is strongly recommended that you, the druids as foes, the DM can prohibit players player, use the optional nonweapon profi- from choosing that branch. Later in the cam- ciency rules when creating druid characters paign, after the party has encountered the with this book. The various branches of gray druids, the DM might open the branch druids (and the druid kits described later) to players. make extensive use of the nonweapon profi- Similarly, some druid branches simplySample may cienc filey system to differentiate among types of not seem very logical or useful in certain cam- druids. paigns. A wise DM would discourage players Note that druid nonweapon proficiencies from selecting the arctic branch for their come from the general, priest, and warrior druid characters in a campaign set in a jungle. groups. Druids have access to the warrior group (even though many other priests do not) because it contains many of the profi- The Essential Druid ciencies associated with outdoor skills the Some characteristics and limitations apply druid needs to operate in the wilderness. to all branches of the druidic order. The fol- lowing section expands on the rules for druid Money and Equipment characters in the PH (pgs. 35-38). Druids start with 3d6xlO gp, which they Alignment and Ethos can use to purchase equipment. All but a few coins (less than 1 gp) must be spent prior to All druids are of neutral alignment and entering play. share an ethos devoted to protecting the wil- If using the optional druid kit rules de- derness and maintaining natural cycles and a scribed later in this book, both the initial balance between good and evil (PH, pgs. 37, money and the equipment allowed might 47). For a detailed discussion of the neutral vary depending on the kit.

Druid Characters • 5 nondruidic eavesdroppers. It is a precise tool Magical Items for discussing Nature; a druid can say "dense, Druids use all magical items normally per- old-growth pine forest" in one word rather mitted to priests, with the exception of writ- than a whole phrase. ten items (books and scrolls) and those types The secret language has a specialized and of armor and weapons that are normally for- detailed vocabulary limited to dealing with bidden them. (The weapons and armor per- Nature and natural events; beyond this mitted to members of each branch and kit do sphere, it is very basic. A druid could use the vary, but they remain similar to those allowed secret language to talk about the health of a to druids in the PH.) person, animal, or plant; discuss the weather; Thus, a druid who finds magical chain mail or give detailed directions through the wil- may not wear it, since druids must use only derness. The language also can describe dru- nonmetallic armor. Similarly, a druid cannot idic spells, ceremonies, powers, and any nat- wield a magical mace, since maces are not ural and supernatural creatures known to the among the permitted druidic arms. druids. However, it contains no words for sophisticated human emotions, for most tools or artifacts (beyond those used for hunting, The Secret Language farming, or fishing), or for weapons and All druids can speak a secret language in armor (other than items druids use). The lan- addition to other tongues they know. Using guage also contains few words that refer to the optional proficiency system, the secret concepts peculiar to sentient beings, like prop- language does not require a proficiency slot. erty, justice, theft, or war. Tense distinctions blur in this secret tongue; usually the concepts druids express bear a certain immedi- The secret language of the druids has its acy or timelessness. roots in British tradition. A languagSamplee file called Thari, derived from Celtic roots, Finally, the secret language of the druids apparently was spoken as a secret tongue remains a purely spoken tongue. A few throughout the British Isles by a small simple runes or marks (symbolizing danger, number of traveling folk such as tinkers safe water, safe trail, and so on) exist for mark- and bards. It later was adopted by some ing paths and leaving messages, but the lan- Gypsy clans in addition to Romany, their guage cannot communicate actual sentences own Indie language. Thari may predate and complex ideas in writing. the Dark Ages, and some claim fluency in Here's an example of how the secret lan- it even today. Certain researchers seeking guage works in practice. Suppose two druids the roots of Thari as a language distinct are discussing a magical item and want to from Gaelic have linked its origins to both converse entirely in the secret language, ancient Celtic craft guilds and to the his- using no words borrowed from other tongues. torical druids. If the DM wants to name One druid wishes to say: the druids' secret language, Thari pos- This magical long sword was a gift to sesses some historical relevance. Melinda, wife to King Rupert, from Ru- pert's court wizard Drufus. The mage Not only can druids use the secret lan- gave it the power to throw lightning guage to provide passwords, they can speak bolts. But then King Rupert grew jealous this private tongue when they wish to baffle of Melinda. He had her executed and

6 • Chapter One