Druidic Protocols

[dragonfire9000]

I am certain this has come up somewhere before but I have little time. Yes, I am plenty arrogant enough to assume someone else has more.

Several specific questions on druids.

Most, if not all, eschew metal weapons, armor and helms because they view them as unnatural. However, what is the general opinion on metal itsself?

Rings and necklaces, for example! Would a druid wear only naturally-occuring jewelry, such as bones or feathers, or is a little copper and silver here and there okay?

What about coins? Coins are gold, and artificially manufactured, and yet I have personally known arch-druids who possessed ridiculous hordes of the stuff. (Merchant kings are sucky targets for thieves. Go druid!)

Are spears and scimitars and such assumed to be made of bone or wood if not otherwise specified?

And the biggest question of all, what things, specifically, can druids NOT do. This is my first real druid character and I'd really like to not get spell failure before level four.

[Drakill Tannan]

I belive a druid could never tolerate undead, in any way. It harms the balance, so traveling along with a necromancer is a no-no. I'd attack the undead and the necromancer if i where a druid in such situation.

[Equinox]

http://www.escapefromunderdark.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256

Go there, all you need to know about playing druids in efu.

I personally -really- hate it when people don't play druids properly, whther it be RP, or just stupid shit like using greatswords and longbows.

So feel free to hit me up with any questions on IRC. I like to think i've played a couple of pretty damn successful druids on EFU:A and i'm usually willing to chat about druid shiz, whther it be your build, rp or goals.

[Howlando]

It is not correct that druids have a problem with metal. Metal scimitars, spear-heads, whatever, are fine. It's more they seek to avoid an excess of metal I suppose, and anyway are bound by their oaths to a certain set of items (+ whatever their deity's favored weapon is).

They wouldn't have much interest in gold, but would probably keep some.

[Nickless]

I immensely dislike druids who act as potion/wand vendors for the mass market. I feel it's fine to have brew potion, but not for financial purposes.

[dragonfire9000]

Dankeschoen.

Equinox: It has been read and shall be applied.

Howland: Thank you for clearing that up.

Nickless: I have never once taken the Brew Potion or Craft Wand feat. That may be why none of my casters have ever topped level five.

DT: Aye. Undead are abberations of nature that happen to be so significant that they have their own group. No druid should tolerate that in any form.

[Calavera]

dont bathe...

thats about it.

[ducks]

[petey512]

If I were to have my druid multiclass into a rogue, it would be a bad thing to use the weapons that come with that I presume?

[FanaticusIncendi]

Not sure what the problem is with druids brewing potions, clarify? Also being a druid doesn't come with a poverty vow, does it? Not intending to be argumentative just curious as to the reasoning behind not wanting druids to be brewing potions and selling them.

[The Beggar]

My opinion only:

Druids are similar to clerics in that they take oaths of faith and service. In the case of the druid, it is an oath to first and foremost uphold a particular view of the "Balance" and general guidelines to protecting that Balance of nature. Confusion among us players exists due to the fact that there are plenty of Gods with differing Dogmas. How does one manage to uphold this elusive "Balance" thing, while at the same time adhering to this dogmatic flavor that the God they pray to imparts to that service. IMO every druid shoud have a few basic mandates that are colored by their God. These are:

1. Protect Nature
2. Ensure a balance in that nature and in the world is maintained

Beyond that though, a druid of Chauntea and a druid of Malar would not go about those mandates in the same way. What does it mean to "Protect Nature"? Does it mean ensuring men and nature can coexist, and that humanoids don't mess up too much (probably a typical view of druid of Chauntea), or does it mean that no tree or bush be felled in the wilds, and that wilds should extended through all cities, and people should be living in nature, not apart from it. (probably more typical of Druid of SIlvanus). More over, a druid of Silvanus may differ in opinion with another Silvanite druid on how to go about something. It leaves it open to player interpretation on a lot of issues, and opens even a lot of conflict among nature lovers and tree huggers.

Due to those deity specific oaths, a druid of Malar wouldn't use the same weapons as a druid of Melieki (sp?), who allows for more liberal use of weapons and armor (any a ranger can use) due to the high prevalence of ranger/druid in her druidic orders. While this God allows it, there may be druids in those orders who don't choose to use them because they consider it abhorent. Again, so long as you adhere to the oaths (druidic weapon restrictions) you are adhering to your oath. If you use weapons or armor outside those, you are going to break your oaths, and loose your powers.

In the end, it's up to you as a player to make some RP choices for your druidy character, choices that will make your character interesting to play, and intersting to interact with.

[Jayde Moon]

I would think that Druids would not covet coins and sell potions and wands as a means unto itself.

However, an argument can be made for any faith class that can brew or craft wands to 'sell' their wares.  I do not think they would sell such wares to 'just anybody' (though some may), and I think that the coin gained from such endeavors would be put to work in the name of the deity (except in the case of Waukeen, who may smile on her clerics getting rich).

But there is, I think, a difference between a druid 'potion vendor' and a druid who is offering potions to those people that are in tune with the druid's disposition who donate a suitable amount in the name of the druid's patron in order to further the druids cause.

I shouldn't think anyone has any real beef with the latter.

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

Undead yes....but they have nothing (at least some don't) have anything against the use of corpse puppets.

A plant controls the corpse, causing it to shamble around, and the plant is in the control of the druid.

[blackvswhite]

do shifters have to RP their druidic background or can they do their stuff and ignore their first 5 levels?

[The Crimson Magician]

They must roleplay as being druids.

[MrGrendel]

I am certain this has come up somewhere before but I have little time. Yes, I am plenty arrogant enough to assume someone else has more.
 
Several specific questions on druids.
 
Most, if not all, eschew metal weapons, armor and helms because they view them as unnatural. However, what is the general opinion on metal itsself? [snip]

"Druids avoid carrying much worked metal with them because it interferes with the pure and primal nature that they attempt to embody." My thoughts on the matter are:
 
Metal in its raw form as ore is natural. Carving a piece of wood into an arrow is no different, essentially, than forging a piece of metal into a sword. The only real difference lies in-
 
1. the sophistication required to develop each tool, metal requiring civilization-level technology, and carving wood requiring little. (ironically a metal knife, most likely.) So forged metal promotes civilization over a natural state of things, in a sense. And-
 
2. wood can be scavenged from fallen limbs, while metal mining directly brings civilization into the wilds in form of mining camps and towns, supply routes to these communities, and so forth.
 
While I cannot presume to know how each individual druid would "feel about metal," keep these things in mind and you can probably determine how your druid should feel about it.
 
Personally, I think the aversion to metal/mining is partly an environmentalist influence on the developers of DnD due to some modern methods of mining being quite bad for the environment. The attitude that nature must be "protected" and is somehow "finite" is imo a more modern development, probably dating to around some time after the industrial age was well in motion. I don't think a druid in a medieval setting would worry about that so much. That's just me, and neither here nor there, though, and the "bringing civilization into the wilderness" is still a perfectly viable reasoning for a druid to personally eschew the use of metal imo.
 
On the other hand, metal implements are nigh indispensable for any humans that aren't naked savages with no more than spear and loincloth. Try making anything at all out of iron-wood without a metal tool to do it, or making fire with sticks instead of flint and steel. Personally, I imagine a wise druid might try to educate people on how they could get by with less metal, using his own existence as an example. And ultimately hoping things will lead to a complete union of people with nature, no mining, etc etc.