Designer's Notes

Iwrote most of this book at my mother’s house. When I was a kid, there was a small orchard of old apple trees down the lane. I must have named every one of them. Now they’re

gone, there is a housing estate there now.

This is probably deeply meaningful on some level.

* * *

There is a school of thought that the classes available should be fewer, that they should be reduced back down to the old basics of fighting men, thieves and magic-users, or at least to fighters, clerics, wizards and rogues. ‘After all,’ the argument goes, ‘a druid is just a cleric with a prestige class.’

This is perfectly accurate. The first appearance of the druid was as a variant of the cleric class that could be adopted after 9th level. The druid could indeed be built as a cleric with a few tweaks. However, there’s a very strong argument against such minimalism.

Fantasy roleplaying is more than a complex squadlevel wargame. Breaking it down to its simplest elements leaves little room for the quirky bits of flavour that make it more interesting. Druids aren’t just clerics with an alternate spell list, they have a style and a philosophy all their own. It’s the thin end of the wedge – if the druid has a place and a purpose outside the dungeon and the skirmish battlefield, then all the other characters must have too. Even the simplest bits of flavour rapidly imply and extrapolate to a whole fantasy world. (And in the case of the druid, a world filled with interesting and atmospheric Celticy bits).

* * *

Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood is a very good book indeed.

* * *

So too is Robin Duke’s Quintessential Druid I, which was the source for many of the concepts found in this book. The first druid book was rather comprehensive and wide-ranging, so I deliberately focussed on two fields in this follow-up. Firstly, I wanted to concentrate on material that would be immediately useful in the middle of a game, which would not require any extra work or approval from the Games Master. That led to the long analysis of the different animal types and spells, which threw up a lot of interesting factoids about fantasy animals, like the utter awesomeness of crocodiles. The revised edition reworked wild shape and made it much more flexible, so the discussions of wild shape in this book could concentrate on how to use it.

The other material I wanted to include was more stuff about the landscape. I was heavily influenced by Mythago Wood, not to mention the Slaine comics (and rpg), and Arthurian and Irish mythology, but also by the landscape outside my door. There are ancient earthworks and tombs scattered across Ireland and I wanted to create a system and an order that could produce such things.

Reverse archaeology, perhaps.

My favourite section of the book is the variant spellcasting methods for the druid. They twist the flavour dial over another notch and I’ve always been a big fan of seasonal effects and dealing with spirits. It makes the druid feel a little more… organic, which can only be a fitting thing.

Gar

A

Advanced Companion 101 Air Walk 67

Alarming 8

Alternate Advancements 103 Alternate Uses for Wild Shape 99 Amerlath 57

Animal Companions 91 Animal Companion Feats 101 Animal Companion Options 101 Animal Growth 67

Animal Messenger 64

Animal Mind Defence 99

Animal Sympathy 100 Animal Trance 65 Animal Vitality 99 Antilife Shell 68 Antiplant Shell 67 Anvil-stalk 57 Appeals 114 Apprenticeship 109 Archanix 113 Archdruids 113

Armour of Bitter Mercury 82 Armour of the Woods 82 Asrino moss 57

Atonement 50 Attuned School 81 Augment Animal 84 Autumnal Spirit 6 Avatar of Green Fire 43 Avatar of Life 9 Awaken 67

A Thousand Faces 101

B

Band of Life and Death 83 Barkskin 49, 65

Barrow mold 57 Bear 75

Bear-claw Necklace 56 Bear Sword 52

Bell of the heights 57 Be a Tree 85

Black holly 58

Black Stump Poison 61 Bleeding 48

Blessing 45 Blessings of Nature 21

Blessings of the King 29 Bloody Spellcasting 47 Blood Bowl 55

Blood Druid 47

Blood Price 48 Blossoming Footsteps 85 Boar’s Ferocity 17

Bog Burial 85

Bonecracking Stance 9

Briar Staff 83

Bronze Sickle 55

Burning Bright 8

C

Cael fungus 58 Called Companion 101 Calling 45

Calling of the Sickle 50 Call Lightning 65

Call Lightning Storm 67 Call Thunder 86

Calm Animals 64

Camouflage 33, 55

Care & Feeding 105

Care of Lands 46 Carrow 58 Ceremonial Robe 55 Ceremonies 110 Changestaff 69 Chaotic Neutral 108 Charm Animal: 64 Chill Metal 65 Cityfather 41 Claim the Fallen 48

Cloak of Authority 41

Cloak of the Mannish Shape 84 Cloudburst 86

Cold Soul 46

Commune with Nature 67 Companion to Rats 6 Compulsive Fiddler 8 Contagion 65

Control Water 67

Control Weather 69

Control Winds 67

Cornucopia 100

Coronation 45

Counsellor Companion 103 Counsel of the Fates 41 Courts of the Fey 114 Create Water 63

Culling Spell 47 Cure Light Wounds 64

Cure Minor Wounds 63 Curse of the Woodlands 6

D

Dart of Mistletoe 86

Dawn Chorus 20 Deathbane 6 Defence of the City 42 Degeneration 7 Delay Poison 65

Detect Animals or Plants 64 Detect Corruption 5

Detect Magic 63

Detect Poison 63

Detect Snares and Pits 64 Diminish Plants 65 Dinith 58

Dire Animals 91 Dominate Animal 66 Dragonsbane 61 Drawn to Sorrow 6 Druid’s Judgement 61

Druidic Familiar 34, 35, 38 Druidic Fasces 52 Druidic Language 100 Druid Horn 55

Dryad 76

Duties 109 Dwarven bhorid 58

E

Earthworks 114

Earth Mounds 116

Elder Druids 112

Elf-leaf 58

Empathic Link 11

Empathy 11

Enchantments of the Fey 35

Enclave 42

Entangle 64

Entomb 86

Epic Levels 40

Eschew Civilisation 9

Evenfold 58

External Politics 108

F

Faerie Fire 64

Fear of Nature 7

Fenfoil 58

Feral Monk 24

Festivals 110

Fetid 7

Fey Dancer 33

Fey Form: 35

Find the Path 68

Fires of Life 8

Firethorn 58

Fire Seeds 68

Fire Storm 69

Fire Trap 65

First Anointing 45

Fish Bracelet 56

Flame Blade 65

Flame Strike 67

Flaming Sphere 65

Font of Wisdom 41

Fool’s Voice 13

Force Confrontation 45

Force of Nature 14

Forest Keeper 11

Fragile Life 7

Frustration 9

Furs 54

Fury 9

G

Gardener 76

Gargfoil 58 Gatherings 111

Generating a Druidic Circle 111 Giant Vermin 67

Gift of the Wild 29 Girdle of the Dryad 84 Glyphs 116

Gnome’s delight 58 Goodberry 64 Grand Druid 39, 112 Greater Culling 47

Greater Oath of Jagad 50 Greater Tie 45 Greenflame 8 Greenwielder 8

Green knight 22 Grove Tender 6 Guide Wild Shape 86

H

Hallow 67

Hand Claws 53

Heatherschild 59

Heat Metal 65

Herbalism 57

Hide in Plain Sight 33

Hold Animal 65

Hollyberry 59

Hollygate 61

Holly Knight 27

Holly Knight’s Obligation 28

Home Grove 73

Horned Hunter 76

Huge 49

I

Icons 117

Imbued Items 56

Improved Bleeding 48

Improved Combat Partnership 102

Improved Link 102

Improved Unarmed Strike 49

Insect Censer 53

Insect Plague 67

Insoline 59

Instinctive Magic 8

Internal Politics 107

Ironwood 69

I OweYou a Beheading 24

J

Jollity 59

Jump 64

K

Khentish root 59

Kingmaker 44

Know Direction 63

L

Lamellas 59

Large 49

Lawful Neutral 108

Leash the Earthquake 87

Lesser Tie 45

Ley Lines & Tracks 115

Lifebreath 61

Lifeshaper 7

Life Conversion 43

Limited Range 8

Linvi 59

Living Armour 54

Longstrider 64

Lord of Beasts 11

M

Magic & the Animal Companion 105 Magic Fang 64

Magic Fang, Greater 66 Magic Stone 64 Manikin 87, 88 Mantle of the Stag 84 Marshwash 59

Mask of Nature 10 Master of Wild Shape 10 Meeting of the Paths 21 Meld into Stone 66 Mending 63

Merge Forms 102 Metal 52 Mistcloak 84 Monkey’s Paw 56 Moon-tied Magic 13 Moon Druid 13

Mount Companion 104

Moving-Plate Armour 55 Mulberry of the green 59

N

Nature’s Teachings 26

Nature Sense 100

Neutral Evil 107

Neutral Good 107

New Tricks 102

Niamh’s gift 59

Nightingale 17

Nightingale’s Song 19

O

Oakwatch 87

Oath of Jagad 50

Obedient Cloud 88

Obscuring Mist 64

Oel’s Eye 60

Ogham Stave 84

Old Track Druids 114

One With the City 42

Opening the Green 22

Opportunistic Sacrifice 48

Otterstail 60

Owl’s Wisdom 65

P

Patron Spirits 74

Pestering Pests 6

Pilgrim Soul 10

Plant 51

Plant Communion 49

Plant Growth 66

Plant Type 49

Poison 66

Poisons 61

Poison Use 31

Power Sources 115

Predator Aspect 30

Priest of the Old Faith 12

Produce Flame 64

Prolonged Wild Shape 99

Prophesy 45

Pure Body 10

Purify Food and Drink 63

Pylfig 60

Q

Queller 60

Quench 66

R

Rabbit 76 Rage-Trigger Magic 16

Rare and Wondrous Beasts 91 Raven 77

Raven’s Gift 61 Reading the Green 38 Read Magic 63 Reduce Animal 65 Red holly 60 Regenerate 70 Religion 106 Remove Disease 66

Repel Metal or Stone 69 Repel Wood 69 Resistance 64

Resist Nature’s Lure 101 Ring of Druidic Authority 83 Rites of the Woodland 12 Ritual Acts 74

Ritual Cleansing 99

Root 49

Rusting Fungus 61

Rusting Grasp 67

S

Sacred Hunter 29 Sacrificial Dagger 55, 83 Sage Counsel 45 Salmon 78

Scout Companion 104 Seasonal druids 70 Seasonal Mask 10 Shambler 70

Shaper of Form 7 Share Close Spell 102 Share Form 102 Share Long Spell 102

Share Medium Spell 102 Share Rage 17 Shepherd’s Sight 46 Shepherd of Worlds 46 Shillelagh 64

Sickle, Throwing 53 Sickle of the Green 49, 113 Silverleaf 60

Singing Trees 109

Sleet Storm 66

Smite Bane 29

Soften Earth and Stone 65 Soul Carrier 102

Soul Rider 10

Sow Forest 88

Speaker for the Green 41 Speak with Animals 64 Speak with Plants 66 Spear, Gae Bolga 53 Spear, Seed-riven 54 Spellstaff 69

Spells from the Soul 8 Spell Conversion 43 Spell Symphony 20 Spike Growth 66 Spirit Animal 89 Spirit in the Streets 42 Stag 78

Stalker 31

Stone 51

Stone Circles & Standing Stones 115 Streets like Rivers, Crowds like Flocks 7 Sublime Green Magic 38

Summon Nature’s Ally 91

Summon Nature’s Ally I 64

Summon Nature’s Ally II 65

Summon Nature’s Ally III 67

Summon Nature’s Ally IV 67

Summon Nature’s Ally V 67

Summon Nature’s Ally VI 69

Summon Nature’s Ally VII 69

Summon Nature’s Ally VIII 69

Summon Nature’s Ally XI 70

Summon Nature’s Minor Ally 63

Summon Swarm 65

Swift Claw Technique 26

Syncretist 20

T

Talisman of the Approachable Tree 84 Tanweed 60

Tapping Natural Features 81 The Druidic Order 106

The Green Knight’s Challenge 24 The Green Knight’s Stroke 24 The Green World 118

This Body is a Mask 10 Thornskin 89 Thrice-twined Thorns 89 Thunderbird 80

Tied Magic 12 Timeless Body 101 Torc of Five Forms 84 Totemic Magic 73 Touch-Deliver Spell 102 Trackless Step 101 Transfer Spells 73

Transmute Metal to Wood 69 Transmute Mud to Rock 67 Transport via Plants 69 Travelling Druids 110

Tree 80

Tree Shape 65

Tree Shelter 89

Tree Stride 67

Tree Strider 48 True mistletoe 60 True Neutral 107

U

Uluvo 60

Unhallow 67

Urban Druid 6

Urban Wisdom 42

V

Venom Immunity 101

Voice of Command 41

Voice of the Green 12

W

Walking Beast 9

Wall of Thorns 68

Wand of Willow and Aspen 84 Warden of the Wild 5 Warden of the World 47 Warp Wood 65

Water Breathing 67 Weasel’s Luck Charm 56 Weave Spell to Bone 7 Weaving 52

Web Armour 55

Whip of Thorns 54

Whirlwind 70 White holly 60 Wicker Man 55 Wildcrafting 51 Wild Empathy 100 Wild Shape 90 Wilful Beast 9 Wilful Ignorance 9 Wine of Faery 61

Wisdom of the Fates 41 Wolf 80

Wolfsbane 60 Wolfskin Cloak 56 Wood 51 Wooden-Soled Boots 84 Woodjack 31 Woodland Ambush 33 Woodland Stride 100 Woodsword 83 Woodwose 36

Wood Shape 65

Worldhealer 47 Worm 80 Wraithly 44

NAME EFFECT

CLASS/RACIAL ABILITIES

ABILITY EFFECT

SPELLS PREPARED

SPELL SAVE DC MOD

MAGIC ITEMS AND RELICS

CHARACTER CONCEPT BONUSES & PENALTIES

CAREER PATH

BONUSES & PENALTIES

TOTEM SPIRIT

QUIRKS

PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER

ENEMIES, CONTACTS AND PAST ACQUAINTANCES

BACKGROUND & FURTHER NOTES

DRUIDIC ORDER

NAME

DETAILS:

ANIMAL COMPANION

NAME: CREATURE TYPE: HP:

ABILITIES:

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D20 System Rules & Content Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

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