Of all the classes in The Setting With No Name, the Druid is closest to the standard D&D Druid class. It's taken about 80% from the 1e PHB. The big difference is the spell list which is full weird spells. Writing spell descriptions will come later but the spell names are at the end. You will see some new and some old names.
The Druid
A Druid is a nature
prie st of the Old Religion, based loosely upon pre-Christian Germanic paganism.
His voice is the wind; his faithful, the trees. His cathedrals are the very
forests themselves. Druidic magic is attuned to nature and seeks to strengthen
and revitalize natural Man, animal, and plant. Druids revere natural places and
protect them from encroaching civilization wherever they are able to.
However each Druid lives
with a sword poised to strike him down, for it is strictly illegal to practice the
Old Religion, and the penalty is summary execution. Heresy is a serious crime.
Druids are considered heretics and are subject to any manner of gruesome
deaths, most notably to be burned alive at the stake.
The Prime Requisite of
the Druid is Wisdom. See Table 2 for XP adjustments due to high or low Wisdom.
Arms & Armor: A Druid may use Leather armor without penalty.
He may carry a shield, but it must be made mainly from wood and other natural
materials. He shuns large quantities of worked metal. He may use the scimitar
(a curved backsword), club or shillelagh, dagger, sickle (a curved dagger
unsuitable for throwing), sling, staff, and spear.
Combat Ability: A Druid uses the Cleric’s Attack Matrix line and
Saving Throw charts but also adds +2 to his saving throws against fire and electricity
effects.
Alignment: While churchmen are consumed by the struggles of Law and Chaos, the Druid must always remain
Neutral for Nature herself is so. A Druid who is otherwise eligible to attain
his next experience level may not do so while the Referee judges him to be
acting in a generally Lawful or Chaotic manner.
The Druid’s Class Abilities:
The Old Tongue: Northern Continental Druids speak a language
called Gallic that only a very few
lay people have heard. They write a runic alphabet, otherwise extinct
for six hundred years. British Druids
speak Brythonic, also written in the
runic script. Druids from other regions speak related
languages which are equally obsolete. Any two Druids can understand each other's basic concepts due to their similar secret languages. Thus two Druids may communicate without fear of being understood by
laymen.
True Magic: Druids are the only true spell
casters. While some other men
use kinds of magic, they are but parlor tricks compared to the magic wielded by
a high-level Druid. Spell lists and descriptions follow.
Animal Empathy: A Druid may make parley with natural animals
much as men make parley with each other. He does not speak the animal’s language
per se, but is able to communicate basic ideas and perhaps gain trust or some
other advantage from an otherwise-wild animal using Table 25, Vol. I, p. 59, the Monster Reaction Table.
Tracking: A Druid may track others through his territory
without fail within a week of their passing, by listening to the animals and
plants of his demesne. Should the tracked party somehow obscure itself from
such, the tracking only succeeds on a 1-2 on d6. Through a hex of territory that
is of the same terrain type as his, the Druid may make a throw to track in the
same way, and succeeds on a 1-4 on d6.
Nature Lore: Starting at 3rd level (Feeder), The Druid is
able to name and identify natural animals, plants and fungi which appear in his
domain (a Druid of England would be hard pressed to tell you much about a
camel, for instance.) He is able to identify clean water and tell if food is
fair or spoiled, but has no special ability to tell whether it is poisoned or
somehow cleverly adulterated.
Pass Without Trace: Also at 3rd level, the Druid may pass through
wild and overgrown areas without leaving clues, as even the trees and thorns
bend to his will to allow him passage.
Nature’s Guile: At 5th Level (Botaner), the Druid gains
immunity to mind-altering charms.
Shape Change: At 7th level (Haruspex), the Druid gains the
powerful ability to assume the shape of any natural mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile or
fish three times per day. He takes on all the physical characteristics of that
kind of animal but keeps his own mind. The Druid’s held and equipped gear
merges into the animal form and is therefore not available for use while
shapechanged.
The following rules
apply:
- Each kind of animal form may be assumed but once per day.
- The size of the creature can vary between 1 lb. (such as a bullfrog or songbird) to a black bear, no more than 450 lbs.
- He may not cast spells when in animal form.
Additionally, changing
forms heals 1d6 hit points plus one hit point per experience level.
Click to Enlarge |
Druidic Hierarchy: High-level Druids are rare, and kept so based
on their rules of succession. Starting at 7th level, only a limited number may
exist. Should another Druid wish to advance, he must defeat one of the existing
Druids of the next level in some form of combat mutually agreed-upon and
witnessed by other Druids. Then the loser, if he lives, relinquishes Experience
Points sufficient to drop him halfway to the experience level he has lost. No
Druid is forced to challenge his better; he may continue to adventure at his
current Experience Level, gaining no more XP until such time as he participates
in such a challenge.
Of level 7 Druids, there
may only be three in a Barony.
Of level 8 Druids, there
may only be three in a March.
Of level 9 Druids, there
may only be three in a County.
Of level 10 Druids,
there may only be three in a Duchy or Principality.
Of level 10 Druids,
there may only be three in a Kingdom.
Of level 11 Druids,
there may only be three in an Empire or Continent.
Of level 12 Druids,
there may only be three at a time.
Of level 13 Druids,
there may only be one.
Of level 14 Druids,
there may be any number.
Druid
Spell List: I owe a great debt to +BrianRichmondWriter of Goatman's Goblet for the inspirations and in some cases the game mechanics of these spells.
Druid
Spell List
First Level Spells (21)
Animal Spy
Beast Mask
Delusions of Pride
Detect Magic
Detect Snares and Pits
Dove of the Morning
Ecstasy
Faerie Fire
Goodberry
Hawk’s Eye
Heat Theft
Hibernal Warmth
Locate Animals
Predict Weather
Purify Food and Drink*
Shield of Ice
Speak with Animals
Stormsworn
Thin the Air
Veil of Night
Winter’s Flesh
Second Level Spells (25)
Blight
Boreal Songs
Breathlessness
Chill Steel
Control Temperature
Create Water
Creeping Sickness
Debauchery
Exhalation of Purity
Ferocity
Harvest Rations
Heat Metal
Heat Shimmer
Hold Animal
Locate Plants
Mantle of Winter
Obscurement
Produce Flame
Protection from Lightning
Renewal
Rites of Hospitality
Screaming Mandrake
Sunlight
Warp Wood
Water Breathing
Third Level Spells (22)
Anti-Plant Shell
Blood Moon
Call Lightning
Cloak of Autumn
Cure Disease*
Curse of Atavism
Doldrums
Dread Whispers
Harvest Moon
Icicles
Neutralize Poison*
Protection from Fire
Pyrotechnics
Riddle of the Heart
Shatterfrost
Shillelagh
Somnolence
Spring Showers
Sticks to Snakes
Summer of Youth
Wild hunt
Wild Speech
Fourth Level Spells (20)
Animal Growth
Baleful Polymorph
Black Hound
Bloom
Cloud Visage
Cure Serious Wounds
Curse of Foolishness
Dawn
Dispel Magic
Earthmaw
Elemental Augury
Form of Frost
Hallucinatory Forest
Insect Plague
Northern Winds
Passplant
Sin-Eater’s Touch
Speak with Plants
Summon Denizen
Theft of Youth
Fifth Level Spells (16)
Aluren/Nature’s Charm p. 95
Anti-Animal Shell
Beatific Sun
Call Woodland Beings
Commune With Nature/The Sylvan Library
Cure Serious Wounds
The Elf-King’s Pursuit
Gaea’s Blessing
Oath of Druids
Plow Under
Rejuvinating Touch
Rock to Mud*
Thornwrack
Transport via Plants
Turn Wood
Wall of Fire
Sixth Level Spells (11)
Animate Rock*
Conjure Elemental*
Control Weather
Creeping Doom
Feeblemind
Finger of Death*
Fire Storm
Metal to Wood*
Nightsong
Reincarnate
Water to Dust
Nice work Scott! I love the background of the Druid class, and that they are rooted in the old religion. I had no idea you were creating a new game, or is it more correct to say you are creating a setting specific version of AD&D? Either way, color me intrigued!
ReplyDelete