Druid, Revised (3.5e Class)

Author: Surgo (talk) Date Created: 2015/10/15 Status: Complete Editing: Feel free to add Wild feats

Low - Moderate - High - Very High

Ratings for this homebrew: Average: NA / 4  1 users favored it (4/4).  0 users liked it (3/4).  0 were neutral on it (2/4).  0 users disliked it (1/4).  0 users opposed it (0/4).

Rate this article Your rating for this article: Favor Like Neutral Dislike Oppose Submit | Cancel Discuss this article

Slightly revised Druid to have features based on CR rather than HD. Not intended to be a nerf, just clean it up to work with modern homebrew and mechanics.

{{{length}}}

"{{{length}}}" is not a number.

1

Prepared Divine Spellcasting Full

Druid

The Druid is well-known to be a strong class, and this does not change that. This is a slightly revised version of the class to key class features on Challenge Rating, which is a better measure of power than Hit Dice. Furthermore, with spells like Polymorph Self, Tome available, we want to make Druids especially stand out as being the number one shapechangers. Not overpowered shapechangers, just the thing you'd go to first if you were looking for a shapechanger.

To help accomplish this goal, some extra Wild feats have been added to further customize your wild shaping.

Making a Druid

Tome of Prowess

This class is designed to be compatible with the Tome of Prowess rules. Any class abilities that have different rules under Tome of Prowess will be marked by a ToP: label.

The Revised Druid is pretty much built like the core Druid.

Abilities: Wisdom is the most important ability for a Druid.

Races: Any.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 2d4×10 gp (50 gp).

Starting Age: Complex.

Table: The Druid

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Wild Empathy	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Wild Shape	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Trackless Step, Woodland Stride	4	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Resist Nature's Lure	5	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Wild Shape (Small)	5	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5		5	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5		6	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Wild Shape (Large)	6	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	Venom Immunity	6	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7		6	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	Wild Shape (Tiny)	6	5	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Wild Shape (Plant)	6	5	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	A Thousand Faces	6	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	—	—
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9	Timeless Body	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	—	—
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+5	+9	Wild Shape (Huge)	6	5	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	—
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Wild Shape (Elemental)	6	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10		6	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	2	1
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Wild Shape (Gargantuan)	6	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	2
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11		6	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	3
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Wild Shape (Apotheosis)	6	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).
Class Skills, Tome of Prowess Variant (4 per level, ×4 at 1st level) Concentration (Wis), Creature Handling (Wis), Dowsing (Wis), Geomancy (Wis), Perception (Wis), Survival (Wis).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Druid.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Druids are proficient with the following weapons: club, dagger, dart, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, shortspear, sling, and spear. They are also proficient with all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape (see below).

Druids are proficient with light and medium armor but are prohibited from wearing metal armor; thus, they may wear only padded, leather, or hide armor. (A druid may also wear wooden armor that has been altered by the ironwood spell so that it functions as though it were steel. See the ironwood spell description) Druids are proficient with shields (except tower shields) but must use only wooden ones.

A druid who wears prohibited armor or carries a prohibited shield is unable to cast druid spells or use any of her supernatural or spell-like class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.

Spells: A druid casts divine spells, which are drawn from the druid spell list. Her alignment may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below. A druid must choose and prepare her spells in advance (see below).

To prepare or cast a spell, the druid must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a druid’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the druid’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a druid can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Druid. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. She does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.

A druid prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though she cannot lose a prepared spell to cast a cure spell in its place (but see Spontaneous Casting, below). A druid may prepare and cast any spell on the druid spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.

Spontaneous Casting: A druid can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that she hasn’t prepared ahead of time. She can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any summon nature’s ally spell of the same level or lower.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A druid can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Bonus Languages: A druid’s bonus language options include Sylvan, the language of woodland creatures. This choice is in addition to the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.

A druid also knows Druidic, a secret language known only to druids, which she learns upon becoming a 1st-level druid. Druidic is a free language for a druid; that is, she knows it in addition to her regular allotment of languages and it doesn’t take up a language slot. Druids are forbidden to teach this language to nondruids.

Druidic has its own alphabet.

Animal Companion (Ex): A Druid begins play with an animal companion. This can be any animal with a Challenge Rating of 1 or less.

A 1st-level druid’s companion is completely typical for its kind except as noted below. As a druid advances in level, the animal’s power increases as shown on the table below. If a druid releases her companion from service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished.

Once a Druid reaches 4th level or higher, she can instead select any animal with a Challenge Rating equal to her druid level minus two. Should she do so, the creature gains abilities as if the character’s druid level were lower than it actually is. Subtract the animal's challenge rating minus one from the character’s druid level and compare the result with the druid level entry on the table to determine the animal companion’s powers.

Nature Sense (Ex): A druid gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.

Wild Empathy (Ex): A druid can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The druid rolls 1d20 and adds her druid level and her Charisma modifier to determine the wild empathy check result.

The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly.

To use wild empathy, the druid and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.

A druid can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but she takes a –4 penalty on the check.

Wild Shape (Su): At level 2, a druid gains the ability to turn herself into any Medium animal and back again. This ability functions like the Alternate Form special ability, except as noted here. The effect lasts for a number of hours equal to her druid level, or until she changes back. Wild Shape can be used a number of times per day equal to her druid level divided by two. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. Each time a druid uses wild shape, she regains lost hit points as if she had rested for a night.

The form chosen must be that of an animal the druid is familiar with. The form may not have a Challenge Rating greater than the druid's class level.

Any gear worn or carried by the druid melds into the new form. Passive equipment remains functional, but any weapons, armor, and equipment that requires activation or an action to use become nonfunctional. When the druid reverts to her true form, any objects previously melded into the new form reappear in the same location on her body that they previously occupied and are once again functional. Any new items worn in the assumed form fall off and land at the druid's feet.

A druid loses her ability to speak while in animal form because she is limited to the sounds that a normal, untrained animal can make, but she can communicate normally with other animals of the same general grouping as her new form. (The normal sound a wild parrot makes is a squawk, so changing to this form does not permit speech.)

A druid gains the ability to take the form of a Small animal at level 5, a Large animal at level 8, a Tiny animal at level 11, a Huge animal at level 15, and a Gargantuan animal at level 18.

At 12th level, a druid becomes able to use wild shape to change into a plant creature with the same size restrictions as for animal forms. (A druid can’t use this ability to take the form of a plant that isn’t a creature.) At 16th level, a druid becomes able to use wild shape to change into an elemental creature with the same size restrictions as for animal forms.

At 20th level, you also gain the supernatural and spell-like abilities of any form you take with wild shape. If these abilities have a time limit, such as 3/day, you regain use of these abilities at the start of each new day, rather than each time you shift into the form. You do not gain any spellcasting abilities of your new form, such as the solar's cleric spellcasting.

Trackless Step (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a druid leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. She may choose to leave a trail if so desired.

Woodland Stride (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a druid may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her.

Resist Nature’s Lure (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a druid gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like abilities of fey.

Venom Immunity (Ex): At 9th level, a druid gains immunity to all poisons.

A Thousand Faces (Su): At 13th level, a druid gains the ability to change her appearance at will, as if using the alter self spell, but only while in her normal form.

Timeless Body (Ex): After attaining 14th level, a druid no longer takes ability score penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any penalties she may have already incurred, however, remain in place.

Bonuses still accrue, and the druid still dies of old age when her time is up.

Ex-Druids

A druid who ceases to revere nature, changes to an alignment two steps away from her starting alignment, or teaches the Druidic language to a nondruid loses all spells and druid abilities (including her animal companion, but not including weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She cannot thereafter gain levels as a druid until she atones.

The Druid's Animal Companion

A Druid’s animal companion is different from a normal animal of its kind in many ways. A druid’s animal companion is superior to a normal animal of its kind and has special powers, as described below.

Class Level	Bonus HD	Natural Armor Adj.	Str/Dex Adj.	Bonus Tricks	Special
1st–2nd	+0	+0	+0	1	Link, Share Spells
3rd–5th	+2	+2	+1	2	Evasion
6th–8th	+4	+4	+2	3	Devotion
9th–11th	+6	+6	+3	4	Multiattack
12th–14th	+8	+8	+4	5
15th–17th	+10	+10	+5	6	Improved Evasion
18th–20th	+12	+12	+6	7

Animal Companion Basics: Use the base statistics for a creature of the companion’s kind, but make the following changes.

Class Level: The character’s druid level. The druid’s class levels stack with levels of any other classes that are entitled to an animal companion for the purpose of determining the companion’s abilities and the alternative lists available to the character.

Bonus HD: Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Consitution modifier, as normal. Remember that extra Hit Dice improve the animal companion’s base attack and base save bonuses. An animal companion’s base attack bonus is the same as that of a druid of a level equal to the animal’s HD. An animal companion has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD). An animal companion gains additional skill points and feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice.

Natural Armor Adj.: The number noted here is an improvement to the animal companion’s existing natural armor bonus.

Str/Dex Adj.: Add this value to the animal companion’s Strength and Dexterity scores.

Bonus Tricks: The value given in this column is the total number of “bonus” tricks that the animal knows in addition to any that the druid might choose to teach it (see the Handle Animal skill). These bonus tricks don’t require any training time or Handle Animal checks, and they don’t count against the normal limit of tricks known by the animal. The druid selects these bonus tricks, and once selected, they can’t be changed.

Link (Ex): A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The druid gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion.

Share Spells (Ex): At the druid’s option, she may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) she casts upon herself also affect her animal companion. The animal companion must be within 5 feet of her at the time of casting to receive the benefit. If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the animal companion if the companion moves farther than 5 feet away and will not affect the animal again, even if it returns to the druid before the duration expires.

Additionally, the druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A druid and her animal companion can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion’s type (animal).

Evasion (Ex): If an animal companion is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw.

Devotion (Ex): An animal companion gains a +4 morale bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells and effects.

Multiattack: An animal companion gains Multiattack as a bonus feat if it has three or more natural attacks and does not already have that feat. If it does not have the requisite three or more natural attacks, the animal companion instead gains a second attack with its primary natural weapon, albeit at a –5 penalty.

Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, an animal companion takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and only half damage if the saving throw fails.

Wild Shape Feats

Druids can take a number of feats to enhance their Wild Shape capabilities.

Path of the Ancients [Wild] ROooooAaaaAAAaaRRRRrr!Prerequisites: Druid level 12Benefit: You can wild shape into dragons, following the same rules as you would normally use to wild shape into animals. Special: As an exception to the normal limit on use of supernatural abilities, you cab use the breath weapon of any dragon form that you take. If this breath weapon has a limited number of uses, such as 3/day, this usage count resets normally each day rather than each time you change forms.

Path of the Arcane [Wild] Prerequisites: Druid level 12Benefit: You can wild shape into magical beasts, following the same rules as you would normally use to wild shape into animals.

Path of the Wheel [Wild] Not content with being an embodiment of nature, you also embody certain Outer Planes.Prerequisites: Druid level 12Benefit: You can wild shape into any outsider native to three outer planes. These planes depend on your alignment when you take this feat.

• Lawful Good: Arcadia, Celestia, Bytopia
• Neutral Good: Bytopia, Elysium, The Beastlands
• Chaotic Good: The Beastlands, Arborea, Ysgard
• Lawful Neutral: Acheron, Mechanus, Arcadia
• Neutral: The Outlands
• Chaotic Neutral: Pandemonium, Limbo, Ysgard
• Lawful Evil: Acheron, Baator, Gehenna
• Neutral Evil: Gehenna, Hades, Carceri
• Chaotic Evil: Carceri, The Abyss, Pandemonium

Special: You cannot take this feat more than once. Once chosen, your path has been set. Your path does not change even if your alignment changes.

---

Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Classes → Base Classes