Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Simple suggestion, no idea how hard it is to implement.
A Kit for Druids that removes Wildshape, but grants Barbarian Rage instead.

It's probably quite a reduction in overall power (minmaxing isn't so easy, no dragon shape or dragon companion), but it would create a Druid option that can remain in humanoid shape, which is great for RP'ing different types of druid. Good for Uthgardt shamans etc.

I take... Rage at level 1 (+4 STR), Greater Rage at level 11 (+6 STR), Tireless Rage at level 17, Mighty Rage at Druid 20 (+8 STR), and Epic Rage (+10 STR) if you got 21 strength and BAB of 25...

Alright, Druid 12/War Priest 4/Dragonslayer 10/Hierophant 4, a build that has caster level of 30 with BAB of 26. You can use Bull's Strength to get +10 Strength, Flame Weapon for 1d8 fire, Storm Avatar for 3d6 electrical. Not to mention that you could just pick a +2 wisdom race and start with 18 wisdom. Drop one in wisdom and the rest into strength. You can could get 36+ strength with relative ease.

26 (BAB)
+ 13 (Strength modifier)
+ 4 (Weapon Enchantment)
= 43+ (Not the best AB, but it will get the job done.)

Now, you will also have more DR, more healing, more damage per hit, and more AC than any other Barbarian. Tortoise Shell gives you +12 Natural Armor, so no need for the Ice-troll Berserker feat for example, while Flame Weapon is +1d8, Storm Avatar is +3d6, and Thorn Skin gives +1d4 damage per hit. Not to mention that you can also make use of Wands since you are not chained into a form that locks quickbars and inventory slots out of your reach.

Changing it to Spirit Shaman doesn't really change anything.

A druid that gains an elemental ability themed progression in exchange for their shape-shifting ability would also be nice. Examples might be a spell like ability once per day from other lists they don't have access to or reserve spells that are unusable in wildshape.

While the Rage idea might be okay, it ends up being a +3 to hit and damage in melee in Sun Wukongs example or +5 if Epic Rage were part of your progression. Plus the custom bonuses to Rage that exist as well. That seems underwhelming and wouldn't really change the class much. Perhaps gaining the Rage spell and an escalating improvement to that spell would be a better fit. Allowing it to stack with other bonuses, extending duration, improving bonuses. Perhaps allow for the Inspire Frenzy ability as their capstone ability. Allows for a more party leader style, would definitely lean into the role druids could play in tribal organisations or as leaders of a group of warlike nature guardians.

Another "wild guardian" idea could gain parts of the Fist of the Forest prestige. Improved Unarmed at 3, Power Attack at 6, Feral Stance at 9 and so on. This would be more of a solitary druid role and might be a bit uninteresting as the class only has 3 levels as is, readily fitting into a druid build if wanted.

Why not a werewolf kit? No wildshapes except Werewolf hybrid form (lvl 5-11), full form (lvl 12-16), Greater Werewolf hybrid (17-19) and Greater Werewolf full form (20).

AD&D Druid kits:

Adviser

Avenger

Beastfriend

Guardian

Hivemaster

Lost Druid

Natural Philosopher

Outlaw

Pacifist

Savage

Shapeshifter

Totemic Druid

Village Druid

Wanderer



And they are all boring and almost pointless.

Hmn... But if we look at BG: SoA and its Druid kits...

Avenger:

Strengths

- In addition to regular shapeshifting skills, can also shapeshift into Sword Spider, Baby Wyvern, and Fire Salamander
- Spell Casting (somewhat different spell selection than a Priest)
- In addition to spell casting, 6 mage spells are added to your list (1st - Chromatic Orb, 2nd - Web, 3rd - Lightning Bolt, 4th - Improved Invisibility, 5th - Chaos, 6th - Chain Lightning)


Weaknesses

- At character creation, -2 penalty to Strength and Constitution
- Must be Neutral alignment
- Can only wear Leather Armor and use Bucklers
- Can only wield Scimitars, Clubs, Darts, Spears, Daggers, Slings, and Staves
- Can only get one proficiency (+) per weapon

Shapeshifter:

Strengths

- Can shapeshift into Werewolf once per day for every 2 levels (starts at level 1)
- Can shapeshift into Greater Werewolf once per day (at level 13)
- Spell Casting (somewhat different spell selection than a Priest)


Weaknesses

- No other Shapeshifting abilities
- Must be Neutral alignment
- Cannot wear any armor
- Can only wield Scimitars, Clubs, Darts, Spears, Daggers, Slings, and Staves
- Can only get one proficiency (+) per weapon

Totemic Druid:

Strengths

- Can summon 'Spirit Animal' once per day for every 5 levels (random: Spirit Bear, Spirit Wolf, Spirit Lion, or Spirit Snake)
- Spell Casting (somewhat different spell selection than a Priest)


Weaknesses

- Cannot shapeshift
- Must be Neutral alignment
- Can only wear Leather Armor and use Bucklers
- Can only wield Scimitars, Clubs, Darts, Spears, Daggers, Slings, and Staves
- Can only get one proficiency (+) per weapon

So how about...

Avenger:
Gains: Arcane spells as spell like abilities cast at caster level.
Suffers: -4 permanent debuff on strength and constitution ability scores. These would be present even after Wild Shaping.

Shapeshifter:
Gains: Ability to wildshape into a Wererat and Werewolf, and levels would increase how good these forms are.
Suffers: No other wildshape options, not even Magical or Dragon shape.

Totemic Druid:
Gains: Gain's Telthor Companion as a Cohort.
Suffers: No Wildshape.



Hmn... comments?

Tsidkenu wrote:Why not a werewolf kit? No wildshapes except Werewolf hybrid form (lvl 5-11), full form (lvl 12-16), Greater Werewolf hybrid (17-19) and Greater Werewolf full form (20).

Isn't there a werewolf shape on the Shifter class?

Assumming that the Shifter is still going to arrive on the server at some point, of course.

Wererats are more cool...



Rats live in forests, rats live in cities, rats even live in farmland fields!

Let us have rat druids!