I have a dilemma teegee, I really like everything about druids from their powers to their aesthetics. However, I can never figure out how to properly roleplay one as I can never come up with a feasible motivation for one to go adventuring. Realistically, what reason would one of these tree fuckers have to leave their forrests and take on the adventuring lifestyle?
Nature's everywhere. Why wouldn't they want to see the entirety of its realm at least once?
>>47074475
I suppose curiosity and wonder are as good a reason as wine women and song
Read Lord Of The Rings.
None of the other druids in his circle can cook, so he's gone out into the world to find recipes and exotic spices so he can return one day to his forest and not have to eat disgusting food that tastes like bark and dirt all the time.
There's also something about his forest being threatened by outside supernatural forces, the whispers of his nature god sending him to stop the awakening of a rival god somewhere to the east, his suppressed desire to find and confront the parents that abandoned him in the woods, and the responsibility and camaraderie he feels towards his fellow party members after they previously helped defend his forest home, but it's mostly just to find something that goes well with acorn paste and boiled twigs.
>>47074338
There are prophecies to oversee and threats to the balance of the world to stop.
>>47074521
I have anon, to which part are you refering?
>>47074521
The whole dark lord fucking over awesome nature n shit went over your head?
>>47074862 was for OP
Depends on the setting, talk to your GM about it. Something that usually works is "The animals/trees are all dying for some reason, you have to leave to find out how to save them"
Tell me more druid stories and archetypes and backstories!
>>47074972
I'm going to play a pseudo-druid/cleric who worships all the gods, even the really really tiny nature spirits. his motivation is to erect shrines and bring the gods back to this heathen land, with it's "fixed pantheon" and "welcoming temples."
>>47075033
You know, a druid who venerates little gods/spirits sounds real interesting. Kind of like a Shinto Druid. Go around putting up little shrines for the great sacred rock, or the holy tree, etc.
>>47074338
First off, it depends entirely on the setting.
Secondly, I feel like alot of the time people make this mistake that druids are basically solitary hobos living in the woods like a crazy person. Just because druids like nature doesn't necessarily mean they have to be loners who never interact with people outside of their own druid covens. One of the best druids I ever played actually lived in a village. Yes, a village, full of like normal people, not a bunch of other druids. He was basically the medicineman for the people there. He had his spirit cave where he went off to meditate, his grove in the forest where he harvested alchemy materials, but he wasn't completely isolated from civilized society. He still cared about his village and the people in it, still owed fealty to the lord that ruled the province, and still felt responsibility to protect both those things. Over the course of the campaign, the character was involved in everything from hunting down a serial killer, to going to war with the lord's armies against a rival province, to going halfway across the continent to track down the only heir to the throne who would keep ANOTHER war from breaking out. Not everything needs to be "HURRDURR MUH TREES, MUH NATURE!"
>>47074913
>>47075126
>depends on the setting
You guys don't even know what you're saying anymore, or why you're saying it.
>not having a druid charlatan who pays for his apartment in the big city by selling off random crap in a bottle as magic potions in order to study city culture and it's perversions
>>47075253
The only people who complain about "depends on the setting" are shitposters and grognards that want easy answers that don't exist. But thanks for contributing to topic, really, it's been a pleasure.
>>47075358
Actually, there was a cute discussion that revealed that the "Depends on Setting" people are largely just people who hate the assumption that D&D is the default setting, mixed with people who hate the idea that people want to reach as wide an audience as possible and for them to be inclusive, followed by a mix of retarded memesters who don't even understand how pointless saying "depends on the setting" really is.
You seem to fall into the last category.
Nice try though.
>>47075378
DnD isn't a "setting" though, it's a rule set. Setting is entirely dependent on the GM and the kind of world he wants to present to his players.
Obviously the motivation of a druid, or ANY class really, depends on the kind of world the GM presents, the logic of that world, and the kind of things that happen in that world. A Game-of-Thrones style game about politics and power struggles is going to involve very different character motivation than a demon-apocalypse game where the heroes need to aquire X number of macguffins and then beat the Dark Lord.
>>47075378
>"I was only pretending to be retarded guys!"
>>47075378
Depends on the setting means exactly that: it depends on the setting. Any discussion without knowledge of the setting is completely useless because we have absolutely no context. The number of potential interactions are infinite. OP could have a setting where druid means something completely different, for Christ sakes.
Depends on the setting means PROVIDE MORE CONTEXT, YOU MONG
>>47075378
>Actually, there was a cute discussion that revealed that the "Depends on Setting" people are largely just people who hate the assumption that D&D is the default setting...
Yeah, I'm gonna need you to cite some sources there buddy, because it sounds like shit you, and maybe a couple buddies, made up. Or better yet, a complete asspull that never happened. Besides, the last few replies make it pretty clear you have no idea what you're talking about anyway.
7/10, got me to reply I guess.
>>47075424
>Obviously
So, it goes without saying. Obviously, OP is interested in ideas, broad ideas, ideas that he can try to convince his GM to include in their setting if they're good enough. If you genuinely wanted further clarification, there's other ways to ask without being a memester.
>>47075498
>Trying this hard to play damage-control on an anonymous image board.
>>47075424
Technically all the D&D settings are part of one big multiverse setting, you can start out in Athas and spelljam your way to Mystara.
>>47075456
>OP could have a setting where druid means something completely different
Obviously there are tons of differences between the classic D&D druid and the Celtic druid, but if you're trying to make the "Fire is ice cream! Words have no meanings until your GM defines them!" argument then please die.
>>47075490
http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/46897873/#q46898284
I find it just as retarded as you do.
And, really, the whole meme is basically just a mix of passive aggression gone rampant, with all sorts of stupid reasons behind it, including some people think that they should "police" how much effort people put into a thread before they are willing to respond to it, rather than just ignoring it altogether.
>>47075517
>hoping to defend his meme
Why do you love your retarded meme so much, Dependant?
>>47075533
>http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/46897873/#q46898284
>HERE'S MY SOURCE GUISE!
Source is literally a bunch of pages of people calling OP retarded.
OP's writing style is very similar to the shitposter we have now.
I think we're done here. This has become like 4/10 now. Not taking the bait anymore.
>tfw you're one of those who started replying "Depends on the setting" to every half-assed excuse of a shit thread someone cooked up between a shit and (hopefully) washing their hands
>tfw you only notice the shitstorm now
I love it. Stay salty you cunts.
>>47075456
> Any discussion without knowledge of the setting is completely useless
Then why do discussions where a setting is not mentioned still manage to proceed without any issue? And, in fact, because no setting is specified, a wider mix of ideas interact around the central topic producing a range of potential answers which can have their individual merits evaluated, rather than a single solitary answer being provided?
It's almost like your goal is just to stop discussions altogether.
If you don't like em, don't participate in them.
>>47075378
>D&D is the default setting
What the fuck are you even talking about? D&D has like a dozen different settings! Even the most generic D&D settings (Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Points of Light) are very different from the vanilla, generic fantasy setting everyone imagines when talking about fantasy settings.
>>47075570
One of the people you very first originally complained about gave a detailed idea despite no setting being mentioned, specifically because the idea might still be useful.
Basically everyone saying "depends on the setting" now is just calling you a faggot. Please go shit up a different thread.
>>47075033
>>47075114
Go Princess Mononoke style.
>>47075625
Even just Forgotten Realms has real diversity, between Al-Qadim and Kara-Tur. WotC just has a Sword Coast fetish.
>>47075633
Thank you for getting this thread back on topic.
As much as I usually hate anime/manga as roleplaying inspiration, sometimes it has good examples.
Dunegon meshi, while it doesn't mention a druid class specifically, also has a couple of gnomes who claim their race has been in tune with nature since the beginning of time, and they use very druid-like magic despite being scholars.
>>47075633
Hhhhhhhhhh
tok
tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok
I once played a Dwarven druid named Badger. Badger was a crotchety old fellow who didn't like people, but was never the less kind to strangers and helped protect the village nearby. 'Gives me someplace to drag useless outsiders who get lost!' he'd grumble to himself, leading another traveller to safety, complaining about how useless city folk were all the while. Badger had of course, a Badger. Badgers badger was named Bill, the Battle Badger, who once bit an ogre in his nadgers. But that's another story.
Badger was Lawful Neutral, and while being far from a stump thumping green peace freak, he had certain expectations. They could be summed up as "if you kill it, eat it." After all, a hunter looking for deer pelts and antlers could still use the meat. Just don't be wasteful. One poacher took offense to this however, and mad a point of antagonizing the dwarf, then attacking him
So badger turned into a bear and spread the poachers entrails across the woodland path as a warning to others, then ate the rest. Rules are rules after all.
No one fucked with Badger after that.
>>47075126
This is really helpful
>>47074338
>tree fuckers
>forests
Why do you say you like druids if you know so little about them?
>>47074338
make them mysterious
>>47075126
This. I like Druids best as the link between man and nature. That requires them to actually care about and interact with civilisation.
>>47075378
>people who hate the assumption that D&D is the default setting
Gotta admit, this is me.
>>47080799
Its called humor anon
this thread is kinda of my interest, since im about to play a 3rd level druid in a 5ed this friday and i actually got no idea what to do or how to roll play it
for anyone interested in helping, is gonna be a dwarf druid in a viking/nordic oriented setting, with jarls and all that
the setting revolves around 4 big islands surrounded by several smaller isles
orcs are supposed to have been eradicated from the isles at least 100 years ago, therefore, we arent allowed to play half-orcs
elves, dwarfs and other races are a small minory they are all scathered into small settlements, with humans as the most common race
>>47074913
>Expecting DM to contrive a reason for a PC to get off thier ass
>DM is now forced to continue this contrivence or PC loses thier only motivation
I played in a homebrew setting where basically all the gods had suddenly gone and disappeared/died mysteriously and nobody was really sure what to do about it. I played a druid who was essentially a cleric of nature who went around telling people "I know your god abandoned you, but Gaia is still here" and trying to get people to turn from their false religions and become one with nature.
Actual suggestion; maybe have them seeking out potential new druids to join them.
>>47074338
I think you should only really bother with particular motivations pre-game if you've got a good one in mind already.
If not, there isnt really a problem with not bothering with one. Just go with something simple like your character already being an adventurer before they meet the party and is generally inclined to be helpfull.
Spreading their seed, bring life to barren ground...you know, the usual adventurer stuff.
>>47087696
>Spreading their seed, bring life to barren ground
I like druids for the idea that you can reasonably worship vaguer spirits of the forest, rather than specific gods or goddesses. It gives me a little flexibility, and I've had one GM in the past who enjoyed having a court of pixies I had to pay homage to.
But don't think druids are just forests - they're nature everywhere, man. Plains, mountains, rivers, all that jazz. Maybe adventuring is like a more violent sort of pilgrimage. Maybe you're just going along to give nature advice.
How would you play a paladin worshiping a nature god, or following the Oath of Ancients?
I developed 1 druid ever, he was evil of sone variety, and wanted to go out and find some sort of magic that would reduce all sentient life to a more primal stage, so the law of the wild could reign supreme.
>>47088120
Out of his sheer devotion to nature he has allowed a seed of a tree to plant itself on his body. The seed is sustained by and is the medium of the power of his faith and further grows across his body as the character gains paladin levels.
Just a cool knight guy devoted to nature who's slowly becoming a treeman.
If you are running an aquatic campaign, your druid could simply be seeking to sink as many ships as possible to create new habitats for sea-life. Best way to be true neutral too, since you could join pirates or navy or whoever else. Doesn't matter as long as you get to sink ships!
>>47074338
You gone reeeaal big there anon. Always go small if you can go small. A person has a history, use that to give them motivation. Maybe the PC's brother has gone missing? Maybe they got a message from their dying father? Maybe they're out to raise funds for something druid related? Stop thinking about them as THE DRUID, Jane Doe and start thinking about them as JANE DOE, who is a druid and has a life outside of wanting to be all the druid she can be.
>>47086319
Yes? That's how the generic heroic adventure begins.
>Dragon kidnaps princess
>Barbarian's invade
>[x] stole/killed my family/lover/pet/secret/reputation
I don't know why you would expect anything else, people don't act without a catalyst.
>>47092304
Which is dumb and generic and leaves you with no motivation once that becomes resolved somehow.
And are there actual, real life people so bland that they actually go with the killed loved ones trope as a backstory? I think I'd rather have PCs with no backstory.
>>47074338
>For years, the wood I call home has whispered her secrets to me. I've sat in the shade of her trees, run among her branches, and bathed in her pools.
>But now she is telling me that my way lies elsewhere. The birds no longer sing for me. The branches bar my way, save for when I travel outwards. Her brother, the river, shies away from my feet. And this morning I found a dozen burrs caught in my blanket that hadn't been there when I closed my eyes. Those I will carry, to keep her with me.
>Now I feel the cool earth beneath my toes. I point them away from my mother's heart, and out into the world. I carry with me my meager possessions, the power she has granted me, and the knowledge that my mother will wait for my return.
And now your loving GM can have some pesky army burn the forest down in your absence...
What about a druid who isn't happy about being a druid or just generally not a tree hugger that speaks in Tolkien poems
Like that one guy in the PoE who calls his goddess a worthless selfish whore
I need druid portrait dump
>>47074338
War is always a good reason. either a war thats coming, a war thats happening, or a war you're trying to prevent.
>>47088120
>be a paladin
>your village gets attacked
>your family and your people are killed in front of you
>you pray for the light to aid you
>your prayer is not answered
>you curse the gods and leave your destroyed village on a quest for vengeance
>you come across a druid in a forest that has been burnt down
>you ask wtf the druid is doing there
>the druid says they're planting seeds so that one day the trees may grow back
>you and the druid have a lengthy discussion
>at the end of it you are given hope
>you give praise to the gods of nature and ask them to give you strength in seeking forgiveness
>the druid suggests you aid nature
>you go around planting trees and helping animals
>you have forgotten your quest for vengeance
>you are at peace
>years later you meet a beautiful young woman
>you fall in love
>you start a new family
>you move to a new village
>you have children
>you praise the gods of nature
>your new village is attacked
>you haven't fought in years
>once again your village is slaughtered
>your wife is dead but your children are held captive and taken into slavery
>you beg the gods of nature for forgiveness
>you curse the light once more
>you ride out to meet the ones who stole your life from you
>you kill them all
>every god dam one of them
>brutally
>the skies darken
>thunder and lightning split the sky
>lightning strikes a tree and sets it on fire
>the gods of war have answered your prayers for vengeance
>you tell the gods of light and nature to go fuck themselves
>Hail
>Gods
>of
>War
>>47092887
>implying any gods would want the worship of some tripple nigger who jumps boat every time something bad happens to him.
>>47075114
Thanks! I've been posting this article on some threads, 'cause that's where I got the idea:
http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2014/10/least-priests-pantheism-and-god-prisons.html?m=0
I really like this guy's ideas, so I've been advocating him a lot.
>>47088120
I never got these guys, cause their powers mostly work against fey. shouldn't the forest paladins like fey?
>>47074338
I just want to say I keep skim-reading this as 'teenage dilemma" in the catalog.
>>47092887
That's dumb.
>>47093112
Only one of their abilities targets fey specifically. It's their Turn, they can Turn Fiends and Fey.
There ARE some bad fey you know
>>47074522
This is a wonderful response. Lots of options here — very inspiring!
![DD20150324_icon[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/DXGxJs3.jpg "DD20150324_icon[1].jpg")
>>47074338
>Realistically, what reason would one of these tree fuckers have to leave their forrests and take on the adventuring lifestyle?
I can only provide an example from my own setting, but you may find this relevent to your problem:
Naturalistic Spell-Craft Scarcity due to modernity.
Druids don't have academies, they don't have temples, they don't have scholars or publicist and in the progressively modernizing times coming ahead they've found the availability and awareness of their spells to be fading- nobody is writing anything the fuck down and if some old cunt dies he can potentially take all an entire generation of spells and rituals with him.
-Some Druids look for other Druids to swap spells with: you might not know everything, but fuck; two of you may have enough differences to piece together something viable.
-What's more some Druids are fucking off entirely to different environments in the hopes that foreign lands with foreign druids and rituals may hold something interesting for them.
-Seriously though: There's an entire 'branch' (kek) of Druids experimenting with CORAL instead of plants. Crazy stuff.
-Some Druids are looking for "benevolent" Fey that the HOPE will be kind enough to teach them some druidic magic that is more explicit and intrinsic due to their magical origins.
-More "prudent" Druids however are in search of new locations of power: large fucking rock formations, old trees, pristine rivers/lakes, volcanos, etc.. So that they can become inspired to write new spells and rituals or reinvent old ones lost.
-One Eastern Country in particular though has been the first to criminalize Arcane Sorceries and has instead been putting all the kingdoms magic resources into funding divine miracles and naturalistic magics. It's the first of it's kind where druids have actually begun to sit down and document their practices now that they have the resources to- it's become something of a pilgrim spot for foreign druids because of this.
wanderlust. no need for a reason beyond that.
>>47092887
I thought this was pretty good, but the ending was kinda cliche/corny I felt. Still like it overall.
>>47088120
A cheerful pagan knight who gives no fucks and feasts as hard as he fights and looks down with pity on standard issue paladins who are all justice and chastity.
But when it comes time to offer tribute to the trees and the stones, he does not fuck around. If the druids say a man must die so that the sun can rise, the knight of the oak is already armed and in the saddle.
>>47074338
Firstly, we don't fuck trees, we worship them; secondly, there's a world out there that needs seeing, thirdly? Stuff that needs doing. Lots of stuff, which Fate will reveal.
Plus, you know, wine, women, and song.
>>47074522
I played a druid who got sent on a quest by his Circle because he was spending too much time romancing the local wimmens. He wound up hooking up with a female ranger and living permanently "on the road".
