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Druid talents and options

Written by Martin K.

New Options for existing talents

druid by thiago almeida d6fmjuuAnimal Companion

1st Level Spells

Charm Animal

Ranged spell; Daily

Target: One nearby animal (beast type creature) with 60 hp or fewer

Special: In combat, you take a -5 penalty to attack with this spell.

Attack: Intelligence + Level vs. MD

Hit: The target believes you are their friend. However, the effect ends if you or an ally hurts it (or another animal of its horde or pack). If you give the animal a command that runs against its nature, including any that put it into serious danger or force it to attack anyone it considers a friend, it will refuse the command and immediately make a normal save to break the spell.

Special: On a miss, the animal will normally ignore the spellcasting attempt. Only if you miss by 4+ or roll a natural 1 it will become unfriendly and its fight or flight reflexes kick in.

3rd level spell: Target with 100 hp or fewer.

5th level spell: Target with 150 hp or fewer.

7th level spell: Target with 250 hp or fewer.

9th level spell: Target with 350 hp or fewer.

3rd Level Spells

Gift of Speech

Ranged spell; Daily

Target: One nearby animal (any animal, not just a beast companion)

Effect:You grant the animal the gift of speech for 1d6 x 10 minutes. Choose one language that you know. The animal will still be limited by its intelligence and general outlook on the world, and it's speech patterns will keep traces of its natural voice.

Elemental Caster

3rd Level Spells

Cloak of the Elements

Close-quarters spell; Daily

Target: You or one nearby ally.

Effect: The target gains special temporary hit points equal to a recovery roll. Whenever the target takes acid, cold, fire or lightning damage, the damage reduces these temporary hit points. All other damage is taken from normal hit points.

5th level spell: Target yourself and an ally

7th level spell: Yourself and two allies

9th level spell: Yourself and three allies

Flame Blade (Fire)

Close-quarters spell; Daily; Quick action

Effect: You cause a blazing ray of red-hot fire to spring forth from your hand. This blade-like ray is wielded as if it were a scimitar, and you can use it without penalty. The blade deals fire damage and has a 2d4 (per level) WEAPON damage die. The effect lasts until the end of the battle.

If you have the Warrior Druid's ability to use d8 weapons without penalty, you gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls with it.

In beast form, the spell changes your melee damage to fire damage, but doesn't change the damage dice of your beast form attack.

5th Level Spells

Suffocate (Air)

Ranged spell; Daily

Target: One nearby enemy.

Attack: Wisdom + Level vs. PD.

Hit: The target is weakened and takes 25 ongoing damage (save ends both).

Natural 16+: The save is a hard save (16+)

Miss: 10 damage.

7th level spell: 35 ongoing damage; 15 miss damage

9th level spell: 50 ongoing damage; 25 miss damage

Shifter

Air Elemental Aspect

Beast aspect; Quick action; Daily, or recharge 16+ for adepts and masters

Special: If you are an initiate in both Elemental Caster and Shifter, you gain the adept benefits of this aspect. If you are initiate in one and adept in the other talent, you are considered a master.

Initiate effect: Until the end of the battle, you gain resist non-spell damage 16+.

Adept effect: Until the end of the battle, while you are not staggered, you gain the ability to fly. If you are staggered, you must have solid ground under your feet at the end of your turn or start falling.

Master effect: Until the end of the battle, if your first natural roll for a melee attack is an even hit, you can repeat the attack against a different target.

Adventurer feat: Until the end of the battle, on a natural odd hit with a melee attack, the target pops free from you.

Champion feat: Your melee attacks attack the lower of AC and PD.

Epic feat: If you are an adept, gain the master benefit. If you are a master, you can choose to daze your target until the end of your next turn instead of repeating the attack.

Earth Elemental Aspect

Beast aspect; Quick action; Daily, or recharge 16+ for adepts and masters

Special: If you are an initiate in both Elemental Caster and Shifter, you gain the adept benefits of this aspect. If you are initiate in one and adept in the other talent, you are considered a master.

Initiate effect: Until the end of the battle, you gain AC +2 and PD +2.

Adept effect: As the initiate effect, and staggered enemies can’t disengage from you. (They can pop free, but they can’t roll disengage checks.)

Master effect: When you are targeted by a natural attack roll of 10 or less, you can spend a recovery to heal before taking damage from the attack.

Adventurer feat: If you spend a recovery to heal while in this aspect, gain a 1d6 bonus recovery die (3d6 at 5th level, 5d6 at 8th).

Champion feat: Increase the AC and PD bonus to +3.

Epic feat: If you are an adept, gain the master benefit. If you are a master, the first recovery from this aspect each battle is free.

Fire Elemental Aspect

Beast aspect; Quick action; Daily, or recharge 16+ for adepts and masters

Special: If you are an initiate in both Elemental Caster and Shifter, you gain the adept benefits of this aspect. If you are initiate in one and adept in the other talent, you are considered a master.

Initiate effect: Until the end of the battle, you gain resist fire 12+ and your melee attacks deal fire damage. On a natural even hit, you deal 5 ongoing fire damage to the target.

Adept effect: As the initiate effect, but resist fire 18+.

Master effect: When an enemy makes a natural odd melee attack roll against you, that attacker takes two times your level in fire damage.

Adventurer feat: Your ongoing damage while using this aspect increases according to your level:

2nd level druid: 7 ongoing damage

4th level druid: 10 ongoing damage

6th level druid: 15 ongoing damage

8th level druid: 20 onging damage

10th level druid: 30 ongoing damage

Champion feat: Until the end of the battle, enemies that already take ongoing fire damage are vulnerable to your attacks.

Epic feat: If you are an adept, gain the master benefit. If you are a master, increase the damage to three times your level.

Water Elemental Aspect

Beast aspect; Quick action; Daily, or recharge 16+ for adepts and masters

Special: If you are an initiate in both Elemental Caster and Shifter, you gain the adept benefits of this aspect. If you are initiate in one and adept in the other talent, you are considered a master.

Initiate effect: On a miss with your first attack roll each turn, heal hit points equal to your level.

Adept effect: You gain a +1 bonus to all attacks and defenses. If you are in contact with a large body of water, at least a pond or a small river, the bonus increases to +2.

Master effect: Until the end of the battle, you gain resist weapon damage 16+.

Adventurer feat: Double the healing effect.

Champion feat: Increase the adept effect bonus to +3 if you are in contact with a large body of water.

Epic feat: If you are an adept, gain the master benefit. If you are a master, you recharge this power on an 11+.

Terrain Caster

Any Terrain

Pass Without a Trace (1st Level Spell)

Ranged spell; Daily (in any terrain)

Target: You and up to 5 nearby allies.

Effect: Until the next short rest, the skill check difficulty to move across your current terrain is decreased by two steps (-10) for all targets.

Cave, Dungeon, Underworld

Desert, Wastes (NEW)

Forest, Woods

Hellhole (NEW!)

Tapping into the demon-infused magic of hellholes is a slippery slope for druids. They provide an easy, tempting power, but their lingering effects slowly corrupt first the body, then the soul. They dominate your destiny and ultimately consume you.

Adventurer feat: You gain the Burning Vengeance spell below.

Champion feat: If you are staggered at the end of a battle, make a Recharge 16+ check for each hellhole terrain spell you have expended that day.

Epic feat: Your hellhole terrain spells are always Recharge 16+.

Burning Vengeance (Terrain Feat Spell)

Close-quarters spell; At-will (in any terrain)

Target: One nearby enemy.

Attack: Wisdom + Level vs. PD.

Hit: 1d6 + Wisdom fire damage. If the target makes an attack against you before the end of its next turn, it takes 1d6 fire damage.

Natural 16+: Until the end of the battle, you are considered to be in Hellhole terrain for your terrain caster talent.

Miss: 1d6 fire damage.

3rd level spell: 3d6 damage on hit, vengeance effect and miss

5th level spell: 5d6 damage

7th level spell: 7d6 damage

9th level spell: 10d6 damage

Desperate Frenzy (1st Level Spell)

Close-quarters spell; Daily

Target: You or one nearby ally. The target must be staggered.

Effect: Until the end of battle, whenever the target misses with a melee attack, it deals +1d6 damage (any attack, hit or miss). If the target rolls a natural 1 on an attack, it takes psychic damage equal to the accumulated bonus, and the bonus resets to zero.

3rd level spell: +2d6 damage.

5th level spell: +3d6 damage, and the spell is now Recharge 16+.

7th level spell: +4d6 damage, and you can target yourself and a nearby ally.

9th level spell: +5d6 damage, and on a natural 1, the target also gains a random demon ability (as per Touch of Evil).

Avenging Orb (3rd Level Spell)

Ranged spell; Daily; Quick Action

Effect: Until the end of the battle, you can make the following attack as a standard action at-will.

Target: Two or more nearby or far away enemies (see degree of pain below).

Degree of Pain: You start with two targets. Each time you are hit by an enemy this battle after casting the spell, you can target one additional enemy with avenging orb.

Attack: Wisdom + Level vs. MD.

Hit: 1d6 + Wisdom psychic damage.

Natural 5, 10, 15, 20: The target also takes ongoing psychic damage equal to your level.

Miss: -.

5th level spell: 2d6 damage

7th level spell: 3d6 damage

9th level spell: 4d6 damage

Hellhole Teleport (7th Level Spell)

Ranged spell; Daily

Effect: You and up to 4 allies next to you can teleport to any hellhole in the world.

When you teleport, roll a d20. If you roll a 1, something unusual intervened and you arrive in a different hellhole than you had intended. Otherwise, you and your allies arrive somewhere in the desired hellhole, usually near an ancient, corrupted druid circle. Unlike the wizard’s 9th level teleport spell, this spell doesn’t allow you to choose your precise destination.

Any effects of spells or items cast/created before teleporting are canceled and no longer function on arrival, so it’s best to wait and use such spells after you arrive.

9th level spell: If you have an icon relationship with either the Diabolist or the Crusader, you can teleport with some precision into or within realms they control. For example, you could specify whether to teleport outside of the gate of First Triumph or into the outskirts of the hellhole. You could attempt to teleport right into the throne room, but you are unlikely to survive the attempt, in one way or another.

Touch of Evil (7th Level Spell)

This spell is the same as the 7th level Sorcerer spell (Core book page 141).

Ice, Tundra, Deep Snow

Winter Fur (3rd Level Spell)

Close-quarters spell; Daily

Target: You and two nearby allies.

Effect: The targets gain a +1 bonus to AC and resist cold 15+ this battle.

5th level spell: three nearby allies

7th level spell: four nearby allies

9th level spell: resist cold 18+

Koru Behemoth

Memory of the Koru (5th Level Spell)

Close-quarters spell; Daily

Effect: You dig into the memory of the Koru to receive visions of places along its path. Note that a Koru will only pass any place once per year, so the image you receive will always be the same season, and it will not show specific events unless they happened right before the Koru's eyes.

The longer you concentrate on this spell, the further back in history you can go. In an hour, you can span a century, and in a full day of concentration, you will be able to cover an entire age. If you are planning to scry into past ages, make sure you bring enough time for uninterrupted meditation. You can take breaks to eat or sleep, but strenuous activity like combat will throw your mind off and you need to start again.

Mountains

Ocean, Sea, Under Water (NEW)

Plains, Overworld

Ruins

Swamp, Lake, River

Foul Evaporation (5th Level Spell)

Ranged spell; Daily

Effect: Until the end of the battle, you can make the following attack as a standard action at-will.

Target: 1d3 nearby enemies.

Attack: Wisdom + Level vs. PD.

Hit: 3d10 + Wisdom poison damage.

Natural even hit: The target also takes 15 ongoing poison damage.

Miss: If you miss all targets, you don't expend the spell.

7th level spell: 6d10 damage; on an even hit, the target takes 25 ongoing poison damage and is dazed (save ends both)

9th level spell: 10d10 damage; 40 ongoing damage

Wild Healer

As you gain levels, you can use the following spells as an alternative to Regeneration, Greater Regeneration and Wild Heal.

Goodberries (1st Level Spell)

Close-quarters spell; Quick action

Special: You can cast this spell once per battle with a daily use of Wild Heal.

Effect: You enchant 1d4+1 berries with the effect of an adventurer-tier healing potion. It's a quick action to eat a berry, and it allows the user to spend a recovery to heal and regain 1d8 extra hit points. The berries last until the next full healup.

5th level spell: Champion tier healing potion (+2d8 hit points).

7th level spell: 2d4 berries.

9th level spell: Epic tier healing potion (+3d8 hit points).

Wild Resurgence (3rd Level Spell)

Close-quarters spell; Quick action

Special: You can cast this spell once per battle with a daily use of Regeneration or Greater Regeneration.

Effect: A nearby ally can make a saving throw against an effect that a save can end.

Greater Effect: (When cast instead of Greater Regeneration) As above, and the ally can spend a recovery to heal.

5th level spell: Two allies, or one ally with a +2 bonus to the saving throw.

7th level spell: Three allies, or one ally with a +5 bonus to the saving throw.

9th level spell: Four allies, or two allies with a +5 bonus to the saving throw.

Wild Blessing (9th Level Spell)

Close-quarters spell; Quick action

Special: You can cast this spell once per battle with a daily use of Regeneration or Greater Regeneration.

Effect: Increase the escalation die by 1.

Greater Effect: (When cast instead of Greater Regeneration) As above, and each nearby ally rolls a d6. If the result is lower than the escalation die, the ally can immediately make a basic melee or ranged attack as a free action.

New Talents

Blight Druid

When you take the blight druid talent, choose two other druid talents for your remaining two talent slots, and gain the adept benefits of both. Effectively, you will have four talents in addition to Blight Druid, instead of the usual three.

Your druid abilities are much stronger than other druids, but they come at a price. You always siphon more power from your surroundings than you are due. At low levels, you can keep the negative effects under control, but when you test the limits of your power, you leave a trail of decay and destruction. A blight druid casting a high-level terrain spell will leave a circle of withered plants and dried up soil around him.

Druids like you are excluded from most druid circles, who seek to live in harmony with nature. The High Druid herself considers you an enemy, and is very unlikely to maintain a positive relationship with you. Most blight druids venture out on their own. At best, they form temporary alliances among each other if they share a common goal.

See the list below for negative consequences, depending on your talent choice.

Animal Companion: Your animal companion is clearly a supernatural creature, and it is shunned, if not outright attacked by other animals. You are unable to pass it off as a natural animal. Dogs will bark in its presence, horses throw off their riders, owlbears go berserk. If your animal companion rolls a natural 1 on an attack, it goes feral itself and attacks whichever creature is closest to it, friend or foe.

Elemental Caster: The elements resist your control. Whenever you roll a natural 1 on a spell attack, you take damage equal to your level. Elementals you summon will break free from control if they roll a natural 1 on attack, and either disappear or, if staggered, attack you as an enemy.

Shifter: If you roll a natural 1 on attack while in beast form, the beast takes over. You stay in your current form until the end of the battle, and you can't use any further beast aspects this battle. If the closest creature to you is an ally, you must make a save (11+) to avoid mistaking him or her for a threat. If you roll a natural 1 on a scout form check, you take psychic damage equal to your level. You are thrown out of the form at an inconvenient moment and must deal with the consequences.

Terrain Caster: If you roll a natural 1 on a terrain spell attack, you cause a major disruption in the surrounding balance and lose touch with the terrain. You cannot cast further spells related to the terrain, and the GM can force you to reroll any naturally odd skill check related to that terrain. You can make a save (11+) at each short rest to end the effect.

Warrior Druid: If you roll a natural 1 on a melee attack, all current flexible attack effects end and you cannot use further melee attacks this battle (save ends).

Wild Healer: When you use Wild Healing, you deal negative energy damage equal to your level to the nearby creature with the lowest hit point total. This can include innocent bystanders. When an ally rolls a 1 on a save with Wild Regeneration, that ally is weakened until the end of his or her next turn.

Summon Nature's Ally

You can call upon the beasts of nature to aid you in battle. This talent grants you one spell: Summon Nature's Ally.

Summon Nature's Ally

Close-quarters spell; Daily

Effect: This spell calls a creature from the Summon Nature's Ally level table. You can summon any normal-strength creature listed for your current druid class level or lower. Unlike other druid spells, this spell is always cast at your current class level.

You summon the creature without any changes to its statistics. They do not gain nastier specials, if any.

Instead of a normal strength creature, you can also summon three normal-strength mooks, two double-strength mooksor one triple-strength mook.

The summoned creature acts as an ordinary creature according to the summoning rules (below). Each turn, the druid must take a standard action to control it. If you do not take that action on your turn, roll a d6 on the table below to determine the creature's actions.

1: The creature's self-preservation instinct takes over and it attempts to flee the battle. It makes a normal save (11+). On a success, it is no longer under your control and will flee if it can or fight if cornered.

2: The creature looks for a place to hide, or food. It will make an attempt to disengage if cornered.

3-4: The creature attacks if engaged to an enemy, but it will fight defensively (+2 to all defenses, -4 to all attacks).

5-6: The creature attacks whoever last attacked it or the summoner.

Adventurer feat: You can summon a large creature. This uses up two of your daily spell slots.

Champion feat: You can summon two creatures of up to two levels below your druid class level for one daily use.

Epic feat: Once per day, reroll a d6 that determines a summoned creature's actions.

 

Summon Nature's Ally Level Progression
Level Daily Summons Available creatures (normal)
Available creatures (large) Availabe creatures (mook)
Initiate Adept
1 1 2 giant ant C206, giant scorpion C206, wolf C207, swarm of bats B13, fungaloid creeper B83, stirge B197, archer stirge B197, cobbler stirge B197, giant owl M61   dire rat C206, remorhaz squib swarm B179, stirgelings B197, bone crab M11
2 1 3 bear C207, hunting spider C206C, dire bat B14, sporrior B84, boombug B113, hellwasp B113, hook scuttler B113, swarming maw B113, claw flower B161,  ankheg C208, giant web spider C207, dogmole M29, dire weasel M60 aerial spore B83, razor shark B187
3 2 4 pixie warrior T198, fungaloid drudge B84, remorhaz barbellite B179, alseid warrior M7, cavelight moss M20 dire wolf C207, braincap B84 fire bat T162, weaver swarm B61
4 2 5 dire bear C207, harpy C234, owl bear C243, centaur lancer B35, alseid ovate M7, alseid prince M7, crag drake M33 basilisk B10, fungaloid monarch B84 awakened tree T202
5 3 6 gargoyle C224, common treat T202, thunder bat B15, ravenous bumoorah B28, centaur raider B35, carrion beetle M12, horakh M52 bulette C208, wyvern C250, dire boar T160, green bulette B27, manticore bard B139, mantikumhar B139, swaysong naga B143, ghost boar M39 iron sea shark B188 
6 3 6 centaur ranger B35, steam drake M36 manticore C238, dire tiger T160, centaur champion B36, winter beast B79, coursing manticore B139, sparkscale naga B144, manafang naga B144, remorhaz frost-wurm B180 lokkris B61 
7 3 7 mindrot moss M20, death moss swarm M22, death butterfly swarm M22 phase spider C244, lammasu warrior B131  
8 4 7   giant preying mantis T161, couatl B52, elder swaysong naga B144, remorhaz adult B180 parasitic lightning beetle B164
9 4 8   chimera C209, elder sparkscale naga B145  
10 4 8   treant titan T203, elder manafang naga B145  

 C - Core Book; B - Bestiary; T - 13 True Ways; M - Midgard Bestiary

 

Leveling up creatures: To add more creatures in the above table, you can use the "leveling up a monster" guidelines in 13TW p159 (+1 to attacks and defenses, +25% hp and damage) to create, for example, a stronger "alpha" wolf. Do this between sessions to avoid holding up the game.

Creatures from other sources: Feel free to add more creatures to the above tables from adventure paths, third party sources or homebrew material. Any creature of the beast type, or any creature generally associated with the High Druid is a good candidate. Be careful with creatures that have strong control abilities (like stun or dominate), or creatures that summon other creatures as they can easily punch above their weight, especially when used against standard monsters that don't have the PC's means of countering such abilities.

Summoning Rules

Animals you summon with this talent behave ordinary summoned creatures according to the (revised) summoning rules.

Standard action spells: Summoning an animal requires a standard action. The animal you summon appears next to you.

Duration: The animal fights for you until the end of the battle or until it drops to zero hit points. At zero hp, the animal is slain and removed from the battle.

Deathrattle: When an animal is slain, you take psychic damage equal to its level.

Adventurer feat: You no longer suffer the deathrattle effect.

Dismissal: You can dismiss a summoned animal as a quick action. This avoids the deathrattle.

Three types of creature: There are three types of summoned creature: ordinary, superior, and independent. The difference between the three types of summoned creature is how active and self-directed they are. The animals you summon with this talent are ordinary summoned creatures.

Ordinary Summon: The animal takes its turn directly after your turn in initiative order. It continues to take its turn immediately after you until the end of the battle, even if your initiative order changes.

On the turn you summon the animal, and on every following turn on which you take a standard action to control it, the animal follows your command and can take a standard, move, and quick action, plus an interrupt if it has such an ability. 

With one standard action, you can control one animal (a group of mooks or a swarm counts as one creature).

If you don't take standard action to control the creature, roll a d6 on the summon spell's Default Action table to determine its actions.

Escalation die: The animals can use the escalation die, but only at the value it was during the turn they were summoned.

Allies? Summoned animals count as your allies.

No recoveries, bad healing: Summoned animals don’t have recoveries. If you cast a healing spell on a summoned creature that requires the use of a recovery, the summoned creature heals hit points equal to your level. If you use an effect that would heal a summoned creature without using a recovery, the summoned creature only heals half the normal hit points of the effect. Temporary hit points still work normally.

No nastier special: Summoned creatures do not gain nastier specials.

Spell or creature? When a summoning spell is cast, it’s a spell. The summoned animal itself is a creature.

 


 

Version 0.2 2 Nov 2016

Art credit: Thiago Almeida - Druid

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