Druids in Krynn

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

Charles_Phipps

Mar 07, 2005 11:59:32
Do all Druids in Krynn serve Chislev?

I was thinking that a Seafairing druid might serve Habbuluk. Just a question there.

On a similiar note, do you think Zebby is served by Druids instead of regular priests?
#2

cam_banks

Mar 07, 2005 13:19:36
1. Nope.
2. Very possible.
3. She has both druids and clerics.



Cheers,
Cam
#3

ferratus

Mar 07, 2005 18:06:13
I like the idea of a seperate druidic religion from the "Holy Order of the Stars" in which you have a triumvirate of druidic gods.

1. Habbakuk - Birds and Beasts
2. Chislev - fertility of the earth
3. Zeboim - Fury of the Storm

With those three gods together, they thematically would cover all of the druidic powers. As well, these are the three gods who might be most concerned with embodying the balance in a good 2e way, given that Habbakuk is NG and Zeboim is CE.

Namely, Habbakuk thinks that the balance is best served by doing the most good to offset evil, and Zeboim believes that her job in the balance is to tear down and destroy everything. As the goddess of weather and a "mother" goddess, she also works very well as a goddess of rebirth too.

Basically I see this druidic faith as analogous to the lunar dieties, only concerned with the balance of the natural world rather than magic.
#4

zombiegleemax

Mar 07, 2005 21:38:40
I have gone a totally different path when it comes to druids.

Druids are a prestige class.

Druids must be pure nuetral.

Druids serve "Mother Krynn" and draw their powers from her, and are outside the realms of the other gods.

Druids are very rare, isolated, I would maintain our typical view of a Druid, Anaya from FIRST BORNE, and a few others would be my archetype.
#5

Charles_Phipps

Mar 07, 2005 21:50:05
So Druids are just Mystics in your game?

or would they be ambient magicians since their magic is from Krynn itself?

Or does Chiselv grant their spells?
#6

zombiegleemax

Mar 07, 2005 23:08:54
No, Druids are just druids in my campaign, I was doing that with Druids well before anything 5th Age ever came out.

Now, I also to the most part, limit druids on where they can go, you won't see a level 20 Druid going out on adventures, such a druid would be like the one from the BARROW campaign module that came out in ADnD a LONG time ago, where the Druid more or less gaurds and watches over a forest, for example.
#7

edgelett

Mar 08, 2005 0:13:47
the druid in our game is NG & worships Habbakuk
#8

Sysane

Mar 08, 2005 7:48:55
Random question. Did druids lose their spell casting abilities after the SoC?
#9

cam_banks

Mar 08, 2005 8:01:47
Random question. Did druids lose their spell casting abilities after the SoC?

Yes. Druids get their power from the gods made manifest in nature and the world, but it's still power granted to them by the gods.

Cheers,
Cam
#10

Sysane

Mar 08, 2005 8:46:02
I figured as much. Thought I'd ask though
#11

zombiegleemax

Mar 08, 2005 12:23:12
Are druids to be covered in Holy Orders of the Stars?
#12

cam_banks

Mar 08, 2005 12:38:47
Are druids to be covered in Holy Orders of the Stars?

Druids, rangers, paladins, blackguards, bards and monks will all be covered and their relationship to the gods (if any) will be explained. Not quite to the extent of clerics, who are the primary members of the Holy Orders, but enough so that you'll know where they fit in.

Cheers,
Cam
#13

zombiegleemax

Mar 08, 2005 13:17:09
I have gone a totally different path when it comes to druids.

Druids are a prestige class.

Druids must be pure nuetral.

Druids serve "Mother Krynn" and draw their powers from her, and are outside the realms of the other gods.

Druids are very rare, isolated, I would maintain our typical view of a Druid, Anaya from FIRST BORNE, and a few others would be my archetype.

I gotta run with you on this one. My druids venerate the gods of nature but aren't dependant upon the gods for their powers and abilities. Just like my Paladins aren't, and like the Paladins they are very very rare and seldom leaves their groves for long without good reason.
#14

zombiegleemax

Mar 12, 2005 14:19:41
I must respectfully disagree with the notion that Krynnish druids may draw spells and class powers from Nature itself. All magic on Krynn comes from the gods, even ambient magic (which comes from Chaos' energy imbuing the world; and Chaos is a god). That's what makes Krynn such a special world, it's unique relationship with its gods.

--in a way, Krynn is the exact opposite of Athas, which is utterly god-free NB
#15

Dragonhelm

Mar 12, 2005 14:59:57
I must respectfully disagree with the notion that Krynnish druids may draw spells and class powers from Nature itself.

But Chislev is nature itself. ;)
#16

zombiegleemax

Mar 12, 2005 15:09:52
But Chislev is nature itself. ;)

Incorrect, and proven wrong by the events of the Age of Mortals. Chislev is no more the consciousness of Nature than Zeboim is the consciousness of the seas. Nature operated just fine for over 40 years without Chislev governing it. Were she Nature itself, she would have been dragged along with Krynn, and could have still granted her clerics and druids their spells. As she went silent with everyone else, and was present in the WoS Book III along with Paladine and the rest when Raistlin revealed the location of Krynn, she could not be and is not Nature itself.

Were she Nature itself, and she was severed from Krynn along with the other gods, Nature would have gone beserk after Takhisis stole the world. It did not so much as blink without Chislev's presence. Ergo, she is not Nature and is not strictly necessary for her portfolio to exist in the mortal realm. (Also, this can be said of all 19 non-wizardly gods of Krynn, as fire did not go out and not re-light with Sirrion's absence, blacksmithing still was a viable art after Reorx disappeared, and so on and so forth.)

--ergo, you are incorrect NB
#17

cam_banks

Mar 12, 2005 15:29:20
It is more correct to say that nature is the channel through which druids experience the divinity of Chislev. Rather than be revealed in the forested canopies of a dedicated shrine to Chislev, as is the case with her clerics in the Holy Orders, the goddess manifests throughout the wilds, the trees and beasts and streams of Krynn to grant power to her druids and rangers.

This meant that druids had a much easier time of adjusting to the new powers of mysticism in the early Age of Mortals, as the frame of reference merely had to shift slightly. Of course, ambient magic manifested in nature and the living wilderness doesn't quite feel the same as divine power, and the "signature" would have been noticeably different.

Cheers,
Cam
#18

Dragonhelm

Mar 12, 2005 15:37:03
Incorrect, and proven wrong by the events of the Age of Mortals. Chislev is no more the consciousness of Nature than Zeboim is the consciousness of the seas.

That was a joke, you know. ;)


Nature operated just fine for over 40 years without Chislev governing it.

Not really. The dragon overlords came in and changed the very face of Ansalon. Had Chislev been around, I doubt they would have been able to shape the land like that.

Nature suffered without her.


Were she Nature itself, and she was severed from Krynn along with the other gods, Nature would have gone beserk after Takhisis stole the world. It did not so much as blink without Chislev's presence.

See comments above.

(Also, this can be said of all 19 non-wizardly gods of Krynn

18, not counting the High God and Chaos.


The world of Krynn has three gods of nature, each representing a different aspect. Habbakuk is more of the animal lord, and represents the good side of nature. Chislev is representative of the neutral side of nature, and is mother of all that is green. Zeboim is representative of the destructive side of nature. She is the fury of the storm and the tempest.

Each of the gods of nature hold a special connection to the world of Krynn. Each one has a part to play in shaping it, and keeping the world alive. During the absence of the gods of nature, nature did survive, but it was hurt in the process. The Desolation and Sable's Swamp are proof enough of this.

Each of the gods of nature hold a special bond with the world of Krynn.
#19

zombiegleemax

Mar 12, 2005 16:56:04
I must respectfully disagree with the notion that Krynnish druids may draw spells and class powers from Nature itself. All magic on Krynn comes from the gods, even ambient magic (which comes from Chaos' energy imbuing the world; and Chaos is a god). That's what makes Krynn such a special world, it's unique relationship with its gods.

--in a way, Krynn is the exact opposite of Athas, which is utterly god-free NB

The good thing about DMing your own campaign is you can determine what is what, and can change whatever you want.

So I respectfully say that if you find it better to run a campaign a certain way even if it goes against established norms, then do it.
#20

frostdawn

Mar 14, 2005 8:49:25
Yes. Druids get their power from the gods made manifest in nature and the world, but it's still power granted to them by the gods.

Cheers,
Cam

But I thought Feril was casting druid spells during the time of the dragon overlords and absense of the gods? Would that suggest she was casting in a way similar to a mystic or sorcerer, or was the magic of the nature gods saturated in the earth so Feril could access it even in their absense?
#21

cam_banks

Mar 14, 2005 8:58:29
But I thought Feril was casting druid spells during the time of the dragon overlords and absense of the gods? Would that suggest she was casting in a way similar to a mystic or sorcerer, or was the magic of the nature gods saturated in the earth so Feril could access it even in their absense?

Feril is a mystic, not a druid. In fact, she's a mystic with the nomad shaman prestige class, which allows her access to druid spells.

Cheers,
Cam
#22

frostdawn

Mar 14, 2005 11:30:32
ahhh, gotcha. I was wondering where she was getting her powers from given that they were so druid like
#23

Dragonhelm

Mar 14, 2005 12:38:17
ahhh, gotcha. I was wondering where she was getting her powers from given that they were so druid like

I asked Jean Rabe about this once, and her answer was a bit...confusing. Here's what she said.

I consider Feril both a mystic and a druid. Revering Habbakuk sorta would come naturally to her. . . especially with the gods back.

I made her quite a bit more powerful than in the 5th age trilogy. Some years had passed, magic had returned, and so I figured she would get stronger.

I love druids in the D&D game (and have one in the Living Greyhawk campaign). So I certainly enjoyed letting Feril play around with druidic abilities. I think she's one of the better female characters I've come up with.

Now, I agree with Cam's comments above about how Feril is a mystic with levels in the nomad shaman prestige class. That being said, I think it is only a matter of time before Feril undergoes an epiphany and becomes a druid of Habbakuk. We'll see.
#24

frostdawn

Mar 14, 2005 13:30:25
Now, I agree with Cam's comments above about how Feril is a mystic with levels in the nomad shaman prestige class. That being said, I think it is only a matter of time before Feril undergoes an epiphany and becomes a druid of Habbakuk. We'll see.

Hope she decides sooner rather than later, seeing as how many years she already lost during her swim lately. :P