--just wondering NB
When the Gazetteers started to come out, the Immortal/Cleric relationship became a lot more pronounced, culminating in the Wrath of the Immortals set, which even gave specific granted abilities to clerics of certain Immortals. Further complicating the issue is that some clerics (such as those of Frey/Freyja in Gaz7) were druids from 1st level onwards, rather than having to wait until 9th level.
So the answer? I really don't know. It could very easily be argued either way. Heck, you could even do it both ways, with some druids gaining their powers from Immortals, others from "nature".
Good question, though. I'm curious what everyone else thinks, myself.
A player in my group plays Eveil - a female Makai Sorceress / Druid from Ierendi. Because of her sorcerous powers we decided that Eveil gets her druidic powers from "nature" or some contact with the Spirits of the Land or whatever you want to call it. She is Chaotic Neutral in alignment and represents the wild, untamed element in the characters' group :D
However, Mystara contains several immortals suited to have druidic followers. Terra, Djaea, Zirchev and Faunus comes to mind - maybe some of the elven gods as well such as Ordana.
I'd say use whatever you like in your campaign and have fun!
:-) Jesper
The original Immortals rules indicated that Druids were communicating with the megalith Urth (? spelling) that was the planet they lived on - they just did not know this.
The revised immortals rules removed Megaliths and added the clerics' powers dependent on the immortal they follow section, some of which grant druid-type powers to their clerics...
Now to make things interesting, an OD&D (well Companion set) Druid had to make it to level 9 as a cleric before they could become a druid, now when clerics can't just be generic, but have to follow an immortal, this makes things rather more complex.
My suggestions
Option 1: Druids have to follow one of the nature-linked immortals and get their powers through them.
Option 2: If you keep megaliths (either the posted "hollow megalith" theory that I personally think
, or by having the Hollow Worlds actually in a dimensional pocket) then they can believe they worship nature generally, but actually have powers granted by the world they stand on.Option 3: they get their powers from "Nature".
Options 2 and 3 are usually identical, but should the druid ever travel to another world things could get interesting - especially if the other world is also a megalith.
Originally posted by Kheldren
My suggestions
Option 1: Druids have to follow one of the nature-linked immortals and get their powers through them.
Option 2: If you keep megaliths (either the posted "hollow megalith" theory that I personally think
Option 3: they get their powers from "Nature".
Options 2 and 3 are usually identical, but should the druid ever travel to another world things could get interesting - especially if the other world is also a megalith.
I think Druids on Mystara should get their spells from Nature-related Immortals, but perhaps those again became immortal through becoming manifestations of Nature itself? IMO, all non-arcane magic should be related to the Immortals on Mystara since that fits the most with an overarching logic to the setting, which wasn't there originally, but evolved over time.
Havard
Originally posted by havard
I think Druids on Mystara should get their spells from Nature-related Immortals, but perhaps those again became immortal through becoming manifestations of Nature itself? IMO, all non-arcane magic should be related to the Immortals on Mystara since that fits the most with an overarching logic to the setting, which wasn't there originally, but evolved over time.
Havard
It doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Scarn, for example, has Immortal-esque entities known as "titans" that act as symbolic role models for druids, enabling them to get spells from the land itself (i.e., if you symbolically embody the nature of Kadum the Mountainshaker, titan of brute strength, you can get druid spells). The titans themselves weren't the source of druid magic on Scarn...but they served as symbolic representations of that magic.
--perhaps this approach could be stolen for Mystaran druids? NB
Originally posted by Nero's Boot
It doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Scarn, for example, has Immortal-esque entities known as "titans" that act as symbolic role models for druids, enabling them to get spells from the land itself (i.e., if you symbolically embody the nature of Kadum the Mountainshaker, titan of brute strength, you can get druid spells). The titans themselves weren't the source of druid magic on Scarn...but they served as symbolic representations of that magic.
--perhaps this approach could be stolen for Mystaran druids? NB
Interesting idea. Perhaps there is a Druidic Path to Immortality? Immortals usually get their power from the Spheres of Power. Perhaps the Force of Nature is a manifestation of the Sphere of Matter, like Magic is a manifestation of the Sphere of Energy?
Havard
by Havard
Interesting idea. Perhaps there is a Druidic Path to Immortality? Immortals usually get their power from the Spheres of Power. Perhaps the Force of Nature is a manifestation of the Sphere of Matter, like Magic is a manifestation of the Sphere of Energy?
I like this idea of Spheres of Power being an actual source of power/magic for mortals as well as Immortals.
I haven't used clerics that follow only an alignment for a long time because I couldn't think of a sensible reason of how they received their spells. Didn't give it any more thought for years - untill spellweaver asked about Alignment Spell Lists on the Clerical Spell List thread.
That's when I looked into again and came to the conclusion that Spheres of Power would be great as sources of spells. Those clerics that follow primarily an alignment actually follow the sphere of power that is dominated by that alignment.
Back to Druids though, what about the sphere that tends to neutrality (don't recall which one off hand, time or thought?).
Originally posted by Hugin
I like this idea of Spheres of Power being an actual source of power/magic for mortals as well as Immortals.
I haven't used clerics that follow only an alignment for a long time because I couldn't think of a sensible reason of how they received their spells. Didn't give it any more thought for years - untill spellweaver asked about Alignment Spell Lists on the Clerical Spell List thread.
That's when I looked into again and came to the conclusion that Spheres of Power would be great as sources of spells. Those clerics that follow primarily an alignment actually follow the sphere of power that is dominated by that alignment.
Back to Druids though, what about the sphere that tends to neutrality (don't recall which one off hand, time or thought?).
Well, here there is a problem. I think it would have made the most sense to have Druidic Magic linked to Matter. But then Matter is associated with Law and Lawful alignment while Druids are Neutral. Both Time and Thought are associated with Neutrality. Of those I propose, Time as it is associated with change so maybe also things growing (ie plants, nature) and life evolving. Time I would reserve for Psionics. Matter would then be things like Rock, Metal etc, which is not really what Druids are about. Also, I believe Matter to be associated with Technology, which I suspect Druids aren't too excited about. I think the traditional Druidic Immortals belong to the Sphere of Matter though, so that is a problem (though I might be wrong about that).
I dont use Clerics who follow just alignments either. IMC the Cleric might be more interested in the philosophy than the personality of the immortal, but he does recognize that he gets his divine magic from a specific immortal.
What are the Spheres of Power? In a discussion ages ago, I toyed with comparing them to the Force in Star Wars, the only difference being that there was more than one, and that they had more aspects than just the light/dark side. (Although Entropy is the Dark Side). OTOH, the Spheres may also in fact be the Old Ones themselves, Immortals who have become one with their Sphere....
Havard