In the northern part of Fitz's primary campaign area, dominated by Celtish tribes, the presiding priests and lawspeakers are druids, and they have a fairly rigid hierarchy and considerable power within their tribal society.
However, by no means all, or even most, of them are Druids as per the character class. They worship the Celtic pantheon, but in an organised medieval way rather than in the ancient manner, and they include Clerics and Paladins like any other religious grouping, as well as many priests without any character class at all.
The extent of druidical religious and societal domination
A crazy old forest hermit might have "Druid" as their character class, but have nothing whatever to do with the Celtic druidical priesthood.
Don't get too hung up on issues of nomenclature. A druid might be a Druid, but then again they might not be.
Druid
Druids worship the spiritual power of nature, maintain and protect holy places, perform festivals and ritual observances, and protect balance and harmony between civilisation and nature. Their magic is rooted in the mystical oneness of nature, and they have particular power over fire, stone, and weather, as well as over plant- and animal life.
Some druids pay homage to particular nature gods (some of these quite savage), while others eschew all deities and commune directly with the spiritual power of nature.
Rather than using a holy symbol as clerics do, druids require mistletoe, holly, or (if neither can be found) oak leaves to cast their spells, and one of these is a required component for all druidic spells unless a druidic spell has no material component specified in the spell description.
The druid must harvest these materials by the light of a full moon, or the darkness of a new moon, in order for the component to work with full efficacy. If mistletoe or holly is not gathered by the druid’s hand at the proper time, the druid’s spells will have only half the normal effect. Oak leaves always produce spells of half power, and if they are not harvested properly, oak leaves will permit spells of only one-quarter power.
Player character druids must be neutral, although druids of differing alignments may be found as non-player characters in some GMs’ campaigns.
Druids receive bonus spells for high wisdom, just as clerics do. See the table provided under “Cleric” for details.
There can only be a certain number of high-level druids in the world. The limits are: 12th level druid (High Druid)—no more than 3 in the world at any one time; 13th level druid (Archdruid)—no more than 2 in the world at any given time, 14th level druid (Supreme Druid)—no more than a single Supreme Druid can exist.
If a druid receives so many experience points that he or she is eligible to increase to these levels, but all the vacant slots are already filled, then he or she must create a vacancy. This is done by issuing a formal challenge to the druid in question, following which the two characters must compete in a contest of some kind—often, but not necessarily, a duel.
The loser of the contest goes down to the next lowest level (losing all experience down to the very minimum to qualify for the new level). This may, in turn, result in a further contest if the preceding level is also fully occupied.
Druids’ Cant: All druids speak a secret language called the druids’ cant. The druidic cant cannot be learned by non-druids (unless otherwise noted, such as in the case of higher-level assassins).
Saving Throw Bonus: All druids gain a saving throw bonus of +2 against fire and lightning attacks of all kinds.
Spell Casting: Druids may memorise and cast druidic spells in accordance with the tables provided below.
Advanced Abilities
Druid’s Knowledge (3rd): At third level and higher, a druid can identify plant and animal types, and can determine when water is pure and safe to drink.
Wilderness Movement (3rd): At third level and higher, a druid can move through any natural undergrowth leaving no trace of his or her passage, and may do so with no reduction in his or her normal movement speed.
Immunity to Fey Charm (7th): At seventh level and higher, the druid becomes immune to charms and other such mental enchantments cast by fey creatures such as dryads, pixies, brownies, etc.
Shapeshift (7th): Druids of 7th level or higher may change their forms up to three times per day. The form assumed must be a natural animal, no smaller than a mouse, and no larger than double the druid’s normal weight; in the process of shapeshifting, the druid recovers 1d6 × 10 percent of any hit points he or she might have sustained as damage.
Druid Level Advancement
Level
Base XP Required
Hit Dice (d8)
Notes
Spells Per Day by Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
0
1
2
—
—
—
—
—
—
2
2,000
2
2
1
—
—
—
—
—
3
4,000
3
Druid’s Knowledge;
Wilderness Movement
3
2
1
—
—
—
—
4
8,000
4
4
2
2
—
—
—
—
5
12,000
5
4
3
2
—
—
—
—
6
20,000
6
4
3
2
1
—
—
—
7
35,000
7
Immunity to Fey Charm; Shapeshift
4
4
3
1
—
—
—
8
60,000
8
4
4
3
2
—
—
—
9
90,000
9
5
4
3
2
1
—
—
10
125,000
10
5
4
3
3
2
—
—
11
200,000
11
5
5
3
3
2
1
—
12
300,000
12
High Druid
5
5
4
4
3
2
1
13
750,000
13
Archdruid
6
5
5
5
4
3
2
14*
1,500,000
14
Supreme Druid
6
6
6
6
5
4
3
* 14th level (at 1,500,000 experience points) is the ceiling for druids. Any further experience points the druid receives will simply be lost.
Druid Saving Throw Table
Level
Aimed Magic Items (e.g., rod, staff, wand)
Breath Weapons
Death Paralysis Poison
Petrifaction Polymorph
Spells for unlisted categories
1-3
14
16
10
13
15
4-6
13
15
9
12
14
7-9
11
13
7
10
12
10-12
10
12
6
9
11
13-14
9
11
5
8
10
Druid To Hit Table
Attack Bonus
Level
Roll required to hit Armour Class Attack Bonus = 20 - THAC0
