Guardian

Some druids establish themselves as the guardians of a particular place--the habitat of an endangered species, a stand of ancient trees, the lair of a dryad, or a sacred grove. Often the druid watches over a sacred grove with magical powers that others try to exploit for selfish or evil purposes.

The DM should decide the extent of the Guardian's responsibility--usually one druid protects no more than a few acres of wilderness--and establish why the area needs special druidic attention. For instance, a mountaintop might serve as the nesting place of a rare breed of hawks prized by nobles as hunting falcons, forcing the druid to continually guard against those who want to steal the chicks or eggs.

A druid with the Guardian kit may act as the protector of several places in a lifetime. Say the druidic order places Wazir, a low-level Guardian druid, in charge of a nonmagical grove. If he fulfills his charge (and rises to at least 3rd level), the Order may grant him the responsibility of a magical grove, while a lower-level druid takes over his old position.

In order to abandon this kit, a Guardian like Wazir has to find someone else (usually a druid of similar level) to take over his guardianship. He must abandon the kit involuntarily if someone destroys or irreparably desecrates his grove. In this case, the Guardian might become a Lost Druid or devote his life to revenge as an Avenger.

Role: A Guardian lives deep in the wilderness, away from humanity. Like most Guardians, Wazir normally feels wary of strangers, suspecting that they come to exploit or threaten the site he defends.

Some Guardians can become fiercely protective: If Wazir were to witness the near-extinction of a particular species of plant or animal, the last few examples of which now live only in his grove, he could grow into an angry and ruthless protector. Such druids may strike out without warning to frighten off or kill intruders or even may make pacts with local monsters to protect the grove.

Other Guardians are simply shy hermits who welcome good-intentioned visitors. Perhaps Wazir lives as a lonely, dedicated sentinel; he misses human contact, but his strong sense of duty prevents him from leaving his post undefended.

Frequently, a Guardian goes years without seeing another human; Wazir may have as his only friends just the animal or nonhuman residents of his protectorate. As a result, he may seem eccentric or awkward relating to humans--even other druids.

Branch Restrictions: None.

Weapon Proficiencies: Recommended-- staff.

Secondary Skills: Hunter.

Nonweapon Proficiencies: Bonus--local history (of his guardianship). Recommended-- (priest) herbalism, ancient history, religion; (warrior) animal lore, set snares.

Equipment: The druid should spend his initial allotment of gold pieces entirely on equipment, as he loses any unspent starting money in excess of 1 gp.

Special Benefits: The druid receives a +1 bonus on saving throws and attack rolls when fighting to protect his guardianship. Enemies suffer a -2 penalty to saving throws while they remain in this protectorate.

As a Guardian, Wazir receives the respect of other druids (+1 reaction adjustment) in his circle. (See Chapter 3: The Druidic Order for more on circles.)

Although not all Guardians serve as warders of sacred or magical groves, some receive this responsibility. (For details on these special sites, see Chapter 6: Sacred Groves.) A low-level druid character should watch over a grove with no more than one lesser power. In addition, the DM must come up with a good reason why a magical grove falls into the hands of a low-level druid; perhaps the original Guardian, the PC's mentor, met with an unexpected fate while still grooming the character to take over.

Whenever a grove has any special abilities, the DM always should take care to limit the power they give the druid. For instance, a grove containing a magical pear tree with unique golden-hued fruit that gives the eater the effect of a treasure finding potion could unbalance a campaign. Perhaps the tree produces only one such magical pear a year--the remaining fruit is normal, although exceptionally succulent. When the special fruit ripens, the druid must turn it over to a messenger from the great druid.

Special Hindrances: The druid needs to guard a site containing something others eventually will want. The DM should encourage the player to have the character devote some time to defending the place, setting up magical or normal traps, checking with animal spies, and so on.

If the druid, such as Wazir, fails in his guardianship, he becomes seriously depressed. He suffers a -1 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, and ability and proficiency checks until he recovers from his loss. He also loses standing in the Order (-2 reaction penalty from other druids in the region, instead of the previous +1 bonus). Wazir cannot recover from this depression until 1d4+1 years pass and he performs some action to atone for his failure.

For instance, if a dragon destroyed the ancient stand of elder trees Wazir guarded, he must either defeat the dragon or find a way to restore the forest to life.

Wealth Options: 3d6x10 gp.

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