Appendix A: AD&D® Original Edition Druids
The following represents a summation of information on druids from the AD&D Original Edition Player's Handbook and the Unearthed Arcana reference book. Some of these rules may not coincide with the rules for druids in the AD&D 2nd Edition game.
The druid is a subclass of the cleric, a neutral priest of nature who views good and evil, law and chaos, as necessary and vital balancing forces. Druids hold trees (especially ash and oak) sacred, venerate the sun(s) and the moon(s), and serve as protectors of forests, wild plants, crops, and--to a lesser extent--animals and the human followers of their religion. They never destroy woodlands or crops, no matter what the situation (although druids could act to change the nature of an evil enchanted wood, for instance, without destroying it). Similarly, they avoid slaying wild or domestic animals, except as necessary for self-preservation and sustenance. However, druids rarely risk their lives to prevent damage to woodlands or animals--instead, they favor retribution after the fact, in a manner, time, and place of their own choosing.
To become a druid, a character must have a minimum Wisdom of 12 and Charisma of 15; if both these scores exceed 15, the druid gains a 10% bonus on earned experience. Human, elven, half-elven, and halfling PCs may be druids, although halflings and some types of elves are subject to level restrictions.
Druids fight and save as clerics, but get a +2 bonus to save vs. fire or vs. electrical attacks. They can wear only leather armor and use only wooden shields. Their weapon options are limited to club, dagger, dart, hammer, khopesh, scimitar, scythe, sickle, sling, spear, and staff.
A druid can use those magical items permitted to clerics, except for written items (books and scrolls) and weapons and armor forbidden to their class.
General Abilities
All druids speak their own secret language. Upon reaching 3rd level, and each level thereafter, a druid gains the language of one of the following creatures: centaur, dryad, elf, gnome, green dragon, hill giant, lizard man, manticore, nixie, pixie, satyr, sprite, treant.
Druids gain powers as they rise in level.
At 3rd level:
· Identify plant type.
· Identify animal type.
· Identify pure water.
· Pass through overgrown areas without leaving a trail and at the normal movement rate.
At 7th level: (in addition to above)
· Immune to charm spells.
· Shapechange into a bird, reptile, and animal, each form once per day.
Table 7: Original Druid Experience Points
|
Experience |
Experience |
Accumulated |
Qty./ |
Level |
|
Points |
Level |
hp |
Land |
Title |
|
0-2,000 |
1 |
1 |
any |
Aspirant |
|
2,001-4,000 |
2 |
2 |
any |
Ovate |
|
4,001-7,500 |
3 |
3 |
any |
Initiate of the 1st circle |
|
7,501-12,500 |
4 |
4 |
any |
Initiate of the 2nd circle |
|
12,501-20,000 |
5 |
5 |
any |
Initiate of the 3rd circle |
|
20,001-35,000 |
6 |
6 |
any |
Initiate of the 4th circle |
|
35,001-60,000 |
7 |
7 |
any |
Initiate of the 5th circle |
|
60,001-90,000 |
8 |
8 |
any |
Initiate of the 6th circle |
|
90,001-125,000 |
9 |
9 |
any |
Initiate of the 7th circle |
|
125,001-200,000 |
10 |
10 |
any |
Initiate of the 8th circle |
|
200,001-300,000 |
11 |
11 |
any |
Initiate of the 9th circle |
|
300,001-750,000 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
Druid |
|
750,001-1,500,000 |
13 |
13 |
3 |
Archdruid |
|
1,500,001-3,000,000 |
14 |
14 |
1 |
Great Druid |
|
3,000,001-3,500,000 |
15 |
15 |
* |
The Grand Druid |
* Only one Grand Druid governs all the lands of the world.
Table 8: Original Hierophant Experience Points
|
Experience |
Experience |
Accumulated |
Level |
|
Points |
Level |
hp |
Title |
|
1-500,000 |
16 |
15+1 |
Hierophant Druid |
|
500,001-1,000,000 |
17 |
15+2 |
Hierophant Initiate |
|
1,000,001-1,500,000 |
18 |
15+3 |
Hierophant Adept |
|
1,500,001-2,000,000 |
19 |
15+4 |
Hierophant Master |
|
2,000,001-2,500,000 |
20 |
15+5 |
Numinous Hierophant |
|
2,500,001-3,000,000 |
21 |
15+6 |
Mystic Hierophant |
|
3,000,001-3,500,000 |
22 |
15+7 |
Arcane Hierophant |
|
3,500,001 and up |
23 |
15+8 |
Hierophant of the Cabal |
High-level Druids
The number of druids above 11th level in a given land is limited. (See Table 7.)
Druid. A land can have only nine 12th-level Druids; when druids earn enough experience to achieve 12th level, they gain this level's powers only if the land presently has fewer than nine 12th-level Druids. A character also could gain the level by defeating one of the land's nine Druids in magical or hand-to-hand combat. Losers that survive must drop just enough experience points to place them at the beginning of the next lower level (11th).
Archdruid, Great Druid. The same procedure applies when a 12th-level Druid gains enough experience to become an Archdruid, and when an Archdruid reaches Great Druid level. There are only three positions for Archdruids in a given region, and only one Great Druid.
Grand Druid. Ranking above the Great Druids stands a single Grand Druid, the ultimate overseer of all a world's druids. Besides knowing six spells of each level, the Grand Druid has the ability to cast up to six spell levels (as one additional spell or in any combination that totals six levels--one 6th-level spell, six 1st-level spells, one 4th- and one 2nd-level spell, etc.).
Hierophant. The Grand Druid has an essentially political job, and most adventurers eventually tire of it. After attaining 500,000 experience points as a Grand Druid, the character may appoint any worthy Great Druid with 1,500,001 or more experience points as the successor. The former Grand Druid then rises to the 16th experience level, becoming a Hierophant.
As a Hierophant, the character relinquishes the Grand Druid's six bonus spell levels and, furthermore, loses all but 1 experience point (yet remains at 16th level). The character then begins counting experience points again and progressing using Table 8.
Attendants. Each 12th- or higher-level druid acquires an entourage of devoted lower-level druids. The least experienced 12th-level druid has three 1st-level aspirants, the next has three 2nd-level ovates, and so on. The most experienced has as followers three initiates of the 7th circle. Three 10th-level initiates of the 8th circle always serve Archdruids, while three 11th-level initiates of the 9th circle attend the Great Druid.
The Grand Druid is attended by nine druids unattached to any specific land. Any character of at least Druid level may seek out the Grand Druid and offer service. Three of these servants, Archdruids, roam the world as the Grand Druid’s personal agents and messengers. Each has four additional spell levels, as explained above.
Hierophant Abilities
No bonus spells are awarded to Hierophants (as above for the Grand Druid and attendants), but they do receive additional, cumulative spell-like powers.
At 16th level:
· Immune to all natural animal or vegetable poisons, including those of monsters, but not mineral or gaseous poisons.
· Blessed with extra longevity equal to experience level times 10 years. For instance, a 16th-level druid lives 160 extra years.
· Maintains vigorous health (prime of life) regardless of actual age.
· Alters appearance at will in only one-tenth of a round. Hierophants can alter their facial and body features to those of any human or humanoid, change their height and weight by up to 50%, and alter their apparent age to anything from child to old. This nonmagical power cannot be detected except by true seeing or similar magic.
At 17th level:
· Hibernate for a number of years equal to experience level times 10. For instance, a 17th-level druid can hibernate 170 years in suspended animation (without aging).
· Enter the Plane of Elemental Earth.
· Conjure water elemental.
At 18th level:
· Enter the Plane of Elemental Fire.
· Conjure air elemental.
At 19th level:
· Enter the Plane of Elemental Water.
· Conjure magma/smoke para-elemental.
At 20th level:
· Enter the Plane of Elemental Air.
· Conjure ice/ooze para-elementals.
At 21st level:
· Enter the para-elemental planes.
At 22nd level:
· Enter the Plane of Shadow.
At 23rd level:
· Enter any of the Inner Planes.
· Roam the Inner Plane probability lines (the 7th dimension).
· Enter the Plane of Concordant Opposition.
Entering Other Planes. It takes the druid one round to shift into a plane (or back to the Prime Material Plane), but the character can stay there as long as desired. The ability to enter a plane also confers the ability to survive there. So, a druid who can enter the Plane of Elemental Water will not drown during the visit, one entering the Plane of Elemental Fire will not burn, etc.
Conjuring Elementals. This ability works like a conjure fire elemental spell, but it calls for a percentile dice roll when the druid makes a conjuration attempt. If the roll is equal to or less than the character's experience level, use Table 9 to choose which elemental creature appears. Otherwise, roll on Table 9 to see what the druid summoned.
|
Fire: |
|
|
01-85 |
16 HD fire elemental |
|
86-94 |
1d3+1 salamanders |
|
95-98 |
efreeti |
|
99-00 |
21-24 HD fire elemental |
|
Earth: |
|
|
01-85 |
16 HD earth elemental |
|
86-94 |
1d3+1 xorn |
|
95-98 |
dao |
|
99-00 |
21-24 HD earth elemental |
|
Water: |
|
|
01-85 |
16 HD water elemental |
|
86-94 |
1d6+6 tritons (5th-8th level) |
|
riding hippocampi |
|
|
95-98 |
marid |
|
99-00 |
21-24 HD water elemental |
|
Air: |
|
|
01-85 |
16 HD air elemental |
|
86-94 |
1d3+1 invisible stalkers |
|
95-98 |
djinni |
|
99-00 |
21-24 HD air elemental |
|
Para-elemental, any: |
|
01-85 |
16 HD para-elemental |
|
86-95 |
Special* |
|
96-00 |
21-24 HD para-elemental |
* Special: Choose 1d4+4 lava children, 1d4+4 winter wolves, 1d4+20 mud-men, 1d4+20 vapor rats, or similar creatures associated with the appropriate para-element.
A single entity, when conjured, has as many extra hit points added to its total as the druid has levels; it may not exceed its maximum hit points, though.
All conjured creatures serve the Hierophant selflessly and obediently, regardless of their alignment and temperament.
Table 10: Druidic Spells by Class and Level
|
Druid |
|
|
Level |
Spell Level |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
|
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
4 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
6 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
7 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
8 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
9 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
- |
- |
|
10 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
- |
- |
|
11 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
- |
|
12 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
13 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
|
14 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
|
15+ |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
Druidic Spells
Druids use mistletoe as their religious symbol when casting spells, though holly and oak leaves both hold lesser mystic power for them as well.
All druidic spells with a material component assume the caster uses greater mistletoe. Druids seek the mistletoe themselves on Midsummer's Eve, cut it with a gold or silver sickle, and catch the cuttings in a golden bowl before they touch the ground. Lesser mistletoe results when druids harvest the plant themselves in any other fashion. Borrowed mistletoe is any mistletoe not cut personally by the druid casting the spell.
If a druid does not use greater mistletoe, the effectiveness of the character’s spell is reduced as follows:
· Lesser mistletoe: 75% duration*.
· Borrowed mistletoe: 75% range*,
50% duration**.
· Holly: 75% range*, 50% duration**,
75% area of effect*.
· Oak leaves: 50% range**, 50% duration**, 50% area of effect**.
* or +1 bonus to saving throw if category not applicable.
** or +2 bonus to saving throw if category not applicable.
1st-level spells: Animal friendship, ceremony, detect balance, detect magic, detect poison, detect snares and pits, entangle, faerie fire, invisibility to animals, locate animals, pass without trace, precipitation, predict weather, purify water, shillelagh, speak with animals.
2nd-level spells: Barkskin, charm person or mammal, create water, cure light wounds, feign death, fire trap, flame blade, goodberry, heat metal, locate plants, obscurement, produce flame, reflecting pool, slow poison, trip, warp wood.
3rd-level spells: Call lightning, cloudburst, cure disease, hold animal, know alignment, neutralize poison, plant growth, protection from fire, pyrotechnics, snare, spike growth, starshine, stone shape, summon insects, tree, water breathing.
4th-level spells: Animal summoning I, call woodland beings, control temperature, 10' radius, cure serious wounds, dispel magic, hallucinatory forest, hold plant, plant door, produce fire, protection from lightning, repel insects, speak with plants.
5th-level spells: Animal growth, animal summoning II, anti-plant shell, commune with nature, control winds, insect plague, moonbeam, pass plant, spike stones, sticks to snakes, transmute rock to mud, wall of fire.
6th-level spells: Animal summoning III, anti-animal shell, conjure fire elemental, cure critical wounds, feeblemind, fire seeds, liveoak, transport via plants, transmute water to dust, turn wood, wall of thorns, weather summoning.
7th-level spells: Animate rock, changestaff, chariot of sustarre, confusion, conjure earth elemental, control weather, creeping doom, finger of death, fire storm, reincarnate, sunray, transmute metal to wood.