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+---
+     tabtitle: "Pathfinder: Let's Make a Druid"
+     title: "Pathfinder Characters: Let's Make a Druid"
+     topics: [gaming]
+     pub: "2020-09-05"
+     short_desc: "One of my favorite activities is creating characters. I love
+     theory crafting, pouring through source material, and setting limits. While
+     I've made many, _many_ characters, one class I haven't touched is druid."
+---
+
+# Let's Make a Druid
+
+Pathfinder has been the tabletop game of choice for my longest-running group.
+One of my favorite activities is creating characters. I love theory crafting,
+pouring through source material, and setting limits. While I've made many,
+_many_ characters, once class I haven't touched is druid. The first character I
+ever made, back in a D&D Second Edition, was a druid. I don't remember much from
+that character, except that I had a double-scimitar (think Darth Maul
+lightsabre, but scimitars). Since that, I haven't done much with druids, which I
+think is a shame, because it's a fascinating class that ticks many of the boxes
+I look for in a character. I love characters with options, that require a bit of
+mastery to play. Many characters I like the most are multi-classed, mixing
+spellcasting with melee combat. Some classes, though, provide all this
+out-of-the-box. From the core book, both cleric and druid satisfy my demands. I
+hold, still, that cleric is the most powerful class. I had this belief in D&D
+Third Edition, and I carry it forward into Pathfinder and D&D Fifth Edition.
+That's a topic for another post, though.
+
+## Concept
+
+All of my characters come from a concept. Sometimes the concept is really
+straight forward: I want a "realistic" fighter. I want a "proper" Eldritch
+Knight. Sometimes, the concept is more story based, as is the case with this
+druid. I read a story about a moose in Alaska that ate some apples which had
+fermented, and wandered into a town drunk. I thought, "that would make a fun
+animal companion!", and thus the idea for a druid. The full backstory for the
+character will be around here somewhere. For now, I'll spend the rest of this
+post focusing on the build.
+
+## Build
+
+Drunk moose. Drunk... spirit moose! OK, now we're getting somewhere. As I
+fleshed out the story, and spoke with a friend about druid, I liked the idea of
+dipping one level in barbarian, then continuing with druid. That one level gets
+me quite a bit: d12 hit dice (and max at first level!); +1 BAB; +10 movement
+speed; and rage. The biggest downside is a delay in spellcasting, but I think
+it's a fair trade-off. Considering the build is equally focused on spellcasting
+and melee combat, the rage will provide an additional resource where spells and
+standard attacks may not be sufficient. Obviously, druid will be our favored
+class.
+
+```
+Barbarian 1, Druid X
+```
+
+## Skills
+
+Druid's aren't reknown for being particularly skillful, but they get some great
+class skills. Of note, we get Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge(Nature),
+Perception, and Survival. At 4+INT skill points, we can reliably grab most of
+these. Throw a point of two into Fly, Climb, and Swim, and between having a
+great strength, and wild shape, we can deal with whatever obstacles those skills
+require.
+
+```
+Handle Animal
+Heal
+Knowledge (Nature)
+Perception
+Survival
+```
+
+## Race
+
+Pathfinder has no shortage of races to choose from. For most of my builds, I try
+to stick to the "basics" provided in the Core Rulebook, but I also allow myself
+the Advanced Race Guide races. For this build, though, mostly due to the
+backstory/concept, I went human. We'll opt for a bonus HP each level in druid,
+for our favored class bonus.
+
+## Feats
+
+Human gets a bonus first level feat, then all characters get a first level feat.
+I tend to make characters for whatever level our campaign is at, and for now
+that's 8th level. That gives me five feats total. At fifth level, I'm taking
+Natural Spell. Since I'm a melee bruiser, I'm interested in Power Attack, Vital
+Strike, Toughness, and Powerful Shape, but I can't get the last one just yet.
+Druids are fantastic summoners, and it's very tempting to pick up Augmented
+Summons. For this build, though, it's a two feat investment for a strategy I
+won't be using much. For first level, I went with Toughness and Power Attack. As
+a first level barbarian, those two feats give me a lot of staying power. As a
+druid, my BAB won't progress as strongly, but in wild shape it can give me a lot
+of damage. Combined with vital strike, certain shapes will give me a single,
+"two-handed" attack for a significant amount of damage at a good attack bonus.
+
+Thematically, I've opted for the feat Spirit's Gift. It fits my drunken spirit
+moose concept perfectly.
+
+That leaves level 7. The aforementioned vital strike could be a great option.
+There's also furious focus: for a single, two-handed power attack, remove the
+power attack penalty. Since we'll be taking advantage of our animal companion,
+there's also the option for teamwork feats. Animal companions get feats, too,
+and there are a few in particular that would work very well: Shake It Off would
+give us both +1 on all saves; Improved Spell Sharing would let me share buffs
+better; and then there are the charges. These interested me. I need to step back
+briefly to consider the animal companion, so we'll leave our feats in an
+undecided state for now.
+
+```
+Bonus: Toughness
+Lvl 1: Power Attack
+Lvl 3: Spirit's Gift
+Lvl 5: Natural Spell
+Lvl 7: ???
+```
+
+## Animal Companion
+
+By now it should be clear this is not really a min-max guide. There are plenty
+of guides that exist already for that sort of build; I'll link a few I've
+referenced below. In those guides, animal companion choses are pretty clear:
+take a wolf/dire wolf if you want to be a trip artist; take a big cat for
+superior damage; take one of any number of dinosaurs for superior options. No
+where is a moose mentioned, because they're not "optimal." That's fine. I don't
+want optimal, I want drunken spirit moose.
+
+Moosen start off pretty bland. They don't get any special attacks, they're
+medium size, an average AC, an average attack, and relatively low damage. At
+level 7, they get significantly better: large size; better AC; better damage,
+and powerful charge. For this build, I'll focus on charging. Both I and the
+moose will charge hard into whatever enemy we want to focus first. With some of
+the team work feats alluded to above, we can emphasize significant bonuses and
+improvements to charging.
+
+If I wanted to change this to a more optimal build, I'd probably go for an axe
+beak. It could be the in-universe thematic equivalent of a moose. Qwark.
+
+## Feats, Completed This Time
+
+In addition to my feats, I get feats for my animal companion. At character level
+8, I'm a 7th level druid, which means my animal companion gets 3 feats, with a
+4th coming next level. The charge feats I'm considering would be 3 feats
+minimum: 2 teamwork feats, and then Coordinated Charge. The requirements for
+Coordinated Charge are 2 teamwork feats, and a BAB +10. My animal companion, of
+any flavor, won't have that until level 17! That's a bit of a downer, but there
+are some other interesting ones that lead up to it nicely. Distracting Charge
+would give either my moose or me a +2 to hit against the target of a charge.
+Intercept Charge could provide significant defensive benefits, though neither my
+moose nor I are particularly defensive oriented. Shake It Off would give Moose
+and Me +1 on all saves while we're adjacent. And Improved Spell Sharing helps
+with buffing. The one thing about ISS though is the requirements are a bit...
+odd. It _seems_ to be intended for use by a class that can share their teamwork
+feats, but I think a discussion with a DM can resolve the issue.
+
+```
+Druid:
+- Bonus: Toughness
+- Lvl 1: Power Attack
+- Lvl 3: Spirit's Gift
+- Lvl 5: Natural Spell
+- Lvl 7: Improved Spell Sharing
+
+Moose:
+- Lvl 1: Toughness
+- Lvl 2: Weapon Focus (Gore)
+- Lvl 5: Improved Spell Sharing
+```
+
+Looking forward slightly, next level we each get another feat.
+
+```
+Druid:
+- Lvl 9: Powerful Shape
+
+Moose:
+- Lvl 8: Improved Natural Attack (Gore)
+```
+
+## Gear
+
+Since we're wild-shaping, we don't need to worry _too_ much about armor and
+weapon. We can get the benefits of a shield, so we'll want a decent one of
+those. Ring of Protection (+1) is a standard, and I'll also opt for a Cloak of
+Resistance (+2). We're a bit MAD (multi-attribute dependent), wanting high
+strength and wisdom primarily, with good dexterity and constitution still. I'll
+take a Headband of Inspired Wisdom (+2), and a Belt of Physical Prowess
+(Strength and Constitution +2). In exchange for a weapon, I'll pick up an Amulet
+of Mighty Fists (+1). Finally, because wild shape is so important, we'll pick up
+Druid Vestments, which give us an extra wild shape use per day.
+
+```
+Headband of Inspired Wisdom, +2
+Amulet of Mighty Fists, +1
+Cloak of Resistance, +2
+Druid Vestments
+Belt of Physical Prowess (STR/CON), +2
+Ring of Protection, +1
+Heavy Wooden Shield, +1
+Scimitar
+```
+
+I have a mundane item pack I generally pick up as well, which includes things
+like a mirror, fishing hooks, and the like. Normally it's all in a Handy
+Haversack, but since I'm shapshifting so often, for the druid that'll shift to a
+Polymorphic Pouch.
+
+Also, a Ring of Eloquence is a solid buy, to allow for discussion which
+shapeshifted.
+
+## Spells
+
+Druids have a _lot_ of spell options. We're a melee fighter, so many of our
+spells will focus on buffing, debuffing, and control. We can also include some
+out-of-combat utility. There are too many options to list, and again, guides
+already exist that go through every spell and analyze them. Here are the spells
+that I'll consider regularly:
+
+```
+Level 1:
+- Entangle [Control]
+- Faerie Fire [Control][Debuff]
+- Frostbite [Buff][Damage][Debuff]
+- Goodberry [Utility]
+- Longstrider [Buff]
+- Magic Fang [Buff]
+- Mudball [Damage][Debuff]
+- Thorn Javelin [Damage][Debuff]
+- Thunderstomp [Control][Debuff]
+
+Level 2:
+- Barkskin [Buff]
+- Lockjaw [Buff][Control]
+- Natural Rhythm [Buff][Damage]
+- Resist Energy [Buff]
+- Sickening Entanglement [Control][Debuff]
+- Stone Call [Damage][Debuff]
+- Vine Strike [Control][Damage][Debuff]
+- Whip of Spiders [Damage][Debuff]
+- Wilderness Soldiers [Control][Damage]
+
+Level 3:
+- Call Lightning [Damage]
+- Earth Tremor [Damage][Control][Debuff]
+- Fey Form I [Utility]
+- Fungal Infestation [Debuff]
+- Greater Magic Fang [Buff][Damage]
+- Greater Thunderstomp [Control][Debuff]
+- Spike Growth [Control][Damage][Debuff]
+- Thorny Entanglement [Control][Damage]
+- Vermin Shape I [Utility]
+
+Level 4:
+- Aspect of the Stag [Buff][Damage]
+- Cape of Wasps [Buff][Damage][Debuff]
+- Echolocation [Buff]
+- Freedom of Movement [Buff]
+- Grove of Respite [Utility]
+- Slowing Mud [Control][Debuff]
+- Spike Stones [Control][Damage][Debuff]
+- Strong Jaw [Buff][Damage]
+```
+
+## Gameplay
+
+I've never played this build! I'm sure it could use some modifications. The
+emphasis on choosing a moose over other animal companions could be a serious
+hinderance. I think the general play would go like this: buff self, sharing the
+buffs with my animal companion; enter melee combat, preferably by charging at a
+target with my animal companion; throw around control and debuff spells as
+necessary.
+
+This is very much a first draft, but I think it could be a fun one! 
+
+### Sources
+
+|----|
+|[Pathfinder SRD](https://www.d20pfsrd.com/)|
+|[Prometheus Guide to the Druid](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PXamF43boZgYtCUlyJAMojfrPaAdYyjPOaGOo1vfqdM/edit#heading=h.nxj7sifd7tvs)|
+|[Treantmonk's Guide to Druids](https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcNyxDTKvAmqZGRtZzhzdjZfNDZnNHpzcmdodA&hl=en)|