How would one start to become a druid? I'm actually playing

>>44743310
It's rather bare bones to give people more freedom in terms of how they want to make their character. For example, they could have just grown up wandering in the woods, listening to nature spirits and picking it up slowly, eventually becoming a fully-fledged druid. Alternatively, there could be a higher level druid somewhere in the forest who took her on as an apprentice.

The important part is that at some point she developed a talent for Nature magic. The exact means is largely up to you, and as long as your DM approves it'll be fine.

>>44743534
I guess that's what I figured. I suppose it's me wanting it spelled out kinda carried over from the only table top I have played, WoD where a lot of these things would be pretty specifically said. Not that it's a bad thing. I think I'll go with the druid taking on her as an apprentice but still, since I made a whole thread and all, I'll also take into consideration what anyone else decides to input. Thanks!

While I have someone here who seems well versed in this, is there anything mechanically you might suggest for the character, given what you know so far?

Basically, fluff wise, your character at some point has to have felt the magical power of the world around them, and desired to pull from it. That's really all it takes. It could be anything from random chance to a dedicated life goal for a shaman in service to the nature gods, so long as the connection to the land is real.
Additionally, Druids do not "learn" spells like a Wizard or Archivist, or possess spells like Sorcerers. They can make use of the entire spell list available to druids, because they just draw from the wellspring of nature rather than their own knowledge or talent.

>>44743310
1. Is your PC a tree hugger?
2. Does your PC enjoy animals as companions?
3. Does your PC often fantasize about becoming an animal?
4. Is your PC an elf?
If you get 3/4 then you become a druid

>>44743854
I see, so using as an example the spell Camouflage, a first level Druid spell that grants +10 to hide...I could say something like "Raeyn draws upon the wellspring of nature and the knowledge of the prey animal and her color shifts so as to blend within her surroundings as well as vines and leaves sprout from her clothing to further help hide her..." etc?

>>44743947
Bingo

>>44743982
That'd be a very acceptable way to invoke Camouflage.
Like Clerics, it's easy to envision Druids not as the source of great power, but the vector that great power is channeled through. Instead of a god, it comes from the untamed elemental energies of the plane, the land, sea, and sky.

>>44744014
I understand, that's a very good way to think of it.I appreciate your help.

You become a druid however you want to.

Remember, a class is DnD is just a bundle of mechanical effects with related fluff.
Nothing stops you from playing an 'arcanoformer' who transforms into a humanoid 'arcane form' made of crackling lightning (just a bear, by the rules) with a guiding spirit made of that same arcane energy (also a bear, animal companion).

>>44744125
>it's imagination use your imagination
I mean, OP is obviously talking about the canon lore of the default setting, but if you want to be obnoxious..

>>44744189
Possibly obnoxious, but it can help the imagination if they really want to play a druid but are having issues with the fluff.

>>44743310
>How does one become a druid?
You could adapt one of the historical sources.

For example, the Rex Nemorensis (the grove-keeping priest of the goddess Diana) was a position would succeed to his position by killing the incumbent. In earlier editions of D&D, this was the source for the "druid battle" rule, but I always thought it was an excellent character concept in itself.

>>44744189
This was what I was talking about but still, I just want when I bring this character to a DM to give them as few reasons to go "Nah, this is wrong because of blahblah lore..." etc.

>>44744339
Not an entirely bad idea either.

>>44743310
something about d&d druids really bothers me, and that is that they lose their powers when touching metal

that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Sure, gallivanting around in full plate isn't very druid like, but why does holding a sword take away your powers?

it is like the designers had a strict vision of what a druid should be and didn't want any characters that didn't fit that vision to a tee.

>>44744424
DnD is full of dumb fluff things like that all over the place. Honestly, unless your DM is a total cock gobbler, you should be able to get away with using metal stuff, as long as you're not covered in it (see: wearing full plate).

>>44744424
I thought I'd have her use primarily a bow. I do agree about the sword thing though. Especially because that seems to limit the combat potential of something that should be versatile enough to be pretty good physically as well as magically. Especially since you don't get to shapeshift until 5th level in 3.5e

>>44744424
>something about d&d druids really bothers me, and that is that they lose their powers when touching metal
When did that come in? They could use metal weapons in 1E, 2E, and 3.X, just not metal armour.

>>44744461
the extra stupid part: so metal is somehow unnatural, but leather isn't? I would think leather is just as far if not more so from "nature" than iron, as iron is actually very common on earth. We have a lot of iron in our blood. Shouldn't that mean that druids always lose their powers from being in contact with their own blood?

>>44744485
I don't recall exactly since I don't follow the rules day to day, but I'm pretty sure it is that way for pathfinder druids.

>>44744461
nothing wrong with bows

>>44744485
And in 4e I'm pretty sure you can freely play a Warforged Druid in Eberron.
How that happened would probably be a hell of a story.

>>44744593
Pathfinder druids can't use metal armor or metal shields but they can touch metal just fine.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid

There's SRDs for these games, it's not like you have to guess.

>>44743947
>Is your PC a tree hugger
I know you're joking but I never really got where the whole "Druid equals treehugger" thing came from
The guy who turns into a bear for lunch doesn't seem like the most agreeable or even pleasant person to be around, especially not when he gets pissed off.

>>44744593
I think the idea is that creating metal armor generally means damaging the environment. Gotta dig up the ore, build the forges which are usually built in towns/cities which can cause a whole other set of problems, and a society that knows how to make it will probably be making quite a lot.

So its not the metal itself, its nature getting pissy with you for doing the fantasy equivalent of driving a Hummer. If rubber and plastic clothing became a thing they'd probably be forbidden too.

>>44744734
Environmental activists are definitely not known for their friendliness if you've ever known any. Really, most of them are outed as psychos in the end.