The Old Old Faith

[geneweigel]

The gods of the druids are all energy "what-its" already so it just perspective, right?

I'm sure you could have gotten the notion that they don't have gods and play it that way for years. Theres a lot of fingers pointing to a vague concept of nature but its already been long established that they do have gods. In the early Dragons, in the Dungeon Masters Guide (recovery of spells: "picking gods" 138), in Dei&Dem of GH articles sp. Obad-hai, and the above mentioned article by Gary where a sect of the druids of Ehlonna are further changed.

The only evidence contrary to this is in a vague Sage Advice response by Jean Wells:

Question: Can a god grant an elf the ability to become a
druid?
Answer: No. A god or goddess can grant the ability for an elf to be
his or her priest or priestess, but he can’t bestow upon an elf druidical
powers. Druids get their powers from nature. Now, a god who might
take pity on your elf may change him or her into a human, but I doubt it.
You might also find a wish that will let you change into a human, but
other than that your elf is never going to be able to be a druid.
***

This doesn't sound very official compared to Gary specifically saying they must choose from a variety of gods in the DMG:

Each cleric must have his or her own deity, so when a new player opts to
become a cleric (including a druid), you must inform them as to which
deities exist in your campaign milieu and allow the individual to select
which one of them he or she will serve.

[Scott]

Using the UA rules for druids, how many Great Druids would there be in the Flanaess?

[GRWelsh]

I would say one for each major forested region and surroundings, such as one for the Gnarley/Welkwood/Suss, one for Vesve, one for Celadon, etc. But there are almost certainly major forests that don't have a Great Druid, also. For example, maybe the Fellreev Forest doesn't have a Great Druid, and maybe the Great Druid of the Celadon Forest holds authority over several other forestlands of that region. I think it should have something to do with the concentration of adherents to the Old Faith, as well.

[Scott]

I was thinking the Grand Druid might be in the Celadon.

[Scott]

As far as Great Druids go, I'd probably limit it to like three, something like east, center, west, or north, central, south. That still leaves a lot of druids and arch druids to watch the forests, nine 12th level druids and three 13th level arch druids for each great druid.

[Merkholz]

IMO three Great Druids are a bit too few for the entire Flanaess. I can see there being 5-7 official spots but a few of them being open due to a decreased body of druidic followers and practitioners.

IMO, druids do not worship gods as the cause/movers and shakers of the universe but rather seeing them as powerful emanations of the "wonders" of the world. Sort of like Saints in Catholocism. So, a druid is a champion of Nature, Balance, Harmony, etc. but may choose a deity as a sort of spiritual focus. This might also allow evil/good deities to be chosen as long as they represent primal forces, i.e. death, life, elements, etc.

M

[Scott]

You think? I like the PH better when there was just 1. 3 was pushing it. I really like the hierophant material, but am not a fan of multiple great druids and then a grand druid to do what the old great druid did.

[Merkholz]

If you consider that at some time the Old Faith were the single religios organization (among humans at least) in the Flanaess, if not Oerik, then such an organization need to be larger. Druids don't have access to teleport or other transportation magic that allows control over large territories. IMO this should mean that there at least had to be a large organization but that such a set-up might have atrophied during the rise of the "new" gods.

M

[Scott]

In my campaign, the druids were a Flan sect who were on good terms with many of the Flan clerics. They have magical gates set up that allow transportation over long distances to other gates, similar to the device used in Yggsburgh found on the Tors. I don't have a ton of high level NPCs in my game, so the limited number of upper level druids isn't an issue. The hierophants are not limited in number, so if I ever needed another high level druid, I guess I would just drop one of them in.

[Scott]

I suppose this counts as an official source that describes the territory a Great Druid would oversee.
From the description of Reynard, the druid from Isle of the Ape: "All of Keoland and the states immediately to the east (Hold of the Sea Princes, Yeomanry, Sterich, Geoff) are your purview"

[Scott]

I just noticed this other quirky bit from Reynard's description: "uses clerical weapons", and one of his magic items is a +2 flail.

[avalonab]

Hello One and All

I have just begun to bring my 2AD&D game to 3E version and Druids/Clerics of Ehlonna/ Obad-hai seem contradictory.

I like the idea that Druids draw their powers from Oerth and work closely with bards. I remember reading somewhere that druids and bards plus rangers often operate out of the same camps.

However I also read an article on the higher level druids and their locations, where the druid was a follower of Obad -Hai for example.

So if we assume the Druid class = Old faith and worshiped Beory / nature orientated gods.
Then a cleric of Odad-Hai = new faith. So what powers should they be granted. Should they loose Turn Undead and instead Turn Elementals? Have the ability to track? Summon mount? What else?

There must be some reason why a character would be a cleric rather than a druid??

Thoughts???

Mike
(Many years ago I had the pleasure of playing a 1 - 1 with Gary at Reading in the UK. It was the scenario that became the gem & the staff. Gary thought he had me beaten as I was blinded by a trap, but that just meant i could not see the illusion hiding the staff. Great hilarity was had as I stumbled around the room eventually finding the staff by touch. One of the best days of my life)

[Scott]

Hello Mike.
I'm not sure you'll get much, if any, 3E advice here. Most posters, including myself, play 1E or even OD&D.
The druid religion evolved through the years. In the PH they didn't really have patron 'gods', but worshipped nature, the moon, etc. This is still the way I prefer druids, and it is what makes them different than clerics. Clerics worship gods, and their powers are bestowed by them.
Later on, druids more or less turned into nature-themed clerics who were attached to specific gods. In my campaign, druids don't really worship Beory, Odad-Hai, etc. They may respect/admire/etc. them, and work closely with them, but they draw their abilities directly from nature, not from the gods.