The Druid in Neverwinter Nights

If you love nature and are at home surrounded by the woods, adorable critters and related fauna, you might consider building a character which closely resembles those aspects: the Druid.

In the Forgotten Realms, the Druid is a nature lover and seeks to learn about his/her natural environment, repelling and destroying anything which is an aberration or considered unnatural in the world. A Druid is similar to a Ranger, two sides of the same coin if you like; a Druid embodies the power of nature, whilst a Ranger has expertise in fighting in the wild.

Creating a Druid

The most important ability for this character is Wisdom, since that allows you to cast your druidic based spells, such as camouflage or heal spells. Each point you assign to Wisdom gains you a further spell level, and that is why it is important in considering this your primary ability when advancing.

Some available skills:

Animal Empathy – A charisma based skill which allows you to dominate creatures when selecting the spell and targeting. The effect will last for one turn, and the creature will be your temporary ally in battle.

Concentration – Based on constitution this allows you to avoid distraction when casting a spell, or avoiding combat feats such as taunt or knockdown.

Craft armour, Craft Trap – You can craft armour or traps using in game components, such as bones, bits of wood such as doors, poisonous flask or other. You can either buy these from merchants, find them in containers or acquire them by killing creatures (such as skeleton warriors for instance). This is only available with Hordes of the Underdark.

Heal – An important skill for a Druid (Wisdom based). Allows you to heal yourself or allies from poisons and diseases. If the check is unsuccessful you will only do damage though.

Some available class feats:

Brew potion – As long as you are able to cast 3 level spells, you can create potions with those spells, which will cost some experience points and some money. You also need an empty flask (only available in Hordes of the Underdark).

Deflect arrows – Based on Dexterity. You can deflect missile attack per round, if you are not caught with penalties such as flat-footed.

Two weapon fighting – Your penalties for fighting with two hands are decreased, particularly on your off-hand weapon. A good idea is to use a light weapon as your off-hand weapon, so your penalties are reduced even more.

Some spells:

Magic Fang – A first level spell which allows you to make your fighting animal companion stronger. Adds modifiers to strength and constitution. It requires the expansion modules.

Lesser restoration – A second level spell which restores your character’s abilities caused by enemy spells, weapons or supernatural attacks.

Call Lightning – Devastating electrical damage within an area is suffered by your enemies, to a maximum of 10 die 6 damage.