Dungeons and Dragons Custom Builds: The Druid Class (Updated)

"From the forests of Dal Haleth, Aldred shares a connection to beast and tree and vows to uphold the balance of nature against the forces of darkness"

Following the aftermath of the Ruin of Nimbar campaign, I needed to refactor the custom character builds for the Druid and Necromancer. Extensive play with these characters during the campaign highlighted a few potential issues that we overcame by house-ruling them at the time but I have since then updated the actual Hero & Power Card templates.

In doing so, I gave the cards a bit of a makeover in terms of color and artwork. Also included: Additional Daily and Utility Powers as well as Expert powers that unlock at Level 3.

Here is the updated version for the Druid Aldred.

A special thanks and acknowledgement to Tomasz Chistowski for allowing me to use his awesome artwork.

Druid Character Card Side 1

Druid Character Card Side 2

Druid Character Card Level 3

Druid Character Card Level 4

Aldred's stats are fairly standard in terms of AC, HP, Speed and Surge and I wanted his character to have that well rounded approach and then balance it off with really powerful At-Wills & Daily Powers.
Nature's Healing: As for the Druid's unique ability, I needed healing and lots of it. Because of the potent At-Will Wolf Form, Aldred will be taking damage every time he transforms which makes the regenerative ability all the more needed. Note that the key word is 'regenerate' so you can only heal up to maximum HP and not exceed this. Since healing takes time, Aldred will need to forfeit an attack or movement action to regain a hit point or forfeit an entire Hero Phase to replenish his health by 2 hit points.

At-Wills:

Druid At-Will: Wolf Form

Wolf Form:
Aldred's primary At-Will attack allows him to wild shape into a wolf. The Wolf Form attack stats are taken directly from the Ravenloft's Wolf Monster card with a Bite attack against an adjacent monster dealing 1 Damage (instead of 2) and a Pounce attack rendering a 1 Damage and slowed (the monster can then only move 2 squares until it's next activation). In addition, pounce allows the Druid in Wolf Form to 'jump' to a new tile without exerting any additional movement points. While the Wolf Form At-Will may at first seem a bit of an OP (over-powered) ability, it is balanced by the fact that the Druid has to lose 1 hit point in order to transform. I felt that this kept in line with the theme of the character as he is still low-level and I wanted the transition from Man to Wolf to be both powerful and painful at the same time. Also note, as per the updated card, no other abilities may be used while in Wolf Form.

Druid At-Will: Flaming Staff

Flaming Staff:
Nothing too spectacular as far as this At-Will goes. On a hit Aldred sends the Monster flying across the dungeon. Useful for any tight situations you may find yourself in!

Druid At-Will: Piercing Thorn

Piercing Thorn:
A ranged At-Will that allows for an attack on a monster 2 tiles away is particularly useful when paired with the Druid's innate Nature's Healing; it allows you to snipe out a monster in one turn so that you have enough time for regeneration in the next. Plus on a roll of 18 or higher you deal +1 Damage.

Daily Powers:

Druid Daily: Thorn Strike

Thorn Strike:
So this ranged daily attack is an amped up version of Piercing Thorn that targets up to 3 Monsters. A miss will still dish out 1 damage to all which should hack away at most of the annoying monsters.

Druid Daily: Spiked Growth

Spiked Growth:
It's all about placement with this Daily Power and you can practically guarantee stunning enemies moving across the spiked growth.

Druid Daily: Spiked Growth Token

Druid Daily: Wolf Fangs

Wolf Fangs:
I wanted to do some more work with the Wolf-Form than just a regular At-Will which is where the idea of a rabid Wolf-Form came in. Again, there is some damage sustained due to the hasty transformation but the damage being dealt out to adjacent monsters make this a worthy addition to your Druid's power cards.

Druid Daily: Lizard & Lace

Lizard & Lace:
Okay, I admit - a Druid summoning dinosaurs doesn't quite fit the forest theme but I have no battle cats or lynx minis and until then, it's going to be these little drake critters from The Legend of Drizzt board game. These reptilian allies activate during your Villain phase and have some excellent attack stats that pair off well against each other. Lace is useful for stunning enemies and Lizard for jumping onto a stunned Monster and chomping away. One thing to note is that you cannot use Lizard or Lace for exploration. If you were wondering about the naming of this card, it was actually my daughter's idea - she's a huge fan of Marvel's Runaways and the dinosaur in that series is named 'Old Lace'.

Lace Ally Card

Lizard Ally Card

Druid Daily: Hallowed Staff

Hallowed Staff:
An amped up version of the Flaming Staff At-Will, this daily allows for 2 attacks with up to 4 damage.

Utility Powers:

Druid Utility: Nature's Gifts

Nature's Gifts:
This is the one utility card that you would want to keep flipping back as it provides so much benefit to your party in the form of healing, condition elimination and movement.

Druid Utility: Charm Beast

Charm Beast:
This Utility Power is all about timing. If you're in a sticky situation and surrounded by all sorts of monsters, a Bear, Wolf or Spider suddenly becomes your new BFF and turns on it's fellow monsters. Then, after its sudden betrayal, it just stands one side looking confused and doesn't attack you!
Note: You might want to house rule the definition of a creature/beast. For our gaming it was anything that was an actual living animal (beast, bear, spiders, rat swarm, spider swarm, wolves & drakes)

Druid Utility: Druid Circle

Druid Circle:
Every good Druid knows how to activate the raw energies that lie within the earth's lay-lines and use it to quickly transport the party to safety!

Druid Utility: Lupine Lore

Lupine Lore:
Aldred's Wolf Form is quite potent but still leaves him susceptible to enemy attacks. This useful utility allows the Druid in Wolf Form to quickly evade attacks and can be used up to 2 times.

Druid Utility: Power Of Earth

Power of Earth:
A useful utility that allows Aldred to boost his attack stat.

Druid Utility: Healing Herbs

Healing Herbs:
What's a Druid without some healin' 'erbs? These are found in the dense forests of Dal Haleth and provide a much needed HP restoration to your Hero or any adjacent Hero. Warning: You may find you have a strange affinity for munchies after.

Expert Powers:

Expert Powers unlock at Level 3 as per rules defined in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage Board Game.

Druid Expert: Lupine Strike

Lupine Strike:
Like with Wolf Fangs, this expert power allows Aldred to really sink his teeth (pun intended) into an adjacent foe and deal out a ton of damage on them.

Druid Expert: Trapping Roots

Trapping Roots:Even more deadly if you pair this Expert power with your reptile allies who are always on the prowl for any helpless and stunned monsters.

Druid Expert: Hunters

Hunters:
Definitely a useful card to combo with your Lizard & Lace daily and your Trapping Roots expert power, this card bolsters your Allies with more AC and HP and make them even deadlier!

Card Backs: