Whether you’re befriending the animals or becoming one of them, Pathfinder Druids are always a force of nature.
Pathfinder Druids are the party members who really connect with nature. They’re on such good terms with nature, that when they ask the trees to reduce a fortress to ruin or drown enemy armies in a tidal wave, nature might just say, “…. You know what? Sure.” This is a dream class for the biggest tree-hugger you know. But that doesn’t make them a class of push-overs.
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The Pathfinder Druid Basics
Like Clerics, Druids are a Wisdom heavy class and take an attribute to Wisdom during character creation. Their heaviest focus in battle is magical, drawing on primal magic and the of forces of nature to defend themselves and their allies. It’s easy to think of a Druid and picture the Lorax, speaking primarily for the trees. But the Pathfinder Druid will just as likely summon animals or bad weather as plant life to a fight.
At character creation, a Druid will have an Expert level Will Saving Throw. They will also start out with training in Perception, Fortitude, Reflex, Nature, Simple Weapons, Unarmed Attacks, Light Armor Medium Armor and Unarmored Defense. Pathfinder Druids will also have a handful of skills determined by their druidic order and a number of additional skills equal to their intelligence modifier plus two.
Druidic Orders
At level one, each Druid must pick their Druidic Order. This is just the part of nature the character is most aligned with and where they draw their power. Or, in more practical terms, their Druidic Order will give them an in-game focus. Plus they’ll have a few more specialized skills and boons.
Their Druidic Order is permanent, and the character will always be a member of their chosen order. But it’s not unheard of for a Druid to study with other orders. This can help to gain a better understanding of the natural world. For this reason, Pathfinder Druids are some of the most likely class to blend aspects and powers of their order as well as others.
Druidic Orders will also give Druids their Order Spells, which is a kind of Focus Spell. These cost a focus point to cast, but are automatically heightened and don’t require spell slots to cast.
Animal: Druids of the Animal Order have a strong connection with beasts. They’ve always felt a strong connection to and understanding of all of nature’s creatures. And as a result, these Druids stand for and feel a calling to protect animals. This Druidic Order provides the character with an animal companion, the order skill ‘athletics,’ and the order spell ‘heal animal.’
Leaf: Druids of the Leaf Order revere nature. It’s like taking on a role that’s something between a gardener and a warden for the wilderness. They help areas recover and regrow after disasters, and side with the flora against endless expansion and abuse of nature. They receive a Leshy familiar, the order skill of ‘diplomacy,’ and the order spell of ‘cornucopia.’
Storm: Order of the Storm Druids carry the fury of a storm in their hearts. Now, they channel all of the destructive power associated with thunder, lightning, strong winds, and any other weather that might keep you up at night. Their druid feat is the ‘Storm Born’, their skill ‘acrobatics, and their order spell is ‘tempest surge.’
Untamed: A Druid of the Untamed Order brings that ‘raised by wolves’ energy to your adventure. In fact, they may have literally been raised by wolves, who knows. But they are untamed, uncontrollable, and seem to run on raw, primal magic energy. Their Druid feat is the untamed form, their skill is ‘intimidation,’ and their order spell is ‘untamed shift.’
Multiclassing a Pathfinder Druid
An adventurer may not start out as a Druid. But they may come to feel the call of nature and enter the Druidic circle a little later. These multiclassed Pathfinder Druid archetypes can provide some healing to their party, or extra elemental damage to enemies. Or, they may be able to communicate with animals and nature in order to help get some information in a pinch.
The feats that become available to multiclassing a Druid are a’plenty. They include Druid Dedication, Basic, Expert, and Master Druid Spellcasting, Basic and Advanced Wilding, and Primal Breadth. Plus an Order Spell based on the Order they pick when they choose this multiclass path.
How to Play a Pathfinder Druid
Druids are very much a spell-casting class, but they are a versatile spell-casting class. With a good mix between healing, powerful primal spells, and possible familiars or companions, there is a lot of potential for any adventurer. Usually, I’d say that more spell-focused characters are probably going to stay towards the back of the party for some ranged attacks. But I can just as easily see Untamed and Storm Druids (well, any of them, but especially those two) jumping right into the thick of things.
For a Druid with an animal companion, it’s worth remembering that there are separate spells for “heal animal.” Meaning that you never have to decide between spending spell slots on a party member or your animal buddy. Smaller animal companions may be helpful for reconnaissance, but larger (and faster) ones may become a helpful mount one day. Meanwhile, Storm Druids can make the battlefield inhospitable for the enemy from the start with weather effects, giving penalties to the entire area
Be a Force of Nature
A Pathfinder Druid has the potential to be whatever you want. Whether you’re aiming to harness the weather, befriend, the animals, or become the animals, there’s a path to your character. Similarly, whether you want to play on the frontline or from the way back of the party, there’s a Druid for you. And none of them feel lacking or weak. In fact, Druid is almost always very dynamic in gameplay and a lot of fun.
Happy adventuring!
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