[Dungeon Fantasy] Druid without obligation to Nature

Walrus · 05-07-2016, 02:55 AM

Hello.

The Druid template from DF1 doesn't include Sense of Duty (Nature) but it includes Disciplines of Faith.

So, the question is whether any Druid should treat the Nature with caution and care or is it possible for a Druid to live by principles like "The Nature isn't a temple but a workshop" and "We shouldn't expect Nature's charity, taking that is our goal"? Treating the Nature as a tool not as a patron.

I mean more not a fluff concept, but "Under the Hood" mechanics of Druidic Power Modifier. Wouldn't such behaviour be too stretching from Druid concept and more similar to Animal- and Plant- College Wizard or Knowledge-Nature-Order Priest?

Randyman · 05-07-2016, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walrus

Hello.

The Druid template from DF1 doesn't include Sense of Duty (Nature) but it includes Disciplines of Faith.

So, the question is whether any Druid should treat the Nature with caution and care or is it possible for a Druid to live by principles like "The Nature isn't a temple but a workshop" and "We shouldn't expect Nature's charity, taking that is our goal"? Treating the Nature as an instrument.

I mean more not a fluff concept, but "Under the Hood" mechanics of Druidic Power Modifier. Wouldn't such behaviour be too stretching from Druid concept and more similar to Animal- and Plant- College Wizard or Knowledge-Nature-Order Priest?

I vote yes to main question. Shifting the emphasis from "preservation uber alles" to "productivity through long-term stewardship" is a plus in my book.

Anaraxes · 05-07-2016, 10:21 AM

Keep in mind that a GURPS Disadvantage is about restrictions -- what you can't and won't do. Being free to pillage nature's bounty just like everyone else, and use it as a tool to suit whatever your ends happen to be, isn't a restriction. That's not to say it's a bad character concept or a poor philosophy, just that it's not an inconvenient limitation that's worth getting a lot of Character Points. Compare with other Disciplines of Faith.

Walrus · 05-08-2016, 06:17 PM

Could such Progressive Druids be somewhat like Gray Necromancers from Pyramid 3/50? Somewhat inflated cost on abilities but with less restrictions and broader and shifted spectrum?

jason taylor · 05-09-2016, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walrus

Hello.

The Druid template from DF1 doesn't include Sense of Duty (Nature) but it includes Disciplines of Faith.

So, the question is whether any Druid should treat the Nature with caution and care or is it possible for a Druid to live by principles like "The Nature isn't a temple but a workshop" and "We shouldn't expect Nature's charity, taking that is our goal"? Treating the Nature as a tool not as a patron.

I mean more not a fluff concept, but "Under the Hood" mechanics of Druidic Power Modifier. Wouldn't such behaviour be too stretching from Druid concept and more similar to Animal- and Plant- College Wizard or Knowledge-Nature-Order Priest?

It might work. Much of that Green Druid idea was an invention of urbanites in the romantic era and is simply another aspect of the noble savage myth. That does not mean that there is nothing to the idea of nature worship, etc. Simply that druids were not hippies.

Dammann · 05-09-2016, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walrus

The Druid template from DF1 doesn't include Sense of Duty (Nature) but it includes Disciplines of Faith.

What? My copy does. Sense of Duty (Wild Nature), DF1 page 7. I mean, play whatever is fun, but DF Druids are hippies, afaict.

Randyman · 05-09-2016, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dammann

What? My copy does. Sense of Duty (Wild Nature), DF1 page 7. I mean, play whatever is fun, but DF Druids are hippies, afaict.

Hence the original question: non-hippy Druids? I still say yes.

jason taylor · 05-09-2016, 08:07 PM

Just to start with, would a Druid have a concept of "nature" as opposed to "oak, ash, and thorn"(or even "this oak, that ash, the other thorn")?

David Johnston2 · 05-09-2016, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Just to start with, would a Druid have a concept of "nature" as opposed to "oak, ash, and thorn"(or even "this oak, that ash, the other thorn")?

They aren't historical druids and devotion to "nature" worked as a "Neutral" alignment premise.

patchwork · 05-09-2016, 09:44 PM

Well, "Nature" is not precisely defined generally. In that other game, we have Druidic schools named after seasons, with Winter Druids revering "nature red in tooth and claw", "survival of the fittest" and that sort of thing. A Duty to that conception of Nature could involve culling the weak, constant exercise and tests to prove and ensure that you yourself weren't one of the weak, foregoing the use of devices (and making other people forego them), et cetera. (for the record, Summer is Nature as Bountiful Provider, Spring is Nature as Self-Organizing and Maintaining System, and Autumn is Nature as Unfettered by Reason or Discipline). Summer and Winter Druids both would agree that Nature is there to be used by people (Spring and Autumn Druids would not).

05-07-2016, 02:55 AM	#1
Walrus Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Chelyabinsk, Russia	[Dungeon Fantasy] Druid without obligation to Nature Hello. The Druid template from DF1 doesn't include Sense of Duty (Nature) but it includes Disciplines of Faith. So, the question is whether any Druid should treat the Nature with caution and care or is it possible for a Druid to live by principles like "The Nature isn't a temple but a workshop" and "We shouldn't expect Nature's charity, taking that is our goal"? Treating the Nature as a tool not as a patron. I mean more not a fluff concept, but "Under the Hood" mechanics of Druidic Power Modifier. Wouldn't such behaviour be too stretching from Druid concept and more similar to Animal- and Plant- College Wizard or Knowledge-Nature-Order Priest? __________________ MH Setting. Welcome to help. Last edited by Walrus; 05-07-2016 at 07:10 AM.

05-07-2016, 10:21 AM	#3
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Druid without obligation to Nature Keep in mind that a GURPS Disadvantage is about restrictions -- what you can't and won't do. Being free to pillage nature's bounty just like everyone else, and use it as a tool to suit whatever your ends happen to be, isn't a restriction. That's not to say it's a bad character concept or a poor philosophy, just that it's not an inconvenient limitation that's worth getting a lot of Character Points. Compare with other Disciplines of Faith.

05-08-2016, 06:17 PM	#4
Walrus Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Chelyabinsk, Russia	Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Druid without obligation to Nature Could such Progressive Druids be somewhat like Gray Necromancers from Pyramid 3/50? Somewhat inflated cost on abilities but with less restrictions and broader and shifted spectrum? __________________ MH Setting. Welcome to help.

05-09-2016, 08:07 PM	#8
jason taylor Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Portland, Oregon	Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Druid without obligation to Nature Just to start with, would a Druid have a concept of "nature" as opposed to "oak, ash, and thorn"(or even "this oak, that ash, the other thorn")? __________________ "The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison

05-09-2016, 09:44 PM	#10
patchwork Join Date: Oct 2011	Re: [Dungeon Fantasy] Druid without obligation to Nature Well, "Nature" is not precisely defined generally. In that other game, we have Druidic schools named after seasons, with Winter Druids revering "nature red in tooth and claw", "survival of the fittest" and that sort of thing. A Duty to that conception of Nature could involve culling the weak, constant exercise and tests to prove and ensure that you yourself weren't one of the weak, foregoing the use of devices (and making other people forego them), et cetera. (for the record, Summer is Nature as Bountiful Provider, Spring is Nature as Self-Organizing and Maintaining System, and Autumn is Nature as Unfettered by Reason or Discipline). Summer and Winter Druids both would agree that Nature is there to be used by people (Spring and Autumn Druids would not).