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Old 10-01-2016, 02:47 AM   #1
scc
 
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Default [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

OK a DF-esque that I occasionally bring out and tinker with is notable in that it doesn't have any gods that span the entire world, those that do exist are very regional, low powered and have little ability outside of their domain or portfolio, which means that playing a straight cleric a less then stellar idea.

Which brings me to druids, in DF (And D&D) they're sorta like clerics in how their powers work, so do they get their powers from some sort of nature god or do they get it from nature itself?
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Old 10-01-2016, 03:13 AM   #2
Dragondog
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

DF1 explicitly states "you do worship Nature" (p. 7), that "Druidic spells are the work of invisible natural spirits bound to the druid by his gods" (p. 19), and that Druidic Arts "emanates from nature itself" (p. 22).

So apparently, a little bit of both.
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Old 10-01-2016, 11:47 AM   #3
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

Gods are fitting here. But concerning "Nature", there is the key distinction between nature naturans and nature naturata.
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Old 10-01-2016, 12:13 PM   #4
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

Quote:
Originally Posted by scc View Post
Which brings me to druids, in DF (And D&D) they're sorta like clerics in how their powers work, so do they get their powers from some sort of nature god or do they get it from nature itself?
From midichlorians.

More seriously, the answer you want here probably depends on what do you need to know for. The rules tell you all the important stuff like when it works, the rest of that stuff is fluff that doesn't matter much for DF. If you are building a setting where it does matter, then you should pick whichever option allows you to have whatever features you want work the way you want them to, which may or may not require you to recalculate costs for a different limitation if the way it matters changes the operating rules or countermeasures available.
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Old 10-01-2016, 12:24 PM   #5
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

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Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
From midichlorians.

More seriously, the answer you want here probably depends on what do you need to know for. The rules tell you all the important stuff like when it works, the rest of that stuff is fluff that doesn't matter much for DF. If you are building a setting where it does matter, then you should pick whichever option allows you to have whatever features you want work the way you want them to, which may or may not require you to recalculate costs for a different limitation if the way it matters changes the operating rules or countermeasures available.
I figure it's from ending sentences with prepositions.

In my Dragon Heresy RPG, which is being developed as an SRD5.1 game, Druids worship and draw power from the parts of the Norse pantheon (because that's the thing) that pay attention to such cycles.

Easier to dig it out:

DRUIDS AND THE GODS
Some druids venerate the forces of nature themselves, but most hold special respect for divine beings that are usually not associated with the divine domains of the clerics:
  • Ostara. Goddess of spring, lady of the morning, mistress of renewal.
  • Gefiun. Goddess of agriculture, fertility, abundance, prosperity, and the well-plowed field. Lady of plenty.
  • Hodr. Godslayer and spear of fate. Killed his brother unknowingly with a wooden spear. Nature’s fang.
  • Mahni and Sol. Sister moon and brother sun.
  • Vidar. Wolfslayer and forest-lord. The silent one.
  • Yggdrasil. The tree of life and world tree. The holy ash tree sprung from the well of destiny whose roots and branches infuse the heart and essence of every known thing.
The Druids of Etera do not choose deities and associate with them as a matter of personal worship, but call on each at need, with great respect and equal veneration. Other powerful spirits and forces of nature are also included in this circle of power, but the Druids fear the dragons that are said to gnaw at the roots of the world tree.
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Last edited by DouglasCole; 10-01-2016 at 02:23 PM.
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Old 10-01-2016, 04:47 PM   #6
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

I remember reading a Sumerian story with the goddess Innana but also had Lilith living in the trunk of the world tree. She seemed like a weird guest star, threw a fit, then left without really affecting the story at all.
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Old 10-01-2016, 05:19 PM   #7
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

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She seemed like a weird guest star, threw a fit, then left without really affecting the story at all.
If it was a mythological source, such things from the ancient world most often don't obey to dramatic nor emotional reasons, even if people wants to find the meanings they are used to (and the "GNS theory" with its narratist focus on drama, does the same). In that context things most often are hints, and they don't need to be obvious about what.

I don't know the source of what you did read, but it could be a hint of something like this: the world tree being the axis mundi, with the female aspect of the divinity involved giving it life (sustaining existence by bestowing immanence to it), and at the same time the subtle modality of the vertebral column hosting what vedic civilization calls kundalini, the microcosmic aspect of the goddess.

Note that I'm not saying that such is the meaning; it's just speculation for expressing what I mean about sapiential hints and not sentimental drama.
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Old 10-01-2016, 06:31 PM   #8
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

I think the premise was one of maturing to proper womanhood, Inanna, and losing wild uninhibited "juvenile" femininity, Lilith.
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Old 10-01-2016, 07:04 PM   #9
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

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Originally Posted by scc View Post
OK a DF-esque that I occasionally bring out and tinker with is notable in that it doesn't have any gods that span the entire world, those that do exist are very regional, low powered and have little ability outside of their domain or portfolio, which means that playing a straight cleric a less then stellar idea.

Which brings me to druids, in DF (And D&D) they're sorta like clerics in how their powers work, so do they get their powers from some sort of nature god or do they get it from nature itself?
Considering that you've nerfed clerics, there's no reason not to nerf druids. If anything I'd expect druids to be MORE tied to a specific geographic region whether you anthropomorphize their forest or not.
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Old 10-01-2016, 08:30 PM   #10
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Default Re: [DF] Where Do Druids Get Their Power From?

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Considering that you've nerfed clerics, there's no reason not to nerf druids. If anything I'd expect druids to be MORE tied to a specific geographic region whether you anthropomorphize their forest or not.
That had occurred to me. It's important to note that wizards/mages are also going to get nerfed
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