Druid: switching the focus from animals to plants ...

anglefish · Post by **anglefish** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:23 am

I've got a player who wants to have a gardener concept for his Druid, so I'd like to change up a few things ...

Like give him a small mobile plant as an "animal companion" and let him affect plants more than animals.

I'm confirming with the consensus that shuffling the plant and animal spells (speak with plants) around the list won't be too balancing.

The mobile plant will just be window dressing for suitable animal stats.

The cool thing is that the Druid PC has been studying assassin vines, so there's an easy intro.

dunbruha · Post by **dunbruha** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:51 am

In the Mt. Zogon comic, the druid had a mushroom as a companion...

CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:53 am

If you dont use a mobile plant you can have them carry a bag of fast-growing seeds. Just chuck them onto the ground and instant companion.

I'm just having a hard time imagining a mobile plant. At least mobile enough to be a PC companion.
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CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:53 am

dunbruha wrote:
In the Mt. Zogon comic, the druid had a mushroom as a companion...

Mushrooms aren't really plants. Are they?
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:56 am

There are plenty of spells available to a druid for this sort of thing. The druid does not automatically gain animal companions by the base rules (they have to use the spell to do so), so I see no reason to automatically give them this, either -- unless, you mean the slight animal relation via totem shape, at which point you could allow a druid to transform into a plant creature of small, medium, or large, as normal, assuming it is a monster (or static object, such as a cactus) of the plant type. BtB druids don't have a focus, save the one assumed by the player.
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dunbruha · Post by **dunbruha** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:04 am

CharlieRock wrote:
Mushrooms aren't really plants. Are they?

details, details.

Barrataria · Post by **Barrataria** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 2:51 am

I'd suggest you take a look at the Mutant Future rulebook which you can download free from Goblinoid Games. There are a whole bunch of weird plants you might be able to use.

Also if you look at the Tome of Horrors or in the old MMII you'll see the "thorny", a plant-like dog companion of the vegepygmies. It's basically a plant that's a dog, but that might get you started.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:50 am

Just give them a "baby" shambling mound that increases in HD along with the Druid.
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anglefish · Post by **anglefish** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:06 pm

Is switching out speak with animals with speak with plants an issue, despite the level difference?

dachda · Post by **dachda** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:34 pm

Treebore wrote:
Just give them a "baby" shambling mound that increases in HD along with the Druid.

Or a Treant, scaled down to 1HD, which increases in HD as the Druid increases in levels.
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:14 pm

Wood Woad from v3.5 MM3.. I think. It's in one of them.

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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:15 pm

[quotw]Is switching out speak with animals with speak with plants an issue, despite the level difference?[/quote]

In fact, I reverse the spell level, finding speak with plants more limiting. Yes, it may be more difficult to do it, hence a more powerful magic, but the net effect is that the player is usually unhappy with the result... assuming one sticks to the actual wording of what the spell allows, and does not give the plant intelligence or ability it does not have.
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Ace of Swords · Post by **Ace of Swords** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:24 am

dachda wrote:
Or a Treant, scaled down to 1HD, which increases in HD as the Druid increases in levels.

Hackmaster had the "Weeant" a shrub like animated plant

Oh and the glorious "Bansai ninja treeant"

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:30 am

Ace of Swords wrote:
Hackmaster had the "Weeant" a shrub like animated plant

Oh and the glorious "Bansai ninja treeant"

Some times, like this, I really wish I had bought the Hack monster books.
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Kayolan · Post by **Kayolan** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:26 am

serleran wrote:
but the net effect is that the player is usually unhappy with the result... assuming one sticks to the actual wording of what the spell allows, and does not give the plant intelligence or ability it does not have.

and if done, the results can be quite irritating to say the least: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yNV-GXoeCM

tylermo · Post by **tylermo** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:37 pm

Maybe check out the mutated plants from Gamma World 3rd edition?