Druid

A druid is a versatile and often heroic character, capable in both combat and casting evocations. Druids obtain these primal powers from being at one with nature or from one of several patrons of the wild, often gods or powerful nature spirits. Druids are not often trained in wearing heavier armors or most weapons but instead have the ability to change into powerful beast forms. Through their evocations and abilities as a creature of the wild, druids can turn the tide of a battle, hindering their foes as easily from afar or in a melee or sometimes striking them with deadly force or healing nearby allies.

Druids work very well with animals, and can try to improve a wild creature's attitude the same way they would with an intelligent one. Druids gain a greater control of their body, so that they can leave no trace of their presence. Druids can change appearance at will, and some do not age.

Known for their mysterious nature druids call the wilderness their home and views its dangers as a challenge to meet and conquer. With a great respect and veneration for nature, druids stray away from extremes of good, evil, order, or chaos, instead seeking only to maintain a natural state of being which most of the civilized world cannot or will not understand. But though druids may appear at first serene they can be provoked into fits of fury and are often cunning, and thereby dangerous, foes.

Haarn Brightcloak and Jaheira are well-known druids.

Abilities
Druids work well in a support role, since they are both competent spellcasters and fighters. Druids can cast ability-augmenting, offensive, defensive, and healing evocations, making them versatile casters and able secondary healers, often with the aid of implements such as staffs or totems. Like clerics or wizards, druids know how to cast rituals and are, even at the start of their training, capable of using beasts of the wild as their messengers.

The ability to wild shape is one of the druid's most potent abilities and allows druids to shapeshift into any beast of roughly their size, including some plants as well as several fey. At its most basic level this ability allows druids to shapeshift into an indistinct being of feathers, fur, or claws that resembles the Primal Beast spoken of in many druidic legends. From this Primal Beast the druids draw some of their primal energy, whether in their beast form or unchanged, either increasing their durability or making them swifter, in either case while wearing hide or lighter armor.

It is also said that experienced druids can manifest certain abilities tied to their shape. They can become a hawk to gain heightened awareness, a cat to move more silently, or a horse to provide a mount. Some druids are also said to have animal companions that fill some of these functions.