Grand druid

The Quintessential Druid II

Author Gareth Hanrahan

Series The Quintessential Series

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2004

The grand druid is the acknowledged head of the druidic order in the world. In rare cases, there may be other druid of greater power or age, but even they bow to the grand druid’s word and Wisdom. The grand druid has the authority to speak for the druidic order and for the green world; his pronouncements can spare or doom a city from being turned into a broken mass of overgrown stone, or confirm a king as being blessed and accepted by the land.

Grand druid must also resolve disputes between druid, make judgements on druidic law and lore, and guide the few adherents of the old faith. They are aided in this by their ability to subsume their consciousness into The Otherworld and literally draw on the wisdom of the ages. The grand druid is counselled by the spirits, by animals of wood and field, by the transcended spirits of older druid and by the living trees and stones themselves. There is deep wisdom there, in the wildlands.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become the grand druid, a character must fulfil all the following criteria:
Alignment: Any Neutral.
Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 15 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks.
Feats: Leadership, Natural Spell.
Spellcasting: Able to cast 4th level druid spells.

Special: The prospective grand druid must seek out and gain the approval of every other druid in the world who is higher level, equal level, or no less than four levels lower than the prospective grand druid. The character can gain their approval in any way he sees fit – by proving his worth, by negotiation, or by defeating them and forcing them to approve of his bid to become grand druid.

Special: There is only ever one grand druid in the world at any time. If a grand druid exists, then the prospective grand druid must have his approval. Should the prospective grand druid become the new grand druid, the old grand druid immediately loses all his grand druid abilities. Often, the existing grand druid chooses his successor, and his authority is so respected that all the other druid accept and approve the nominated successor.

Class Skills

The grand druid’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Handle Animal (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Knowledge (nature) (Intelligence), Knowledge (religion) (Intelligence), Knowledge (the planes) (Intelligence), Perform (Charisma), Sense Motive (Wisdom), Spellcraft (Intelligence), Survival (Wisdom).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.

The Grand Druid
Class Level	Base Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spellcasting
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Font of wisdom +2	+1 level of existing class
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Cloak of authority 1/day	+1 level of existing class
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Font of wisdom +4, voice of command	+1 level of existing class
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Cloak of authority 2/day	+1 level of existing class
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Font of wisdom +6, counsel of the fates	+1 level of existing class
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Cloak of authority 3/day	+1 level of existing class
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Font of wisdom +8, wisdom of the fates	+1 level of existing class
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Cloak of authority 4/day	+1 level of existing class
9th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Font of wisdom +10, speaker for the green	+1 level of existing class
10th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Cloak of authority 5/day	+1 level of existing class

Class Features

Armour and Weapon Proficiency: The grand druid gains no additional weapon or armour proficiencies.

Spells per day: When a new grand druid level is gained, the character gains a level of druidic spellcasting that stacks with existing levels from a class that gives druid spells.

Font of Wisdom (Su): Whenever the grand druid communes with nature, he gains a sacred bonus to his Wisdom equal to his Font of Wisdom bonus. This bonus lasts for ten minutes per character level of the grand druid.

Cloak of Authority (Su): The grand druid may invoke the authority of his position as a move action. He gains a +6 morale bonus to all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks for the next hour against people who were present when he invoked authority.

Voice of Command (Sp): While using his Cloak of Authority ability, the words of the grand druid behave exactly like a greater command spell cast on other druid or animals. Once per use of the Cloak of Authority, the grand druid may use this ability on non-druid.

Counsel of the Fates (Ex): At this level, the grand druid is accompanied by the fates, three powerful and mysterious entities. The fates act as cohorts loyal to the grand druid. Their level is determined using the grand druid’s Leadership score. The fates may be other druid, fey, ghosts, awakened creatures or even stranger entities. The three fates will aid the grand druid in whatever he desires.

Wisdom of the Fates (Sp): Once per week, the grand druid may consult with the fates. The advice they give him is identical to the effects of a discern location, legend lore or Commune spell. All three fates must be present in order for the grand druid to use this ability.

Speaker for the Green (Su): Once per year, the grand druid may speak for the land. This ability allows him to Awaken every plant and animal within an area of radius equal to the grand druid’s current Wisdom. This ability costs 1,000 XP. The Awakened creatures will obey the grand druid’s commands. The mass awakening lasts for a year and a day, but may be dismissed sooner. (Occasionally, a few entities are permanently awakened by this ability).

Epic Grand Druid

Hit Die: d8.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.
Spells: The epic grand druid’s caster level is equal to his class level. The epic grand druid’s number of spells per day does not increase after 20th level.
Bonus Feats: The epic grand druid gains a bonus feat every four levels higher than 10th.