Bard and Druid

[Thadeus]

Anyone else feeling like playing these classes in any game is the gaming equivalent of drinking Bud Light?

They are never cool, they are never main characters in any game or movie, they are never heroic, and they are never leaders of men.

Bards are always portrayed as comic reliefs, gay, sidekicks, downright clowns, and even annoying.
Meanwhile druids are always sad, preachy, angry, fanatical, or just tree huggers, and always used as either a statement about the environment or to portray a character that hates civilization and people.

Never ever would I play these.

[Metallicus]

If you play a bard in BG3 you might come to appreciate how good this class really is. The clowns who play bards in RL TT games are the problem and not the class.

[BigJ]

Even the horny clowns that play bard like the ♥♥♥♥ everything chevklist can become heroes, look at Scanlan.

As for Druids, there's many ways to roleplay them, my druid is a balance zealot, but he has a dwarven take to it, recording grudges to be settled in other ways, like paying.

[GamerTechChubTV]

As a gay man I'm having a blast playing a bard. Hand Crossbows go dakka dakka.

[Agony_Aunt]

Originally posted by Thadeus:

they are never main characters in any game or movie,

I'm going to stop you right there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiMinixSXII

[Noin Trongaz]

Originally posted by Thadeus:

Anyone else feeling like playing these classes in any game is the gaming equivalent of drinking Bud Light?

They are never cool, they are never main characters in any game or movie, they are never heroic, and they are never leaders of men.

Bards are always portrayed as comic reliefs, gay, sidekicks, downright clowns, and even annoying.
Meanwhile druids are always sad, preachy, angry, fanatical, or just tree huggers, and always used as either a statement about the environment or to portray a character that hates civilization and people.

Never ever would I play these.

One of my characters on TT Planescape session I had many years ago was a shadow druid Bariaur (kind of a capricorn headed centaur). He was a fanatical ecoterrorist with high INT and I had a lot of fun RPing as an unstable character the party needs but has problems to keep in line.

Also, you have to understand that your idea of "cool" is just a personal taste. I am not that big on paladins, for example, as I find them kinda bland and boring, but a lot of people love them. I prefer characters which are not limited to "smash bad guys, save the children!". I see shapeshifting into animals as really cool.

For my first playthrough, I had problems to decide whether I want my character to be a druid or a barbarian. In the end I chose a barbarian because the game already has TWO possible druid companions, which I find a very strange design choice.

[jack_of_tears]

Nope, my Bard just talked a demon into killing itself and played a person out of their coma; Bards are only lame if they are played that way.

[Dangeki]

Im a land druid who likes to take the lead and hug trees and Halsin!!!

My Astarion is a Bard whose persuasion helps me out of sticky situations (Like telling bosses to end themselves >:) !!! )

[solaris32]

Druid looks cool. Bard seems pointless.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Tell us you haven't seen the latest D&D movie without tellimg us you haven't seen the latest D&D movie.

Now, on to Bards and Druids.

• Bards

In D&D, the Bard is modeled on the vikimg Skald and as such is as much a holy man/woman as they are a minstrel or entertainer. Too often people pigeonhole Bards into this idea of a Wizard supercharged by music - but the truth is actually that Bards share more similarities with Sorcerers, in that their power is derived from the primordial rather than Arcane study.

Read the Shannara trilogy, particularly The Wishsong Of Shannara, for similar ideas about both Bards snd Druids.

The Performance is just their Magical Foci for channeling the Harmony of Creation.

• Druids

It's true that Druids got pigeonholed into Captain Planet, however I always like to play my Druids a little closer to their Celtic roots, with blood sacrifices and prayers to forgotten gods. Druids were just pre-Roman British holy men/priests, but they did have a fascination with the natural world (as all animist cultures do), especially oak trees.

In D&D, I like to play Druids like the Oath of the Watchers are supposed to be played - they protect 'nature' and balance by ridding it of "outsiders" (i.e., fiends, celestials, aberrations, undead, and sometimes fey too). Make the Material Plane Great Again. Build a wall around it, send the Outer Planar immigrants back where they came from.

Sometimes I'll mix Paladin and Druid to make that character, takimg lots of "denial" spells such as Silence, Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Banishment and control spells such as Magic Circle, Hold Person/Monster, Geas, etc. Glyph of Warding + Demiplane is hilarious.

In any case, I tend to ignore D&D syereotypes and tropes and just play what I want.

The Bard's Tale has a twist on Druids, and BG3 has some unusual Druids right in the beginning.

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Loveless:

• Druids

It's true that Druids got pigeonholed into Captain Planet, however I always like to play my Druids a little closer to their Celtic roots, with blood sacrifices and prayers to forgotten gods. Druids were just pre-Roman British holy men/priests, but they did have a fascination with the natural world (as all animist cultures do), especially oak trees.

Anybody who underestimates celtic mythology as a bunch of tree hugging hippies have clearly never heard the stories of Cu Chulainn, The Morrigan, or the Nuckelavee.

https://youtu.be/XqyEADY_20Y

[Ch3ls3ab0t]

“Never the main character…” tf? Ever played DND? Bards do all the talking. They’re the face, and skill monkeys with so much utility. Did you watch the dnd movie? The main character is a bard. Have you played this game? Charisma is so useful that you can literally talk multiple bosses to their death.
My thoughts on the usefulness of Druid’s could last a while, but they basically have something in their kit for any situation between their magic and wild shapes. Living Swiss Army knife tbh.

[BiggieJohn]

Druid has one of the biggest lvl 3 spikes at the start of the game with growth spikes and moonbeam while also being able to cast mirror image and misty step. Druid is probably the strongest caster in the lvl 3 to 7 range before being overtaken by the other casters. Terrain control is huge early game and most enemies can't jump or teliport. As you get later into the game many can teliport and jump miles so this is why the druid spells fall behind later. I would rather be a druid early to mid game than any other caster. I would rather be a sorc/wizard/lock on the back end.