So, The Druid

The druid playtest just appeared on Kickstarter. What do you guys think?

I've never been much of a druid kind of guy. I voted barbarian. But I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. It's not what I expected (a spell list and such) but by the gods, I would play that druid and play it hard.

Glad to hear it!

One point of clarification from some early comments: the moves the GM tells you when you take a new form are *monster* moves, i.e. just plain descriptions of what the monster does. So here's what that might look like:

"You're a deer now? Well, they're flighty, so one of your moves is "Escape on hoof." They're also tough to sneak up on, so you can "Take away the element of surprise" too."

That's an important clarification! A list of sample animals would have been nice.

Also, I am a tiny bit disappointed that there are no spells for the druid. I think he is balanced, but the druid was always about spell-casting and shapeshifting for me. Still, looks interestingly enough.

Holy crap.

I'm at work. I was giddy when I saw it. First off: halfling druid picture is the cat's pajamas. But as I read the giddy left:  All that I was left with was a deep appreciation for what was done.  There are so many stories hidden inside those moves, so much flavor and depth.  I've been joking about wanting one for months, and this was so worth the wait, and so worth the pick.

It hits all the points and nuances of what I want.  Shapeshifter, shaman, land guardian, spirit talker, guide ... swamp thing.  There are so many routes to take this.  It feels very right.

I have some minor suggestions/questions which will happen post-work, but damn guys.  Good work.

My first reaction reading was to ask : Moves like what? I figure a small list of examples would be nice, if only as inspiration.

I took a few steps back figured it out with the great power of logic pretty quickly afterwards ("Oh, well, if you were a python, you would get, say, "Constrict a food item" and "Poison a food item"), but I still think a 2-3 examples available on hand would be a good thing (obvious animals coming to mind are a bear, a large snake and an eagle)

I'm gathering some people for a game on Saturday, I'll try to put some pressure on the people there to play the druid. Might also force-level the crew to third level, just to see what happens.

I don't regret the loss of spells. Makes the druid more unique, in my opinion.

@Murder-of-crows: Take the ranger move for spellcasting.  You can be a raw shapeshifter, or you can be a divine-casty-druid.

@tehnai: I expect there to be a section like that in the 'class moves discussion'

We already have some sample moves, but no space for them on the current sheet. I'm working on a way to fit them in!

Oh Sage, you guys think of everything!

/kissass_fanboyism

@Murder-of-crows: Take the ranger move for spellcasting.  You can be a raw shapeshifter, or you can be a divine-casty-druid.

AAAH this made the druid my to-go class the first time I get the chance to play, well, as a player.

That said:
• Elemental Mastery seems too punishing to me—I would like more something like: on a 10+ you have full success; on a 7-9, decide: either you are harmed or you lose control.
• Thing-Talker: I shapeshift in a sword, can I swing to my opponents or I'm just an inanimated sword?
• I LOVE Sky-Bender and the Tell you must have in all your shapes.

edit

however, I tried to post this three times, but every time someone added a post, I read it, then tried to post, but someone else replied, and so on.

I just noticed the same thing about Elemental Mastery. Blame Adam, he wrote that one. Should probably be 10+ all three, 7-9 choose two.

Thing-Talker: My first instinct is no, but I should think on it.

The Tell was Adam's idea. So I guess that makes up for Elemental Mastery. I love it too.

• Elemental Mastery seems too punishing to me—I would like more something like: on a 10+ you have full success; on a 7-9, decide: either you are harmed or you lose control.

Rereading it, I think I agree with that.

As for spellcasting: we pretty deliberately didn't want to make a whole new spell list and spellcasting move and all that. Having spellcasting plus shapeshifting off the bat was too much, so we decided to err on the side of shapeshifting and make spellcasting kind of a special option. I think it'll work pretty well, but we'll see.

Elemental Mastery isn't a mistake.  I wrote it to be unpredictable and dangerous.  Try it out in play - if I'm crazy out-of-touch, let me know.

@(not that) adam: You really have to look at it *with* the ranger sheet (Think Ranger beast companion + the eyes of the beast trick) to see the whole other layer of awesome hiding.

Like I said I went from "huzzah I get to romp and stomp and fly around" and just sat there with all the possibilities and how much difference you can eke out from different combos.  I love it.

Can you cast spells (if you have access to them) while in animal form? I'm just curious.