So, The Druid

also, you should write in the Land Before Time as an option to allow druids to shapeshift into dinosaurs. I'm serious.

I'd probably just work dinosaurs into the fiction for the desert. It isn't that hard to believe, I think Dark Sun had clawhook raptor thingies as mounts. And Desert needs more support. We have Coyote, Owl, Spider, Snake and Camel. Some frogs, some lizards, but if you don't write fresh stuff into the fiction, that's pretty much it.

uhm that's your setting. In mine, all dinosaurs live in a secret magical tropical jungle at the north pole, populated also by primitive men. Just like in the marvel universe :D

In another setting of mine I think they actually live in their appropriate individual habitat—they just never got extincted. But we still have to explore this thing.

Also, I assume you're talking about a saharan desert, right? Well there you have also scorpion, vulture, fox, gazelle, crocodile, cheetah and a mouse!

There's also at least one type of feline that lives in deserts (though no big cats), and some others that skirt the edges. And there are a number of different animals that will migrate through various parts of deserts, and other regions, to reach their destinations or to complete their travels.

Quick question: If a Druid takes the Hunter's Brother advancement and wants an animal companion, do they get both Animal Companion and Command from the Ranger moves, the way that you get Commune and Cast a Spell if you use a multi-class move to take cleric spells? Command and Animal Companion seem to require each other.

I've been playing DW with my kids (11, 9, and 7). My 9-year-old daughter is currently playing a Ranger and really wants to switch her character to a Druid but she wants to keep her animal companion (a tiger named "Orange").

-John B.

It seems the answer is: no, but if the fiction is cool, then yes.

It seems the answer is: no, but if the fiction is cool, then yes.

Thanks, I had missed that thread. That makes sense and I wouldn't give both Moves in my regular game with my friends, but with my 9-year-old daughter I think I'll give her both.

-John B.

uhm that's your setting.
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Nah, we haven't even mentioned dinosaurs. I'm just making a suggestion. I'm not saying it's mandatory, just that it makes a lot of sense and would probably get less protest than, say, Open Ocean (you heard me Plesiosaur, you unnatural abomination!). Sorry if I was misleading.

Also, I assume you're talking about a saharan desert, right? Well there you have also scorpion, vulture, fox, gazelle, crocodile, cheetah and a mouse
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How on earth did I forget scorpions? They're, like, the desert animal! Good catch. I was talking about how awesome a vulture's moves could be earlier, but I honestly had no idea cheetas were a desert animal. That's something I'll use to my advantage later, somehow. I'm so in love with the concept of desert druids. Never would have even thought about it if the whole 'Lands' thing wasn't an integral part of the Druid setup.

I'm really looking forward to GMing this, but I am still trying to figure out how to handle some of the stuff unique to Dungeon World, and I think Shapeshifter covers some of the elements I am stumbling on.
Let's say the Druid has Thing-Talker and Chimera at level 6 and turns into a stone blue whale/scorpion. On one hand, turning into a Godzilla monster is pretty apocalyptic for something a player can do over and over again. On the other, from a mechanical standpoint I could make their moves be "destroy a landmark" or "assault a city" so they have to use their holds to do the really interesting stuff, and on the fiction side of things, I imagine dangerous people would sit up and take notice if a scorpion the size of a house starting crushing the gentry. On top of it all, I could warn the player that failing such a drastic transformation could have dire consequences.
Am I approaching this the right way?

Just GMed a game with a druid involved. The player was a newer gamer, still working on getting out of his shell and finding his creativity, but we had some pretty awesome scenes.

He was a halfling druid of the River Delta (halflings were a race of barbaric nomads), he absorbed a bear at some point too. Amongst the highlighs of the game were him falling from a castle wall as an Elk, and turning into a bobcat in midair to land safely (shame he failed!)

Also saw him as duck, an alligator and an anaconda (with which he tripped a stone golem using the moves "Constrict anything" and "Coming out of freaking nowhere")

My only comment on the druid would be his low damage. I felt like he was doing all of these cool things in combat but it didn't do much, and given the fact that the druid, at least at level one, seems, at first look, to be a fighty class, I feel like the class should get a D8 of damage. I know this can be achieved by levelling, but still, his damage felt extremely minor for most of the session.

@ZonerZ: Cheetas aren't really desert animals. They're native to very dry areas like savannahs and grassy plains, but not really deserts. Large animals don't tend to do very well in deserts unless they have specific evolutionary adaptations for the heat and minimal water sources, like camels. The sand cat is more in line with what I was talking about, or any number of other variations on small felines that have become specifically adapted to desert life.

@rubiconium: That does sound pretty awesome, but they've also invested two levels worth of advancement choices into doing exactly that. Ultimately, I think it all comes down to the fiction. A giant blue whale or scorpion is only going to be useful for so many things, and it's definitely going to attract attention. Plus they'll have had to attune themselves to a giant scorpion. If they can pull that off through fiction, I'd be willing to let them have it. They'll have earned it.

@tehnai: I see the druid as more of a versatile class, adapting to whatever the circumstance is and to what the player wants it to be. The ability to shapeshift into any number of things means that they should always have a tool right for the job if they think things through and follow the fiction. Don't have a fighter and need to open a barred door? Great, let me shift into a rhino. And on, and on. They may not do tons of damage at first, but I think their versatility makes up for it. Options are something they should never have a lack of, and being creative should with shapeshifting should make them a powerful class, regardless of their damage.

@samuraiko
Thanks for the advice! I've pretty much only ever played 4e, and I spent some time looking over Old School Revival Stuff, so I'm still getting used to a more free-form play-style. One thing I wasn't clear on in my first post, though—I'm pretty sure as long as a Druid has a whale shape and Chimera, they can turn into a giant monster by grafting on other animal bits. So the creature in question was actually a blue whale with scorpion body parts.

Right. I believe the text says up to three, or something to that effect. I'm not sure what I think about allowing animal parts to grow or shrink as they're added, maybe it's something for the roll to shape-shift to decide. Anyone else have thoughts on that?

Hey, if I end up playing rather than GMing at the Canberra Gang's Release Party, I'm going to push for the Druid, my homeland is going to dry schlerophyll forest and I'm going to author shapeshift into Kangaroos, Echidnas, Platypus, Numbats... All the marsupial goodness!

I like the dinosaur concept by the way :)

If I just backed the kick-starter, how would I go about getting access to the Druid playbook for play-testing?

I've been playing with my kids (ages 12 and 9), and the 12 year old has express interest in playing a Druid, so I'd love to get my hands on it.

Thanks.

If I just backed the kick-starter, how would I go about getting access to the Druid playbook for play-testing?

I've been playing with my kids (ages 12 and 9), and the 12 year old has express interest in playing a Druid, so I'd love to get my hands on it.

Thanks.

Backers can access the Druid playtest docs here;

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sage-kobold/dungeon-world-a-game-with-modern-rules-and-old-sch-0/posts/247061

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