Religion of the Cleric Addendum: The Druid as Hermit

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Spurred on by this post by Timothy Brannan I've decided to present the Druid as an Advanced (or prestige) Class of the Cleric. This is is the first of many such Advanced Classes I plan on adapting to be compatible with Old School Essential and B/X. Basically I am going to use OSE as my base game with some of the subsystems, like a revised weapon mastery, from BECMI tacked on and also a system implementing Advanced Classes for characters who reach name level.

First off, I really dislike the habit of D&D taking specific cultural roles and tacking them on to the game in haphazard way that completely ignores who that group of people were historically. An historical druid was nothing like the Christian Priest after which the D&D cleric is based, and therefore should not use the same rules or have a similar role in the game. Both the druid and the bard were part of a religious caste within their societies, but they were not priests in the modern sense of the word. This is the major reason I cut druids out of my game for a long time.

However, after going through all the clerical spells/prayers and analyzing how they would affect the theology and religion of the D&D cleric, I can see implementing the Druid as presented in the Companion set. The Church and God of the D&D cleric has much greater ties to the natural world than real world Christianity, resulting in this Cleric who goes off to study nature seeming to be more plausible. If I only had the option of using the AD&D druid I would still ban them from my games (at least until I had developed new rules/systems to represent a historical druid and bard). But in the companion set, the Druid is an experienced cleric who shuns civilization and the hierarchical system of the Church and finds enlightenment in nature. This doesn't describe a druid, this describes the type of hermit presented in tales of King Arthur and other romantic tales. This Hermit is still a good christian, but lives away from civilization, often guarding a shrine; they come closer to God by getting closer to the work of His hands, the natural world. So, without further ado, here is the Hermit as an Advanced Class:

Hermit

A Cleric reaching Name (9th) Level may choose to become a Hermit. A Hermit is a Cleric who chooses to study nature in order to have a closer relationship with God. They shun 'civilization' and the organized Church. The Hermit's way of life is devoted to a balance with nature and all living things. They believe that God can be found in all living things, and that civilization is a corruption of God's purposes; God intended that mankind should live in harmony with the natural world. Hermits view themselves as caretakers of a given territory, be it a woodland, a shrine, a single meadow, a lake or fountain. Hermits will act to punish the desecration or damage to these territories.

A Cleric choosing to follow the path of Hermit becomes a 1st Level Hermit upon reaching 10th Level as a Cleric. They continue to advance in experience, to hit bonuses, and saving throws as a Cleric. e.g. A 4th level Hermit would have a THAC0 of 12,  Save vs Death with a 3, ave vs Wands with a 5, Save vs Paralysis with a 7, Save vs Breath with an 8, Save vs Spells with a 7, and require 700,000 xp to become a 5th level Hermit.

Restrictions:

• A Hermit must live at least 3 miles (an hour's walk) from any human settlement.
• A Hermit may not use metal armor of any type, nor use metal weapons or tools. Hermit items and equipment are all made of things that were once alive (leather, wood, bone, etc.). "Dead" things that have never been alive are repulsive to the Hermit; the character will simply won't want to use or touch them. However, the character may still use such items if conditions require it, and won't object if others use "dead" things.

Special Abilities:

• Energy Resistance Hermits gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against the effects of natural lightning or fire (not a Dragon's Breath)
• Identification Hermits can identify all plants and animals of the same Biome that the Hermit makes their home. and will also know the location of all sources of fresh water within a week's journey from their home.
• Path-Finding Hermits cannot get lost within a week's journey of their home, and halve the chance of getting lost elsewhere.
• Pass without Trace At 3rd level, a Hermit gains the ability to pass through natural environments without leaving any tracks. The character is also able to move through overgrown areas at normal speed and without impediment.
• Sylvan Languages At 3rd level, a Hermit learns to speak a language used by Sylvan or Fey creatures. An Additional language may be learned each level thereafter.
• Charm Immunity Hermits of 7th level and above are immune to the charms of Fey and Sylvan creatures.
• Shape Change At 7th level, a Hermit gains the power to change into the form of a reptile, bird, and mammal (once per day each). The animal may be of any size up to twice the bulk of the Hermit's normal form. Equipment and clothing is not absorbed into the animal form. The Hermit assumes all the characteristics, except mental, of the animal while transformed, including Hit Points, Attacks and Damage, Movement Rate, etc. If injured while transformed the Hermit will retain the Injuries in animal form, and vice versa. If killed while in animal form, the Hermit will revert back to their original form.
• Coerce Animal Hermits retain the ability they gained as a Cleric to turn undead, but do not advance any further on the Turn Undead chart. Instead they may coerce animals. This uses the same chart as Turn Undead; They advance along this chart by animal HD and their Hermit level (a 10th level Cleric/1st level Druid needs a roll of 7 to coerce animals of 1HD). In this chart replace any 'T' with a 'C' for Coerce, and any 'D' with a 'B' for Befriend. A successful coercion has the same effects as the AD&D 1st level Cleric 'Command' Spell, except that it only applies to animals, and lasts for 1 Turn (10 Minutes). Befriend has the same effects as the AD&D 1st level Druid spell 'Animal Friendship'.
• Prayers (spellcasting) Hermits retain their Clerical ability to perform miracles through prayer (cast spells), yet they do not gain any further ability in this area. Instead they begin to advance in the ability to say new prayers (spells) using the same clerical spell chart applied to their new Hermit level. Thus, a 1st level Hermit/10th level Cleric could say 3 1st, 3 2nd, 3 3rd, 2 4th, and 2 5th level clerical prayers, and no hermit prayers; a 5th level Hermit/14th level Cleric would be able to say 3 1st, 3 2nd, 3 3rd, 2 4th, and 2 5th level clerical prayers, and 2 1st level, and 2 2nd level Hermit Prayers.

Prayer List

1st Level Prayers

1. Faerie Fire
2. Locate
3. Predict Weather
4. Detect Danger
5. Entangle
6. Invisibility to Animals

2nd Level Prayers

1. Obscure
2. Produce Fire
3. Warp Wood
4. Heat Metal
5. Barkskin
6. Slow Poison

3rd Level Prayers

1. Call Lightning
2. Hold Animal
3. Water Breathing
4. Protection from Poison
5. Growth of Plants
6. Tree Shape

4th Level Prayers

1. Control Temperature 10' radius
2. Plant Door
3. Protection from Lightning
4. Summon Animals
5. Hallucinatory Forest
6. Hold Plant

5th Level Prayers

1. Anti-Plant Shell
2. Control Winds
3. Pass Plant
4. Dissolve
5. Commune with Nature
6. Protection from Plants and Animals

6th Level Prayers

1. Anti-Animal Shell
2. Transport through Plants
3. Summon Weather
4. Turn Wood
5. Wall of Thorns/
6. Create Normal Animal

7th  Level Prayers

1. Creeping Doom
2. Metal to Wood
3. Weather Control
4. Summon Elemental
5. Animate Rock
6. Survival