Druid

Nature-themed spellcasters who can change into animal forms and cast spells like clerics.

The druid is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Druids wield nature-themed magic. Druids cast spells like clerics, but unlike them do not have special powers against undead and, in some editions, cannot use metal armor. Druids have a unique ability that allows them to change into various animal forms, and various other qualities that assist them in natural settings.

Quick Facts

First

Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976)

Source

Eldritch Wizardry
Companion Set
Player's Handbook (1978, 1989, 2000, 2003, 2014)
Player's Handbook 2

Lore & Background

The druid is named for the pre-Christian Celtic priests called druids. In the book The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games (2014), Michael Tresca highlighted that "historically, druids did revere trees as nature spirits. [...] Zoomorphism was common enough to justify druids transforming into all kinds of animals. [...] Conspicuously lacking from Dungeons & Dragons is the role of sacrifices in druidic rituals". Druids appeared, but not as player characters, in the original Greyhawk supplement from 1975. They were presented as a player character class in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement in 1976. In the 2nd edition Player's Handbook, the druid class is only loosely patterned after the historical druids of Europe during the days of the Roman Empire and acted as advisors to chieftains with great influence over the tribesmen.

Reader's Guide

In the 5th edition Player's Handbook (2014), druids utilize divine magic. Druid spells are typically devoted to communing with nature, interpreting or directing the weather, communicating with creatures and plants, and the like. The druid shares some spells with the cleric, such as some healing spells, and has a number of offensive spells which use the power of nature—calling down lightning storms, for example, or summoning wild animals to fight.

They also gain special powers such as the shapeshifting ability "Wild Shape"; but these are not mechanically considered spells. Included in the Player's Handbook are two Druid subclasses: the Circle of the Land and the Circle of the Moon. Several sourcebooks published since the launch of 5th edition have expanded the number of Druid Circle options. Xanathar's Guide to Everything (2017) added the Circle of Dreams and the Circle of the Shepherd.

Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica (2018) added the Circle of Spores, which was then reprinted in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (2020) along with two new options: Circle of Stars and Circle of Wildfire. All subclasses offer additional features for the druid. In addition to those features, some druid circles offer an expanded spell list, which may include spells not typically available to druids, and augmented or alternate uses for their "Wild Shape" ability.

Did You Know?

In 1st edition, druids had to defeat a higher-level druid in combat to reach higher levels and earn titles like Archdruid.
In 3.5 edition, druids lose the ability to cast spells or change into animal form for a day if they wear metal armor.
Screen Rant rated the druid class as the 10th most powerful class of the base 12 character classes in the 5th edition.