OSR and 1st Level Druid Spells

A level 1 druid can jostle the natural world, but he’s a good protector. Maybe a low-level party would be okay, even confronting d6 spitting cobras? Here's a look through some level 1 spells in OSE.

Animal Friendship

Finding a stray hound, a druid invokes an arboreal power. The hound fails a saving throw, and the druid names it - Garond, animal friend. Over three months, the hound learns to retrieve felled game, recognize a scent, return to a hand signal, and defend.

In a 5e module about Saltmarsh, I recall a druid in the town. I can imagine an acolyte, a level 1 druid, drinking beer on the back porch. Maybe, he be-spelled the hound. He'd be a great one to solo along the shore near town.

Detect Danger

A druid, some kind of hedge-druid learned to scan a 10 x 10 area and discern the dangers. She'd learned something odd - six caves near a canyon pass - five were nasty drops - filled with dust, centipedes, and snakes. Another, hid a flurry of sprites. But which one?

Another time, chasing an intruder from the sacred grove, she finds a splitting place along the trail - which way to run? Invoking mineral spirits, she discerns the danger. The hunt is on.


                                            [Farmer Maggot, by Tim Hildebrandt]

Entangle

I know hobbit bounders who use entangle to keep hidden pathways clear. When times are tough, that same spell conceals the trail.It makes me think of Farmer Maggot, near Buckleberry Ferry. He’d know a spell, some kind of reverse-entangle - to open, then conceal hidden passages in the grasses beside the Brandywine. That’s a druid I'd play tonight, if it wasn’t late.

Faerie Fire

From 50 feet away, a slinking bugbear stalks a band of human hunters, but a lowly seed-gatherer who carries extra spears and water, a near toothless druid, still level 2, intones a faerie fire. These hunters are tired, angry to be off the hunt, and see a glowing bugbear in the dark.

Invisibility to Animals

I knew a druid, exploring a pool in a seaside cavern. Finding a giant octopus, he enfolded himself in invisibility. He plunged beneath the waters. This time, I was a dungeon master – a newcomer dungeon master. So worried that something might go wrong – I intervened, and missed a chance to see what the druid would do. 

All this, and there's still Locate Plant or Animal, Predict Weather, and Speak with Animals.

Thanks for reading.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 19, 2022 at 5:42 AM

    I do enjoy that invisibility to animals one. At first it seemed counter intuitive; I thought "shouldn't a Druid be happy to be visible to animals and maybe invisible to humans," but it sure has come in handy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. TenKeepOctober 22, 2022 at 6:35 PM

    Awesome, another one would be blending-in with a herd of antelope, or something, and slipping though canyon lands undiscovered. Thanks a lot for writing.

    ReplyDelete

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