Ideas For Druidry Casting

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Lexx416
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Ideas For Druidry Casting

Post by Lexx416 »

Rias asked, over Voice, for people to post up ideas they had for how Druidry should be different from/cooler than just "channel Druid; cast XZY", so I figured I'd start a suggestion thread! Got a cool idea for how you think the spellcasting/ritual casting process should work? POST IT UP YA'LL!

Preface
I don't know what kind of occult effects, specifically, Druidry is gonna be capable of (aside from the potential to Commune, and possible buffs to skills?)! So these are definitely just kind of spitballed ideas that I thought sounded really cool or interesting.

Component Driven Rituals
Since Druidry, as far as I'm aware, is about making contact with some vague entity that is connected to the natural world, it makes sense to me that in order for humans to bridge that gap, they would be aided by tools and components. These components and tools should be crafted of organic materials, with different materials being better and worse for specific Occult tasks.

Casting
My largest suggestion for Component Driven Rituals would be that the majority of the "casting" take place in the creation and preparation of Reagents and Tools; essentially a spell would be partially prepared ahead of time. Any Druid with knowledge of the Ritual could use a Component or Tool later on, by channeling the appropriate Druidry (while wearing a focus), and actually CASTing the spell with the tool or component in hand or appropriately applied/readied (see below suggestions).

Side note: I'm actually not in love with the super-prep heavy stuff. I think it makes sense, but maybe the creation of the finalized components could be the actual spell casting, requiring application, and tools could be more for casting WITH later on.


Unguents and Salves
Unguents and salves would be very similar to what a Physicker might make or prescribe, in terms of their basic creation. This would be a topical paste derived from a base carrier oil (in the case of Druidic Rituals, this base carrier oil could be derived from either animal fat OR plant-based oil). This carrier base could be created by any crafted, and could probably be prepared through a NUMBER of skillsets: Animal Husbandry, Cooking, Farming, Bushcraft. Once a carrier oil is prepared and stored in a jar, a Druid would then need to add other specialized herbs, while channeling Druidry, to finish the actual product. There also perhaps should be a 'cook time' that a jar needs to be heated for.

An unguent or a salve could have multiple uses, each requiring the Druid to channel and cast after applying to a target (themselves or another). This would be a cool way to deliver single target buff spells.

Example
Bear's Might Unguent
This unguent is a potent, oily thing that allows a Druid to call up the mighty strength of a bear. The base carrier can be anything, but plant-based oils would not work as efficiently (ie, create a lesser bonus, or perhaps a shorter duration, or both), bear-fat based carrier would have a bonus, and any other animal-fat would be neutral in terms of bonus or penalty to ritual efficacy. An herbal mixture of herbs associated with strength (mugwort, pennyroyal, ginseng; these are just some things I found on google, but Rias might have better suggestions that are Lore friendly) would be added. When this finished, oily unguent is applied and the ritual is cast, the target is imbued with greater Strength.

Aromatics and Incense
These would be candles, incense sticks and powders, and rushlights that are prepared with specific materials (fats, oils, and herbs) that could be derived from any base that a mundane crafter could make, which a Druid then finalizes with special herbs and channeling to create a one-use item that creates a ritual that impacts anyone in a room when burned and Cast. This would be useful for group buffs, debuffs to enemies (or, perhaps, anyone that isn't the Druid...), perhaps even for setting up "traps" of sorts. Burning incense may linger for several minutes, and the spell may impact anyone that lingers in the room for too long even after the Druid leaves. Different items (candles, vs. incense, vs. rushlights) could have different times. Perhaps candles work as long as they are burning. Incense leaves lingering smoke. Rushlights are a combination of the two?

Example
Wild Ravening
This ritual aromatic produces a malicious effect wherein any natural (see: non-nethrim, non constructs; etc.) creature impacted are suddenly filled with a growing, insatiable hunger. For the duration of the rite, anyone that is impacted by this ritual has their hunger slowly grow more and more, but are unable to satiate it.

Charms and Totems
Charms and totems are two different tools that could be used in the casting of spells that do not fit within the purview of Unguents or Aromatics. These could even include (minorly) enchanted or ensorcelled objects; baskets that stave off spoilage. thornleaf (because I gotta) cloaks that have a chance to 'sting' attackers, shoes or sandals that allow someone to walk more easily through brush undetected, all items that should degrade over time with no chance of repair.

Charms could also take the form of trinkets and figurines that are necessary in the casting of some rituals. They should be crafted from any organic material; bone, ivory, wicker, plant fiber, wood. The base items, as above, can be crafted by any mundane crafter, but perhaps Druid-craft items would receive a minor bonus? As prior, the item must be specially prepared in the finalized steps by a channeling Druid, and the item can then be used, while channeling, to actually CAST rituals as needed. This could range from animal figurines used to attract animal companions, to trinkets worn on bracelets that allow for the Druid to Commune (and would slowly degrade over time, similar to pendants), to rings or perhaps even staves and rods that allow a druid to call up vines to ensnare an opponent. Every usage should incur durability lost that cannot be repaired.

Totems would be for larger rituals. Wooden or wicker structures that when finalized by a Druid would create a larger effect. This could be a way to increase the happiness and production of animal products, to protect bees from deadly cold winters, to increase the fertility of a farmland. I'm not sure what other larger rituals Rias would want in the hands of players, but anything that wasn't a single target spell, a minor debuff, could fall into this category.

Example
I posted these above! There's hella examples in the body of the charms and totems text.


Final Notes on Component Driven Rituals
I have no idea if this would be Lore friendly, but when I think of how to make Druidry cooler and different than just channeling, this is what came to mind! Creating significance behind the materials they use to work their rituals. I can only operate under the assumption that Druidry here will, Lore-wise, be very similar to what I experienced in Rias' past project, so that's where my ideas sort of stem at their intrinsic level.

I also very much enjoy the idea that it's another means by which crafters and even adventurer's and warriors are needed! This creates a demand for wood worked items, animal products and by-product, herbs. Any which of said materials could perhaps be hidden away in a dangerous area! Or even more efficacious reagents that are in hard to reach places, which create improved occult effects.


Major and Minor Rituals

This is something that I thought of, that I think could probably work for Druidry AND Sorcery, wherein similar to Arcana, there are Major Rituals that take Ability Slots, and Minor Rituals that require recipe points derived from the casting skill (Druidry, for Druids). I don't really have this idea fleshed out. Just thought it would be another neat potential thing to do!
"You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods... Remnants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as beasts."
Agelity
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Re: Ideas For Druidry Casting

Post by Agelity »

I really like the idea of component driven rituals with fetishes, totems, or charms, or abilities that are really only useful or even usable in certain environments. The more powerful the ability, the more restrictive or cost-prohibitive it is (additional or even rare components, only functional in forests, etc.).

I'm not sure how it would overall function, but I also kind of like the idea of druidry being less of an active channel that you need to learn to harness and more of an indicator as to how "in tune" you are to the natural world, and are able to manipulate or conjure certain aspects of nature's bounty. A few thoughts below:
- As a druid completes certain rituals their druidry skill goes up, and future rituals of similar difficulty eventually start to become quicker to invoke. For a few abilities perhaps the required component cost also goes down a little as a druid begins to learn just what is actually needed; druids likely don't wish to be wasteful if they can help it!
- Certain abilities may require much more of an attunement to the world before they can be learned (higher skill + maybe something like a touch of lore?)
- Certain abilities may be able to be learned in whatever scholarly location there is for druidry, but in order to be used require a sort of rite in order to actually utilize (go to x-location and perform y-command with a totem or fetish in hand)
As it is, I'm actually okay with the idea that some abilities could be as simple as meditating and attuning oneself to the world in order to invoke a druidic abilities (similar to channel x; cast y). This may be more useful for some things that rangers can also do (though giving them a little extra ritualistic stuff could be neat too if it fits the class specialization). For other abilities having those additional steps can really set a druid apart from other naturey folks.
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Rias
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Re: Ideas For Druidry Casting

Post by Rias »

We're on the same wavelength when it comes to a starting sort of attunement ritual where you need to go a specific place with a specific item (totem or such) and do a specific thing to sort of initially "link up". That's the main thing I've bee thinking about the past few days. I like the idea of having to re-establish this every now and then, or something. Not necessarily by just doing the ritual again - though that could work - but also having other actions that can strengthen the "druidic connection" so to speak. Almost like their own form of resource management, though more vague and less immediate.

After that, I'm thinking a fairly simple baseline though, at least for the basic abilities. A simple channel X, cast Y works for simple things. I do like the idea of different areas and environments having an effect. I also like the idea of using components and whatnot for added effects or increased potency, and some more involved abilities requiring that. One idea is the popular "tangle root" ability: I like the idea of requiring a carried seed to do this, rather than just assuming there happen to be applicable roots in the spot you're at under the target's feet. And then we can say different seeds can have different effects, and work better or worse in different environments. All that fun stuff. I also like the idea that you'd have to prep the seeds beforehand, infusing them with (a lot of) energy or something. Because that small seed immediately bursting into thick roots capable of holding down man and beast seems like it'd be a pretty energy-intensive process.

I can easily throw in different druidic affinities, where raising one will increase effectiveness with associated abilities while lowering affinity for the others. No "master of all".

I will say this: It's a hot debate amongst druids regarding what constitutes this druidic connection. Is it some kind of judgment of worthiness by nature spirits? Is it a natural affinity and connection developed by those who revere the natural world? Is it just another power that can be essentialy taken/forced if one simply knows the correct steps? Certainly there have been times that an individual druid has done something that the druid community at large disapproves of, yet the druid hasn't lost his druidic power. Some druidic abilities are largely deemed disrespectful of nature: various powers that influence or control animals are essentially taking away that sentient creature's free will, and forcing the druid's will on it instead. Many would consider such a thing to be monstrous - and yet such powers can be achieved via druidry, which is deemed to be the power of nature itself. Have druids found a way to override ethics without consequence? Do the spirits of nature simply judge things differently? Is there not even any sense of morality or ethics in nature, and it's just something man is projecting onto it? These are things the druidic community doesn't know (or at least can't prove, for those who claim to know it), and I'm interested to see different characters have different takes on it. I'd say lore-wise, most druids admit that it could well be something that they'll never know, because most consider themselves mature enough to admit that the workings of nature are not required to be comprehensible to man. Despite this, the vast majority take a "respect nature and use these powers responsibly" approach. Not that respecting nature means pacifism or happy cooperation with all living things - nature is wild, chaotic, and merciless. It would be silly to promote pacifism as a druid championing the natural world, when nature itself survives primarily by the myriad types of life preying upon - or at least consuming - one another in some form.
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Agelity
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Re: Ideas For Druidry Casting

Post by Agelity »

Rias wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:31 pm We're on the same wavelength when it comes to a starting sort of attunement ritual where you need to go a specific place with a specific item (totem or such) and do a specific thing to sort of initially "link up". That's the main thing I've bee thinking about the past few days. I like the idea of having to re-establish this every now and then, or something. Not necessarily by just doing the ritual again - though that could work - but also having other actions that can strengthen the "druidic connection" so to speak. Almost like their own form of resource management, though more vague and less immediate.
Good to hear we're on the same page here! That last bit regarding having to "attune" again could also tie into some of what I'll mention at the bottom of this post.
Rias wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:31 pm After that, I'm thinking a fairly simple baseline though, at least for the basic abilities. A simple channel X, cast Y works for simple things. I do like the idea of different areas and environments having an effect. I also like the idea of using components and whatnot for added effects or increased potency, and some more involved abilities requiring that. One idea is the popular "tangle root" ability: I like the idea of requiring a carried seed to do this, rather than just assuming there happen to be applicable roots in the spot you're at under the target's feet. And then we can say different seeds can have different effects, and work better or worse in different environments. All that fun stuff. I also like the idea that you'd have to prep the seeds beforehand, infusing them with (a lot of) energy or something. Because that small seed immediately bursting into thick roots capable of holding down man and beast seems like it'd be a pretty energy-intensive process.
The idea of having to prep these things beforehand, either with some general "infuse druidic energy" type of ability that has different effects depending on the natural object it's being performed on, or something else a bit more ability specific. For a farmer having a seed infused with druidic magic could make it into a dangerous tangleroot situation as a way of self-defense, or perhaps just the best darn watermelon the Porto market has ever seen. Lots of possibilities there.
Rias wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:31 pm I can easily throw in different druidic affinities, where raising one will increase effectiveness with associated abilities while lowering affinity for the others. No "master of all".
Going up a bit, and to comment a bit on what was discussed in OOC, focusing on certain ritualistic aspects could very well change ones affinity as a druid. Some may be more hunting/combat focused, others may be focused more toward natural growth, others maybe just some crazed half-animal (or plant?) hermit. As druids I'd think that all are capable of a little bit of everything if they want to put the time in (after all, nature encompasses MANY things), but time into something else is still time away from another so having a bit of an affinity may convince one druid to spend more time working on their root grenades and another on making sure that if they tap into the spirit of a bear that they don't inevitably wind up napping in a cave for the duration of winter.
Dennis
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Re: Ideas For Druidry Casting

Post by Dennis »

Wasn't sure if I wanted to make a whole thread about this so I'm just going to necrobump this one.

One of the challenges of finding druidry spots is, well, finding them. I think it would be nice if when we channeled druidry and surveyed an area, if it told us if we felt that there was something primally powerful in the region. That way it would give some sense of direction to our wild hunts!
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