I hope that this thread will help people figure out what druids are all about, and help those who are planning on/already are playing one figure out their concept. Comments, suggestion, criticism, etc. is welcome.
(Note: On Arelith, it's okay to not have a deity as a druid, you instead select "Toril" from the book of deities.)The fury of a storm, the gentle strength of the morning sun, the cunning of the fox, the power of the bear – all these and more are at the druid's command. The druid however, claims no mastery over nature. That claim, she says, is the empty boast of a city dweller. The druid gains her power not by ruling nature but by being one with it. To trespassers in a druid's sacred grove, to those who feel the druid's wrath, the distinction is overly fine.
Like clerics, the druids of Faerun receive their spells from a particular patron deity, always a deity of nature or animals. However, druids do not necessarily see a clear division between nature and the divine forces that run through nature. While many people think only of forests when they think of druids, druids care also for the mountains, deserts, lakes, and even the swamps of Faerun.
The path of a druid is a path of a loner. They live out in the wilds, often in their own private groves far from civilization and even the circle of druids, often only returning to civilization to fetch supplies or get up to date on current events, or returning to the Circle to make reports, or hear them. From their groves, they watch over the land, preserving it from defilers like poachers, necromancers, and even threats from other planes.
First and foremost, a druid owes his allegiance to the natural world. A nature deity has a vested interest in ensuring the natural world remains balanced and generally unchanged, and so grant spells to druids with a far longer leash than they would grant to clerics, paladins, or divine champions. One may know a druid for many years and not know what deity they serve, unless they look closely at the druid's general style of preserving Balance, which is usually influenced by their choice in deity.
Balance
One will often hear a druid talk about Balance. The Balance is, at its simplest, the general stability of the forest/region/world/plane/planes. Anything that threatens this stability is thus threatening that which a druid is sworn to protect.
It is important to note that any and all outsiders (beings from the Outer Planes, not to be confused with Elementals from the Inner Planes) are a threat to the Balance, and they, along with those who summon them, are a Druid's enemy. This is because Outsiders come from planes that generally emulate some abstract ideal, like Law, Good, Evil, Chaos.
The presence of these Outsiders on Toril poses a threat to the Balance, because not only do they belong on their own world, while here, they will slowly change the areas they inhabit to more resemble their own world. This is bad even in the case of Celestials and other good/lawful beings, as my druid said: "Let Celestia be Celestia, let Toril be Toril."
Elementals and creatures from the Inner Planes often naturally appear on Toril, and thus the presence/summoning of them is not necessarily a threat to Balance, but may become one if taken too far.
Get your hands off of my deer!
Many people think that if caught chopping down a tree or hunting a deer, a druid will get mad and bite their head off. This is generally not the case, but not always, certain evil/fanatical druids may take an extreme dislike toward civilization and those who live there, and hunt them down. For the most part, hunting for food to feed one's family or village is natural. Everyone wants to feed their families, even animals. Chopping down a section of forest, though not strictly natural, is accepted by druids for the purpose of farming, and druids often assist farmers, warning them of coming trouble.
A druid will not look kindly on poachers killing for pelts or sport, nor upon a nation setting fire to a neighboring kingdom's forests as an act of war, and will retaliate violently against such people. The forest, after all, is a druid's home, they live there, and want to protect it.
Totems
A Totem druid is a druid who felt such a bond with a particular animal, that they almost become one in spirit. It results in significantly more powerful abilities in the animal shape of their totem, but similarly weaker abilities in their human form. Note that totem druids lack the Creature Weapons that non-totem druids have, meaning that you will provoke Attacks of Opportunity if you lack Improved Unarmed Strike, and casting Stoneskin or Premonition will not allow you to bypass Damage Reduction, as it would for a non-totem druid. It will still work on your summon and animal companion, though.
Also, a Totem druid is a Totem druid. As is mentioned on the wiki, there was once a wolf PC, who was just a wolf, not a druid, but a 5% rolled wolf. Your character has a bond to the animal you chose, and may begin to act and think like the animal (hunting in a pack for a wolf, laying in wait for ambush as a spider, etc.), and some may begin to think of themselves as not truly human (or elven/dwarven/whatever) anymore, but instead something in between. A Totem druid is not an animal.
City Druids
There is no rule stating you cannot play a "City Druid." Canonically, any druid who spent too much time in civilization, or aided it at the expense of the wilds, would lose their powers, and/or be hunted down by the other druids.
I ask (as a player, nothing more, this is not a rule) that those of you who want to play a druid, play a druid for more than their mechanical strength, but for the roleplay of playing a druid. A druid lives in the wilds, and that isn't very limiting at all, there are a vast number of concepts you can make that live in the wilds yet are unique, fun, and interesting.
Those of you who want to have ties to nature but lack the patience for spending most of your time in the wilds, I recommend playing a cleric with the Animal and Plant domains, and worshiping a nature deity. It's about as strong as a druid, you get the best of both worlds, and you are believable, unlike a City Druid. The server could certainly use some clerics of nature deities running around, and you guys would be perfect for the job, as it wouldn't be much of a change from what you already are.
This is not to say that druids never enter town. They can and should from time to time, to get up to date on current events, and perhaps do some trading (gold is okay for a druid, it's just another tool to them, useful in getting by).
Final Note
I am an advocate for people going all the way with their concept. Don't be half a druid, go out and preserve the Balance to your dying breath. Spread the faith of Tyr, holding holy ceremonies and travel the land to ensure justice is done. Smite all evil as your paladin, regardless of the odds. Uthgardt Barbarian? Never use the enchantment basin. Ever. Your warlock has a pact, use it to further a plot, make your character revolve around it and weaseling your way out of it in order to accomplish your goals. Playing a thief? Don't be afraid of getting curbstomped by an epic level, get out there and start robbing people. Banite? Hold up everyone you meet, demanding to know if they fear Bane, and if they say no, intimidate them, if they continue to claim fearlessness, beat the crap out of them with your bare hands. (Masterly Brass Knuckles that read "FEAR BANE" backwards are mandatory.)
That's how you become awesome, not by only going partway with your concept. Tolerance and carebearism will leave you with a mediocre character. Nothing wrong with that, you just won't be awesome. It just means someone else will have to go off and be the adventurer/hero/villain.
Don't be afraid of being disliked by a few people for being aggressive about doing what you made your character to do. You can never please everyone.
Finally, some links you may find helpful.
http://www.escapefromundeath.com/forums ... .php?t=256
http://coa.ender.com/viewtopic.php?t=9076
http://wiki.arelith.com/Druid
http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Druid (Be sure to look up all your spells, many of them have abilities which are undocumented IG)
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Druid (A great read, I highly recommend it, note that a small amount of it is 4e, and may not apply)
Thank you for reading, I hope you found it useful.