Kids Stuff: Bogeys, Imaginary Friends and Childhood Terrors

"Fairy tales do not teach children that monsters exist.
Children already know that monsters exist.
Fairy tales teach children that monsters can be defeated."
- Attributed to G.K. Chesterson

Adults are far removed from the dreams of childhood. When we were children we thought, spoke and behaved as children do or so the Book has told us but so has Freud and Piaget. As adults, we are also removed from the fears of childhood. The Thing Under the Bed, the Monster in the Closet, the Beast Outside our Window. We grow up, get older and forget these things.

They do not forget us.

Children are the keepers of an ancient secret; that the monsters of childhood are real.
For a child, there is a certain magic in innocence. They believe with all their hearts that something magical is real. In sort of a converse of WitchCraft's crowd effect, the "innocence effect" can cause spontaneous thaumotogenesis; the creation of something by magic. In children where the Gift, Sorcery or Magic runs strong these imaginative beings can take shape and live. Or maybe they were always there and the children only brought them into our world.

Bogeys
Bogeys are the name given to harmful creatures created by children. They are mischievous and in many ways are very similar to faeries. Bogarts, Buchwans, Bwcha, and Bogeys all share the same semantic roots and the creatures are very similar. Bogeys though are also akin to demons. Some can be as cruel in their mischief as the worst demon lord.

Bogeys have one quality about them that is unique; adults can not see them. Anytime a bogey preys on a child it will scamper away if an adult comes by. The only way fight a bogey is to see it and the only way to see one is through magic. Some magic sensitive can see them (ie The Sight or Greater Sensing), but the best way to see them is through the eyes of a child or to become childlike.

Some occult scholars will blame the strange goings on around children as poltergeists or nascent magical ability. These maybe true. But there are also bogeys, and since most occult scholars are adults and not looking for them, they never see them.

All bogeys differ and can have any combination of abilities, powers, qualities and drawbacks. Even ones that are restricted to a particular group are available to bogeys. All bogeys do have Innate Magic, though some have been able to learn Magic.

Bogeys and BastIn a Classic Unisystem game or a Cinematic game with Bast, an added dimension can be used. Bogeys are the ancient enemies of the Bast. In the earliest days of Egypt's Pharos, the Bogeys entered our world and began to plague the children of Egypt. The High Priest beseeched Ra, the Sun God, to send them a protector to guard over their children. Ra turned to his protector Bast and she sent her minions to Earth.
Bast, regardless of age, always see Bogeys and most will attack them on site. In the war between them, Bast has decimated the ranks of the Bogeys. Though this is not true everywhere. In Ireland, the ancient Celts were superstitious about cats and they killed many Bast. This allowed the bogeys to gain a strong foothold in the lands of the Celts. To this day this is why you see more bogeys in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales than anywhere else in the world.

The Red-Legged Scissor Man
(From The Menagerie Series by Christopher Golden and Thomas Sniegoski)
A particularly nasty bogey is the Red-Legged Scissor Man. Named for the giant pair of scissors he wields as a weapon. He gets the other part of his name from what he does with the scissors. The Scissor Man plagues children, especially ones that others would describe as having emotional problems. He visits them scaring them with his presence and then uses his scissors to cut off their thumbs. He will then hook the thumb onto his belt with dozens more like it causing the blood to run down his naked lower half, staining his legs in blood. He is unnaturally tall and thin, maybe 8 feet tall, but weighing only 95 some pounds. His face is fixed in a clown-like grin displaying sharp yellow teeth. His tiny red eyes dart everywhere as he nervously laughs as he talks.

The Scissor Man was believed to have been defeated in the middle of the 20^th Century, but who is to say he will stay that way.

Name: The Red-Legged Scissor Man
Motivation: To frighten and maim children
Creature Type: Bogey
Attributes: Str 2, Dex 4, Con 4, Int 3, Per 5, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 12, Brains 12
Life Points: 34
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Attractiveness -3, Emotional Influence (causes fear)
Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Scissors 12 8 Most often used to chop of thumbs
Deflect 15 - Magic defence action; deflects spells 45º

Imaginary Friends
While Bogeys are harmful to children the same creation process also can produce imaginary friends. Like bogeys, imaginary friends are created by the nascent magical ability of children. And like bogeys, imaginary friends cannot be seen by adults.

Buttons
There are very few demons that actually pay attention to strife between bogeys and imaginary friends, considering both to be too far insignificant to even merit their notice. But there is one imaginary friend that they do know about and the mere mention of his name fills them with fear and dread.

That name is Buttons.

Buttons the Bear began just like another childhood toy. He was a handmade stuffed bear given to a now-forgotten child one Christmas morning in the early 1800's. As his child grew older Buttons (and this was not yet his name) was discarded for newer playthings. That is till he ended up as a donation to an orphanage. By this time Buttons had seen a fair amount of use, in particular his glass eyes were gone. The matron of the house, a young Irish nun sewed two buttons on his face for eyes; one green the other red. She gave him to a small child who had nothing and had never received a Christmas present before. It was there that Buttons felt the first tinges of Awakening, the love of this young child stirred up the spark of divinity that is in everything; even in a stuffed bear with mis-matched buttons for eyes.

An orphanage, especially one in what was now the mid-Victorian era, was ripe for all sorts of bogeys. Generally, these were the pestering kind, but every so often something more dangerous would prey on the unfortunates. Buttons (as he was now known) went from merely scaring them off to actively hunting them down at night. For many years Buttons protected the children here and in return he knew he had their love.
Things changed shortly after the Blight. Taking advantage of the suffering and death many demons moved into Ireland, one chose to use the orphanage as a staging area. He would hide in wait, corrupting the adults and torturing the children. It was not though till the demon had fully manifested itself and prepared to kill a child did Buttons attack. Though he was no longer a child's stuffed plaything; instead he had manifested into a towering black bear with razor-sharp claws and a mouthful of teeth. He attacked the demon full on.

The demon, while still very powerful, was only expecting some starving children, not seven feet, 1,200 pounds of fur, claws, and fangs. Within a few seconds the demon was not only on the defense, but nearly ripped to shreds.

On the demon's home plane a portal opened. The demons there were awaiting their Lord's return to bring them the bounty from the orphanage. Instead, the bloodied corpse of their lord was flung through followed by a huge bear with a fire red ruby for one eye and a burning emerald for the other. It let out a deafening roar; a clear warning to the demons. Since that time Buttons has killed no fewer than 17 demon lords and wounded many others. The orphanage suffered no more attacks as long as there was one child holding a tattered old bear with buttons for eyes.

Name: Buttons the Bear (Manifested Form)
Motivation: Protect the Children
Creature Type: Bogey (Imaginary Friend)
Attributes: Str 7, Dex 4, Con 9, Int 2, Per 3, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 18, Brains 12
Life Points: 83
Drama Points: 1
Special Abilities: Bogey (Imaginary Friend), Hard to Kill (3), Manifest
Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Claw (x2) 18 18 Slash/Stab
Bite 16 12 Slash/Stab
- Break Neck 20 28 Bash
Deflect 15 - Magic defense action; deflects spells 45º

Mrs. Cully Mully and her Pink Dog
No one is really sure who, or what, Mrs. Cully Mully is. Was she a human witch that became more imaginary over time. Or an imaginary friend that became more like a real human? No one knows for sure. Mrs. Cully Mully appears to be a woman in her 70's wearing a pinkish frock coat, horned rimmed glasses and carrying a small handbag purse.

She is known to walk the areas between Dream and Reality, between this world and the next one, and between childhood and the end of innocence. Always between worlds, but never in any one world properly. She will say things to make you believe she was once human, like "when I taught kindergarten…" and things to make you think she is imaginary, or at least question her sanity; "…of course the sky was pink then and we had three moons."

She walks the "in-betweens" helping those who are lost, or of need information. In her bag she almost anything the Cast could need, almost. She has no (and no use for) weapons. If the Cast is hungry then she might have their second-favorite sandwich (she is always out of their first favorite) or some magical bauble that may not seem to be useful now but will be priceless later on. She will of course claim she is just walking her dog.

Her dog, who is completely pink, will bark constantly in its small yippish barks. It is only when it stops barking is there reason to fear. That usually means bogeys, spirits or demons are near.

She will try to hastily retreat, pulling the Cast in-tow. IF she has to fight then her true nature (or is it?) is revealed. She has never been known to get into a fight, but in one case an occult scholar (who has since retired to working on a small farm) was lost in the in-betweens when he encountered Mrs. Cully Mully. He described her as pleasant, if seemingly addled. She agreed to walk the man home since it was "on her way" when the object of the scholar's search appeared, the Great Demon Abraxas (so he claimed). Abraxas demanded the scholar's soul and threatened to kill everyone else. Mrs. Cully Mully, he then claimed, walked right up to the demon lord and called him by his true name (also, so the scholar claims) and proceeded to scold him like a schoolboy. She was stern, but never once raised her voice. The demon, angered beyond rage, roared and disappeared in a pillar of flame. She took the man's hand and told him that we're taking a short cut, walked two or three steps and were in front of the man's home. She told him to give up this life, get a real job and find himself a nice quiet girl to marry.

Some say she is a good-natured aspect of the Crone, Goddess of the Witches. Others say she is really the Goddess Ceriweden. And still, others say she is a retired kindergarten teacher out walking her dog.

Mrs. Cully Mully
No Stats. She does not engage in combat. She does have a handbag and small pink, yippy dog.

Games Plus Fall 2009 Auction

I would like to draw your attention to my Favorite Local Game Store, Games Plus in Mount Prospect, Il. I have been going to this place for years and years and I will continue to do so.

But this is not an advertisement for Games Plus.
This is an ad for their Game Auction! ;)

Every Fall and Spring Games Plus hosts a game auction. This is the BEST way to find some really rare games, unload some games you no longer need or just hang out and see some fellow gamers and maybe catch a deal or two.

Typically the FAll auction is my time to unload those impulse buys from Gen Con. This year though I bought so little at Gen Con and have not had the time to even go through what I did buy that I might not have much in this auction at all.

I am sure though I will be there. I'll talk to my kids and see what they have they want to get rid of and then also check out some of the other nights. I could use some cheap minis and Pokemon cards are always welcomed in my home.

Here are some links with information:
http://games-plus.com/auction.htm
http://www.facebook.com/richard.kurtin#/event.php?eid=135594128125&index=1
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=101+W+Prospect+Ave%2C+Mount+Prospect%2C+IL

Stop in. Get a number and who knows that game you have been wanting for years just might be there.

Jury Duty

I will be out of contact for a bit. I have Jury Duty all this week, so any "free" time I have will be used up in getting work done I couldn't do during the day.

Back with more updates soon including what Nel is doing in "Witch Girls Adventures" and a review of "Bounty Head Bebop".

Dirty Nellie, Street Faerie

For Ghosts of Albion I introduced a new race of fae call Street Faeries. They are fae that have choosen to live in the urban sprawl of large cities rather than their normal sylvan glades and woods. The most notorious of of all though was a little street fae name "Dirty Nel".

Dirty Nellie
She looked like child, one of those unfortunates forced to work the streets, though no child had such a licentious gleam in her eyes. Of course no human child had wings either. They were the same shape as other pixies, that of a butterfly, but these were more like that of a peppered moth. They were colorless, save for irregular patches of what appeared to be soot or grime. She smoked an American style cigarette, which of course was not only scandalous as a woman, but as a creature of the Fae. Her clothing was a motley assortment that revealed more flesh than even the most brazen dollymop would have been ashamed to show. I approached her to ascertain what sort of creature she was. She noticed me and said, "Oi! Piss off. Im trying to work ere!"
She disappeared in a shower, not of pixie-dust, but of soot and smoke.

- From the Journal of Tamara Swift

One of the more notorious Street Fae is a pixie named Nel, also known as Dirty Nellie by human occult researchers. Nel is a Street Faerie prostitute often working in the theatre district of London. She got her start at the dawn of the Victorian age as a simple street walker. She would use her minor powers of Glamour to appear as whatever she felt her clients were looking for. A low level of empathic powers helped her to seek out those whose need was great (and thus able to pay more) and what they were looking for. Her most oft-used guise is that of a coster girl who has lost all her snells and needs to make back all her lost money or her cruel stepfather will beat her. She has also been known to appear as dusky beauty for the orient, or a young lad lost in the city after leaving his boarding school.

Through guile, deceit, and lots of hard work, Nel worked her way into the prominent occult societies of the time. As her clientele increased in wealth and status, so did her own. She gained not only monetary wealth but a wealth of information about such organizations as the Algernon Club, the Rosicrucians, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (where she was Crowley's lover for a time), and the Theosophical Society. By World War I no living being knew as many secrets (and it is amazing how many secrets a man is willing to share in the cloak of night in the lover's bed) of the occult underground as she did.

Note to Modern Directors: Dirty Nellie has not been seen since the Blitz of WWII. If she survived (and many suspect she did not) she must be using a new guise or has moved on to another city.

Roleplaying Dirty Nellie
Nel is the archetypical good-time girl. When not working she can be found in gambling houses, public houses, or even an opium den. Her looks in any form are striking. She is a bit vain and proud of her looks, so in any guise her midnight black hair (cut short), green eyes and many piercings remain. She is fond of soldiers and once traveled to India to be with an entire troup. She returned to London with a pierced nose and an addiction to the cigarettes smoked there. Her favorite trick is to produce one she has pre-rolled from nowhere and light it with the tip of her finger. As a Faerie, Nel is immune to the harmful effects of her addictions to smoking, alcohol and drugs. She is also immune to the diseases that plague her trade, but Directors may decide she is a carrier and say there is a chance that her paramours could contract syphilis themselves.
Nel in any part of the Victorian age is a wealth of information and can act as a Criminal or Supernatural Contact. In the time of Ghosts of Albion (early Victorian) she is worth up to 3 points of Criminal Contacts (she knows everyone and most owe her) or 2 points of Supernatural. As the 19th Century progresses she can be bought fo up to 3 points of Supernatural but only 2 of Criminal.

Nel is not a fighter. She not above threatening someone with her knife or even throwing a bit of fire at someone, but she will not engage in most forms of combat. Nel would rather seduce someone and then poison them in the bed chamber if she wants someone dead. Usually though trouble finds Nel and not the other way around. A possible introduction would be having her running for her life and smack right into the Cast.
Despite some of her addictions, arrogance and her rather rude habit of calling humans monkeys, Nel is actually a very sweet faerie girl. She is also just determined to do things her way. One thing is certain, it is never boring with her around.

Ghosts of Albion stats
Name: Nel, Dirty Nellie (various human guise names are Alice, Little Mary, Tommy Atkins)
Motivation: To make some money and have a good time while doing it
Creature Type: Faerie (street faerie)
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Constitution 4, Intelligence 4, Perception 5, Willpower 6
Life Points: 34
Drama Points: 15
Qualities and Drawbacks: Addictions (Hashish 1, Opium 1,Smoking 2, Sex 2), Adversaries (Police, various rivals, various demons she owes money to), Blink 2, Criminal (Prostitute), Contacts (Criminal 3, Supernatural 3), Elven Soul Flame, Emotional Problems (Covetous, Cruel, Faerie Arrogance), Faerie, Glamour, Minority (Woman), Resources (start at -6 works up to +2).

Manoeuvres
Name Score Damage Notes
Dodge 11 Defence action
Grapple 7 Resisted by Dodge
Punch 5 4 Bash
Knife 11 4 Slash/Stab* Plus Elven Soul Flame



Dirty Nellie in Rippers & Gaslight (Savage Worlds)

Dirty Nel. I am afraid no amount of Ripper Tech can prepare you for that tangle with the supernatural.
- Attributed to Jonathan Harker, circa 1890

You can't be truly initiated into the inner ranks of the occult until Nel initiates you herself.
- Alistair Crowley, 1899

By 1892 Dirty Nellie (now mostly known as just Dirty Nel) is still doing what she does best. While not uncommon (Faeries have all sorts of obsessions), keeping the same job for 60 plus years is quite a feat for a little Street Fae.

Since the dawn of the Victorian age when she gained certain infamy in occult circles she only become more notorious. Some time in the 1840s she caught the attentions of a few occult researchers and scholars. Originally she was the subject of much discussion in the inner circles of occult lodges, discussing her the same way they would the tomes of Agrippa or a new species of vampire. That is till one of them decided to just approach her. When the young research returned from his visit, he spoke of her charm, her wit and of course her skills. Soon Nel was being visited by most of the members of the lodge and of a few others. Each would share some secrets with her, as is common with paramours. She went from back alley toffs to receiving gentlemen in her apartment. Her fees increased, not that the erstwhile men of learning noticed, and she increased her own knowledge. By the time anyone had figured out what was happening it was too late. Nel knew all their secrets, all their enemies secrets and a few more besides. She bartered her knowledge and took over one of the clubs where the men had met, the Mayfair House, and converted it into a club catering to me with a taste for both forbidden knowledge and forbidden carnality. While it is money that is often paid with her real currency is information and secrets. The Mayfair Club becomes a central gathering place for members of the occult community. She hires several girls, many with faerie or other blood in them, but most are still just human. She provides the men with a place to talk and relax, like any other Victorian club, but she provides other services as well. By 1892 the Mayfair Club is the place to go to get answers or find someone in the occult community. To date she has not hired any demons, werwolves or vampires, but she is getting more requests a day for even more forbidden fruit.

She has a lavish flat in Highgate, paid for by her many paramours, both with occult and terrestrial power. She is also now often paid just to be seen with someone, rather than have sex with them; though she still does that as well.

Nel after Rippers

People have been excommunicated or executed for less.
- One occult scholar failing to describe the events of the Mayfair Club party on New Years Eve, 1899.

During The Great War Nel provided financial power to protect her own homeland against the threat of the Kaiser, but that was not her major concern. She was also dealing with worsening relations with the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and ultimately the Shadow War between them. Nell like many Street Fae refused to choose sides and she was branded a traitor by the Seelie Court Queen. Hoping the further her own end the Unseelie Court Queen granted Nel Safe Passage for her services to the Unseelie Court (mostly by keeping Englands occult community in a sex-crazed haze to keep them out of the Courts business). This infuriated the Seelie Queen and she order Nels death.

During the Pulp Adventures ages (an age I think Savage Worlds is best at) Nel can be found at Mayfairs (the Club was dropped years ago) but her lust for life is mostly gone. Though adventurers search for some artifact will certainly find their trail leading to her door. She now employees a number of Unseelie Court faeries, but she even admits they are more likely to be spies for either Court.

The last reported sighting on Dirty Nellie was during the final Blitz of WWII. If she survived (and many suspect she did not) she must be using a new guise or has moved on to another city. Given the events of the Shadow War between the Fae, it is unlikely that the Seelie Court could have made good on their threats to kill her. But various stories suggest she was killed in the Blitz, or a jealous lover killed her or even more fantastic that the Devil claimed her as his own bride. Though it is also likely she has slipped away to live quietly. Though anyone that knew her cannot believe that.

Mayfairs remained closed till the 60s when it reopened as a center of the psychedelic drug culture. Since the middle 70s it has been owned and operated by a vampire couple who brought back to its roots of a contact place of the occult and the mundane.

Dirty Nellie (Savage Worlds)
Agility d8
Smarts d8
Spirit d8
Strength d6
Vigor d8

Charisma 4/2/0 (humans/other street fae/seelie court fae)
Pace 6
Parry 3
Reason
Toughness 6

Skills
Climbing d4
Fighting d4 (Nel is a lover, not a fighter)
Guts d10
Intimidation d4
Knowledge (Occult) d12+3 (if Nel does not know it, its probably not true)
Knowledge d10
Notice d10
Persuasion d8
Riding d4
Spellcasting d6
Stealth d8
Streetwise d8
Survival d10
Taunt d6

Hindrances
Compulsions (Smoking, Sex) (Used as Habit (Major)), Delusional (Faerie Arrogance, Minor), Illiterate, Outcast (unwelcome in the Seelie Court, treat as Outsider in respect to Seelie Court Fae), Weakness: Iron

Edges
Connections, Faerie Attractiveness (Adds +4 to Charisma for humans), Hard to Kill, Rich

Powers
Arcane Background (Magic Glamour)

D&D Overload

I am sitting in my game room now, looking at my shelves. I have D&D. And by that I mean I have EVERY D&D ruleset there is. Original, Basic (3 different boxes claiming to be “Basic D&D” and none of them are very compatible with the others), Advanced, Editions 1, 2, 3, and 4. Not to mention OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, S&W, Spellcraft & Swordplay, Hackmaster, Castles & Crusades and now I am adding Pathfinder to my crowded “D&D” shelves, and this not even counting what is on my hard drive.

It has gotten insane. I NEVER need to buy another “D&D” product again. Yet I know I will.

But it has gotten so chaotic and even psychotic. If I look at the products released only in the last year on my shelf I can play 5 (maybe even up to 7) different versions of the “Largest Selling Role Playing Game” of all time. And that is not even cracking my books from back in the day. I have at least 15 different ways to play “D&D” and I am sure I have forgotten one or two.

I think I either need to choose one version of the game and stick with that (but which one) or design a simple, streamlined version of the game that fits my needs that includes elements I like from all the other versions. While that idea has merit and appeal to me, it is an awful lot of work. Plus the game has changed so much over the years that some concepts I liked in one version have no place in another.

I think I would start with fewer classes. Like in 2e, go with Priest, Rogue, Magic-User and Warrior. Then break it down into tiers like 4e. So 1 to 10 you can have 2e-like kits to allow role playing. A magic-user then takes a kit to be a wizard, warlock, illusionist and so on. Levels 11 to 20 are prestige classes (including prestige versions of core classes), Levels 21 to 30 are epic level. Use 3e as a base (I like the idea of feats), give the classes powers at each level (like Pathfinder), but start them out at a higher level. That is a Level 1 character in this version is more like a 5th level character in D&D3. In a way it is like using the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and just starting everyone on 5th level. Use 4e’s skill system or use more of an “ability” check system like from 0.
But that is all surface stuff. That doesn’t tell me anything about how to redo monsters, deal with magic or the numerous other rules that are effected (Pathfinder is 575+ pages of rules. And it is not complete!)

Well maybe we can see 5th Edition work out some of these issues, or just adds to them. Or I can just stick to playing Ghosts of Albion. ;)

New RPG Groups on Facebook

For the fans of Victorian era role-playing games I have made two new Facebook groups.

The Victorian Gamers Association is very new and is for any game set in the Victorian Era or is at least Victorian in feel and tone. So games would in include Cthulhu by Gaslight, Victorian Age Vampire, Ghosts of Albion, Ravenloft: the Masque of Red Death, Victoriana, Rippers as well as Forgotten Futures, For Faerie, Queen and Country for the Amazing Engine and Space: 1899.

Please come by and visit.

More dedicated is The Ghosts of Albion group. It is dedicated to the Ghosts of Albion RPG as well as all the animations and novels.

Plus I feel I should mention two groups of games I am a fan of, Spellcraft & Swordplay and Witch Girls Adventures. Fan them as well!

Bodhmall, the Druidess, er.. Nature Priestess

Regular readers know of my search in 4e for the best Druid class. I have been largely disappointed with the class we got in Player’s Handbook 2 and instead have expressed my fondness for the Nature Priest in Ari Marmell’s Advanced Player’s Guide from Expeditious Retreat Press.
Well now I have the Wokan from Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor 4e.

A bit of background on the Wokan, the Wokani made their appearance in Mystara many years back. They were basically the witches or even witch-doctors of the world. In fact many publications set in Mystara (the Glantri books are a good example) have “witch” in older versions and “wokani” in newer versions of the same copy-pasted text. So I figured they were a good place to look too.

Now for Bodhmall nic Tadg.
Bodhmall (“Bode-vull”) is a character of mine, she is described in Irish myth as the sister of Muirne the White Neck (or sometimes Cumhail) and the foster mother of Fionn mac Cumhail. She is a wise woman and a druidess. In my games I deal with a younger Bodhmall. She is a druidess still, with a penchant for fire and weather based magic. Not quite an elementalist, but close. She also, along with Liath Luchara, form one of the enduring covens of witches in my games, the Daughters of the Flame. The Daughters appear time and time again in all my games, and I usually have Bodhmall and Liath, or their reincarnations, in my games somewhere.

For this experiment I built many different versions of Bodhmall to 12th level. This gave a wide choice in powers and a Paragon Path. Lets go to the data.

First up is the Druid from D&D Player’s Handbook 2
Short: Hate it. I am sure there are plenty of people that like it, but I never used the druid wild shape ability and this is all the stuff I didn’t like in 1st Ed Druids turned all the way up. There are some nice powers sure, but not enough to merit taking the class.

Secondly, using the Hybrid rules for Dragon/DDiThis build is a hybrid Druid/Shaman. Aw now there are more choices, but not enough fire based powers. Sure I could add Warlock into that mix, and given my success with warlock hybrids that is not a bad idea, but it isn’t what I want. Still though a hybrid fey-lock/druid might have some potential and take the Alchemy feat from Arcane Power. Druids can be ritual casters, but druids did not read, that was the deal with being a druid all this knowledge committed to memory.

Though the Keeper of the Hidden Flame is so close in concept to a Guardian from the Daughters of the Flame that I almost can’t pass it up.

Third, The Nature Priest from Advanced Player’s GuideGenerally speaking this class is weaker than the druid. The powers are about the same in terms of effects and damage done. But concept wise it is such a better fit that it is unreal. Lots of Fire-based powers, lots weather based ones. Going through and build Bodhmall to 12th level was so easy that I figured I had time to do this Blog post about it.
The cons here though are there is not a wide variety of powers to choose from, but the powers they do have a re very nice.

For a Paragon path I choose the Hierophant. Not as close as the Keeper of the Hidden Flame, but good enough and it is more “druidy” feeling.

Fourth, the Wokan from Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor 4eThe Wokan is not a perfect either. To pull out something from the half remembered Miller’s Analogies Test, Druids are to Nature Priests as Shamans are Wokans. I think that is what they are supposed to be too. The powers are nice, a little more powerful than the Druid in some ways. Quite a few powers that would make good Fey-lock powers. A Hybrid Wokan/Warlock (“Worlockan”?) might be interesting to see one day.

I did not pick a Paragon path for this one since I could tell right away it was not going to give me what I wanted.

The Winner?
There is a clear winner here. The Nature Priest is exactly what I want in a druid with all the extras that everyone seems to like. Not sure if the Nature Priest could be considered another build of Druid or not. They are so similar in some ways and so different in others; like comparing Warlocks to Sorcerers.

Though I am ready to chuck the druid from 4e and use the Nature Priest instead.