Druid Sage Abilities, Studies & Fields

Below can be found a list of the knowledge fields and studies available to the Druid Class. Starting at 1st level, the druid gains one field, and one study within that field. This choice is left entirely to the player.

There are three fields to choose from:

Animal Life: gain a deep understanding of living, breathing beings that originate from the natural world, delving into their behaviors, instincts, and the ecosystems they inhabit. This field is categorized into various animal forms.

Earth & Sky: an exploration of the physical world as a whole, encompassing landscapes, geological formations, and the various natural elements composing our universe. This discipline is segmented within the realm of the natural sciences.

Plant Life: Delve into the world of natural, non-magical organisms such as plants, fungi, and similar growths. Study their distribution, cultivation techniques, and reproductive processes. Within this domain, various plant forms are categorized for detailed examination.

Sage Studies

The studies within these fields are each described more thoroughly on their own pages — and in turn are a number of sage abilities, which are located through the links below, awaiting possession by player characters and others. Following are a list of studies sorted by their field.

Animal Life

• Amphibians & Reptiles: investigating the realm of cold-blooded, scaly, four-legged creatures that lay eggs. This encompasses animals that inhabit both aquatic and terrestrial environments, spanning those with life cycles partly in water and others that remain land-dwelling throughout their lives.

• Birds: a focus on egg-laying, warm-blooded creatures with feathers, two legs, and wings. These animals are recognized by their lightweight skeletal structures and beaks devoid of teeth.

• Bugs & Spiders: The investigation of multi-legged, exoskeletal creatures, including insects and arachnids. These organisms are distinguished by features such as antennae, pincers, stingers, wings, and a diverse array of other characteristics.

• Golems: the crafting of construct-embodied entities created from uniform natural materials, commonly including flesh, stone, clay, wood, metal, cloth, leavened dough, or plant roots, into which life is imbued.

• Mammals: explore warm-blooded, furry creatures with four limbs, typically born through live birth, showcasing a diverse range of characteristics. This knowledge also extends to humanoid forms to some extent.

• Sea Life: delve into aquatic beings and animals inhabiting both saltwater and freshwater environments, distinguished by their capacity to swim and respire beneath the water's surface.

• Slime Moulds: Understanding gelatinous life forms, encompassing jellies, metamorphs, moulds, oozes, puddings, and slimes. This field equips individuals with the knowledge to elucidate the behaviors and potential hazards associated with these creatures.

Earth & Sky

• Alchemy: Unveil knowledge pertaining to natural materials, plants and elemental processes, with a focus on the creation and purification of various substances, including poisons, salves, ointments, potions, and beyond.

• Animal Physiology: an examination of veterinary medicine, dedicated to the restoration and healing of animals, and to a limited extent, individuals including humans and humanoid creatures.

• Geography: acquire knowledge of terrain, political boundaries, travel routes, the location of cities and cultural ethnic groups, as defined by land and sea.

• Geology: a discipline imparting knowledge about the Earth, the composition of its rocks, and the mechanisms driving transformations in terrestrial structures and configurations across time.

• Natural Astronomy: an inquiry into the heavens and the motion of celestial bodies, distinct from any mystical interpretations often associated with similarly named disciplines.

• Oceanography: a comprehensive examination of water bodies, encompassing lakes, inland seas, bays, and oceans, along with the understanding of physical phenomena associated with these aquatic environments.

Plant Life

• Bushes & Shrubs: the in-depth investigation of small-to-medium-sized woody plants, typically not exceeding 20 feet in height, and often much smaller; equips individuals with knowledge about fruits, fragrances, gums, incense, medicinal compounds, and various other products derived from these plants.

• Flowers & Sprigs: the comprehensive study of the blossoms and small plant growth, including vines, stems, crowns, and root systems; delves into their significance in plant health, aesthetics, and their interactions with specific insects.

• Fungi: uncover fleshy and edible fruiting structures of fungi, yeasts, lichen, molds, and spores, encompassing both above-ground and underground growth; encompasses the understanding of certain sentient fungal forms.

• Grasses & Grains: explore herbaceous plants, such as true grasses, sedges, rushes, including significant examples like cereals, bamboo, and cattails; also encompasses the knowledge of how to prepare staple foods derived from these plants.

• Mosses & Ferns: understand plants that thrive in dense clumps and mats, typically in damp, shady, and sometimes subterranean environments. Many of these plants play significant roles in medicine and magical practices.

• Trees: an exploration of large, long-lived perennials characterized by an elongated stem or trunk, which supports branches and leaves, including both deciduous and coniferous varieties; also covers the cultivation and care of these remarkable plants.

Awarding Knowledge Points

At 1st level, a druid player character starts with 12 knowledge points in their chosen "study" of expertise; for other studies of player's chosen field, described as "in field," a d6-1 is rolled, producing a number between 0 and 5. This gives how much knowledge the character has for these non-chosen studies in field.

All other studies in all other fields, described as "out of field," a d4-1 is rolled, producing a number between 0 and 3. This is the knowledge the player has in these studies.

With each gained level, the player rolls a random d12 for their chosen study in their chosen field; a d6-1 for their non-chosen studies in that field; and then a d4-1 for all other studies that are out of field. With each level, the numbers accumulate until the player is able to boast of "amateur-status" (10 pts.), "authority-status" (30 pts.), "expert-status" (60 pts.) or "sage status" (100 pts.). These in turn provide the character with an accumulation of "sage abilities" that the player can access to achieve goals or learn things about the game world.

Additionally, the player gains a new field every 6 levels after 1st: a second field at 7th and the remaining field at 13th. After the field is chosen, the die rolls for studies in that field are adjusted from d4-1 to d6-1; but this only counts going forward from the level when the new field is adopted.

Likewise, the player also gains a new study every 4 levels after 1st among those within a chosen field: a second study at 5th, then again at 9th, 13th, 17th and so on. As the character adds more fields, this widens options for which studies are chosen. Once a study is chosen, the die roll for accumulating knowledge is changed to a d12.

For example: Jerome, a 9th level druid, chooses Earth & Sky as his field, and Oceanography as his study. At 5th, he's free to choose another study inside Earth & Sky, and chooses Geology. At 7th level, he gains another field and chooses Plant Life. At 9th, he gains another study and can take it from either the remaining list in Earth & Sky, or from Plant Life. Jerome chooses trees; and so it goes.

Explaining Knowledge Accumulation in Game

From the character's point of view, this knowledge doesn't "suddenly appear" as it does in the meta-game. Instead, characters steadily accumulate this knowledge through ordinary means: every day discussions with persons in the world, the chance reading of books, overhearing others, self-experimentation and so on. As there's so much actual time the characters spend in the game world that are not "run in session," there's time for these conversations and actions to occur. After all, there are other people at the end to speak to, persons along the road that can be chatted with, a shelf of books in some shop the player stopped in for a few hours or whatever.

See also,
All Sage Abilities
Player Characters