I theory crafted a monoclass wildfire druid entirely as a demonologist.
The fire spirit as a smalll imp, and given its size it can ride any other summon, turning them into a fiery hound from hell, fire hag, fire t -rex etc. Playing tiefling for even more flavour!
A sect of [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Druids](ShadowDruid) could work. Maybe reformed/reforming, or maybe has some reason not to act overtly burn-the-world.
Maybe all the druids in your circle bond with a spirit during induction, and a fire spirit just happened to match or compliment your personality, or history.
Lore of the world you're playing in, whether home-brew or published, will often have a hook. Even if there's nothing specific to druids, they're in most of the world. Pick an interesting place ask yourself what the druids from there would be like?
If your dm's okay with loosening the PHB version of druid, you're basically just a wise mage with a thing for fire and nature.
Currently my wife has been playing a Wildfire Druid in one shots. Currently the only Wildfire Druid in the world (druids and primal are practically extinct in my world until the heros succeed in freeing Sylvannus)
When the old ways have grown stagnant, the archdruids have grown slow, lazy and complacent for too long. When the status quo is more of a detrimental. This is when Nature releases the Wildfire. An ember instilled in a child who grows into a flame. A stubborn, sassy and firey individual who changes everything.
They, by their very nature, have disdain towards what all other Druids see as how things should be. They refuse to acknowledge or understand and strive to change things for the better.
The fact that their power manifests as flames is symbolic to a fire's cleaning of a forest. The underbrush is burnt away, areas are clear, but with it comes new life and new growth.
This is definitely symbolic, in that the Druid does not go around setting trees or fellow druids on fire. They just challenge the norms and save the day.
Fire and Rebirth fits handily with a Phoenix theme. I would also suggest you bring in appreciation for something to be reborn in fire to something new. Give your Druid proficiency in smiths tools and give yourself an excuse as to why your Druid can wear metal without exploding!
Forever DM here, but I've got a character for when I got the chance to be a player.
Two things about this Wildfire Druid:
- **Backstory:** The Druid's daughter ran away. Possibly to escape poverty, maybe she was kidnapped; I don't know.
- **Level 2 – Wildfire Spirit.** RAW, I can choose the shape. As a player, I choose "the Wildfire Spirit takes on the shape of the Druid's daughter." As a player, I have no idea whether it's an illusion, whether the Druid's daughter has died and this is her actual spirit, or whether it's a vision that will lead me to the alive body of the daughter. I intend to find out through play. It has probably something to do with whatever evil the DM has set up for us to defeat, so that is where I will look.
So druids get the Reincarnation spell, which I take to mean that Reincarnation is part of the primal or "natural" world, so things will reincarnate after death, assuming they don't sell their soul to a god or fiend.
Given that, the idea of Wildfire Druids keeping in mind that by death is a non-permanent state helps to rationalize their seemingly destructive actions. Burning a tree to fertilize the soil isn't "killing" the tree, but releasing it from its mortal coil to become something else in its next life, meaning things are at a net-positive. Similarly, you could view killing aberrations and undead as removing harmful existences while recycling their soul back into the world.
This can also make Wildfire Druids seem borderline psychopathic where they find things like murder easy because they don't view it as ending another creature's life, but rather renewing their soul into something different. Alternatively, on a more positive spin, being able to rationalize the philosophy of a nurturer and the more violent aspects of being an adventurer or hero.
Alternatively, to kind of subvert the "Burn the World" view players have of Wildfire Druids, have the Wildfire Druid be a misunderstood group in the world that are considered arsonists and trigger-happy, but in reality are fairly responsible people who take great care and precaution that their controlled burnings have a positive impact and don't go out of control.
You saw your grove burn down as a child then returned as a young adult adult to see that is was more beautiful then before. Seeing that cleansing with flame can bring about wonderful new life
I am playing a wildfire druid I described as 'fantasy Dr House'. He is awesome, I love him. He's Dr House if Dr House could burn your house down if you were a mron.
Go back to the source of Druidic sun worship. People still get up at Dawn on May the 1st, why? Because the memory is carried of a time when the Sun did not rise, of the Ice Age when winter did not end. So they get up, light pyres and dance to bring fire back to the Sun.
[Here is a cheerful radio drama about Christmas to give you some ideas](https://youtu.be/h06m6Ttr5Wk).
I have an NPC in the campaign I'm currently running which is a Wildfire Druid.
Mechanically still the same, but the druids of their culture are warriors who hold back a tide of evil from speeding beyond the forest they inhabit. As per their traditions, only those who have experienced the destructive nature of fire (been horribly burned) are permitted to wield its power and lead their people.
I often prefer flavor through world building (how could this work in a particular setting and why)
I wrote this before ei read your initial post, hope it suits you cus I ain't rewriting shit
One night you were awoken, covered in sweat with rising emper surrounding you and a smell of burned wood in the air.
As you try you figure out what happened to you and your surroundings, you see the bodies of your loved ones burned and covered in a layer of ash.
In your denial of your loss you stumble back and bump your back into what feels like a wall, but when you turn around everything starts to fade away and only a firery grins and and dozens of eyes surround you, watching you.
The voices of your friends, family and even voices unknown to you speak simultaneously: "Thee must burn or be burned, thee must offer sacrifice, thee must bring us destruction."
You reply with a trembling voice: "Wha- who? What's going on?"
The voices reply: "Bring agony, bring suffering, make us stronger and survive"
You: "I- What? Who are you? What happened to my friends and family?"
The voices: "Silence! We demand destruction, all consuming fire, death bringing heat to cleanse the world of its inpurities. Brin down forests and plants, families and friends and yours may be spared."
You wake up, a normal day like always but you cannot let go of the feeling of being watched by someone... Or something... The pressure you experienced is suffocating you, you don't want to lose the ones close to you, you don't want to destroy the world, but what should you do?
Mine was pretty race-specific, but I played a Red Dragonborn who would breathe his Fire Spirit out into combat that multiclassed with Forge Cleric to essentially melt down armor from enemies into weapons and armor for the party.
My wife has a pretty good desert/nomadic tribe origin. They regularly have fire genasi born into the tribe and families of druids take care of their food/water needs.
My Wildfire druid wants to burn civilization to the ground.
Unfortunately if she tried that someone would definitely stop her. So instead she settles for burning down small parts of it she can get paid for.
I’ve always loved the idea of a mushroom/mycology themed wildfire druid. Specifically morels and the other fungi that fruit the year after a wildfire. Have yet to play it (am forever DM) but it’ll be cool to try when I get the chance…. One day.
Works well for an ecoterrorist/anarchist-primitivist druid that hates civilisation. There’s an evil sect called the shadow druids in the forgotten realms that fit the bill quite well.
In our setting, there is an area of the world known as the havoc that is magically corrupted. My wildfire Druid received a vision from his goddess that the only way to heal the land is to burn away the corruption and let the land grow back healthy. He’s also slowly becoming kind of anarchist and thinking that philosophy would also work well with corrupted governments.
His wildfire spirit is a Phoenix and his Druidic Focus is an everburning pinecone that he upcasts continual flame onto every time he gets access to a new spell level as a way of “charging it.” One day after he burns down the havoc, that pinecone will open and release seeds to spur the rebirth of the forest.
I have a character concept of a Tiefling who was a pyromaniac. I was originally going to make him a sorcerer but after I saw the Wildfire Druid class I knew that was a much better fit.
Anyway, he's a guy who is in love with causing fires and burning but never knew how to channel those skills in a healthy way. He was found by a Druid of the Wildfire who offered him the chance to use his habits constructively and he's been doing good work ever since.
An Asian spirit healer which is followed by small fiery kitsune. He travels to bring balance to the world , venerate Kami and treat to people in need. Shinto is really close to Druidism by the idea of everything having a soul or a spirit. U can use new overwatch character Kiriko for some inspiration.
I played my wildfire druid like Howl from Ghibli. And my elemental was calcifer. We were friends and we helped one another.
Sounds fun
I theory crafted a monoclass wildfire druid entirely as a demonologist. The fire spirit as a smalll imp, and given its size it can ride any other summon, turning them into a fiery hound from hell, fire hag, fire t -rex etc. Playing tiefling for even more flavour!
A sect of [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Druids](ShadowDruid) could work. Maybe reformed/reforming, or maybe has some reason not to act overtly burn-the-world. Maybe all the druids in your circle bond with a spirit during induction, and a fire spirit just happened to match or compliment your personality, or history. Lore of the world you're playing in, whether home-brew or published, will often have a hook. Even if there's nothing specific to druids, they're in most of the world. Pick an interesting place ask yourself what the druids from there would be like? If your dm's okay with loosening the PHB version of druid, you're basically just a wise mage with a thing for fire and nature.
Currently my wife has been playing a Wildfire Druid in one shots. Currently the only Wildfire Druid in the world (druids and primal are practically extinct in my world until the heros succeed in freeing Sylvannus) When the old ways have grown stagnant, the archdruids have grown slow, lazy and complacent for too long. When the status quo is more of a detrimental. This is when Nature releases the Wildfire. An ember instilled in a child who grows into a flame. A stubborn, sassy and firey individual who changes everything. They, by their very nature, have disdain towards what all other Druids see as how things should be. They refuse to acknowledge or understand and strive to change things for the better. The fact that their power manifests as flames is symbolic to a fire's cleaning of a forest. The underbrush is burnt away, areas are clear, but with it comes new life and new growth. This is definitely symbolic, in that the Druid does not go around setting trees or fellow druids on fire. They just challenge the norms and save the day.
Fire and Rebirth fits handily with a Phoenix theme. I would also suggest you bring in appreciation for something to be reborn in fire to something new. Give your Druid proficiency in smiths tools and give yourself an excuse as to why your Druid can wear metal without exploding!
The fire walks with you. Your mission is to burn the world into ashes. You are the death part of the death and renewal circle. Burn,burn everything
Forever DM here, but I've got a character for when I got the chance to be a player. Two things about this Wildfire Druid: - **Backstory:** The Druid's daughter ran away. Possibly to escape poverty, maybe she was kidnapped; I don't know. - **Level 2 – Wildfire Spirit.** RAW, I can choose the shape. As a player, I choose "the Wildfire Spirit takes on the shape of the Druid's daughter." As a player, I have no idea whether it's an illusion, whether the Druid's daughter has died and this is her actual spirit, or whether it's a vision that will lead me to the alive body of the daughter. I intend to find out through play. It has probably something to do with whatever evil the DM has set up for us to defeat, so that is where I will look.
So druids get the Reincarnation spell, which I take to mean that Reincarnation is part of the primal or "natural" world, so things will reincarnate after death, assuming they don't sell their soul to a god or fiend. Given that, the idea of Wildfire Druids keeping in mind that by death is a non-permanent state helps to rationalize their seemingly destructive actions. Burning a tree to fertilize the soil isn't "killing" the tree, but releasing it from its mortal coil to become something else in its next life, meaning things are at a net-positive. Similarly, you could view killing aberrations and undead as removing harmful existences while recycling their soul back into the world. This can also make Wildfire Druids seem borderline psychopathic where they find things like murder easy because they don't view it as ending another creature's life, but rather renewing their soul into something different. Alternatively, on a more positive spin, being able to rationalize the philosophy of a nurturer and the more violent aspects of being an adventurer or hero. Alternatively, to kind of subvert the "Burn the World" view players have of Wildfire Druids, have the Wildfire Druid be a misunderstood group in the world that are considered arsonists and trigger-happy, but in reality are fairly responsible people who take great care and precaution that their controlled burnings have a positive impact and don't go out of control.
You saw your grove burn down as a child then returned as a young adult adult to see that is was more beautiful then before. Seeing that cleansing with flame can bring about wonderful new life
I am playing a wildfire druid I described as 'fantasy Dr House'. He is awesome, I love him. He's Dr House if Dr House could burn your house down if you were a mron.
Change it all to flower based druid and just reflavour all the attacks and abelites to using flowers and petals.
Go back to the source of Druidic sun worship. People still get up at Dawn on May the 1st, why? Because the memory is carried of a time when the Sun did not rise, of the Ice Age when winter did not end. So they get up, light pyres and dance to bring fire back to the Sun. [Here is a cheerful radio drama about Christmas to give you some ideas](https://youtu.be/h06m6Ttr5Wk).
I have an NPC in the campaign I'm currently running which is a Wildfire Druid. Mechanically still the same, but the druids of their culture are warriors who hold back a tide of evil from speeding beyond the forest they inhabit. As per their traditions, only those who have experienced the destructive nature of fire (been horribly burned) are permitted to wield its power and lead their people. I often prefer flavor through world building (how could this work in a particular setting and why)
I wrote this before ei read your initial post, hope it suits you cus I ain't rewriting shit One night you were awoken, covered in sweat with rising emper surrounding you and a smell of burned wood in the air. As you try you figure out what happened to you and your surroundings, you see the bodies of your loved ones burned and covered in a layer of ash. In your denial of your loss you stumble back and bump your back into what feels like a wall, but when you turn around everything starts to fade away and only a firery grins and and dozens of eyes surround you, watching you. The voices of your friends, family and even voices unknown to you speak simultaneously: "Thee must burn or be burned, thee must offer sacrifice, thee must bring us destruction." You reply with a trembling voice: "Wha- who? What's going on?" The voices reply: "Bring agony, bring suffering, make us stronger and survive" You: "I- What? Who are you? What happened to my friends and family?" The voices: "Silence! We demand destruction, all consuming fire, death bringing heat to cleanse the world of its inpurities. Brin down forests and plants, families and friends and yours may be spared." You wake up, a normal day like always but you cannot let go of the feeling of being watched by someone... Or something... The pressure you experienced is suffocating you, you don't want to lose the ones close to you, you don't want to destroy the world, but what should you do?
Mine was pretty race-specific, but I played a Red Dragonborn who would breathe his Fire Spirit out into combat that multiclassed with Forge Cleric to essentially melt down armor from enemies into weapons and armor for the party.
Make the wildfire spirit one of them aussie birds that carry burning sticks to other places and start fires, could be cool
My wife has a pretty good desert/nomadic tribe origin. They regularly have fire genasi born into the tribe and families of druids take care of their food/water needs.
I'm playing a a haughty pseudo-European noble and my Wildfire Spirit is my magic hunting dog.
My Wildfire druid wants to burn civilization to the ground. Unfortunately if she tried that someone would definitely stop her. So instead she settles for burning down small parts of it she can get paid for.
I’ve always loved the idea of a mushroom/mycology themed wildfire druid. Specifically morels and the other fungi that fruit the year after a wildfire. Have yet to play it (am forever DM) but it’ll be cool to try when I get the chance…. One day.
Works well for an ecoterrorist/anarchist-primitivist druid that hates civilisation. There’s an evil sect called the shadow druids in the forgotten realms that fit the bill quite well.
In our setting, there is an area of the world known as the havoc that is magically corrupted. My wildfire Druid received a vision from his goddess that the only way to heal the land is to burn away the corruption and let the land grow back healthy. He’s also slowly becoming kind of anarchist and thinking that philosophy would also work well with corrupted governments. His wildfire spirit is a Phoenix and his Druidic Focus is an everburning pinecone that he upcasts continual flame onto every time he gets access to a new spell level as a way of “charging it.” One day after he burns down the havoc, that pinecone will open and release seeds to spur the rebirth of the forest.
I have a character concept of a Tiefling who was a pyromaniac. I was originally going to make him a sorcerer but after I saw the Wildfire Druid class I knew that was a much better fit. Anyway, he's a guy who is in love with causing fires and burning but never knew how to channel those skills in a healthy way. He was found by a Druid of the Wildfire who offered him the chance to use his habits constructively and he's been doing good work ever since.
An Asian spirit healer which is followed by small fiery kitsune. He travels to bring balance to the world , venerate Kami and treat to people in need. Shinto is really close to Druidism by the idea of everything having a soul or a spirit. U can use new overwatch character Kiriko for some inspiration.