NPC Druid for the Machiavellian Campaign (D&D 3.5)

Gardener from an illuminated manuscript

Here is a character I am using to set up an adventure in our Machiavellian campaign (one of the early articles). He can also play a part in starting adventures in just about any campaign setting since he is looking for something to invest his small amount of money into and has been researching what he wants to do with it.

Jahan, 2nd level half-elf druid (built in D&D 3.5 using just the core books)

Jahan never felt comfortable in the city, but needing to help his mother has kept him in there. While growing up he was accepted by most of the other children, for the most part. Being a half-elf meant he was almost always kept on the fringe of the group. Jahan was able to get along with the other children in the area, he just had different interests. This was even further aggravated with the fact that he has never known who is father, an elf, is or was. The only thing his mother has ever said about Jahan's father is that he was a good person and that Jahan should be proud of his heritage.

Beyond his life, Jahan only knows some of his matriarchal history, and that's only the stories his mother told him as a child. He knows they were not originally from the city, but came here to start over as a new mother with a half-elf son. At different times in his life he created stories, but living in the lower districts of the city gave them no credibility. Eventually Jahan spent more time with the stray animals around and working in a few small potted gardens to provide extra food for his mother and himself.

Grocer wagon from dreamtime.com

Jahan learned how to make plants grow better and became more in tune with nature. With his ability of growing plants, he started growing them wherever he could. Some were taken and eaten by others, but he was providing more food for himself and this led to him and his mother being able to start to save a few copper pieces.

Jahan and his mother used the money to get her better clothes which led to her being able to get a better job working in a kitchen in a small estate near the edge of the city. After she was there for a short while she talked with the cook about her son's ability with plants and he was brought to the estate to work in the garden. The garden began to do better than it had ever done before. The owner of the estate had been watching the young man and gave him the opportunity to do more.

Jahan took over another plot of garden to provide for the master's family. He was also given the privilege of being able to sell the extra he grew in the local market. Jahan has done well at this and has been again been earning extra money, but quicker than he was doing before.

Along with working in the garden Jahan also has some time to go foraging in the areas just outside of the city. The foraging trips have helped him learn about the plants nearby and he is also nurturing certain locations to grow more and better plants he supplements the garden and his sales.

Gardening at the estate has made Jahan happier, but he wants to do more for his mother and for himself. He is looking for a way to invest his money, it is still quite a small amount, into something that would allow him to leverage it into something bigger. He is very cautious though. He has been researching about plants and has decided to invest in some way with what he knows instead of giving his money over to another person to invest it for him.

Str 11, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 15, Chr 12

Alignment: Neutral

From Medieval-Recipes.com

HP 14

AC 10

Attack base +1

Fort +4, Reflex +0, Will +5

Feats (1): Animal Companion, nature sense, negotiator, wild empathy, woodland stride

Skills (30): Diplomacy +8 (4), gather information +4 (4cc), knowledge (local—city) +4 (4cc), knowledge (nature) +5 (3), listen +5 (3), profession (gardener) +7 (5), profession (green grocer) +5 (3), sense motive +6 (4cc)

Languages: Common and Elven

Animal Companion: Dog

Spells Memorized: Zero level: create water (2 times), purify food and drink, cure minor wounds; 1^stlevel: detect animals or plants, longstrider, speak with animals.

Magic: None

Mundane Items: as fitting to the campaign, but he is part of the working poor.

If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can also join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstGmng).