Also, at 2nd level, a druid gains a set of talents that will boost her power and spells. Starting at 2nd level and every two druid levels thereafter, a druid gains a druidic talent. Unless specified otherwise, a druid cannot select an individual talent more than once.
Table: Druidic Talents
| Druidic Talents | Prerequisites | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Able Explorer (Ex) | — | When making an Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Ride, or Swim check in any of her favored terrains, a druid with this talent can make two skill checks and take the higher. |
| Adaptable Terrain (Ex) | Druid 8 | A druid with this talent can adapt and orient herself to new environments and new enemies. She gains a +1 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks whenever she is in a terrain she hasn’t selected as one of her favored terrains. She leaves no trail and can’t be tracked in any such terrain (though she can leave a trail if she so chooses). |
| Advantageous Terrain (Ex) | — | When a druid with this talent is within one of her favored terrains, she can spend up to 3 consecutive rounds studying an area of terrain to gain the benefits below. Each round of studying terrain is a standard action. During the first round of studying terrain, the druid designates a 60-foot-radius-burst area from a single square within line of sight. Depending on how many rounds the druid spends studying the area, she or her allies gain the following benefits for 10 minutes per druid level she possesses. • 1st Round: Allies within line of sight and that can hear the druid gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks while within the advantageous terrain area. • 2nd Round: Allies within line of sight and that can hear the druid gain a +2 on Perception, Stealth, and Survival checks while within the advantageous terrain area. • 3rd Round: The druid’s movement is not hampered by difficult terrain while within the advantageous terrain area. Furthermore, the druid can take 10 on Climb and Swim checks and checks to jump while within the area, even when in immediate danger or distracted. |
| Arctic Adaptation (Ex) | Favored Terrain (cold) class feature | The druid treats cold environments as though they were one step less severe than they normally are. Additionally, she gains a +2 bonus on Perception checks against creatures that gain a racial bonus on Stealth checks in snowy conditions, and she gains a +4 bonus on saving throws and checks to avoid becoming blinded or dazzled by ice or snow glare. |
| Camouflage (Ex) | — | A druid with this talent can use the Stealth skill to hide in any of her favored terrains, even if the terrain doesn’t grant cover or concealment. |
| Concentrate (Ex) | — | The druid can reroll any concentration check she has just made with a +4 bonus. She must use this ability after the roll is made, but before the roll’s outcome is determined. The druid must take the second roll, even if it is worse. The druid can use this ability once per day. |
| Desert Dweller (Ex) | Favored Terrain (desert) class feature | The druid treats hot environments as though they were one step less severe; if she has a similar ability from another class feature, the benefits stack and she treats hot conditions as if they were two steps less severe. She needs to consume only half the normal amount of water for a creature of her size, and she gains a +4 bonus on Constitution checks to resist the effects of thirst. She also gains a +4 bonus on saving throws and checks to avoid becoming blinded or dazzled by glare or being deceived by a desert mirage. |
| Earth Magic (Ex) | Favored Terrain class feature | While the druid is in her favored terrain, her effective caster level increases by 1 for the purpose of improving spell effects dependent on caster level. This increase in effective caster level doesn’t grant her access to more spells. |
| Easy Terrain (Ex) | Druid 6 | While in a favored terrain, the druid gains a +10 movement bonus to base land speed. |
| Empowered Magic (Su) | — | The druid can cast one spell per day as if it were modified by the Empower Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Extended Magic (Su) | — | The druid can cast two spells per day as if they were modified by the Extended Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Extra Favored Terrain (Ex) | Favored Terrain class feature, Two favored terrains | The druid gains an additional favored terrain that she doesn’t already have. |
| Feral Speech (Su) | — | The druid gains the supernatural ability to speak with and understand the response of any animal as if using speak with animals, though each time she speaks to animals, she must decide to communicate with either amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, or reptiles, and can only speak to and understand animals of that type. She can make herself understood as far as her voice carries. This talent does not predispose any animal addressed toward the druid in any way. When the druid reaches 12th level, she can also use this ability to communicate with vermin. |
| Forester (Ex) | Favored Terrain (forests) class feature | The druid ignores difficult terrain created by light or heavy undergrowth, and she ignores increased DCs for Acrobatics and Stealth checks in light or heavy undergrowth. In addition, she can use trees to shield herself from attacks, gaining a +1 cover bonus to her AC whenever she is adjacent to a tree (including while climbing). If she is adjacent to two or more trees simultaneously, she gains a +2 cover bonus to her AC and a +1 bonus on Reflex saving throws. |
| Forest’s Blessing (Su) | Druid 6, Favored Terrain class feature | If the druid cast any spells while on her favored terrain, she casts them at +1 caster level and with +1 to the save DC. |
| Hide in Plain Sight (Ex) | Druid 12, Camouflage druidic talent | While in any of her favored terrains, a druid with this talent can use the Stealth skill even while being observed. |
| Ice Climber (Ex) | Arctic Adaptation or Mountaineer druidic talent; Climb 2 ranks. | When moving across a slippery surface (including but not limited to icy surfaces), the druid gains a +5 bonus on Climb checks and on Acrobatics checks to maintain her balance. If she fails a Climb check, she falls only if she fails the check by 10 or more. She also gains a +5 bonus on Perception checks to notice an avalanche and a +2 circumstance bonus on Reflex saves to avoid an avalanche. |
| Improved Easy Terrain (Ex) | Easy Terrain druidic talent | Allies within line of sight of the druid gain a +10 movement bonus to base land speed while in one of her favored terrains. |
| Improved Enhancements (Ex)* | — | When the druid casts an enhancement spell, its highly effective on the first round. During the first round that the enhancement spell was cast, the effects are doubled. She may use this ability three times per day. |
| Infiltration (Ex) | — | Once per day, a druid with this talent can choose a single terrain type that is not her favored terrain. For the next hour per druid level, she treats that terrain as if it were one of her favored terrains. |
| Jungle Survivalist (Ex) | Favored Terrain (jungle) class feature | The druid gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against diseases, poisons, and the distraction ability of creatures with the swarm subtype. She also gains a +2 bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks when climbing trees and a +2 bonus on Perception checks against creatures that gain a racial bonus on Stealth checks in vegetation. |
| Live in Comfort (Ex) | Druid 10 | A druid is truly at home within her favored terrains. She knows all the signs of the wilderness. She rarely gets lost. She can easily live off the land in comfort, and can provide for companions. The druid with this talent can take 10 on any Survival check involving any of her favored terrains, even when in immediate danger and distracted. If the druid is not in immediate danger and distracted, she can take 20 even if the check has a penalty for failure. |
| Live Off the Land (Ex) | Favored Terrain class feature | The druid (and any allies whom she assists with the Survival skill) can move at full speed while using Survival to gather food and water, and she gains a +4 bonus on Survival checks to do so. If she casts create food and drink, create water, or any similar spell that creates edible and potable provisions while she is in her favored terrain, her caster level increases by an amount equal to half her favored terrain bonus. |
| Mage Training | — | The druid may select an item creation or metamagic feat. The druid must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. This talent may be taken more than once. Each time, a different feat must be selected |
| Maximized Magic (Su) | Druid 12 | The druid can cast one spell per day as if it were modified by the Maximize Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Mountaineer (Ex) | Favored Terrain (mountains) class feature | The druid gains a +2 bonus on Climb checks on natural stone surfaces and a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves to avoid high-altitude fatigue and altitude sickness. If she spends 24 hours at a dangerous altitude, she treats that altitude as if it were one category lower. If she spends at least 1 week at that altitude, she is immune to altitude fatigue or sickness. If she goes to a lower altitude for more than 1 week, she loses this acclimation. |
| Multimorph (Su) | Druid 8 | When the druid casts a spell of the polymorph subschool on herself, she may expend 1 minute of the spell’s duration as a standard action to assume another form allowed by the spell. She can do this as often as she likes, subject to the duration of the spell. This is a supernatural ability. |
| Natural Pathseeker (Ex) | Favored Terrain class feature | While the druid is in any of her favored terrains, she applies half her favored terrain bonus to Acrobatics, Climb, and Swim skill checks. |
| One with the Land (Ex) | Favored Terrain class feature | In the druid's favored terrain, she requires only half the normal amount of food, water, and sleep, and her rate of natural healing is doubled. She adds half her favored terrain bonus as a bonus on saving throws and Constitution checks to stave off the effects of cold exposure, heat exposure, starvation, and thirst in her favored terrain. |
| Perfect Advantage (Ex) | Druid 10, Advantageous Terrain and Superior Tactics druidic talents | When using her advantageous terrain ability, a druid needs only to study the terrain as a standard action to gain all of the benefits. Furthermore, the area of her advantageous terrain increases to a 1-mile-radius spread from the single square within line of sight. |
| Plains Nomad (Ex) | Favored Terrain (plains) class feature | The druid and a mount she is riding gains a +2 bonus on Constitution checks to avoid damage and fatigue from hustling or a forced march. In plains terrain, this bonus is doubled and also applies on Survival checks to avoid getting lost, to find food and water, to protect herself from severe weather, and to predict the weather. |
| Quickened Magic (Su) | Druid 12 | The druid can cast one spell per day as if it were modified by the Quicken Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Reach Magic (Su) | — | The druid can cast two spells per day as if they were modified by the Reach Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Silent Magic (Su) | — | The druid can cast two spells per day as if they were modified by the Silent Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Still Magic (Su) | — | The druid can cast two spells per day as if they were modified by the Still Spell feat. This does not increase the MP cost or the level of the spell. |
| Subterranean Stride (Ex) | Druid 6 | A druid is never slowed by difficult terrain while underground. However, areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her. |
| Submarine Skirmish (Ex) | Favored Terrain (water) class feature | When the druid uses the charge action while swimming, she may choose to negate the normal -2 penalty to her AC for using the charge action. Alternatively, she can accept that penalty in order to take her charge attack at any point during her movement, continuing the remainder of her movement in a straight line after attacking. She must move at least 10 feet before taking her charge attack. If she uses the withdraw action while she is swimming, she may take a single melee attack before beginning her movement. |
| Superior Tactics (Ex) | Druid 6, Advantageous Terrain druidic talent | Once per day, after a druid and her allies roll initiative, the druid with this talent can arrange her and her allies’ initiative rolls any way she wishes. If she has already taken 3 rounds to scout out the terrain with her advantageous terrain ability and both she and her allies are within the effect area, they gain a +2 bonus to initiative checks. Using this ability is not an action. |
| Surecast (Su) | Combat Casting feat | The druid exercises caution when in danger, casting her spells with more care. While in a threatened square, she may choose to spend a full-round action to cast a spell, with a casting time of standard action or less. Doing so allows her to cast the spell without needing to cast defensively. |
| Swamper (Ex) | Favored Terrain (swamps) class feature | The druid gains a +2 bonus on Climb checks, Swim checks, and Acrobatics checks to maintain her balance when moving across a slippery surface, and she can move at full speed through shallow and deep bog terrain. She can see twice as far as normal in fog, mist, murky water, vegetation, and similarly obscuring conditions, and creatures adjacent to her never gain concealment from fog, mist, murky water, or vegetation. |
| Swift Tracker (Ex) | Druid 8 | A druid with this talent can move at her normal speed while using Survival to follow tracks without taking the normal –5 penalty. She takes only a –10 penalty (instead of the normal –20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking. |
| Terrain Bond (Ex) | Druid 8 | A druid with this talent forms a bond with the land itself, enabling her to direct others in such terrain. When in her favored terrain, the druid grants all allies within line of sight and that can hear her a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks. Also, as long as they travel with her, the druid’s allies leave no trail and can’t be tracked. The druid can choose for the group to leave a trail, or even for specific members of the group to leave a trail if she so desires. |
| Torrid Tolerance (Ex) | Desert Dweller or Jungle Survivalist druidic talent | The druid treats hot environments as though they were one step less severe; if she has a similar ability from another talent (like Desert Dweller), the benefits stack and she treats hot conditions as if they were two steps less severe. She does not take a penalty on Constitution checks for wearing armor in hot climates. |
| Track (Ex) | — | A druid with this talent adds half her druid level to Survival skill checks made to follow tracks. |
| Trailbreaker (Ex) | — | A druid constantly works to obscure her trail. With this talent, she increases the Survival DC to track her, or a group of which she is a part, by an amount equal to half her druid level. This does not stack with similar abilities. |
| Werewolf Shape (Su) | Druid 14 | When the druid uses wild shape, she can choose to take the shape of a werewolf in addition to the other shapes available. While in werewolf shape, she gains all the effects of the werewolf template instead of the spell’s normal benefits. She acts in all respects as a natural lycanthrope for the duration of the spell, including the ability to inflict the curse of lycanthropy using the DC (10 + half of the druid’s level + her Wisdom modifier). |
| Wilderness Whispers (Su) | Druid 16, Adaptable Terrain, Advantageous Terrain, Subterranean Stride, Master Explorer, Track, and Swift Tracker druidic talents | A druid with this talent cannot be surprised and always acts as if she had rolled a natural 20 on any initiative check while within any of her favored terrains. A geomancer can always move at full speed while using Survival to follow tracks without penalty. |