Today I’m going to walk you through building a druid character for your Dungeons & Dragons game. Druids love magic, nature, and animals. Think of a druid, therefore, as a woodland wizard with shape-shifting abilities! #McGonagallWasADruid
First and foremost, we will go over proficiencies and starter equipment.
(Images in this post are owned by Wizards of the Coast, LLC)
First, Choose Two Skills You Want Your Character to be Proficient in:
Remember that your proficiencies are like extra points in a set area. It simply boosts your variety of skills a bit. (I always try to find a way to increase my Perception I’m where able to.)
Perception
Animal Handling
Insight
Medicine
Nature
Religion
Survival


Then, Understand Your Pre-Determined Proficiencies.
It might help you choose the most effective starter gear to know that, as a druid, you’re automatically proficient in the following:
Equipment
- Light and medium armor (no metal)
- Shields
Tools
- Herbalism kit
Savings Throws
- Intelligence
- Wisdom
Weapons
- clubs
- daggers
- darts
- javelins
- maces
- quarter staffs
- scimitars
- sickles
- slings
- spears
Now, You Can Choose Your Starter Equipment!
By now you’ve finished marking down your proficiencies on your character sheet. Now it’s time to get your complimentary starter equipment ready.
Choose One:
One Wooden Shield
One Simple Weapon
+ Simple weapons include clubs, daggers, great-clubs, hand-axes, javelins, light hammers, maces, quarter staffs, sickles, spears, light crossbows, darts, short-bows, and slings. Personally I would choose a wooden shield for the extra safety.
Choose One:
A Scimitar
One Simple Melee Weapon
+ Simple melee weapons are clubs, daggers, great-clubs, hand-axes, javelins, light hammers, maces, quarter-staffs, sickles, and spears. Scimitars seem a bit expensive, at 25 gold pieces, so that is a good choice. Because starter equipment is FREEEEE.
You Also Get These Three Items:
Leather Armor
Explorer's Pack
Druidic Focus
A druidic focus could be a sprig of mistletoe, a totem, a wooden staff, or a yew wand (like Voldemort’s)! Get creative. You could even have a daisy crown as a druidic focus. Choosing an offbeat item can make for a more interesting game.
An explorer’s pack holds the following: a backpack, 50 feet of hemp rope, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, a tinderbox, a mess kit, a bedroll, and a waterskin. If you’re into meta-gaming, you can use this printable backpack page to keep track of your items as well as their size and weight.


Level One Stats:
It might help you choose the most effective starter gear to know that, as a druid, you’re automatically proficient in the following:


#FurtherReading – “How to Build a D&D 5E Character Sheet”
Your level one proficiency bonus for a druid is +2.
Your language is Druidic – the special written and spoken language of the Druids. Hint: use it to leave hidden messages during game play!
You may choose two cantrips and two level one spells of your choice. At first level you have two spell slots. You do not use a spell slot for cantrips.
Now you’re ready to start your adventure! Enjoy!