Looking for opinions on Cleric/Druid redesign

[Snowmane]

So I was thinking the other day about the cleric/druid dichotemy. Specifically I was thinking about how you could have a cleric and a druid of Silvanus or Auril or of many other gods. I was wondering how characters of those two classes differ, in character. Note, I don't mean mechanically, but in more of an RP sense.

At first I thought well clerics are an organized religion and druids not, but some druid sects have their own religious organizations so it's not a law/chaos thing. Maybe clerics take baths and druids don't?

Now I know that mechanically they are very different, even so much as to have separate spell lists, but from a class design aspect is that really necessary?

It leads me to believe that Druid should be a prestige class of Cleric and some of the Core classes of the Cleric Archetype should have one or more paths that would make a cleric eligible to join the ranks of the druids.

I am looking for other opinions or other peoples takes on this.

[Cornuto]

Clerics hang out in temples, druids hang out in the wilderness.

So yeah, its basically showers.

(Eschew civilization, versus embrace it)

... just my intial thoughts, feel free to talk it over.

[Incognito]

I see it as a druid of a nature diety reveres their god because of nature while a cleric of a nature diety reveres nature because of their god.

A druid is by the definition of the class a servent of nature and as there are dieties that have dominion over various aspects of nature it is only natural for the druid to revere the diety whos aspect the druid most identifies with.

The cleric is more of an instrument for the diety to achieve the expansion and maintenance of their domain they are always going to be more narrowly focused than the druid on the diety's particular aspect of nature.

This was actually one of the things that third edition screwed with in the name of flexibility, druid nuetrality was tainted by the alignment types allowing for druids to step out of their broad view of balance in nature and take on more specific roles which would have been formally in a clerics line of work.

[ManUtd4Ever]

I know when I was researching Chauntea before creating my cleric I learned there was a rift within the church between druids and clerics.

Direct quote for what's worth... "Chauntea's church has two wings: standard clerics who minister to the faithful in towns, cities, and civilized areas, and druids who work in more outlying regions. With the success of the town priests, the druids have been moving farther and farther afield. The relationship between the druids, who call themselves "True Clerics of Chauntea," and the more civilized clerics is cordial, but at times strained. The druids have always venerated Chauntea, and consider the more recent city disciples to be upstarts. The more civilized priests, in turn, feel that the druids' day is done, and while druids are still useful in wild lands, the rising nations need and organized, professional faith controlled by a more reasonable and rational clergy. The percentage breakdown of clerics and druids in the clergy is about 40% clerics and 50% druids."

Cheers!

[JotunWarrior]

I've also been vaguely confused about this at some point, but I think it pretty much boils down to:

Clerics- Preach, convert people to their god, act as an instrument of their god. Power comes from the divine, hence the metal armor.
Druids- Don't preach so much, maintain whatever natural aspect their god represents. Power comes from nature, hence the nonmetal armor.

Could be wrong, though.

[Saulus]

Cleric = Fanatics.
Druid = Fanatics who sleep outside.

[Incognito]

Cleric = Fanatics.
Druid = Fanatics who sleep outside.

I'd love to see you define Paladins

[Fezzik]

I'd love to see you define Paladins

Fanatics who kill evil and have a stick up their ass?

[Seheren]

I've always felt that the NWN2 Cleric spell selection was awful for those Nature clerics out there.

[Lugwy]

Fanatics who kill evil and have a stick up their ass?

Rephrased: Fanatics with a stick up their ass that they sometimes pull out to beat evil to death with.

[Doubtful]

I see clerics as organized clergy and priests who focus on relegion, people and the part nature plays in it.

Driuds I'd see as focusing on nature, the world and the parts that their religion plays in it.

The contrast between the two was something I wanted to have as a possible central split within the Aurilite temple Geimhreadh. There you have two main members of clergy;

Eidior, she's a druid in the service of Auril, she sees Winter as an integral part of nature, something that is eternal but still waxes and wains with the coming and going of seasons. She negotiated an alliance with the Grove because she sees Auril as a part of the natural span of things, even if she wishes it'd be a bit longer and a bit harsher. She thinks people fear winter more when they have a little break without it, an endless winter wouldn't be that scary as it'd soon become normal.

Aeilfric on the flip side is a cleric and couldn't really give two hoots about the natural world. He sees the grove as a pointless bunch of tree huggers who'll just mess things up when the time comes for all the lands to be consumed by expanding glaciers and general icy doom. The natural world, the circle of life and all this season nonsense are for people who haven't done enough cross country running in sleet, snow and rivers.

Aeilfric also teaches gym class.

Of course, despite their differences the two will band together against any threat or problem outside the temple.