Druid of the Antler? and more questions.

[Andy7565]

So I've recently learned about Druid Totems (shame on me for not knowing and having a druid as a main!) and I learned the meanings of Druids of the Wilds and Druids of the Grove and what-not. Now my question is, are Druids of the Antler even allowed? I mean, I never really specified the type of druidess my main, Kathris was, and decided it was probably time to choose. I don't think it would conflict with her story as I never really told anyone ICly or made it clear in my backstory about her totem. I was reading up many of the totems and I felt she would mainly fit in being a Druid of the Grove or Antler. Thing is, Druids of the Antlers are "rumoured" in Warcraft Lore and don't seem to be a big thing in general. I have seen many people begin RPing one in retail WoW as they have updated the travel form into stags instead of cheetahs. So would Kathris be able to actually be a Druid of the Antler, or would it seem to be restricted? I've also made a habit of her shifting into stormcrow form A LOT so I don't very much understand if druids are restricted to the forms their totem allows (in this case a stag if she were of the antler or a treant if she were of the grove). I only seek to better myself in druid RP so I'd like some opinions and advice or maybe an approval if I could go ahead and RP a druid of the Antler. [Don't know if this should belong in the Lore sub-forum but I posted it in General Discussion to be safe. ]

[Jason]

I see absolutely no reason you couldn't be a druid of the antler. The only thing is they don't have a solid foothold in kaldorei lore like druids of the claw or druids of the talon. Of course, they have a druid hood with antlers ingame (which is totes legit source).

Now, if you were to attempt to be a druid of the fang or something, that's somewhat more complicated, given the apparent degredation rate of druids of the fang.

tl;dr, dr00d of antler is good, unlike dr00d of fang which would pr0lly be a special profile.

DISCLAIMER: I'm behind on CoTH policies.

EDIT: Also, regarding shifting restrictions, totems are part of ancient druidic tradition. Traditionally, that is, druids would submit to a particular clan of druids, adopting not only their teachings, but their way of life as well.

Druids of the wild are a (relatively) new concept that focuses on balance, therefore opting for several forms, as they are practically generalized. This inherently provides that druids of the wild have a varied, but less intensive connection with their forms.

Edit: for derp

[Dae]

The rumors that cheetah travel form was just a placeholder has been proven largely true by the relatively recent replacement of the cheetah with the Stag.

Druids of the Antler thus are pretty plausible. There's a whole form for it, so I would accept it.

[FlyingSquirrel]

I've asked about this in the past, as well as custom lore-ing a handful of new Druidic sects (Druids of the Shell, UNITE), and the answer was that, as there's no way for them to yet shift into these forms, they're still closed off. So, come MOP, we'll allow Druids of the Antler, but since they can't shift into the correct form, they can't be played yet.

As for your questions on Druidic lore; the deal with totems is that is specializes them with one form. If a Totemic Druid of the Grove decides to shift into a cheetah form, it probably won't be instant (as well as considering the possibility that the Druid was never granted the form by it's appropriate spirit in the first place), but it could still be done (if the form's been granted and all such things.)

EDIT: Were we to open them up, they would probably be a special profile due to their extreme rarity. That's just my personal take on things, though.

[Andy7565]

I've asked about this in the past, as well as custom lore-ing a handful of new Druidic sects (Druids of the Shell, UNITE), and the answer was that, as there's no way for them to yet shift into these forms, they're still closed off. So, come MOP, we'll allow Druids of the Antler, but since they can't shift into the correct form, they can't be played yet.

As for your questions on Druidic lore; the deal with totems is that is specializes them with one form. If a Totemic Druid of the Grove decides to shift into a cheetah form, it probably won't be instant (as well as considering the possibility that the Druid was never granted the form by it's appropriate spirit in the first place), but it could still be done (if the form's been granted and all such things.)

EDIT: Were we to open them up, they would probably be a special profile due to their extreme rarity. That's just my personal take on things, though.

I do see your point but I'm now deciding to keep Kathris as a Druidess of the Grove y'know after seeing the problem with having her be a Druid of the Antler. Just to clarify then, if I were to be a Druid of the Grove then, Kathris could still shift into a stormcrow, (or any other form given prior training) yes? Obviously, I'd presume that Druids of the Wilds, Claw, or Talon would do it better than her as her main form would be the treant form. I do look forward to seeing if Druids of the Antler are to be a thing if CotH decides to change over to MOP, and then I'd probably make a new character for that.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Yes, she could still shift into a Stormcrow if she'd done all things necessary, such as gaining the spirit's blessing, travelling to the Emerald Dream, etc.

[Jason]

So, come MOP, we'll allow Druids of the Antler, but since they can't shift into the correct form, they can't be played yet.

Mechanics>Lore?

[Loxmardin]

Nothing prevents you from playing a Druid who reveres Malorne, but at present there's no way to represent the Stag form in the game which means that the Druids of the Antler are tricky to play. Usually we adopt the principle of "if it's announced and available in a later expansion, we want to wait until that expansion comes around before we make it available". We did this for Dwarf Mages, etc. before Cataclysm was first introduced on CotH.

So, for now, the mechanics will have to trump the available lore. It's easier to wait for these things than start making exceptions.