For much of the leadup to Skyrim, my desired RP and character build was going to be that of a Necro-Druid - one who had an affinity with animals, and also controlled supernatural spirits. The roleplay was pretty much based on a Magic: The Gathering deck I have, a green / black reanimation deck.

Once I found out about being able to reanimate fallen foes in Skyrim, well, all the more better! Though admittedly, I was - and still am - disappointed by the lack of actual summons, but that's another story.

Well, long story short, right before the launch of Skyrim, I finally back peddled and went with my original character build, a Breton "Death Knight", a heavy armored, dual wielding warrior who specialized in reanimating the dead, and harvesting the souls of his victims to enchant his equipment with.

Well, following an accidental deletion of all of my X-Box 360 saves, I no longer have Thadious, and need to start over. Well, one option is to just re-create Thadious, as I had a great time with him, and it would give me the opportunity to right some wrongs I made with the character - change his appearance to something that I like better, make some different perk choices that I don't feel are quite so wasted...

But the other option I'm looking at is to give Marr'Taan, my Necro-Druid a try. The concern that I have though is... How viable is playing a druid type character in this game?

I know Illusion has the Ani-Mage perk, and I was thinking about getting that, but the thought is - are there really enough animals in the game to make Illusion viable by focusing on animals? It seems like for Illusion to really be effective, I'd have to essentially max it out, because it's be pretty pointless to not be buffed up to use on humans, and everything else in the game. Which I guess is cool, but effectively kills the Druid element of the build.

I'd be a Wood Elf, so that'd help a little bit, with their lore, as well as the Animal Command ability, but it wouldn't really be a lot.

So I guess, even though I'm specifying a Necro-Druid, the question is, can a Druid type build be effective? I know the game has the Necro part down.

command animal is fairly useless as you only ever find them isolated in the wilderness. only wolves really hunt in packs, and they die so easily it isnt worth it. i guess you could command mammoths to fight their giant herders, but thats all the use youd get out of it. the only way to really be a druid is get one of the dog companions and maybe take up restoration... there is no way to buff your familiar summon, is there? only zombies and atronachs....

^ Yeah when I first started playing my Breton, I thought the familiar would be PERFECT. Unfortunately, the familiar spell doesn't level with you, and there are no higher level familiar spells, so it becomes useless after a few levels in.

And what you said about the animals in the wilderness is kind of my concern. Yeah, I could command the sabrecat that attacks me, but then for what? It would be dead by the time I came across anything significant, and (I imagine) can't come into a dungeon with me.

And when I do go into a dungeon, there might be an instance where there's trolls, or chaurubs or something (would Command Animal even work on them??) but mostly it's going to be undead, humanoids, or Dwemer machinery that I'd be facing, which I'd need to beef up Illusion for beyond just animals in order to make my Illusion spells not a waste. Which again, like I said, effectively kills the "druid" aspect of the roleplay.

So yea, this might not work out

Use a flaming familiar, they're a little better. And Druids love fire.

Necro-Druid...? Do you create plant zombies? :confused:

Teabag dead bodies. That would kinda do for the necro part with a bit of imagination.

I was really disappointed that conjure familiar didn't scale up to a bear or saber cat.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he means "necromancer" not "necrophiliac" when he says "necro."

I'd appreciate it if you didn't put words in my mouth!

:ahhh: :ahhh:

:disguise: :disguise:

:shifty: :shifty:

:shocking: :shocking:

:P

Yes, I think it is feasible. Along with every option you listed, there is a shout to call animals to your aid and one to make enemies stop attacking you. If you wanna go the distance, become a werewolf to have a bestial side as well, plus wolves won't attack you as a wolf

http://www.jayzar.co.uk/#000000k2o00000l|00C|y007uu3GY00iW0000000

It's a bit over level 50, but hey, that should be fine, as the game doesn't stop at 50!

By taking Ani-Mage, and Master of the Mind in Illusion, that can be the roleplay aspect of commanding animals and undead. I'll still be able to manipulate anybody that I encounter, but at least RP-wise, I would be better against animals and undead.

I'll give it a go, see how long it lasts.