Changes coming to the Druids mod!

I wanted to tell you about some kind of big changes I'm making to the Druids mod right now. I've been a bit quiet this last month or so, since I've been deep in an overhaul of it.

No More Spellcaster Requirement

Biggest change: Sims will no longer have to be spellcasters in order to be Druids. I added a Druid skill that replaces the functionality of spellcaster ranks, and changed how spells affect the caster. There is still the same spellbook and the same spells. You can still be a spellcaster and a druid, but they are now independent. This is honestly how I wanted to implement it in the first place.

Spell Energy Changes

The other change related to that is that instead of spells increasing a sims Magic Charge, they will draw on the Druid's personal Energy motive. It seems more 'natural' and works with all Occults. But to borrow something from the D&D Druid class, you can avoid the energy cost if you have certain ingredients in your inventory, such as Holly, Mistletoe or Oak Leaves (which will all be available).

More Occult and Shape Change Options

Some very cool side effects of eliminating the reliance on being a Spellcaster is that Werewolves, Mermaids and Fairies can also be druids. Related to that is that Druids can now shape change into full fledged Werewolves, Mermaids or Fairies and switch back at will, giving Druids a total of 8-9 creatures they can change into.

Tree Portals

One of the Druid spells in D&D is called Tree Stride, and lets the caster teleport between trees to move through a forest very quickly. I was able to replicate this by making the Sacred Oaks also be Secret Passageways like in the Royalty & Legacy pack (but shouldn't require it). This is turning out to be incredibly convenient, since I can have a druid plant a sacred Oak in the park in Granite Falls and teleport there and back at will from home.

More

Pet familiars should be working with Druids, even though they aren't spellcasters anymore. I've made a number of other smaller gameplay changes, like removing the cooldown on making waybread, having NPCs and animals react to nearby Pooka, and improvements to the Menhir stones.

I'm also working on reducing the number of packs it relies on, as I am with all of my mods right now. I know it will definitely require Realm of Magic and Seasons, but I'm trying to make as much of the rest of the pack-dependent functionality optional.

When?

I'd like make a beta version available very soon -- a month, give or take depending on my free time. The biggest changes are already working well.

I'm going to go the route of releasing a test version (with disclaimers) first, since there are things I'm doing in the mod that I haven't tried before (non-spellcasters with spellbooks and familiars, off-lot portal trees). I want to make sure it won't screw up anyone's saved game.

Thanks for the feedback and interest!

-- Simsonian Library