Core-only Druid feats

[Theomniadept]

Our DM is new and wants to stick to core-only. Being a bit haggard of playing interesting concepts and getting nerfed, I'm going Druid. I'm playing Cheif Thunderbear, a native American human druid. My feats are as follows:
Human - Spell Focus (Conjuration)
1 - Augment Summoning
3 - Combat Reflexes
6 - Natural Spell
9 - Power Attack

This is all I have thus far. Please keep we were given mentally insane ability scores. My scores are as follows:
STR - 14
DEX - 14
CON - 16
INT - 16
WIS -18
CHA -18

My reasoning behind the feat choices are that with the Wild Shape boosted stats Combat Reflexes will add a lot more AoOs when in large or larger forms and Power Attack can add damage to forms that have enough strength to give more damage to already high-damage forms. Other feat ideas thus far:
Improved Initiative - obvious reasons; go first, win the game
Weapon Finesse - Dunno about this since I am not familiar with every possible Druid form but if enough of them have significantly higher Dexterity modifiers then this would apply to them and give higher attack modifiers
Combat Expertise + Improves Trip/Grapple - Again, just more theorycrafting. This may be feat intensive but with wild shape and extended reach and Combat Reflexes this could make a spiked chain tripper feel like he brought a pistol to the intergalactic starship fight.

[DaCraw]

Does your DM consider MM1 to be Core? If so, you might want to ask about Multiattack or Improved Natural Attack.

If your DM complains that you only qualify for these feats when Wild Shaped, you can point out that you would also only benefit from them when Wild Shaped.

[eggynack]

Two of the big things missing from your list are metamagic and crafting feats. Extend spell is the classic choice on the metamagic side, though many of the best long duration buffs are non-core, and I suppose craft wondrous is always decent even if there are very few things worth attaching to yourself with this reference pool. Honestly though, while you can do some crazy things with non-core feats, you're unlikely to substantially alter your overall power level with core feats after natural spell, and maybe augment summoning. Even augment is just a solid option rather than something actively game breaking. You can do pretty much anything, in other words, though not much of it, because again, core only.

[Theomniadept]

Hey eggy, you still waiting for GitP to come back up too?

Yeah, the problem might be a RAW thing about the MM1 feats; it's like saying I have the strength necessary or feats while equipped with a belt of strength.

As far as Craft Wondrous goes; this is core only. Is there a consolidated list of everything a Druid with the feat could make?

[StreamOfTheSky]

Also don't forget Flyby Attack.  Great core feat.  Augment might not be worth the 2 feats if you don't plan to summon much.  Even in core, Imp. Init, item crafting, and a few metamagics are pretty good to make room for.
If you want Imp. Grapple, you'll need Imp. Unarmed Strike first, also not sure if that's worth it.  Monsters will usually either be easy or impossible to grapple, with no middle ground, anyway.

[phaedrusxy]

Yeah, the problem might be a RAW thing about the MM1 feats; it's like saying I have the strength necessary or feats while equipped with a belt of strength.

Which is absolutely true...

As far as Craft Wondrous goes; this is core only. Is there a consolidated list of everything a Druid with the feat could make?

I don't know of one, but it is a big list. Wilding Clasps (or whatever they heck they're called now...) are the biggest item, probably followed by all of the stat boosters. Also consider that you can work with other spellcasters to craft items. So assuming you have a cleric and/or wizard in your party, you can also make anything that requires spells from their spell lists (by cooperating).

I will also second Improved Initiative. That's a great feat for anyone.

[Gribel]

Power Attack is not worth it for you. You would be most likely lowering your damage, considering you'd probably trade 1:1. This is proven here.

Since you already have the intelligence, I'd recommend Improved Trip; you don't suffer from medium BAB while tripping nor have to deal with inflated BAB from tons of HD from your enemies. Improved Initiative is also a no-brainer.

Druids are indeed great in core, but with those ability scores, Wild Shape loses some of its value. Your animal companion doesn't get any better either, so it will be relatively weaker aswell. Still, a solid choice.

[phaedrusxy]

One thing I forgot to mention in my first reply: I'd consider picking a different race, maybe a dwarf or gnome (especially forest gnome from the MM1). You don't need massive charisma (or strength, since you'll be wildshaping). Your base speed doesn't matter (again because of wild shape), but the Con boost will be good. The forest gnome also fits very well thematically, and is a really powerful race considering it has no LA. You could also use a riding dog mount/AC with the gnome.

[Hades]

+1 for gnomes.

It's also closer to the almost "nature-fey" flavour of D&D gnomes, instead of the "steampunk" BS burrowed from other fantasy settings.

And, as you said, a small character can use his animal companion as a mount sooner.

[Tonymitsu]

Yeah, the problem might be a RAW thing about the MM1 feats; it's like saying I have the strength necessary or feats while equipped with a belt of strength.

You qualify for any feat, skill, prestige class, spell level, etc., that you meet the prerequisites for, regardless of where those prerequisites come from, unless the thing you want specifically says otherwise.  This means if you had a 14 WIS at level 15, but were wearing a +4 Periapt of Wisdom, you would have 18 WIS and could therefore prepare 8th level spells.

And like everything everywhere ever in 3.5, if you lose access to a prerequisite for something then you lose the benefit of that thing until the prerequisite is restored.

Note that forest gnomes don't speak common by default, and you will have to spend a bonus language or skill points on it.

You could craft any wondrous item for which you could prepare the necessary spell.  At a quick DMG glance that would be:
Amulet of Health, Amulet of Mighty Fists, Amulet of Natural Armor, Bag of Tricks, Belt of Giant Strength, Boots of Striding and Springing, Boots of the Winterlands, Bottle of Air, Cloak of the Manta Ray, Cloak of Resistance, Cube of Frost Resistance, Darkskull (might cause alignment problems), Decanter of Endless Water, Dust of Dryness, Dust of Tracelessness, Elemental Gem, Elixir of Vision, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Gauntlets of Rust, Gem of Brightness, Gem of Seeing, Gloves of Dexterity, Gloves of Swimming and Climbing, Goggles of Minute Seeing, Helm of Underwater Action, Horn of Fog, any Ioun stone, Keoghtom’s Ointment, Lens of Detection, Mantle of Faith, Orb of Storms, Pearl of Power, Pearl of the Sirines, Periapt of Health, Periapt of Proof against Poison, Periapt of Wisdom, Periapt of Wound Closure, Pipes of the Sewers, Robe of Eyes, Golembane Scarab, Silversheen, Slippers of Spider Climbing, Unguent of Timelessness, Druid's Vestment, Wind Fan

[eggynack]

Hey eggy, you still waiting for GitP to come back up too?

Indeed. I am a being of some degree of boredom, currently.

As far as Craft Wondrous goes; this is core only. Is there a consolidated list of everything a Druid with the feat could make?

Tonymitsu's list looks good, though I've yet to check it. As for what's actually worth crafting, ioun stones are always solid on a druid, so picking up an orange and/or incandescent blue could be nice. Also good is pearls of power. Additionally, you could always do a team-craft, borrowing the spell from either another party member or some fellow you find, which expands the list a bit. Even then, the list of items you'd actually want isn't the longest, generally limited to stuff that you don't need to have always on, like the pearl of power and prayer bead of karma, and stuff that needs to always be on, but works in a wild shape, which in core is mostly wild armor and ioun stones. In other words, not the best list. You can craft for party members however, which is nice, and as I've mentioned, your alternatives aren't the best. 

[Snowbluff]

I suggest extend spell.

Hey eggy, you still waiting for GitP to come back up too?

Indeed. I am a being of some degree of boredom, currently.

Same here. 

[eggynack]

Same here. 

Well, at the very least, I'm getting in some pretty reasonable druid research during this time period. For example, it looks like protection from winged fliers (Shining South, 48) maintains the protection from charms/compulsions effect of protection from evil, allowing druids to jump on the wacky enchantment protection bandwagon. I also got to add the myconid sovereign (MM II, 154) to my list of things that make druid necromancers work. Good stuff.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

You could try reading all of my posts ...  ... from start to finish.