Question: I played a D&D 3.5 campaign years ago, and one PC was a druid. The player did a pretty awesome job as a spy thanks to the multiple divination spells, Wild Shape and especially A Thousand Faces:

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> [**A Thousand Faces (Su)**](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#aThousandFaces)  
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>  At 13th level, a druid gains the ability to change her appearance at will, as if using the [*disguise self*](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/disguiseSelf.htm) spell, but only while in her normal form. This affects the druid’s body but not her possessions. It is not an illusory effect, but a minor physical alteration of the druid’s appearance, within the limits described for the spell.
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I'm now planning to run a Pathfinder campaign (albeit with a custom world) with a lot of druids and I just don't understand how Thousand Faces fits for a "protector of the wild, lover of Nature" kind of guy (and I've never seen this ability used since this spy-druid), so I'm considering dropping A Thousand Faces.

Did you ever read something justifying this ability, in D&D or Pathfinder material or anywhere else, even real stories on druids?

**EDIT :** What bugs me is that I can't see proper use of this ability besides deception, and deception doesn't feel too "natural".

Answer: 
I think it was not uncommon for druids – and other mystical figures in folklore – to appear before others in magical disguise. Glamour, after all, is heavily associated with the fey, which are in turn tied to the natural world and the same sort of mythological background as druids. Further, as protectors of the natural world, druids have to assess potential “civilized” threats – appearing as a wanderer, sharing a campfire, gives you a good sense of whether the new people are going to be a problem.

Mostly, though, it just seems to play up the druids’ mystical angle. They *know things*, deep lore of the natural world but also about the comings and goings around them that they couldn’t possibly know. They have animals as eyes and ears but sometimes they need to see and hear for themselves. I think it is an appropriate, flavorful feature. And unlike most of the druid’s class features, I don’t think it’s overpowered.

Also, be careful about thinking too much about druids as being of or defending nature, because that was not really their historical or narrative role. The word “druid” itself means “oak-knower,” where oaks are symbols of all things ancient and deep. The druids were mystics, wise men, and priests. They drew their powers from the natural world, but much of their power was *knowledge* as much as it was magic (of course, at the time and in the myths, these were often the same thing). Any magic they had came from their knowledge of the nature of a world that had magic built into its very bones.

In role, they may have often been apart from society, but they were still very much human and very important to society. Their counsel was sought out in all things mystical and natural, which is to say everything that the common man did not understand. They were often highly political, kingmakers or rulers themselves as high priests. They were protectors of the old ways, which included human custom as much as it did the ancient natural world.
This is not going to be a very detailed answer, but here are ideas.

It could allow you to visit cities without revealing your identity (with some different clothing if needed). This could be used to get a sense of people's behavior, especially if you're a well known druid in the region, in a prince-disguised-as-beggar-trick way.

It could also serve as a defense mechanism pretty much anywhere, again possibly complemented by a change of clothes. It's hard to look for or follow someone who changes appearance. 

In a sense, the above abilities are usually seen in fiction with a magic user (not just druids I think) turning into animals to observe discreetly or hide. Doing the same with humanoids seems just as valid.

And if you're the kind of druid actively protecting a natural location, you could turn into someone else to test the value of someone trespassing. The classic "will you help this old crone?" test.