The Druid Circle of Dreams In Xanathar's Guide To Everything

Todd Kenreck: The Druid Circle of Dreams is deeply associated with the Feywild. Where that can be a very dangerous realm, the Druid Circle of Dreams essentially can provide comfort and safety and protection to those around them. I talked to Jeremy Crawford about this new circle to the druid class in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

Jeremy Crawford: We brainstormed all sorts of things and anytime we brainstorm it's funny. Either class options or monsters, I will always look for an opportunity to insert something that has to do with the fey wild because in my home campaign, I always have things from fey wild or otherwise known as faerie. Whether it's hags or beautiful fey creatures who will help you or perilous beautiful ones who harm you. I love this kind of fey connection. There's so much great folklore having to do with the fey in the real world to draw on for D&D adventures.

It's also an aesthetic that I know that not only I enjoy but many D&D players enjoy. It has an other worldly quality. It's resonant because it's something that is in so much folklore but feels alien at the same time. When we were brainstorming for the Unearth Arcana Series and then the eventual Xanathar's Guide, as usual I took my opportunity. We need some fey thing for the druid. Part of that is because the druid is often associated with animals, plants, elementals, but also fey creatures. That association with fey creatures goes all the way back to first edition, where druids among their spell options had things like Call Woodland Beings, where you could suddenly call forth various fey creatures to assist you.

And it's also appropriate that this association exists because even in Irish mythology druids are often in the same stories with creatures from what would be called the other world. Often they're often opposed to each other in the Irish myths. But again, D&D so often transforms things from other sources. So in D&D, it's often now the druids who are befriending these fey creatures or even controlling them.

So the Circle of Dreams is meant to be a subclass that leans heavily into the fey side of the druid. The identity is to be the druid who channels the power of the fey wild to help his or her friends, to be a little tricksy in terms of having teleportation, which is something we include often with fey beings.

But to largely be one who is emphasizing sort of the group support angle of the druid. We often have multiple goals whenever we're creating a subclass. We want a good story. We want fun abilities in and out of combat, but we also want to fill role gaps that exist among the subclasses that are already in the game.

We felt like we already have a way in the player's handbook the nature wizard in the form of the Circle of the Land. We already have the druid who focuses on shape changing, largely to engage in battle with the Circle of the Moon. So we wanted this fey druid that was focusing more on helping allies through healing and whatnot. So the Circle of Dreams has enhanced healing abilities.

Also, the themes in the subclass draw both on what we refer to as the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court in the Feywild. So there are things that basically have to do with both sunlight and moonlight. The whole thing is sort of wrapped up in this package of the Circle of Dreams because we're leaning into kind of the dreaminess, the dreamy side of the fey wild. And also the sort of poetic nod to the fact that this is the druid who brings you comfort and not only heals you but also has abilities to protect your group while you're taking a rest.

And then over the course of the play test process, one of the things I added into the subclass that is now in the final version, is that the druid can basically have you travel through dreams, once the druid gets up to high enough level, by casting a special form of teleportation circle where you teleport to the last location where you had a long rest on the same plane of existence. This is a really flavorful ability that I'm looking forward to seeing it being used in campaigns because I think some groups are going to figure out that this could be a really clever way to deal with certain obstacles in games. And also, an escape hatch. But it's also going to be fun to have the Circle of Dreams druid always need to remember okay where's the last place we took a long rest on this particular plane of existence.

Now what that means is when you visit a plain of existence for the first time, you have no place to teleport back to. Basically you've got to get that night of rest on each plane of existence. So essentially you have "Alright, I now have an anchor, a place that I can then transport us through the dream world back to." As long as you have that place, you have that hopefully safe place you can go back to.

I can see some DMs messing with the group if their foes start figuring out their doing this and basically camping out on the previous long rest locations. "Alright, we traveled back to that inn where we had our last long rest. Oh look, the orcs are waiting for us in our room."

Todd Kenreck: Yeah. What's like the fourth or fifth time they use that, they'll be ... Someone's going to figure it out.

Jeremy Crawford: Yeah. Again, it's a fun, flavorful and can potentially be a campaign defining kind of ability. I think people are going to have a lot of fun with this subclass. We know with other fey and sort of ancient type themed things that players really love this stuff. People love the Oath of the Ancients paladin in the player's handbook. Circle of Dreams very much is sort of meant to stand side by side with something like the Oath of the Ancients and feel like the kind of thing like the cultures associated with the ancient druids and with elves. So this would be a very natural role for them to fill.

The fey wild is often perilous but the Circle of Dreams druid is able to take that magic and use it to their friends benefit. Not unlike actually a fey being, because the fey wild is perilous often for non-fey beings. People who are not native to that strange realm. So in a way the Circle of Dreams druid is like a fey creature in that they're able to make that fey magic be helpful. It often is even in a lot of folklore. To the friends of the fey, the Realm of Faerie is one of the most wondrous places you can visit. With wine that is more delicious than wine anywhere else in the cosmos. With the deepest sleep under a tree that you've had anywhere. Even better that the sleep you've had in the softest bed.

So really the druid is functioning almost like a fey being in being able to use that magic in that wonderful, nurturing way. Rather than it again being kind of perilous and suspect, as so often the fey wild is to people who visit it.