Circle of Shadows

The laws of nature are not always kind. For birth there must be death, for growth, decay. Druids of the Circle of Shadows understand this. Connected to places close to or touched by the Shadowfell, Druids of the Circle of Shadows celebrate the entropy and decline that other druids might strive against, seeing it as necessary for life as a whole to continue. Druids of this circle often decorate their garb with animal skulls or paint their faces with charcoal and bone dust in respect for this balance. They cull what they see as excessive expansion, prune back untrammelled growth and see that death comes quickly and humanely, without pleasure or sorrow, to those who would upset the natural order. Druids of the Circle of Shadows may be more likely to come into conflict with civilisation and its need for endless growth and consumption, which violates the equilibrium of life and death. Such druids may consort with Fey from the Gloaming Court, or even Shadar-Kai and other creatures of the Shadowfell if it suits their purposes. 

The Balance

When you choose this circle at level 2, you learn how to draw power from death. When a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see is reduced to 0 hit points, you can add a value of either healing or Necrotic damage equal to your Druid level to one roll of the next Druid spell you cast.  

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Aura of Decay

At 2nd level you have learned how to channel negative energy. As an action, you can expend one of your uses of Wild Shape to emanate an aura that makes creatures loosen their grip on life. For 1 minute, or until dispelled (no action required), all creatures within 10 ft of you have a penalty to all ability checks and saving throws equal to your proficiency bonus. 

This ability improves as your level increases:

At 8th level, your Aura of Decay now suppresses attempts to heal: any effect that restores hit points restores half as many hit points to creatures in range.

Circle Spells

Your mystical connection to death and darkness infuses you with the ability to cast certain spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the following circle spells.

Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	darkness, ray of enfeeblement
5th	fear, vampiric touch
7th	blight, elemental bane
9th	antilife shell, cone of cold

Agent of Entropy

At 6th level, you have achieved greater harmony with the forces of death. You are resistant to Necrotic damage and cannot be frightened. 

Blood for Blood

When you reach 10th level, you can inflict pain upon yourself to achieve a heightened union with nature. As a bonus action, you can regain a spell slot of level 1-5 by taking damage equal to 1d6+1 per level of the spell slot. The damage also reduces your maximum hit points by that amount. These hit points can only be restored by finishing a long rest or by healing received from your The Balance ability.

Return to Dust

When you reach 14th level, you have become expert in ushering those close to death into the next world. Creatures below one third of their maximum hit points have disadvantage on saving throws against your Druid spells.