Circle of the Twisted Branch (WIS)

The world didn't end. It changed. And we changed with it.

Long after the old forests burned and the cities crumbled into rust and moss, life found a way to claw back from the edge — but it did not return unscathed. The druids of the Circle of the Twisted Branch are not protectors of untouched nature, but stewards of its mutated offspring: venomous bloomfields, flesh-hung vines, and beasts with too many eyes. Where others see corruption, they see evolution. They speak for roots that strangle and spores that dream.

These druids are shaped by the world as much as they shape it. Their bodies bend with unnatural resilience, their magic pulses with toxic energy, and their wild shapes are grotesque echoes of what once was. They do not mourn the old balance — they are the new balance. To walk the path of the Twisted Branch is to embrace nature as it truly is: ever-changing, ever-surviving, and utterly without pity. In a world poisoned by hubris and ruin, they are what grows back.

Mutated Shape

The fauna is not what it used to be. It has grown. Adapted. Altered to survive in a world that would kill them otherwise.

When you use your Wild Shape, you add one of the following mutations to your beastly form:

• Toxin Gland: You gain a breath weapon (15-ft cone). Enemies within the cone must make a Constitution saving throw or take poison damage equal to your druid level and be poisoned for 1d4 rounds. Usable once per Wild Shape.
• Barbed Hide: When a creature hits you with a melee attack, it takes 1d6 piercing damage.
• Enhanced Limbs: Your walking speed increases by 10 feet, and you have advantage on Athletics checks to grapple or shove.

Circle Spells

These spells aid you in navigating a world that would otherwise be your downfall.

Druid Level	Prepared Spells
3	alter self, entangle, false life, web
5	erupting earth, stinking cloud
7	blight, giant insect
9	cloudkill, contagion

 

Corrupting Bloom

Nature has started fighting dirty.

As an action, you can cause warped plant life to erupt from the ground in a 10-foot radius at a point within 60 feet. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 3d8 piercing damage and be restrained by mutated vines until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage and isn’t restrained. If a creature moves through the area, for every 5 feet they move they take 2d8 piercing damage. The area is also considered difficult terrain.

You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Mutagenic Resilience

Your body is adapting to the poisoned and broken world around you.

You gain resistance to acid and poison damage. Additionally, you are immune to the poisoned condition.

At the end of a Long Rest, you may choose one temporary mutation that lasts until your next Long Rest:

• Chitinous Plating: You gain +1 to your AC.
• Volatile Blood: When a creature damages you with a melee weapon, it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d8 acid damage.
• Photosynthetic Hide: When you regain HP from a spell, you regain additional HP equal to your Wisdom modifier.

The New Apex Lifeform

You have the capability of becoming a creature the old world would have feared beyond most others.

When you use Wild Shape, you can enter an Apex Form once per long rest. The form is a beast you can normally Wild Shape into, but with two mutations from your Level 3 list and one additional Apex Mutation:

• Spore Eruption: Once per Wild Shape, release a 10-foot radius burst of hallucinogenic spores. Enemies in the area must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become blinded and poisoned for 1 minute (save ends at end of each turn).
• Reactive Evolution: As a reaction when you're hit, gain temporary HP equal to your druid level and gain resistance to the triggering damage type until the end of your next turn.
• Horrid Vitality: You may use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to half your druid level. You may use this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier.