Circle of Spores - Alessandro

 Druids of the Circle of Spores find beauty in decay. They see within mold and other fungi the ability to transform lifeless material into abundant, albeit somewhat strange, life.

Druids of this circle have a complex relationship with the undead. Unlike most other druids, they see nothing inherently wrong with undeath, which they consider to be a companion to life and death. But these druids believe that the natural cycle is healthiest when each segment of it is vibrant and changing. Undead that seek to replace all life with undeath, or that try to avoid passing to a final rest, violate the cycle and must be thwarted.

Notes: 

• Circle Spells. The chill touch cantrip does not count against your number of druid can trips known. Your Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for all spells gained from this feature as they are being considered Druid spells for you.
• Halo of Spores. This feature requires no attack roll and does not allow any saving throw.
• Symbiotic Entity. Damage from the feature is considered to be from the source it is added to. 
• Fungal Infestation. Zombie statistics can be found on the Monster Manual.
• Spreading Spores. This feature requires no attack roll and does not allow any saving throw.
• Fungal Body. This feature should incur noticable physical changes on your body.

Level 2: Circle Spells

2nd-level Circle of Spores feature

Your symbiotic link to fungi and your ability to tap into the cycle of life and death grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd level, you learn the chill touch cantrip. The chill touch cantrip does not count against your number of druid can trips known. 

At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of Spores Spells table. Once you gain access to one of these spells, 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.

Circle Spells.  Your Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for all spells gained from this feature as they are being considered Druid spells for you.

Circle of Spores Spells

Druid Level	Spells
2nd	chill touch
3rd	blindness/deafness, gentle repose, ray of enfeeblement
5th	animate dead, gaseous form
7th	blight, confusion
9th	cloudkill, contagion

Level 2: Halo of Spores

2nd-level Circle of Spores feature

You are surrounded by invisible, poison spores that are harmless until you unleash them on a creature nearby. When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 poison damage to that creature. The poison damage increases to 2d4 at 6th level, 3d4 at 10th level, and 4d4 at 14th level.

Level 2: Symbiotic Entity

2nd-level Circle of Spores feature
You gain the ability to channel magic into your spores. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to awaken those spores, rather than transforming into a beast form, and you gain 4 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class (Druid Level). While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:

• When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, deal an extra 1d6 poison damage.
• Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 poison damage to any target they hit.
• Your Spreading Spores feature deal an extra 1d6 poison damage.

These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you are reduced to 0 hit points, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

RULE TIP: TEMPORARY HIT POINTS DON'T STACK

If you have temporary hit points and receive more of them, you don’t add them together, unless a rule says you can. Instead, you decide which temporary hit points to keep. For more information on temporary hit points, see chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook.

Level 3: Mushroom Chef

Source: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

Time and effort spent mastering the mushroom culinary arts has paid off. You gain the following benefits:

• You gain proficiency with cook’s utensils if you don’t already have it.

• As part of a short rest, you can cook special mushroom-based food, provided you have ingredients and cook's utensils on hand. You can prepare enough of this food for a number of creatures equal to 4 + your proficiency bonus. At the end of the short rest, any creature who eats the food and spends one or more Hit Dice to regain hit points regains an extra 1d8 hit points.

• With one hour of work or when you finish a long rest, you can cook a number of treats equal to your proficiency bonus. These special treats last 8 hours after being made. A creature can use a bonus action to eat one of those treats to gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.

Level 6: Fungal Infestation

6th-level Circle of Spores feature

At 6th level, your spores gain the ability to infest a corpse and animate it. If a beast or a humanoid that is Small or Medium dies within 10 feet of you, you can use your reaction to animate it, causing it to stand up immediately with 1 hit point. The creature uses the zombie stat block in the Monster Manual. It remains animate for 1 hour, after which time it collapses and dies.

In combat, the zombie’s turn comes at the beginning or end of your turn. It obeys your mental commands, and the only action it can take is the Attack action, making one melee attack. Zombies created by this feature are immune to necrotic or poison damage that you are the source of.

When a creature dies as a result of damage from your Halo of Spores or Spreading Spores features, the creature does not need to be, within 10 feet of you and you do not need to use your reaction to use this feature.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of  1, once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Level 10: Spreading Spores

10th-level Circle of Spores feature

At 10th level, you gain the ability to seed an area with deadly spores. As a bonus action you can hurl spores up to 30 feet away, where they swirl in a 10-foot cube for 1 minute.

Creatures within this cube take your Halo of Spores damage when they enter the area or start their turn within it. A creature is only dealt damage by this cube of spores once each round. 

Whenever a creature moves into the cube or starts its turn there, that creature takes your Halo of Spores damage. A creature can take this damage no more than once per round.

The spores disappear early if you use this feature again, if you dismiss them as a bonus action, or if you use your Halo of Spores feature. 

Level 14: Fungal Body

14th-level Circle of Spores feature

The fungal spores in your body alter you: you can’t be blinded, deafened, frightened, or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit instead, unless you’re incapacitated.