Circle of the Ethereal

Druids who are members of the Circle of the Ethereal hail from regions that have strong ties to the Ethereal Plane and the spirits therein.  They take pleasure in bringing madness upon the mortals of the world or peace to those who wish to learn more about death beyond. They are gifted in bringing forth the spirits of the long dead into the worlds of the living.

Circle of the Ethereal Features

Druid Level	Feature
2nd	Ghostly Guide
3rd	Circle Spells
10th	Fighting Spirit
14th	Congregation of the Dead

Ghostly Guide

At 2nd level, you have become imbued and gifted with powers from the spirits of the dead and from the darkness, madness and horrors surrounding them. You are a conduit for the dead and the damned.

As an Action you channel the dark energies flowing through you and conjure a spirit of the dead. The spirit takes on the form of a humanoid that has been deceased and encountered by the druid in life and has the statistics of a ghost, but cannot attack. The spirit projects an eerie ethereal green light in 15-foot radius. Any friendly creatures in the ghost's radius of light gain advantage on Death Saving Throws as the spirit does it's best to keep those friendly to it's conduit away from the cold grip of death.

The spirit must remain within 30-feet of the druid or it is sent back into the Ethereal Plane.

As a Bonus Action you can commune with the spirit and have it guide you towards a destination for 1 hour on your current plane of existence. The Spirit takes the quickest route to said destination, but does not avoid traps, monsters or any form of obstacle that can be found along the way. Once the hour is up, the Spirit returns to the Ethereal Plane and this feature cannot be used again until the next dawn.

If Spirit is sent back to the Ethereal Plane if its health is reduced to 0, or if it's sent back using a Bonus Action. Other than that, the Spirit lingers for 1 hour before vanishing back into the Ethereal Plane.

You may only have one Spirit active at a time. The spirit lingers for an hour regardless of how it's used, and another spirit cannot be summoned forth until the next dawn.

Circle Spells

Your connection to the spirits of the dead infuses you with the ability to cast certain spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to circle spells connected to the ethereal and the dead.

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.

Circle Spells

Ethereal Shapes

At 6th level, your connection to the realms of the dead have given you the chance to take on unnatural, haunting forms. You can expend a use of your Wild Shape and take on the form of a Shadow, or expend a use of your Wild Shape and gain the ability to walk through solid objects and obstacles for 1 minute. If you end your movement inside a solid object or creature in this way, you take 5 (1d10) force damage. While in these forms you can be subjected to the effects of Turn Undead and other spells that effect undead such as the Hallow spell.

You can now cast the spell speak with dead at will, without providing material components.

At 10th level you can expend two uses of your Wild Shape and take on the form of a ghost, will-o'-wisp or a wraith.

At 20th level you can expend two uses of your Wild Shape and take on the form of a Death Knight.

Fighting Spirit

At 10th level, death is only a minor obstacle to you. If you are dropped to zero hit-points but not killed you can use you Reaction to briefly cast your spirit out of your body and keep fighting as your spirit. Your spirit has one-third of your maximum hit-points when it is produced and can be seen and targeted by attacks, but has resistance to damage that is not considered magical. If your Spirit Form is dropped to 0 hit-points your body suffers a single death-saving throw fail and your spirit returns to your body. Your spirit also returns to the body should any form of healing or stabilizing be performed.

If you're in Spirit Form and your body is killed your spirit is sent to the Ethereal Plane and you cannot be revived or resurrected unless your spirit can be returned from the Ethereal Plane and placed back inside your body.

You can use this feature once per Long Rest.

Congregation of the Dead

At 14th level, you have mastered the arts of communicating with the dead and dealing with those close to it. You gain immunity to necrotic damage, and have advantage on all death saving throws even if your Ghostly Guide isn't active, and casting spells to bring you back to life no longer require material components. You have also gained power over death itself and control over those that dwell in it.

Using an Action you can open a rift to the Ethereal Plane by sacrificing a portion of your life-force, having your maximum hitpoints reduced by 1d10 until your next Long Rest. When the rift is opened, you and your allies can freely walk to and from the Ethereal Plane gaining the effects of the etherealness spell. The rift stays open as long as you allow it, but at the start of each of your turns that it's active, you are drained by 1d10 from your maximum hitpoints. If this number is reduced to 0, the rift closes and your body turns to dust.

While the rift is open you can also expend an action to call forth the spirits of the long dead to aid you, doing so causes severe trauma to your being and you take 3 (1d6) psychic damage. The spirits called forth follow your command and have their own turn in the initiative order. If the rift is closed while the spirits still remain you lose control of them and they become hostile. Roll on the table below to determine what spirits come forth.

You may only use this Action as much as your Wisdom Modifier per Long Rest. If other spirits are summoned while others are still up and active, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom Saving Throw or the previous summoned spirits become hostile.

D20	Spirits Summoned
1-5	1d6 of Shadows
6-10	1d6 of Will-o'-Wisps
11-15	1d6 of Ghosts
16-20	1d6 of Wraiths