So i am a moderately experienced DD player and i Have made a few druids here and there over the years but resiliently it hit me. with 5E there is not a druid that has the option to just use nature magic. now i know that may sound small minded because there are plenty of instances were a druid only uses there spells but i'm looking for an instance were literally the druid forgoes any and all wildshape feature ability and instead focuses on nature magic. dose anyone know of a supplementary feat one could take instead of wildshape. like a feat were they could get better magic or heighten nature magical stuff/Feat or something for the players that don't want to use wild shape and focus more on there ability to use the power of nature magic to correct imbalance in the world the DM creates. I ask this question because i wasn't sure if there might have been something from a previous addition. like a feat or difrent druid ability that could be used instead of Wildshape and is associated feats at higher level.
I play a Circle of the Shepard Druid, and we have house ruled that I can convert my Wild Shaped charges to Spirit totem charges so that I have 3 summons per short rest rather than one.
A good question is to ask what your character is about since they no longer transmute themselves into different animals?
Are they a shaman who bounds with the spirits and communicate with them. Look at a cleric ability to replace it with.
Are they a conduit of the forces of nature akin to a sorcerer? look at a sorcerer abilities that might match there theme, or just pick up meta magic.
If you play up the ally of nature, ask to have an animal familiar just like druids used to have in earlier additions. Pact of the chain would be great for a druid.
For any Druid other than Circle of the Moon, wildshape is largely for flavour. It provides movement, stealth, and some limited combat options, but you can safely ignore it and still play a strong Druid.
If you want to play a Nature Cleric, you could always just play a Nature Cleric...
I came up with the preliminary idea for a circle that has a sort of spirit animal instead of wild shape. The animal chosen must still conform to the wild shape rules but you can change what animal it is every short or long rest.
Sorry to necro-post on this but I did have something fun that my DM has me playtesting on this front. He took a cue from the Circle of Spores Symbiotic Entity and leaned away from the mushroom and fungus aspect of circle of spores and leaning more into the death and decay aspect of it. So we call it the Circle of Woe (think old world Woe definition meaning fate/natural death and not Woe as in bad luck/omen) and he created a new wildshape called Wrath of Shadows.
"You can use your Wild Shape ability to tap into the necrotic energy abounding everywhere. Instead of transforming, as an action, you clothe yourself in the Wrath of Shadows. For each level you have in druid, you gain 3 temporary hit points. The temporary hit points increase to 4 per level at level 6, 5 at level 10, and 6 at level 14.
If you have any of these hit points remaining when you are hit by an attack within 5ft, the shadows lash off your body and retaliate with 1d4 necrotic damage. This damage is also added when you deal any other necrotic damage. It increases to 1d6 at level 6, 1d8 at level 10, 1d10 at level 14, and 1d12 at level 18. Wrath of Shadows can only remain for up to 1 hour or until you use Wild Shape again."
Mechanically it's sort of a cross between Symbiotic Entity and Armor of Agathys except with the necrotic damage instead of cold damage.
Just our fun homebrew 2 cents.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hey there....
So i am a moderately experienced DD player and i Have made a few druids here and there over the years but resiliently it hit me. with 5E there is not a druid that has the option to just use nature magic. now i know that may sound small minded because there are plenty of instances were a druid only uses there spells but i'm looking for an instance were literally the druid forgoes any and all wildshape feature ability and instead focuses on nature magic. dose anyone know of a supplementary feat one could take instead of wildshape. like a feat were they could get better magic or heighten nature magical stuff/Feat or something for the players that don't want to use wild shape and focus more on there ability to use the power of nature magic to correct imbalance in the world the DM creates. I ask this question because i wasn't sure if there might have been something from a previous addition. like a feat or difrent druid ability that could be used instead of Wildshape and is associated feats at higher level.
I play a Circle of the Shepard Druid, and we have house ruled that I can convert my Wild Shaped charges to Spirit totem charges so that I have 3 summons per short rest rather than one.
A good question is to ask what your character is about since they no longer transmute themselves into different animals?
For any Druid other than Circle of the Moon, wildshape is largely for flavour. It provides movement, stealth, and some limited combat options, but you can safely ignore it and still play a strong Druid.
If you want to play a Nature Cleric, you could always just play a Nature Cleric...
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
I came up with the preliminary idea for a circle that has a sort of spirit animal instead of wild shape. The animal chosen must still conform to the wild shape rules but you can change what animal it is every short or long rest.
Sorry to necro-post on this but I did have something fun that my DM has me playtesting on this front. He took a cue from the Circle of Spores Symbiotic Entity and leaned away from the mushroom and fungus aspect of circle of spores and leaning more into the death and decay aspect of it. So we call it the Circle of Woe (think old world Woe definition meaning fate/natural death and not Woe as in bad luck/omen) and he created a new wildshape called Wrath of Shadows.
"You can use your Wild Shape ability to tap into the necrotic energy abounding everywhere. Instead of transforming, as an action, you clothe yourself in the Wrath of Shadows. For each level you have in druid, you gain 3 temporary hit points. The temporary hit points increase to 4 per level at level 6, 5 at level 10, and 6 at level 14.
If you have any of these hit points remaining when you are hit by an attack within 5ft, the shadows lash off your body and retaliate with 1d4 necrotic damage. This damage is also added when you deal any other necrotic damage. It increases to 1d6 at level 6, 1d8 at level 10, 1d10 at level 14, and 1d12 at level 18. Wrath of Shadows can only remain for up to 1 hour or until you use Wild Shape again."
Mechanically it's sort of a cross between Symbiotic Entity and Armor of Agathys except with the necrotic damage instead of cold damage.
Just our fun homebrew 2 cents.