So I’m making this character who is very in tune with the water but I was wondering what the most water based subclass I could use for it? The character is also gonna use wild shape to turn into marine animals but I don’t know if I want to base it all around that.
The best you get is Circle of the Land and picking Coast. I guess you could also go Shephard and reflavour the totems to water animals, but if we start talking reflavouring then your options are practically limitless anyway.
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I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
As for race, you could do Triton, Sea Elf, or Water Genasi. Another idea is to reflavor existing spells. For example, I had a player use Coral Whip instead of Thorn Whip, and Water Shark Torpedo instead of Ice Knife
I would say any of them except Wildfire (b/c fire) and Spores.
The reason I don't think Spores works so well is that it depends on having dying Humanoids near you to be really effective. Water based campaigns are tricky because of the Depth issue. IOW, if your Druid is in the water and the body you want to reanimate is also underwater, it might sink (or drift away in a stormy waters) before you can reanimate it. Or not. This is really DM-dependent. The other matter is that there is an overall greater variety of Humanoids living on land than in the water. Of course, ultimately this is also very DM-dependent.
If the thought of transforming into marine beasties is what draws you to Druid, then go with Moon Druid. You get the greatest variety of possible forms.
Spores is plenty effective even without fighting any humanoids. It's only one feature that requires this and it's not even a particularly important one when it comes to what the subclass does.
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I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
Spores is plenty effective even without fighting any humanoids. It's only one feature that requires this and it's not even a particularly important one when it comes to what the subclass does.
It really depends on what the player's goal and playstyle is. Some people choose Spores specifically for the ability to control cheap zombies. It's not necessarily the most important feature, but can be strong if the Druid and party coordinates to make them effective.
If the player picked the subclass just for this I'd argue they made a bad choice to begin with. You can't do that before level 6, it has a terrible condition (you don't really want to be within 10ft of the enemy as caster usually, especially now that you can finally use your spores from further away) and the zombies only have 1HP anyway. That's like playing a Hexblade for the Spectre feature. Nobody does that. If a player wanted zombies they are much better off just casting animate dead from level 5 on already. Fungal Infestation is not much more than a ribbon feature. Nice if it works, but not something you aim to use or make the reason to play the subclass to begin with.
On that note, Fungal Infestation also works on beasts, not just humanoids.
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I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
Either way, the Spores Druid's full capabilities aren't going to be fully useful if you are playing in an aquatic campaign. Also, I would very much disagree that Fungal Infestation is just a ribbon. Giving your cheap, expendable zombies magical ranged weapons via the Magic Stone cantrip is useful, repeatable tactic. Also, because of the healing abilities of Spores Druid and the innate Medium armor proficiency, there are several melee-friendly ways you can multi-class: Barbarian, Fighter, and Ranger, for instance.
The best you get is Circle of the Land and picking Coast. I guess you could also go Shephard and reflavour the totems to water animals, but if we start talking reflavouring then your options are practically limitless anyway.
I actually did this for the most recent druid I've played, a halfling who worshiped a river spirit. Instead of Sylvan, he got Aquan at 2nd level, and the totems spirits were swapped -- Bear became Crab, Hawk became Albatross and Unicorn became Otter. The spirits were water-related, but wouldn't look too ridiculous in other terrain, although every time I summoned the Otter totem everyone got a kick out of an incorporeal otter suddenly appearing on the battlefield.
Stars flavors really well as a navigator or sailor
I am playing exactly this concept at the moment and loving the hell out of it. My Stars druid is a Firbolg, except instead of reclusive forest folk, my Firbolg people are reclusive islanders. I took my inspiration from Polynesian explorers who used both the stars as well as the ocean currents to navigate the vast Pacific.
She uses Shape Water constantly, and now that she has become 5th level there are lots of fun 3rd level druid spells that are water-based - Freedom of the Waves, Tidal Wave, Wall of Water, Water Breathing/Walk. Though honestly, Shape Water is still funner than all those. :)
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So I’m making this character who is very in tune with the water but I was wondering what the most water based subclass I could use for it? The character is also gonna use wild shape to turn into marine animals but I don’t know if I want to base it all around that.
insert original witty signature here:
The best you get is Circle of the Land and picking Coast. I guess you could also go Shephard and reflavour the totems to water animals, but if we start talking reflavouring then your options are practically limitless anyway.
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
As for race, you could do Triton, Sea Elf, or Water Genasi. Another idea is to reflavor existing spells. For example, I had a player use Coral Whip instead of Thorn Whip, and Water Shark Torpedo instead of Ice Knife
Spores! Your Halo of Spores are algae and Symbiotic Entity is a cloud of water pollution.
I would say any of them except Wildfire (b/c fire) and Spores.
The reason I don't think Spores works so well is that it depends on having dying Humanoids near you to be really effective. Water based campaigns are tricky because of the Depth issue. IOW, if your Druid is in the water and the body you want to reanimate is also underwater, it might sink (or drift away in a stormy waters) before you can reanimate it. Or not. This is really DM-dependent. The other matter is that there is an overall greater variety of Humanoids living on land than in the water. Of course, ultimately this is also very DM-dependent.
If the thought of transforming into marine beasties is what draws you to Druid, then go with Moon Druid. You get the greatest variety of possible forms.
Spores is plenty effective even without fighting any humanoids. It's only one feature that requires this and it's not even a particularly important one when it comes to what the subclass does.
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
It really depends on what the player's goal and playstyle is. Some people choose Spores specifically for the ability to control cheap zombies. It's not necessarily the most important feature, but can be strong if the Druid and party coordinates to make them effective.
If the player picked the subclass just for this I'd argue they made a bad choice to begin with. You can't do that before level 6, it has a terrible condition (you don't really want to be within 10ft of the enemy as caster usually, especially now that you can finally use your spores from further away) and the zombies only have 1HP anyway. That's like playing a Hexblade for the Spectre feature. Nobody does that. If a player wanted zombies they are much better off just casting animate dead from level 5 on already. Fungal Infestation is not much more than a ribbon feature. Nice if it works, but not something you aim to use or make the reason to play the subclass to begin with.
On that note, Fungal Infestation also works on beasts, not just humanoids.
I've never encountered a forum where I got this many "talking to a wall" impressions as this one...
Either way, the Spores Druid's full capabilities aren't going to be fully useful if you are playing in an aquatic campaign. Also, I would very much disagree that Fungal Infestation is just a ribbon. Giving your cheap, expendable zombies magical ranged weapons via the Magic Stone cantrip is useful, repeatable tactic. Also, because of the healing abilities of Spores Druid and the innate Medium armor proficiency, there are several melee-friendly ways you can multi-class: Barbarian, Fighter, and Ranger, for instance.
I actually did this for the most recent druid I've played, a halfling who worshiped a river spirit. Instead of Sylvan, he got Aquan at 2nd level, and the totems spirits were swapped -- Bear became Crab, Hawk became Albatross and Unicorn became Otter. The spirits were water-related, but wouldn't look too ridiculous in other terrain, although every time I summoned the Otter totem everyone got a kick out of an incorporeal otter suddenly appearing on the battlefield.
Stars flavors really well as a navigator or sailor
I am playing exactly this concept at the moment and loving the hell out of it. My Stars druid is a Firbolg, except instead of reclusive forest folk, my Firbolg people are reclusive islanders. I took my inspiration from Polynesian explorers who used both the stars as well as the ocean currents to navigate the vast Pacific.
She uses Shape Water constantly, and now that she has become 5th level there are lots of fun 3rd level druid spells that are water-based - Freedom of the Waves, Tidal Wave, Wall of Water, Water Breathing/Walk. Though honestly, Shape Water is still funner than all those. :)