I've been going back and forth with this for a while and could use some thoughtful opinions.
My group is starting a campaign that's based in the Underdark and I love the idea of a Drow druid, taking responsibility for and gaining strength from the hostile Underdark environment. My problem is simple: can't decide which Circle would best suit the concept- Spore, Land (underdark, obvs), or Moon (or a reasonable Underdark facsimile thereof).
Given the general theme, what would you pick and why? The party, if it impacts your thinking, consists of a paladin, monk, rogue, sorcerer, and bard. Thanks!
What kind of role are you playing in the party? Or wanting to play in the party? that actually affects what choice you make quite a bit. Are you the primary healer? Are you meant to get up in the front lines? Are you somewhere in between?
See in my eyes, the circle of Land fits the best thematically in my opinion. Also it automatically gets greater invisibility and web which are both amazing spells, as well as other pretty good support spells so it is solid mechanically, specially from a support viewpoint. I just think that Land druid fits the trope of a druid that wanders across the natural areas of the world, and gaining strength from aspects nature, at least more than the others.
Eh, I think any of those can be worked thematically to a very satisfying level. I love the idea of a spores druid that cultivates fungus gardens in the underdark.
If you're worried about filling holes in the party, then Spore and Moon make the most sense. Your party is very squishy so far with only the paladin to take hits on the reg. But honestly, don't worry about that and focus on coming up with a character that excites the ever living crap out of yourself. I loathe the "filling a role" mentality. Where is the randomness of life in that? How are all of these perfectly balanced adventuring groups forming? If you have fun thinking that way, by all means, do your thing. But don't be pressured by partymembers or the DM to do so. Come up with something that makes you happy, and then the whole team can work to solve problems caused by deficiencies in the party. The struggle can be quite fun itself, but more importantly, it's no one person's responsibility to make sure the party has a well rounded skill set.
Underdark is the 2nd best Land druid IMO, so you can't go wrong with that. Spores can be really fun, but it can also be a bit tricky to play effectively and depends a lot on the campaign. If you can get a lot of use out of Animate Dead (which can be very powerful in the right campaign) then it can be really good.
For spores, my suggestion is that unless you really want to lean into the melee druid thing, just ignore the melee focused stuff after level 5. Sit back and cast chill touch for your attacks. You can use Symbiotic Entity for the temp HP preemptively (temp HP last until you rest). Then you never have to worry about wasting an action in combat for it (unless you need to reapply the temp hp).
Death cleric makes for a great level 1 dip. The Reaver feature empowers your chill touch cantrip so that it can cleave (hit 2 adjacent targets), and you can also pick up toll the dead (which also cleaves). You can prepare a bunch of lvl 1 cleric spells, which frees up more higher level druid spells to prepare. You end up being a very tanky (thanks to the temp HP) caster with lots or great spells, an undead army, and powerful cantrips that can cleave.
Im sorry, i blacked out for a moment. What was the context of the question? (reads prompt) Ok gotcha. I myself am not a big fan of wildshape within dnd so anything that gives you an alternate use for it is great IMO. Spores druid can also be really tankey especially at higher levels. With the change from poison to necrotic damage they have gotten better. They are good at both melee stuff and ranged offense and support (but that is kindof all druids if im honest)
I've been going back and forth with this for a while and could use some thoughtful opinions.
My group is starting a campaign that's based in the Underdark and I love the idea of a Drow druid, taking responsibility for and gaining strength from the hostile Underdark environment. My problem is simple: can't decide which Circle would best suit the concept- Spore, Land (underdark, obvs), or Moon (or a reasonable Underdark facsimile thereof).
Given the general theme, what would you pick and why? The party, if it impacts your thinking, consists of a paladin, monk, rogue, sorcerer, and bard. Thanks!
What kind of role are you playing in the party? Or wanting to play in the party? that actually affects what choice you make quite a bit. Are you the primary healer? Are you meant to get up in the front lines? Are you somewhere in between?
See in my eyes, the circle of Land fits the best thematically in my opinion. Also it automatically gets greater invisibility and web which are both amazing spells, as well as other pretty good support spells so it is solid mechanically, specially from a support viewpoint. I just think that Land druid fits the trope of a druid that wanders across the natural areas of the world, and gaining strength from aspects nature, at least more than the others.
Eh, I think any of those can be worked thematically to a very satisfying level. I love the idea of a spores druid that cultivates fungus gardens in the underdark.
If you're worried about filling holes in the party, then Spore and Moon make the most sense. Your party is very squishy so far with only the paladin to take hits on the reg. But honestly, don't worry about that and focus on coming up with a character that excites the ever living crap out of yourself. I loathe the "filling a role" mentality. Where is the randomness of life in that? How are all of these perfectly balanced adventuring groups forming? If you have fun thinking that way, by all means, do your thing. But don't be pressured by partymembers or the DM to do so. Come up with something that makes you happy, and then the whole team can work to solve problems caused by deficiencies in the party. The struggle can be quite fun itself, but more importantly, it's no one person's responsibility to make sure the party has a well rounded skill set.
Prob spores, cause it seems ideal for the underdark, But I'm kinda a noob
Underdark is the 2nd best Land druid IMO, so you can't go wrong with that. Spores can be really fun, but it can also be a bit tricky to play effectively and depends a lot on the campaign. If you can get a lot of use out of Animate Dead (which can be very powerful in the right campaign) then it can be really good.
For spores, my suggestion is that unless you really want to lean into the melee druid thing, just ignore the melee focused stuff after level 5. Sit back and cast chill touch for your attacks. You can use Symbiotic Entity for the temp HP preemptively (temp HP last until you rest). Then you never have to worry about wasting an action in combat for it (unless you need to reapply the temp hp).
Death cleric makes for a great level 1 dip. The Reaver feature empowers your chill touch cantrip so that it can cleave (hit 2 adjacent targets), and you can also pick up toll the dead (which also cleaves). You can prepare a bunch of lvl 1 cleric spells, which frees up more higher level druid spells to prepare. You end up being a very tanky (thanks to the temp HP) caster with lots or great spells, an undead army, and powerful cantrips that can cleave.
SPORES DRUID!
Im sorry, i blacked out for a moment. What was the context of the question? (reads prompt) Ok gotcha. I myself am not a big fan of wildshape within dnd so anything that gives you an alternate use for it is great IMO. Spores druid can also be really tankey especially at higher levels. With the change from poison to necrotic damage they have gotten better. They are good at both melee stuff and ranged offense and support (but that is kindof all druids if im honest)
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Moon all day long. mix in a level of monk early and you are a dire wolf or rocktopus tank with decent AC at level 3
I feel as though moon or stars if your character revers the night sky, like drizzt. Otherwise run spores