I am starting a new campaign soon and with the new book being released I wanted to allow my players to choose the new subclasses from Tasha's. But I told them I wanted to read through them first because I didn't know any of the subclasses yet.
But when I read the Circle of Stars Druid I was kinda shocked that is was an official subclass.
The 2nd level abilities seem VERY powerful to me especially if you consider combining them with mutli-classing or certain feats. I have seen some people say it balances out in the late game but if we are going to be honest. IF you get to late game it is a feat in and of itself. I am afraid that my other players are going to feel very underpowered, especially because the player who made this character is a bit of a power gamer where the rest of the party aren't really and because they are going to feel underwhelming im afraid that giving this subclass to this player might be a mistake id rather would want to avoid making.
Am I the only one who sees this as a power problem from a DM's point of view? I have seen that many players like this subclass but I haven't really seen any Dm's speak their mind about it.
Is there something that balances the whole thing, Am i missing something? It seems much too powerful to me.
Please help I want to give all my players a good experience while also having fun running it.
It doesn't seem overpowered to me that that's just my opinion. That being said, players shouldn't be overshadowing other players regardless of if a class is overpowered or not. That is something that is a player issue and not so much a class issue. Ultimately it is your game so if the subclass makes you uncomfortable, then you can totally dis-allow it.
Regardless of what you choose, you should make sure to talk with your players about your concern and see how they respond. Their response can be very telling about if its even worth having them at the table and opens a conversation because communication is always good.
I have talked and explained why allowing this subclass made me uncomfortable.
Its not that I expect other players to not feel powerful enough but a problem I have had with this player before is that he made a mechanically very powerful player character that was much more powerful than the other players. Which caused me as a DM to up the power of the creatures they were in combat with but this made it so that either it is a challenge for the party but the challenge gets oblitirated by this powerful pc or its a challenge for his powerful pc but all of the other players would get wrecked by the encounter.
I know that I could do social and puzzle encounters but I think for combat, as much as me and my players like it it could be a problem.
Right. I understand that. I'm saying that if the player is knowingly invalidating other players that is a problem separate from the classes. Perhaps it would be worth discussing the expectations of the game to ensure everyone is on the same page. If that player wants to play a super powerful character but it doesn't fit with the group then that is an important conversation to have. Alternatively the group might be able to coordinate so that everyone has a specific purpose for the group, leaning into whatever that players mechanical advantage is.
I agree with Conal. If you have a player who is going to, as a "powergamer," ruin the experience of everyone else by deliberately and purposely outshining them, then this is a problem far beyond the scope of just a subclass. In my experience the powergamer in a group of players who do not min-max/powergame, will find a way to be better than everyone else regardless. Ban one subclass, and they will find another combo that makes them "uber." You can't stop it, and almost no one knows enough about every class in the game to be able to have the foresight to stop them. Heck even in Champions, which I knew like the back of my hand -- enough that I could play whole sessions, or design whole villain teams, without once having to look up anything in the rulebook -- I could not stop the powergamers completely. They always found some exploit, some loophole, I had not thought of. And I would then have to ban whatever it was going forward. There's a reason why my "house rules one sheet" grew to be six pages long -- almost all of it stating "This is not allowed" and "neither is this" and "neither is this." Because some player thought of it, and I didn't see what it could do ahead of time until they used it in battle.
In a way with this kind of scenario you may be better off letting him play the OP subclass. At least you know what is OP about it already, if you think it is, and you know exactly what to watch for. Much, MUCH better than him playing something you think is underpowered, and it turns out he has found some combo of things that lets him one-shot every boss he encounters.
Not seeing it. Essentially the Stars druid gets a bonus action attack, paid for through use of the wild shape charge. It seems comparable to barbarian's rage or a warlock's buffed eldritch blast. Except that the Druid's ability does not scale like a cantrip does. There are a LOT of ways to get an extra bonus action attack. Why is this one broken?
I have talked and explained why allowing this subclass made me uncomfortable.
Its not that I expect other players to not feel powerful enough but a problem I have had with this player before is that he made a mechanically very powerful player character that was much more powerful than the other players. Which caused me as a DM to up the power of the creatures they were in combat with but this made it so that either it is a challenge for the party but the challenge gets oblitirated by this powerful pc or its a challenge for his powerful pc but all of the other players would get wrecked by the encounter.
I know that I could do social and puzzle encounters but I think for combat, as much as me and my players like it it could be a problem.
It sounds like the problem is a fundamental miss-match of play styles. You have a power gamer mixing with more casual players. There's nothing fundamentally strong about the star druid. Guidance and Guilding Bolt are nice, but the former is already a druid cantrip, and the latter comparable to Faerie Fire. Archer form is nice, but its just Shillegah for a bow, and scales just as badly. The healing is very nice, and could generate lots of health with Healing Spirit; that spell is bonkers, so I suggest looking at it and deciding how the two interact to make sure its not too terrible. Goodberries might also be a flag, since it produces multiple healing parts, so knowing how you want it to work ahead of time to save on potential rules lawyering. Dragon is probably the best, because it means you're really good at Concentration checks, but that's hardly game breaking powerful.
The best way to limit power gaming, I've found, is simply to ban multiclassing; its optional, after all. Min-maxing requires finding combos. So, limit the combinations to just feats, and the character will focus on ASI and concentration boosts.
I haven't looked too closely at the stars druid, but my initial thought is that if you think you will run into a problem because of it you should likely disallow it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Agree with Lyxen and BioWizard I don't think banning specific subclasses or features is going to be a very successful strategy long term.
As for tailoring combat to a group with a min-maxer in it, a few thoughts. First its ok to let them stomp on combat encounters sometimes, feeling powerful is part of the game. Second, how are your players generating their ability scores? Its highly unlikely that they'll start off with phenomenal ability scores for every stat, so if a player is dealing a ton of damage but has a middling to low Wisdom, start throwing monsters that require wisdom saves. I'm not saying tailor a combat encounter to completely shut down one PC, but their are ways of making a combat challenging for the players who really like the mechanical crunch aspect besides just throwing monsters at them that will one shot most of the party. This also provides an opportunity for your other players to step up and have those powerful moments.
I wouldn't say the Star circle anywhere near as powerful (especially at lower levels) as the Moon druid can be, and that's a phb subclass. The problem sounds more like your player's attitude. If they're not willing to let any other players have their moment, I agree that's a problem independent of class.
Another thing to think about; do you think your players will mind or even notice? It's only really an issue if people actually feel their fun is being effected by another player's actions.
Agree with Lyxen and BioWizard I don't think banning specific subclasses or features is going to be a very successful strategy long term.
As for tailoring combat to a group with a min-maxer in it, a few thoughts. First its ok to let them stomp on combat encounters sometimes, feeling powerful is part of the game. Second, how are your players generating their ability scores? Its highly unlikely that they'll start off with phenomenal ability scores for every stat, so if a player is dealing a ton of damage but has a middling to low Wisdom, start throwing monsters that require wisdom saves. I'm not saying tailor a combat encounter to completely shut down one PC, but their are ways of making a combat challenging for the players who really like the mechanical crunch aspect besides just throwing monsters at them that will one shot most of the party. This also provides an opportunity for your other players to step up and have those powerful moments.
I completely disagree. Perception is reality, and if the OP, the DM in this case perceives that the features are OP, that's going to color the DM's experience. Whether he's right or wrong, the DM's going to be grumbly because his perception is already tainted. it's better to just avoid that and say "nope".
For the record, looking at the level 2 features, stars looks very strong to me, but not as bad as the Twilight cleric. I feel stars is likely power creeping on most of the other druids, but it's not brokenly so.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
For those who are interested, I have given the player the option to play a personally nerfed version of this subclass. I did this mainly because I get the appeal and don't want to completely ban it from the game. I would rather be able to upgrade his abilities if they seem to weak than have to nerf them after he has already used a more powerful version.
Here is the subclass if you are interested. I have put everything I changed in Red.
Star Map
At 2nd level, You've created a star chart as part of your heavenly studies. It is a Tiny object and can serve as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells. You determine its form by rolling on the Star Map table or by choosing one.
You have the Guiding Bolt spell prepared. It counts as a druid spell for you, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can have prepared.
You can cast Guiding Boltonce without expending a spell slot, you can do so again after you finish a long rest.
If you lose the map, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to magically create a replacement. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous map.
If you lose the map, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to magically create a replacement. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous map.
Starry Form
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to harness constellations’ power to alter your form. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to take on a starry form, rather than transforming into a beast.
While in your starry form, you retain your game statistics, but your body becomes luminous; your joints glimmer like stars, and glowing lines connect them as on a star chart. This form sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. The form lasts for an amount of minutes equal to your wisdom modifier. It ends early if you dismiss it as a bonus action, are incapacitated, die, or use this feature again.
Whenever you assume your starry form, choose which of the following constellations glimmers on your body; your choice gives you certain benefits while in the form:
Archer. A constellation of an archer appears on you. When you activate this form, and as a bonus action on your subsequent turns while it lasts, you can make a ranged spell attack, hurling a luminous arrow that targets one creature within 30 feet of you. On a hit, the attack deals radiant damage equal to 1d4 + your Wisdom modifier.
Chalice. A constellation of a life-giving goblet appears on you. Whenever you cast a spell using a spell slot that restores hit points to a creature, you can use a bonus action to give you or another creature within 30 feet of you hit points equal to 1d4 + your Wisdom modifier.
Dragon. A constellation of a wise dragon appears on you. When you make an Intelligence or a Wisdom check or a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell, you can add a d4 to the roll.
The die increases in size at higher levels. A d6 at level 5 and a d8 at level 10.
Cosmic Omen
When you reach 6th level, you learn to use your star map to divine the will of the cosmos. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can consult your Star Map for omens. When you do so, roll a die. Until you finish your next long rest, you gain access to a special reaction based on whether you rolled an even or an odd number on the die:
Weal (even). Whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the total.
Woe (odd). Whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and subtract the number rolled from the total.
You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Twinkling Constellations
At 10th level, the constellations of your Starry Form improve. The 1d8 of the Archer and the Chalice becomes 2d8, and while the Dragon is active, you have a flying speed of 20 feet and can hover.
Moreover, as a bonus action while in your Starry Form, you can change which constellation glimmers on your body.
Full of Stars
At 14th level, while in your Starry Form, you become partially incorporeal, giving you resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
I think it looks pretty solid. You changed the things that I felt a bit iffy on. I'm not convinced that I think they are overpowered, but I think they /might/ be overpowered.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I like that idea, maybe d6 at level 5, and d8 like level 10, such as cantrips scale up.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Personally I think you shouldn’t nerf it. As others have said it seems you are acting based on the player not the subclass. The changes you made either are a bit small for the sake of it or a majorly nerfing it.
honestly I mean it feels like you want to exert control over the player
The archer ability just provides a little more damage, always a good thing if the druid is otherwise casting heal spells at party members - it makes them feel more useful. The damage is no more than having an additional NPC archer in your party.
The chalice ability just allows you to heal two people instead of one - making healing mid-combat a more useful tactic rather than waiting for them to fall unconscious.
The dragon ability isn't any more powerful than passive skill checks.
Starry Form is really a bad idea if you are in the dark, since it illuminates you for 10 minutes, so making it an ideal target for any opposition with ranged abilities ;-)
The Archer is as powerful as a spiritual weapon which is known to be a very powerful spell. Making a full attack as a bonus action is very powerful. But its also 10 minutes, no concentration and you can regain the use on a short rest.
The Chalice is the one I have the least problem with but I fear that at one point this additional healing could be something a DM can expect to rely on. Cause its basically as if the caster can do a ranged cure wounds for free whenever they heal which nearly doubles the amount of healing this druid could put out compared to the average healer. A Dm might think at one point "oh they heal so much anyways, Its fine to deal a bit extra damage" but if the druid then decides not to use that ability the combat is ****ed but if the enemy doesn't do the amount of damage to compensate for that healing that could make it so that a hard hitting enemy seem like its giving love taps.
The Dragonability isnt powerful at all for the skill checks. But the Concentration checks... its insane. A druid with a good/decent constitution could easily have a +2/+3 at the beginning of the game. Let's say a druid has +2 that means, if they use that ability they can't roll lower than a 12. Meaning that at these lower levels you would have to deal at least 26 points of damage in a single hit to break concentration but in early levels this could easily knock out the player, especially if they lost a little hitpoints already. Thats not even mentioning the fact that a player could combine this with war caster or the Resillient feat. For me specifically the player would have a +4 on his constitution saving throws at level 1 because of the way he chose to put his scores and the race choice. Meaning he'd get no lower than a 14 on his concenctration checks meaning its more likely I am to one-shot him than I am to break his concentration.
Starry forms could indeed be a bad idea to use in the dark but that would be a very occasional thing and targeting a player so specifically I really dislike.
Lspike why would you DM that way? I am sorry but I don’t get the hang up, and honestly if that kind of conversation is going round your head Lspike then the only one power gaming is you. You can think it sucks that a player has cool abilities and work out how to break them, or you can think it’s cool and give the players moments to spotlight them. I know what I prefer.
I'm not really sure about these changes. A lot of them leave a bad taste in my mouth for various reasons.
EDIT - huh. Never read Archer as a bonus action attack. Thought it was regular action. Will have to rethink this part.
Using an action instead of a bonus action is kinda mean. Putting aside that its inconsistent with how every other Wild Shape feature works, the only time it will have an impact is if you catch the player off guard. Something that doesn't happen very often in most games. No, most of the time druids end up shapeshifted before a fight, simply because the druids only have two uses per short rest, and the transformation carries over.
The time limit change is, frankly, a bit meaningless. 5e has several units of time - 1 round is 6 seconds, 1 minute is the length of time for an average combat (a bit less, but spells meant to last the duration of a single fight use this). 10 minutes is the average length for spells that though several fights up to your short rest, but not really into that rest, so it'll be dropped when in the rest. An hour is similar to 10 minutes, but whatever effect lasts through a short rest, and thus active if your rest is interrupted. 8 hours / 24 hours are similar to the 10 mins / 1 hour time limit - they cover your time adventuring, or your time adventuring + time of resting.
Anyways, the point is that, fundamentally, 3-5 minutes of transformed time is generally going to last you to your first short rest time. So, this feels a lot less like an actual balancing, and more that its just slashing numbers for the sake of slashing numbers and calling it a nerf. I mean, I suppose you could be really really tight about the time, but that's reeking of picking on the player at this point. Taking an antagonistic stance with a player is NEVER a good move.
The bonus action on the chalice is just bad. Like, not weakening, but utterly breaking the feature bad. You are basically saying that you don't want this feature to work with about half the healing spells in the game, including the staple Healing Word. Changing it from bonus action to regular action doesn't help, because then you're destroying the use on the other half of healing spells in the game.
I don't particularly care about the die change with dragon, just that depending on feats taken, might be better than the pseudo-Reliable Talent. Hard to say, so I won't.
Using a bonus action at the level 10 ability feels a bit bad to me, because its interfering with the ability to use Chalice on Healing Word. Or any other bonus action ability. I mean... why do this in the first place? Is being able to switch from dragon to chalice, using Healing Word and a cantrip really that bad at this level? Its still a once a round ability. And you didn't even touch the flight on the dragon. I mean, heck. If anything is powerful about this ability its FREE FLYING.
You took a bunch of ability to use Guiding Bolt for free away. Seems fair enough.
I honestly feel like you went through, slashed numbers and randomly added on bonus actions / actions without actually considering what they'd affect, or how it balances with other druid abilities as a whole. The message comes across more "I don't want you to play this, so I'm breaking it without saying no outright" than a balance. And that kind of message ends up creating toxic atmospheres.
Dear dungeon masters,
I am starting a new campaign soon and with the new book being released I wanted to allow my players to choose the new subclasses from Tasha's. But I told them I wanted to read through them first because I didn't know any of the subclasses yet.
But when I read the Circle of Stars Druid I was kinda shocked that is was an official subclass.
The 2nd level abilities seem VERY powerful to me especially if you consider combining them with mutli-classing or certain feats. I have seen some people say it balances out in the late game but if we are going to be honest. IF you get to late game it is a feat in and of itself.
I am afraid that my other players are going to feel very underpowered, especially because the player who made this character is a bit of a power gamer where the rest of the party aren't really and because they are going to feel underwhelming im afraid that giving this subclass to this player might be a mistake id rather would want to avoid making.
Am I the only one who sees this as a power problem from a DM's point of view? I have seen that many players like this subclass but I haven't really seen any Dm's speak their mind about it.
Is there something that balances the whole thing, Am i missing something? It seems much too powerful to me.
Please help I want to give all my players a good experience while also having fun running it.
It doesn't seem overpowered to me that that's just my opinion. That being said, players shouldn't be overshadowing other players regardless of if a class is overpowered or not. That is something that is a player issue and not so much a class issue. Ultimately it is your game so if the subclass makes you uncomfortable, then you can totally dis-allow it.
Regardless of what you choose, you should make sure to talk with your players about your concern and see how they respond. Their response can be very telling about if its even worth having them at the table and opens a conversation because communication is always good.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
I have talked and explained why allowing this subclass made me uncomfortable.
Its not that I expect other players to not feel powerful enough but a problem I have had with this player before is that he made a mechanically very powerful player character that was much more powerful than the other players. Which caused me as a DM to up the power of the creatures they were in combat with but this made it so that either it is a challenge for the party but the challenge gets oblitirated by this powerful pc or its a challenge for his powerful pc but all of the other players would get wrecked by the encounter.
I know that I could do social and puzzle encounters but I think for combat, as much as me and my players like it it could be a problem.
Right. I understand that. I'm saying that if the player is knowingly invalidating other players that is a problem separate from the classes. Perhaps it would be worth discussing the expectations of the game to ensure everyone is on the same page. If that player wants to play a super powerful character but it doesn't fit with the group then that is an important conversation to have. Alternatively the group might be able to coordinate so that everyone has a specific purpose for the group, leaning into whatever that players mechanical advantage is.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
I agree with Conal. If you have a player who is going to, as a "powergamer," ruin the experience of everyone else by deliberately and purposely outshining them, then this is a problem far beyond the scope of just a subclass. In my experience the powergamer in a group of players who do not min-max/powergame, will find a way to be better than everyone else regardless. Ban one subclass, and they will find another combo that makes them "uber." You can't stop it, and almost no one knows enough about every class in the game to be able to have the foresight to stop them. Heck even in Champions, which I knew like the back of my hand -- enough that I could play whole sessions, or design whole villain teams, without once having to look up anything in the rulebook -- I could not stop the powergamers completely. They always found some exploit, some loophole, I had not thought of. And I would then have to ban whatever it was going forward. There's a reason why my "house rules one sheet" grew to be six pages long -- almost all of it stating "This is not allowed" and "neither is this" and "neither is this." Because some player thought of it, and I didn't see what it could do ahead of time until they used it in battle.
In a way with this kind of scenario you may be better off letting him play the OP subclass. At least you know what is OP about it already, if you think it is, and you know exactly what to watch for. Much, MUCH better than him playing something you think is underpowered, and it turns out he has found some combo of things that lets him one-shot every boss he encounters.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Not seeing it. Essentially the Stars druid gets a bonus action attack, paid for through use of the wild shape charge. It seems comparable to barbarian's rage or a warlock's buffed eldritch blast. Except that the Druid's ability does not scale like a cantrip does. There are a LOT of ways to get an extra bonus action attack. Why is this one broken?
It sounds like the problem is a fundamental miss-match of play styles. You have a power gamer mixing with more casual players. There's nothing fundamentally strong about the star druid. Guidance and Guilding Bolt are nice, but the former is already a druid cantrip, and the latter comparable to Faerie Fire. Archer form is nice, but its just Shillegah for a bow, and scales just as badly. The healing is very nice, and could generate lots of health with Healing Spirit; that spell is bonkers, so I suggest looking at it and deciding how the two interact to make sure its not too terrible. Goodberries might also be a flag, since it produces multiple healing parts, so knowing how you want it to work ahead of time to save on potential rules lawyering. Dragon is probably the best, because it means you're really good at Concentration checks, but that's hardly game breaking powerful.
The best way to limit power gaming, I've found, is simply to ban multiclassing; its optional, after all. Min-maxing requires finding combos. So, limit the combinations to just feats, and the character will focus on ASI and concentration boosts.
I haven't looked too closely at the stars druid, but my initial thought is that if you think you will run into a problem because of it you should likely disallow it.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Agree with Lyxen and BioWizard I don't think banning specific subclasses or features is going to be a very successful strategy long term.
As for tailoring combat to a group with a min-maxer in it, a few thoughts. First its ok to let them stomp on combat encounters sometimes, feeling powerful is part of the game. Second, how are your players generating their ability scores? Its highly unlikely that they'll start off with phenomenal ability scores for every stat, so if a player is dealing a ton of damage but has a middling to low Wisdom, start throwing monsters that require wisdom saves. I'm not saying tailor a combat encounter to completely shut down one PC, but their are ways of making a combat challenging for the players who really like the mechanical crunch aspect besides just throwing monsters at them that will one shot most of the party. This also provides an opportunity for your other players to step up and have those powerful moments.
I wouldn't say the Star circle anywhere near as powerful (especially at lower levels) as the Moon druid can be, and that's a phb subclass. The problem sounds more like your player's attitude. If they're not willing to let any other players have their moment, I agree that's a problem independent of class.
Another thing to think about; do you think your players will mind or even notice? It's only really an issue if people actually feel their fun is being effected by another player's actions.
I completely disagree. Perception is reality, and if the OP, the DM in this case perceives that the features are OP, that's going to color the DM's experience. Whether he's right or wrong, the DM's going to be grumbly because his perception is already tainted. it's better to just avoid that and say "nope".
For the record, looking at the level 2 features, stars looks very strong to me, but not as bad as the Twilight cleric. I feel stars is likely power creeping on most of the other druids, but it's not brokenly so.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
For those who are interested, I have given the player the option to play a personally nerfed version of this subclass. I did this mainly because I get the appeal and don't want to completely ban it from the game.
I would rather be able to upgrade his abilities if they seem to weak than have to nerf them after he has already used a more powerful version.
Here is the subclass if you are interested. I have put everything I changed in Red.
Star Map
At 2nd level, You've created a star chart as part of your heavenly studies. It is a Tiny object and can serve as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells. You determine its form by rolling on the Star Map table or by choosing one.
While holding this map, you have these benefits:
If you lose the map, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to magically create a replacement. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous map.
If you lose the map, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to magically create a replacement. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous map.
Starry Form
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to harness constellations’ power to alter your form. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to take on a starry form, rather than transforming into a beast.
While in your starry form, you retain your game statistics, but your body becomes luminous; your joints glimmer like stars, and glowing lines connect them as on a star chart. This form sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. The form lasts for an amount of minutes equal to your wisdom modifier. It ends early if you dismiss it as a bonus action, are incapacitated, die, or use this feature again.
Whenever you assume your starry form, choose which of the following constellations glimmers on your body; your choice gives you certain benefits while in the form:
Archer. A constellation of an archer appears on you. When you activate this form, and as a bonus action on your subsequent turns while it lasts, you can make a ranged spell attack, hurling a luminous arrow that targets one creature within 30 feet of you. On a hit, the attack deals radiant damage equal to 1d4 + your Wisdom modifier.
Chalice. A constellation of a life-giving goblet appears on you. Whenever you cast a spell using a spell slot that restores hit points to a creature, you can use a bonus action to give you or another creature within 30 feet of you hit points equal to 1d4 + your Wisdom modifier.
Dragon. A constellation of a wise dragon appears on you. When you make an Intelligence or a Wisdom check or a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell, you can add a d4 to the roll.
The die increases in size at higher levels. A d6 at level 5 and a d8 at level 10.
Cosmic Omen
When you reach 6th level, you learn to use your star map to divine the will of the cosmos. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can consult your Star Map for omens. When you do so, roll a die. Until you finish your next long rest, you gain access to a special reaction based on whether you rolled an even or an odd number on the die:
Weal (even). Whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the total.
Woe (odd). Whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and subtract the number rolled from the total.
You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Twinkling Constellations
At 10th level, the constellations of your Starry Form improve. The 1d8 of the Archer and the Chalice becomes 2d8, and while the Dragon is active, you have a flying speed of 20 feet and can hover.
Moreover, as a bonus action while in your Starry Form, you can change which constellation glimmers on your body.
Full of Stars
At 14th level, while in your Starry Form, you become partially incorporeal, giving you resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
I think it looks pretty solid. You changed the things that I felt a bit iffy on. I'm not convinced that I think they are overpowered, but I think they /might/ be overpowered.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
If I find out this version is underpowered I can easily power it up a little more.
I just know for a fact that the player would like it more to make the class more powerful as we go along rather than me having to take things away.
I like that idea, maybe d6 at level 5, and d8 like level 10, such as cantrips scale up.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Personally I think you shouldn’t nerf it. As others have said it seems you are acting based on the player not the subclass. The changes you made either are a bit small for the sake of it or a majorly nerfing it.
honestly I mean it feels like you want to exert control over the player
Looking at the original abilities:
The archer ability just provides a little more damage, always a good thing if the druid is otherwise casting heal spells at party members - it makes them feel more useful. The damage is no more than having an additional NPC archer in your party.
The chalice ability just allows you to heal two people instead of one - making healing mid-combat a more useful tactic rather than waiting for them to fall unconscious.
The dragon ability isn't any more powerful than passive skill checks.
Starry Form is really a bad idea if you are in the dark, since it illuminates you for 10 minutes, so making it an ideal target for any opposition with ranged abilities ;-)
The Archer is as powerful as a spiritual weapon which is known to be a very powerful spell. Making a full attack as a bonus action is very powerful. But its also 10 minutes, no concentration and you can regain the use on a short rest.
The Chalice is the one I have the least problem with but I fear that at one point this additional healing could be something a DM can expect to rely on. Cause its basically as if the caster can do a ranged cure wounds for free whenever they heal which nearly doubles the amount of healing this druid could put out compared to the average healer. A Dm might think at one point "oh they heal so much anyways, Its fine to deal a bit extra damage" but if the druid then decides not to use that ability the combat is ****ed but if the enemy doesn't do the amount of damage to compensate for that healing that could make it so that a hard hitting enemy seem like its giving love taps.
The Dragonability isnt powerful at all for the skill checks. But the Concentration checks... its insane. A druid with a good/decent constitution could easily have a +2/+3 at the beginning of the game.
Let's say a druid has +2 that means, if they use that ability they can't roll lower than a 12. Meaning that at these lower levels you would have to deal at least 26 points of damage in a single hit to break concentration but in early levels this could easily knock out the player, especially if they lost a little hitpoints already.
Thats not even mentioning the fact that a player could combine this with war caster or the Resillient feat. For me specifically the player would have a +4 on his constitution saving throws at level 1 because of the way he chose to put his scores and the race choice. Meaning he'd get no lower than a 14 on his concenctration checks meaning its more likely I am to one-shot him than I am to break his concentration.
Starry forms could indeed be a bad idea to use in the dark but that would be a very occasional thing and targeting a player so specifically I really dislike.
Lspike why would you DM that way? I am sorry but I don’t get the hang up, and honestly if that kind of conversation is going round your head Lspike then the only one power gaming is you. You can think it sucks that a player has cool abilities and work out how to break them, or you can think it’s cool and give the players moments to spotlight them. I know what I prefer.
I'm not really sure about these changes. A lot of them leave a bad taste in my mouth for various reasons.
EDIT - huh. Never read Archer as a bonus action attack. Thought it was regular action. Will have to rethink this part.
Using an action instead of a bonus action is kinda mean. Putting aside that its inconsistent with how every other Wild Shape feature works, the only time it will have an impact is if you catch the player off guard. Something that doesn't happen very often in most games. No, most of the time druids end up shapeshifted before a fight, simply because the druids only have two uses per short rest, and the transformation carries over.
The time limit change is, frankly, a bit meaningless. 5e has several units of time - 1 round is 6 seconds, 1 minute is the length of time for an average combat (a bit less, but spells meant to last the duration of a single fight use this). 10 minutes is the average length for spells that though several fights up to your short rest, but not really into that rest, so it'll be dropped when in the rest. An hour is similar to 10 minutes, but whatever effect lasts through a short rest, and thus active if your rest is interrupted. 8 hours / 24 hours are similar to the 10 mins / 1 hour time limit - they cover your time adventuring, or your time adventuring + time of resting.
Anyways, the point is that, fundamentally, 3-5 minutes of transformed time is generally going to last you to your first short rest time. So, this feels a lot less like an actual balancing, and more that its just slashing numbers for the sake of slashing numbers and calling it a nerf. I mean, I suppose you could be really really tight about the time, but that's reeking of picking on the player at this point. Taking an antagonistic stance with a player is NEVER a good move.
The bonus action on the chalice is just bad. Like, not weakening, but utterly breaking the feature bad. You are basically saying that you don't want this feature to work with about half the healing spells in the game, including the staple Healing Word. Changing it from bonus action to regular action doesn't help, because then you're destroying the use on the other half of healing spells in the game.
I don't particularly care about the die change with dragon, just that depending on feats taken, might be better than the pseudo-Reliable Talent. Hard to say, so I won't.
Using a bonus action at the level 10 ability feels a bit bad to me, because its interfering with the ability to use Chalice on Healing Word. Or any other bonus action ability. I mean... why do this in the first place? Is being able to switch from dragon to chalice, using Healing Word and a cantrip really that bad at this level? Its still a once a round ability. And you didn't even touch the flight on the dragon. I mean, heck. If anything is powerful about this ability its FREE FLYING.
You took a bunch of ability to use Guiding Bolt for free away. Seems fair enough.
I honestly feel like you went through, slashed numbers and randomly added on bonus actions / actions without actually considering what they'd affect, or how it balances with other druid abilities as a whole. The message comes across more "I don't want you to play this, so I'm breaking it without saying no outright" than a balance. And that kind of message ends up creating toxic atmospheres.