As to the point of it, by that logic I ask you what the point of the bladesinger is then?
The bladesinger is definitely infringing on the niche of the EK, but it does have some unique difference : bladesingers have minimal access to armour and weapons and much lower hit points so relies more on spells to buff their melee potential compared to EK and have far less ability to collect feats than an EK meaning the Bladesinger has far fewer martial build options than the EK but have more options to be a full spellcaster - indeed there is a whole meta-argument that bladesinger should really just be played like any other wizard only with extra buffs to their AC & concentration and shouldn't actually be played as a gish / weapon user - and honestly with Artificer and Hexblade Warlock it was a kind of redundant subclass. This kind of highlights the problem with full-caster "gish" subclasses once you get to level 5 or so your spellcasting is generally better than trying to be a melee weapon user this is especially true for druid because they have so few spells that actually buff their melee combat or melee survivability, even in 2024 they have only Shillelagh(cantrip), Flame Blade (2nd), Conjure Woodland Beings (4th), Font of Moonlight (4th), Legacy Guardian of Nature (5th) as melee-buffing spells.
As to the point of it, by that logic I ask you what the point of the bladesinger is then?
The bladesinger is definitely infringing on the niche of the EK, but it does have some unique difference : bladesingers have minimal access to armour and weapons and much lower hit points so relies more on spells to buff their melee potential compared to EK and have far less ability to collect feats than an EK meaning the Bladesinger has far fewer martial build options than the EK but have more options to be a full spellcaster - indeed there is a whole meta-argument that bladesinger should really just be played like any other wizard only with extra buffs to their AC & concentration and shouldn't actually be played as a gish / weapon user - and honestly with Artificer and Hexblade Warlock it was a kind of redundant subclass. This kind of highlights the problem with full-caster "gish" subclasses once you get to level 5 or so your spellcasting is generally better than trying to be a melee weapon user this is especially true for druid because they have so few spells that actually buff their melee combat or melee survivability, even in 2024 they have only Shillelagh(cantrip), Flame Blade (2nd), Conjure Woodland Beings (4th), Font of Moonlight (4th), Legacy Guardian of Nature (5th) as melee-buffing spells.
That’s why I was giving the version of the Circle of the Fey I was writing actual combat buffs when transformed. Besides, druids can’t cast spells while in Wild Shape anyway, only maintain concentration. When the player decides their CotF druid is transforming, they’ve already decided to rely on the Seelie/Unseelie abilities of their transformation to carry them, and the general bonuses of the transformation to help see them throughz
As to the point of it, by that logic I ask you what the point of the bladesinger is then?
The bladesinger is definitely infringing on the niche of the EK, but it does have some unique difference : bladesingers have minimal access to armour and weapons and much lower hit points so relies more on spells to buff their melee potential compared to EK and have far less ability to collect feats than an EK meaning the Bladesinger has far fewer martial build options than the EK but have more options to be a full spellcaster - indeed there is a whole meta-argument that bladesinger should really just be played like any other wizard only with extra buffs to their AC & concentration and shouldn't actually be played as a gish / weapon user - and honestly with Artificer and Hexblade Warlock it was a kind of redundant subclass. This kind of highlights the problem with full-caster "gish" subclasses once you get to level 5 or so your spellcasting is generally better than trying to be a melee weapon user this is especially true for druid because they have so few spells that actually buff their melee combat or melee survivability, even in 2024 they have only Shillelagh(cantrip), Flame Blade (2nd), Conjure Woodland Beings (4th), Font of Moonlight (4th), Legacy Guardian of Nature (5th) as melee-buffing spells.
That’s why I was giving the version of the Circle of the Fey I was writing actual combat buffs when transformed. Besides, druids can’t cast spells while in Wild Shape anyway, only maintain concentration. When the player decides their CotF druid is transforming, they’ve already decided to rely on the Seelie/Unseelie abilities of their transformation to carry them, and the general bonuses of the transformation to help see them throughz
Simply using Wild Shape is not the same as being in Wild Shape. Currently the only use of Wild Shape that bars spellcasting is transforming into an animal. If you wan the Fey transformation to also bar spellcasting you need to specifically specify that it does so. That would make it more balanced, but I don't know if it really captures the essence of being a Fey is you can't cast spells while being a Fey.
The bladesinger is definitely infringing on the niche of the EK, but it does have some unique difference : bladesingers have minimal access to armour and weapons and much lower hit points so relies more on spells to buff their melee potential compared to EK and have far less ability to collect feats than an EK meaning the Bladesinger has far fewer martial build options than the EK but have more options to be a full spellcaster - indeed there is a whole meta-argument that bladesinger should really just be played like any other wizard only with extra buffs to their AC & concentration and shouldn't actually be played as a gish / weapon user - and honestly with Artificer and Hexblade Warlock it was a kind of redundant subclass. This kind of highlights the problem with full-caster "gish" subclasses once you get to level 5 or so your spellcasting is generally better than trying to be a melee weapon user this is especially true for druid because they have so few spells that actually buff their melee combat or melee survivability, even in 2024 they have only Shillelagh(cantrip), Flame Blade (2nd), Conjure Woodland Beings (4th), Font of Moonlight (4th), Legacy Guardian of Nature (5th) as melee-buffing spells.
That’s why I was giving the version of the Circle of the Fey I was writing actual combat buffs when transformed. Besides, druids can’t cast spells while in Wild Shape anyway, only maintain concentration. When the player decides their CotF druid is transforming, they’ve already decided to rely on the Seelie/Unseelie abilities of their transformation to carry them, and the general bonuses of the transformation to help see them throughz
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Simply using Wild Shape is not the same as being in Wild Shape. Currently the only use of Wild Shape that bars spellcasting is transforming into an animal. If you wan the Fey transformation to also bar spellcasting you need to specifically specify that it does so. That would make it more balanced, but I don't know if it really captures the essence of being a Fey is you can't cast spells while being a Fey.
Many fey don’t cast spells. Many have innately magical abilities but cast no spells whatsoever.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting