Circle of Spores is a super cool idea and feel, but the actual class is... really bad. It can't decide whether to be a melee druid, a minion master, or a ranged spellslinger. It ends up doing all three very poorly. I always liked the fungus-minion aspect of it the most, and decided to completely redesign it into a minion-master and party-support build.
Let me know what you think! Hasn't been play-tested. Hoping to use it with an existing level 10 spore druid in one of my current campaigns as a player.
Overall Design Philosophy
Remake spore druid from scratch as a party support & minion build.
Give them multiple minions, but make them weaker and more resource-intensive to control in combat than other class minions, or the “Summon _____”
Have a party buff ability, where you have to choose between buffing & controlling minions, or buffing party members.
Update their spell list to include more party healing abilities, leaning on medicinal fungi as a trope.
Make poison damage OK again, piercing resistance / immunity.
Feature Summary
Symbiotic Link: Buff Self + Proficiency allies
Uses Wildshape, lasts 1 hour, requires maintaining concentration and can be broken if concentration save is failed.
Grants 5 Temp HP, telepathy with linked
Thralls must be under its effect to attack in combat.
Insidious Poisons
Allows piercing resistance & immunity to poison
Grants Ray of Sickness, a staple spell for dealing poison damage & condition.
Multiple Fungal Thralls = Proficiency bonus.
Thralls are based on the Summon Beast level 2 spell for power level.
Take a corpse (any kind, pretty much) and 1 hour to make.
Three “Flavors” based on whether a beast, humanoid, or plant was animated.
They only attack if they are affected by Symbiotic Link and a bonus action is used to order them to. But you can order all affected spore thralls to attack.
Tweaked Spell List
Replaced some offensive spells with supportive healing and protective spells
Added Ray of Sickness as a staple single-target poison-damage spell.
Avoided concentration spells, since they can’t be used at the same time as Symbiotic Link
Symbiotic Retribution: Inflicts poisoned condition as a reaction, conditionally.
Triggers when someone loses all of the temp HP from Symbiotic Link.
Uses reaction, targets one adjacent creature to the ally.
Capstone ability @ level 14: Symbiotic Mastery
Can spend 2 wild shapes to affect twice as many allies; no longer have to choose (as much) between commanding thralls or aiding the party.
Symbiotic Link now refills the +5 temp HP at the start of each beneficiary’s turn.
Symbiotic Retribution affects all adjacent enemies, not just one.
Symbiotic Link: The Spore Druid can extend his symbiotic fungus’ reach into willing allies. They release a cloud of spores that settle into the new host, connecting them telepathically and covering them with a protective layer of eerily beautiful fungal growths.
Spend an action and a wild shape. Select a number of willing creatures within 10’ equal to your proficiency bonus. For 1 hour, you and those creatures can communicate with each other telepathically if they are within 60’, and gain 5 temporary HP.
Maintaining the link requires concentration, just like concentrating on a spell, and if the concentration is broken the link ends. Temporary HP still lasts the entire hour though.
2
Insidious Poisons: The symbiotic entity that grants the spore druid their powers is no inert toxin, it is an adaptable living thing. It has evolved to digest anything, even stone, metal, and necromantic flesh. When the druid inflicts poison damage or the poisoned condition, it bypasses some protections. If a creature has immunity to poison damage, it still takes half damage. Resistance to poison damage is ignored. If a creature has advantage on saves against the poisoned condition, that no longer applies. If they are immune to the poisoned condition, they instead get advantage on saves vs. the poisoned condition. Creatures benefiting from Symbiotic Link also benefit from this ability.
Thrall Cultivator: The symbiotic fungi inhabiting the Spore Druid’s body can be cultivated inside dead tissue, raising the body as a fungal thrall. These thralls are useful and expendable allies, if directed by the druid through their symbiotic link.
The Spore Druid can spend an hour cultivating a medium or small organic corpse with fungal symbiotes; this can happen at the same time as a short or long rest. If the corpse was humanoid, it creates a Humanoid thrall. Other organic corpses create Bestial Thralls. Alternatively, a small or medium pile of dead plant matter or a dead plant creature can be made into a vegetative thrall. The Spore Druid can have thralls equal to their proficiency bonus; if they create another one, one of the older ones dies.
The fungal thralls act after the druid’s turn in initiative. They move and take the Dodge action, unless the druid directly controls their turns. The Druid can spend a bonus action to telepathically control any of their thralls within 60’ that are connected through Symbiotic Link.
10
Symbiotic Retribution: When the protective growths caused by Symbiotic Link are destroyed, they release a cloud of spores. The Druid can telepathically guide those spores into the body of a nearby creature, sickening it.
When an ally under the effect of Symbiotic Link takes damage that removes its temporary HP, the druid may use their reaction to poison a creature within 5 feet of the damaged ally. The target creature must make a Constitution saving throw against the Druid’s spellcasting DC, or be poisoned for one minute.
14
Symbiotic Mastery: Your symbiote thrives in partnership with your magic. You can spread your symbiotic influence further, and the fungal growths that protect your allies constantly regenerate. These growths are also more fecund, releasing larger clouds of spores when burst.
You may spend two Wild Shape uses instead of one when activating Symbiotic Link; if you do so, you affect yourself and twice your proficiency bonus of allied creatures.
Creatures affected by Symbiotic Link gain 5 temporary HP at the start of each of their turns, as the protective fungal growths return. Symbiotic retribution now affects any number of enemy creatures within 5 feet of the struck ally, not just one.
Immune: Charmed, Frightened, poison damage & effects from its master.
Might of the Master: The Fungal Thrall’s Proficiency bonus is equal to its master’s.
Attack: Slam attack, +7 (STR+P), 1d8+3 (7) poison damage.
Fungal Consumption: When the Fungal Thrall hits with a Slam attack, it digests a portion of its target and heals 5 HP.
Humanoid - Pitch Puffball: Hard puffballs grow on the skin of this thrall, which can be torn off and used as thrown weapons. It gains a ranged attack option: Puffball +7 (STR+P), range 20/60, 1d8+3 (7) Poison damage.
Bestial - Knockdown: Enemies hit by this thrall’s slam attack must make a STR saving throw DC 15 (8+STR+P) or be knocked prone.
Vegetative - Rooting Threads: Enemies hit by this thrall’s slam attack must make a DEX saving throw DC 15 (8+STR+P) or have their speed reduced to 0 until the end of their next turn..
Why an entire rebuild?
Circle of Spores is a super cool idea and feel, but the actual class is... really bad. It can't decide whether to be a melee druid, a minion master, or a ranged spellslinger. It ends up doing all three very poorly. I always liked the fungus-minion aspect of it the most, and decided to completely redesign it into a minion-master and party-support build.
Let me know what you think! Hasn't been play-tested. Hoping to use it with an existing level 10 spore druid in one of my current campaigns as a player.
Overall Design Philosophy
Remake spore druid from scratch as a party support & minion build.
Feature Summary
Class Spell List:
2nd: Ray of Sickness
3rd: Protection from Poison, Lesser Restoration
5th: Life Transference, Speak with Plants
7th: Giant Insect, Death Ward
9th: Contagion, Greater Restoration
2
Symbiotic Link: The Spore Druid can extend his symbiotic fungus’ reach into willing allies. They release a cloud of spores that settle into the new host, connecting them telepathically and covering them with a protective layer of eerily beautiful fungal growths.
Spend an action and a wild shape. Select a number of willing creatures within 10’ equal to your proficiency bonus. For 1 hour, you and those creatures can communicate with each other telepathically if they are within 60’, and gain 5 temporary HP.
Maintaining the link requires concentration, just like concentrating on a spell, and if the concentration is broken the link ends. Temporary HP still lasts the entire hour though.
2
Insidious Poisons: The symbiotic entity that grants the spore druid their powers is no inert toxin, it is an adaptable living thing. It has evolved to digest anything, even stone, metal, and necromantic flesh.
When the druid inflicts poison damage or the poisoned condition, it bypasses some protections. If a creature has immunity to poison damage, it still takes half damage. Resistance to poison damage is ignored. If a creature has advantage on saves against the poisoned condition, that no longer applies. If they are immune to the poisoned condition, they instead get advantage on saves vs. the poisoned condition. Creatures benefiting from Symbiotic Link also benefit from this ability.
The Spore Druid learns the Ray of Sickness spell.
6
Thrall Cultivator: The symbiotic fungi inhabiting the Spore Druid’s body can be cultivated inside dead tissue, raising the body as a fungal thrall. These thralls are useful and expendable allies, if directed by the druid through their symbiotic link.
The Spore Druid can spend an hour cultivating a medium or small organic corpse with fungal symbiotes; this can happen at the same time as a short or long rest. If the corpse was humanoid, it creates a Humanoid thrall. Other organic corpses create Bestial Thralls. Alternatively, a small or medium pile of dead plant matter or a dead plant creature can be made into a vegetative thrall. The Spore Druid can have thralls equal to their proficiency bonus; if they create another one, one of the older ones dies.
The fungal thralls act after the druid’s turn in initiative. They move and take the Dodge action, unless the druid directly controls their turns. The Druid can spend a bonus action to telepathically control any of their thralls within 60’ that are connected through Symbiotic Link.
10
Symbiotic Retribution: When the protective growths caused by Symbiotic Link are destroyed, they release a cloud of spores. The Druid can telepathically guide those spores into the body of a nearby creature, sickening it.
When an ally under the effect of Symbiotic Link takes damage that removes its temporary HP, the druid may use their reaction to poison a creature within 5 feet of the damaged ally. The target creature must make a Constitution saving throw against the Druid’s spellcasting DC, or be poisoned for one minute.
14
Symbiotic Mastery: Your symbiote thrives in partnership with your magic. You can spread your symbiotic influence further, and the fungal growths that protect your allies constantly regenerate. These growths are also more fecund, releasing larger clouds of spores when burst.
You may spend two Wild Shape uses instead of one when activating Symbiotic Link; if you do so, you affect yourself and twice your proficiency bonus of allied creatures.
Creatures affected by Symbiotic Link gain 5 temporary HP at the start of each of their turns, as the protective fungal growths return. Symbiotic retribution now affects any number of enemy creatures within 5 feet of the struck ally, not just one.
4x Fungal Thrall - Humanoid, Bestial, Vegetative (Medium Plant)
Stat
Mod
Score
AC
11+P
Strength
+3
16
Speed
30’
Dexterity
+0
11
HP
20
Constitution
+3
16
Intelligence
-3
4
Wisdom
+2
14
Charisma
-3
5
Resistant: Poison, Necrotic Senses: Darkvision 60’
Immune: Charmed, Frightened, poison damage & effects from its master.
Might of the Master: The Fungal Thrall’s Proficiency bonus is equal to its master’s.
Attack: Slam attack, +7 (STR+P), 1d8+3 (7) poison damage.
Fungal Consumption: When the Fungal Thrall hits with a Slam attack, it digests a portion of its target and heals 5 HP.
Humanoid - Pitch Puffball: Hard puffballs grow on the skin of this thrall, which can be torn off and used as thrown weapons. It gains a ranged attack option: Puffball +7 (STR+P), range 20/60, 1d8+3 (7) Poison damage.
Bestial - Knockdown: Enemies hit by this thrall’s slam attack must make a STR saving throw DC 15 (8+STR+P) or be knocked prone.
Vegetative - Rooting Threads: Enemies hit by this thrall’s slam attack must make a DEX saving throw DC 15 (8+STR+P) or have their speed reduced to 0 until the end of their next turn..
Fungal Thrall Design