We’ve now completed a third rotation of the Player’s Handbook, meaning that almost every class has had every subclass from that book examined in the Class 101 series! Two classes with lots of subclasses—the cleric and wizard—will need a little extra time to cover. Starting this week, however, we’re moving away from the Player’s Handbook and taking a look at the brand-new subclasses that you’ll find in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything!
Our next new subclass from Tasha’s is a druid who looks not to the land, not to the moon, not even to the tiniest of spores blossoming on the ground, but to the stars. These druids use the eternal patterns of the heavens to create Star Maps, take on a shimmering, starry form, and safeguard knowledge for future ages.
Check out the other guides in the Class 101 series, like the broad overview of the druid class in Druid 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Channeling Nature’s Might, Druid 101: Circle of the Land, Druid 101: Circle of the Moon, Druid 101: Circle of Spores, and Druid 101: Wildshape Guide. If you’re interested in playing other classes, check out the entire Class 101 series.
Story of the Circle of Stars
“The Great Bear sits high above the City of Towers,” a young druid muttered, her eyes affixed upon the night sky.
“Indeed,” her mentor said. He was an old druid, and hardly needed to look at the stars anymore. His eyes had grown weak over seven decades of doing so, at any rate. “The Great Bear charts her course across this realm thrice per century. I have seen it come twice in my time.”
“The other elders say it foretells ruin,” she said. She turned to her master, worry on her young face. “What happened the last two times you saw it.”
“Ruin,” the old druid said distantly, nodding as he thought back to the nights of fire and screams that had unfolded in generations past. “The Great Bear sleeps for many years, and then when it awakens, it can be most bellicose. The Fates often dictate war when she awakens.”
He glanced at his apprentice and scowled in thought. “And yet, ruin is not all the Great Bear brings. Just because war has followed in her wake in my lifetime, doesn’t mean that is all the Fates have in store for that majestic star sign. In ages past, the elves said that the Great Bear was a sign of salvation. They called it the Ladle of the Waters of Life.” He paused and chuckled. “The name sounds much more beautiful in the original elven: Laslyl’essyth.”
The young druid smiled and walked over to her mentor. She offered a hand to help him stand, and he took her hand in his, and used his other hand to grip his walking stick and together they heaved his slender frame to his feet. “How can we be certain that one such omen of the stars will come to pass, master cartographer?” she asked.
The druid shook his head. “Nothing is certain, my young stargazer. Not upon the earth, and not among the cosmos. Even the stars, when we least expect them to, may sputter out. But we cannot try to outsmart Fate. We must simply chart the stars and make our plans, and if Fate wills us to be wrong, then…” the old druid tossed his staff to his apprentice and smiled impishly. “Then we must be prepared to chart our own destiny.”
Circle of Stars Features
The Circle of Stars draws upon eternal pathways of the stars to grant them the power to cast powerful spells, create charts of the stars, and even take on aspects of the constellations themselves. The druid gains access to four subclass features at 2nd, 6th, 10th, and 14th level. You can read all of the Circle of Stars features in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. In summary, your subclass features allow you to:
- Create a Star Map that counts as your spellcasting focus and grants you the ability to cast guiding bolt and guidance.
- Use your Wild Shape to take on the form of a constellation, granting you one of several unique powers.
- Consult your Star Map for omens of the future, granting you the ability to use a new reaction to aid allies or hinder enemies.
- Improve your Starry Form, granting you resistance to physical damage.
Benefits of the Circle of Stars
The Circle of Stars feels different from just about all other druid subclasses we’ve covered in this series, both in terms of its lore and in terms of its mechanics. Story-wise, these druids aren’t guardians of the natural order so much as they are observers of the stars and wardens of the stories they tell to those who know how to listen. They build great structures to record the star-stories and create Star Maps that give them connects to the cosmos even when the sun burns bright in the sky. A druid of the Circle of Stars who meets one of the Circle of the Land may take some time to understand the other’s ways.
As adventurers, druids of this circle start strong out of the gate with powerful damage-dealing capabilities. When you’re a 2nd-level druid with only three 1st-level spell slots, being able to cast guiding bolt an additional two times per long rest without spending spell slots is a huge deal. You have the ability to pump out serious damage at low levels with this spell, and even at higher levels, guiding bolt is a great way to add offensive oomph to your generally support-focused druid spell list.
Beyond this, your Starry Form feature (notably also gained at 2nd level!) grants you combat flexibility that can make you a more proficient healer (Chalice), damage-healer (Archer), or party buffer/debuffer by making it easier to maintain concentration spells (Dragon). The Dragon constellation can also help in exploration and investigation situations by granting you a Reliable Talent-like trait for your Intelligence and Wisdom checks. It uses charges of your Wild Shape feature, which otherwise is best used as a roleplaying, exploratory, or stealth tool, since you can’t transform into powerful animals. This feature is upgraded twice at higher levels, making it a highly flexible cornerstone of your class.
Drawbacks of the Circle of Stars
Despite its sublime mix of powerful, straightforward, and flexible features, the Circle of Stars isn’t without its weak points. Most notably is that its cornerstone Starry Form feature, a combat-oriented Wild Shape variant that compares most directly to the Circle of the Moon’s Combat Wild Shape, isn’t nearly as good at keeping you alive as Combat Wild Shape. For years, Circle of the Moon druids were called wildly overpowered at low levels because their Combat Wild Shape allowed them to double, even triple their hit points twice per short rest by gaining the massive hit point pool of their animal forms in addition to granting them powerful new melee attacks.
The Circle of Stars’ alternate Wild Shape feature doesn’t grant them the benefit of additional durability. Ultimately, this feature isn’t worse, it’s just different. Its strengths lie elsewhere, forcing you to play more cautiously than a reckless druid who can shapeshift into a giant bear at a moment’s notice. Likewise, the Star Map’s free uses of guiding bolt start off as an absolutely massive boost to your damage output when you choose this subclass at 2nd level, but similarly to the Circle of the Moon’s overwhelming defensive power, this huge spike in offensive power tapers off to a respectable but not game-breaking power level as you gain levels.
Suggested Build
As a druid, you choose your subclass at 2nd level. If you’re playing a Circle of Stars druid, you’re likely going to be fighting in the back rank of your party, wielding spells like guiding bolt and produce flame from afar while keeping an eye on the next party member you can buff or heal with your other spells. Because of this, you should play a race that improves your Wisdom score (to improve the power of your spells and class features) and either your Dexterity or Constitution scores (to improve your Armor Class or hit points). However, thanks to the new “Customizing Your Origin” section in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, you don’t have to let your character’s race dictate their ability scores; you can reassign your racial ability score bonuses to any score you see fit.
If you’re playing without these new rules, there are plenty of races that grant bonuses to Wisdom and Dexterity or Constitution. Wood elves and hill dwarves are solid choices, as are members of the ever-reliable human race.
Selecting EQUIPMENT when building a 1st-level druid will make your life easier, as most druids don’t have to worry too much about what equipment they carry. Fortunately, your spell selection is more important to your continued survival than your equipment selection, so just choose whatever tools you think would be useful.
Optional: Environment
If your gaming group owns a copy of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, what kind of biome your druid grew up in could play a role in what Wild Shape forms you know from the beginning of the game. If you don’t own this book, you and your DM can simply discuss what Wild Shape options you have access to starting at 2nd level. Your druid’s environment is described in chapter 1 of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and you can choose from any of the options listed. As a stargazer, think about where your Circle’s monoliths reside; perhaps somewhere high on a mountaintop or on a plain where the sky stretches uninterrupted from horizon to horizon.
Spells
You don’t choose your subclass until 2nd level, but you can still carve out your role in the party through your spell selection before you officially join the Circle of Stars. Like a cleric, you have your entire class spell list available to you whenever you prepare spells at the start of the day. Nevertheless, when playing a druid, it can help to have a typical spell list that your druid always has prepared—unless you specifically choose otherwise. This can save you the trouble of having to re-select all your spells at the start of each day. Your Star Map feature also grants you a free, powerful damage-dealing and buff spell in guiding bolt, so you may want to gear your spell selection towards spells that will help you in social or exploration scenarios.
As a 1st-level druid, you know two cantrips and can prepare a number of 1st-level spells equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier. Odds are, your Wisdom modifier will be either +2 or +3 right now, so you’ll be able to choose either three or four 1st-level spells whenever you complete a long rest. Produce flame is a good choice of cantrip, since it can serve as both ranged offense and utility. Beyond this, your cantrips are simply a matter of preference, and almost any will serve you well. Druidcraft is another good first choice, since it lets you perform all manner of minor, “druid-y” tricks.
You can prepare any 1st-level spells from the druid spell list, but you can use this list of suggested spells to prepare an all-purpose spell loadout that will serve you in most circumstances. As you go on adventures and learn what dangers your character tends to face, you can personalize your spell loadout. Try to choose one spell labeled SUPPORT and two labeled UTILITY. If you have a high Wisdom score and can prepare additional spells, choose others of your choice. Note that this list only includes some spells from the Player's Handbook and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, so if you want to choose more unusual spells, or have other sources like Xanathar's Guide to Everything, you'll have to do a little self-directed research. This list is just here to get you started if this is your first time playing a Circle of Stars druid.
Be warned that many druid spells require concentration, and you can only concentrate on one spell at once. Try to limit the number of concentration spells you prepare to no more than 1/3 of your spell loadout on any given adventuring day. To aid in this, all concentration spells on this list are listed as such.
- Animal friendship (DEFENSE/UTILITY)
- Charm person (SOCIAL)
- Detect magic (UTILITY)
- Entangle (DEFENSE; CONCENTRATION)
- Faerie fire (SUPPORT; CONCENTRATION)
- Fog cloud (DEFENSE; CONCENTRATION)
- Healing word (SUPPORT)
- Speak with animals (UTILITY)
- Thunderwave (COMBAT)
Feats
Once you’ve improved your Wisdom score to 18 or 20, you can increase your power with a few useful feats. The following feats are good picks for Circle of Stars druids, and will improve your reliability in your own desired area of expertise:
Healer. You may prefer to spend your spell slots on destructive magic, rather than healing spells. In that case, this feat will help you conserve low-level spell slots by healing with a healer’s kit instead of cure wounds.
Observant. This feat is essentially half a feat, since its effects are minor, and you also gain a +1 bonus to Wisdom when you choose it. Since Wisdom is your key ability score, this +1 can help. Perception is also a crucial skill for just about anyone.
Shadow Touched. This new feat from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is thematically potent for a person well-familiar with the paths of light and dark that streak across the cosmos. What power could have touched your soul from within the impenetrable light of the planes?
Telepathic. Another new feat from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, this gives you the ability to speak telepathically and even detect another creature’s thoughts. If you want to be a strange old stargazing hermit, adding telepathy to the mix is a perfect bit of weird magic for you.
If you want more advice for building a druid, check out Druid 101. Have you ever played a Circle of Stars druid? What advice would you give to players that want to play this subclass? Join us next week as we dive deep into the contents of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything with Fighter 101: Psi Knight!
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James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Critical Role Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.
as a magic the gathering player, i recognize those art pieces. nice idea using theros art.
As a star druid, my bread and butter during combat is Moonbeam and Archer constellation. I cast moonbeam with action and also move it with action, and I dedicate my bonus action to archer constellation. Subsequently, I built it on a goblin, so I can always just bonus action disengage when things get hairy. Even at higher levels when Call Lightning becomes available, I still would rather up cast moonbeam with a third level spell slot instead of using Call Lightning; they deal the exact same amount of damage (3d10) but being a star druid I find it more thematically appropriate if I stick to moonbeam.
For healing, aside from the well-known druid + life cleric multiclass cheese by taking disciple of life to boost your good berries, a pure Star Druid can achieve a silly amount of healing by using Aura of Vitality (druids can now learn this spell in Tasha's). On your first turn you cast aura of vitality with your action, and transform into the dragon constellation on a bonus action. From then on you can use bonus action to heal 2d6 for 10 rounds and still have your actions to do lots of other things without ever needing to worry about concentration. The aforementioned life cleric disciple of life cheesy combo is made even more ridiculous when paired with the dragon constellation, as it is nigh impossible to break your concentration on aura of vitality, and you heal for 2d6+5 every single turn. (Do not try to combo aura of vitality with chalice constellation; it doesn't work the same as disciple of life.)
Star druids with subpar dexterity who wish to partake in melee combat (though I can't fathom why one might wish to do that) can choose to use Barkskin on themselves and then transform into dragon constellation to make it semi-permanent during combat. This also translates to spells that enhance your performance in melee combat such as Flame Blade and Stoneskin (if you want resistance to physical damage early without waiting for the high level feat).
I would like to recommend two feats: one is the telekinetic and the other is magic initiate (cleric).
Telekinetic is an excellent tool to pull allies backward and push enemies away. Granted, druids can instead take up the Thornwhip and Gust cantrip to achieve similar effects, but thornwhip will damage allies (however minuscule) and Gust depends on a saving throw, both also have a size limit where if they exceed certain sizes it flat out doesn't work while telekinetic works regardless of size. Both of them eat up the druid's limited pool of chosen cantrips; besides, these cantrips takes the main action to use. Telekinetic can do both in exchange for a feat AND still give +1 to wisdom in case you needed an extra point to reach the next modifier, not to mention give you a superior version of mage hand to boost the druid's limited cantrip choices that is completely undetectable (lacking verbal and somatic component as well as capable of being an invisible hand). Using Telekinetic as a bonus action to shove/pull enemies into your AOEs (like my trademark moonbeam!) is also really nice, you don't need to use your main action to move your moonbeam so you can shoot guiding bolts or do other things instead. You also no longer need to rely on thornwhip as your lasso when trying to snatch far away objects and run the risk of breaking them by rolling high damage since you can just mage hand it.
For Magic initiate (cleric) I've decided to take Toll the Dead + Sacred Flame + Guiding Bolt. These choices might seem counterintuitive but please hear me out: Produce Flame's range is 30ft and it is definitely not a safe range to be in when in high levels. Both Toll the Dead and Sacred Flame are 60ft and deal damage that is unlikely to be resisted while still using your wisdom to cast. Even if you decide to only take one and not both you can still pick up another useful cantrip like resistance (having BOTH guidance and resistance on the same character only ever happens once in a blue moon!) mending or maybe thaumaturgy for RP purposes. Choosing Guiding Bolt as the first level spell is going to sound extremely stupid, but you need to realize that you can use guiding bolt for free once per long rest. Remember star map allows you to cast guiding bolt 2~6 times per long rest? You can give that an X+1 now. You effectively have 4 + (X+1) amount of level one spell slots. If you don't choose guiding bolt you can still take other nice spells from the cleric class, but I personally wouldn't take blessing or shield of faith because your druid bread and butter are very concentration heavy. I might take Command or Sanctuary, and there's always inflict wounds.
Other than that, magic initiate with spells from other classes is still a good way to boost your druid's cantrip pool and nabbing useful first level spells.
Speaking of multiclass combos, I personally made my Goblin Star Druid take a level in Light Domain Cleric. The sun, moon, and stars all give out lots of light after all (and making enemy attacks roll with disadvantage with warding flare is awesome). She's in Eberron; where the moon Thelanis is basically the Eberron equivalent of feywild. She made friends with a fairy princess, but the princess had to return to Thelanis. The goblin decided to find a way to transport themselves to Thelanis (which will take the 7th spell Etherealness for short visits or 9th spell Gate for permanent transports), and decided to become a star druid because she believed she needed to construct a path by walking through the stars in order to reach Thelanis. I have made it so that her Star Map literally needs 17 stars (lv17 for 9th spells) before the stars on the map can make a path that can reach Thelanis, and naturally she connects one star for each level she gains.
A word of advice: Star Druid and Cleric combos do not need to reach lv3 cleric at all, because you do not need spiritual weapon when you already have archer constellation. Druid X + Cleric 2 would be ideal because channel divinity Harness Divine Power. You can regain one 1st level spell slot per short rest early on, You could, for example, burn through your first level spell slots then before taking a short rest use Harness Divine Power to recover one, take a short rest, then Harness Divine Power again. This can be done on 2nd level spell slots and 3rd level spell slots per short rest later on. Druid X + Cleric 5 can get you the 3rd level spells like Spirit Guardians (just imagine, you make your spirit guardians take on the form of glittering stars, so you're a star druid with a mobile galactic star dome that deals radiant damage all the time, and when you shoot arrows with Archer constellation it looks like you are firing off shooting stars that flew out of the planetarium, and your guiding bolts will be comets or meteors) and Cleric 6 can get you the domain features that you may or may not want. Expanding on the astral dominance idea of archer constellation + spirit guardians, a lv17 Arcane Cleric who took a few levels in Star Druid can later nab the Crown of Stars spell from the wizard spell list too! You basically become a more OP version Rosalina where you wear a crown of stars, you walk around with the galaxy swirling around you, and can shoot off shooting stars either through crown of stars or archer constellation. (Or Wizard 13+Cleric 5+Druid 2, though I have no idea how to build something like that without it falling apart mid-campaign)
I'm currently playing a protector aasimar Stars druid, and I feel like that race synergizes quite neatly with the subclass on a thematic level. The light cantrip and radiant resistance are very flavorful on a Stars druid, and Radiant Soul can for example be used to let your Dragon form fly at 3rd level already (or emulate a creature associated with the night sky, such as a moth or owl). The angelic guide can also easily be made to fit the Stars druid's theme, for example by making it a servant of a deity associated with the sky or the night.
The protector aasimar also gives +1 Wisdom, and while the +2 Charisma aren't too crucial for a druid, I decided to keep them even though TCoE's ASI changing rules were allowed, for thematic reasons.
On a different note, I think multiclassing the Stars druid with the warlock of the Great Old One could be very cool thematically, but sadly I don't really see much mechanical synergy there.
Edit: I just saw that CharacterManiac27 already threw this idea into the room. I don't think such a character would necessarily have to be a "traitor" though; I could plausibly see a Stars druid uncovering eldritch knowledge when studying the cosmos, making the connection between the subclasses similar to, say, a divine soul sorcerer/celestial warlock multiclass.
I can agree here, my aasimar Stars druid also has moonbeam as a signature spell. I originally planned to make the character primarily moon-themed actually, but since the Circle of the Moon has, like, nothing that actually carries moon-related flavor, I went for Stars instead.
Yep, this combination does sound pretty cool thematically, and I actually thought about doing it as well (even though I decided against it for now, as to not delay the higher-level subclass features too much). In our setting, the sky deity is depicted as a moth, so the light theme was especially fitting—my druid's Star Map is a lantern, which she lights with the light cantrip from her race (lighting the lantern from the inside with a candle would cause the constellations engraved in the inside of its glass panes to be projected outward).
I think the flavor is kind of like lycanthropy, turning into animals under the light of the moon. It doesn't have a lot to do with the moon, I agree. There's also something about that circle meeting under full moons, but that seems like circular logic. It makes some sense, but you really have to dig deep.
This subclass would thematically work well as a wizard multiclass, you are an astronomer who studies both the arcane and divine nature of the cosmos. I don't know how well this works mechanically, but it's a thought.
Divination wizard works, I think.
Yeah, going Stars druid 6 and then Divination or Chronurgy wizard 2 or so is kind of a meme. Just be a halfling too, and while you're at it also get the Lucky feat (and maybe Bountiful Luck or Second Chance later), and you can reroll ALL the dice XD
One small issue I have with this subclass is that it seems to be rather difficult to find fitting cantrips. Guidance is an obvious choice but already provided by the subclass itself. Druidcraft's weather-prediction effect also fits the Stars druid's theme rather well, but beyond that most druid cantrips, especially the combat-oriented ones, seem to have an elemental theme (with the exception of thorn whip which is plant-based), which doesn't really mesh too well with the subclass's theme.
Does anyone have ideas for reflavoring existing druid cantrips into fitting the Stars druid's theme, or know any fitting homebrew cantrips?
Sacred Flame but flavor it as starlight? Shillelagh would work well if your star map is some sort of staff
Generally, I don't have all of my character's spells completely fit the subclass, eg. a life cleric with guiding bolt or a Conjuration wizard with fireball
Currently playing a Tortle COS Druid. The power is definitely tempered by the short duration of the starry form. Depending on your DM the light it casts could also make you a target. That being said, having the natural armor and the natural claw attack allows me to carry a shield and my focus and travel light. It works very well with the starry forms giving you options. Still low level. Hope he lasts.
is guiding bolt cast from the star map always cast at level one? It is great at low levels but becomes less powerful than cantrips at higher levels if this is so.
Correct.
You can cast “Guiding Bolt”, without expending a spell slot, as long as it is at 1st Level, a number of times equal to your proficiency.
This is actually quite good…”Guiding Bolt” sort of punches above it’s weight class for a 1st Level spell, dealing a decent amount of radiant damage, and granting advantage on a subsequent hit…
…which, as a Stars Druid, you can get as a bonus action with your “Archer” form. So you can sort of stack on top of “Guiding Bolt’s” damage with your “Archer” blast damage.
Basically…pew pew.
You can obviously cast “Guiding Bolt” at higher levels, if you use a spell slot, but that damage with an advantage rider isn’t anything to scoff at.
Yeah but at 11th level it is pretty close to produce flame, 3d8.
Produce Flame has a range of 30 feet, a damage type that far more enemies are resistant or immune to, and no secondary benefits.
Oh cool I'm planning on making this multiclass with half-orc character.
Just hit level 2 last night and cannot wait to try out these features and abilities. Definitely could have used the Chalice form (4 of 6 of us went down!).
You can reflavor some stuff there to make a Superman/Sentry build.
Both are empowered/have the power of stars (sentry's power is described as the power of a million exploding suns), both shoot lasers, both are incredibly durable and fly (saying "not so much to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing while flying in starry form), both have several powers (sentry manipulates matter to achieve his, while Superman is both physically, energetically and psionically inclined) that can be replicated with the druid spell list.
Both also have alter egos that don't usually wear metal armor (Robert and Clark), and while both are extremely smart (people sleep too much on Clark. His villains include some of the smartest people in the multiverse and he keeps up with them and is constantly using extremely advanced tech), their powers don't come from studying in a more academically inclined way and neither is directly granted by outside sources besides the stars (they are indirectly, tho. Superman is empowered by Despair of the Endless and The Void seems to be empowered by the Judeo-Christian God).
Both also have shape shifting abilities (yep, Clark has those, or had in the silver age) which fits the druid repertoire of skills.
Go Aasimar for Superman, and VHuman (telepathic) for Sentry
And before anyone mentions it: yes, I do agree that Hexblade 2 - Ancients Paladin x, reflavoring the greater steed as a sunlight aura granting flight and using the Hexblade as a lighthammer and reflavoring it as punching so punching with Cha is possible as well as smiting, is a much better way to make it mechanically. Go VHuman for an extra invocation and make it mask of many faces to get instantaneous shape shifting/suiting up powers. But stars druid is an alternative take that can work surprisingly well, specially for the sentry