Druid: Circle of Still Night (Remnant)

The Circle of Still Night is an ancient sect of druids, long estranged from other druidic circles due to their differing outlooks on the natural world. The Circle of Still Night believes that the spirits of nature need regular sacrifices of beasts, natural and unnatural, and even the occasional human sacrifice. These druids meet in old, dying forests to perform secret blood rituals - rituals which they hope will appease the cruelest gods of the Old Faith. As a member of this circle, you realize nature’s will is not of kindness and spirituality - it is of cruelty and sacrifice.

Ritual Sacrifice

When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn how to perform rituals using the blood sacrifices of powerful foes. By using the body of a creature that has died within the last hour as one of your spell components, you can cast any spell with the ritual tag from any class spell list without needing to prepare it. You still need to use the other components of the ritual as normal.

In order to cast a ritual in this manner, you need the body of a creature of a CR greater than or equal to the spell level of the ritual to be cast, and the spell must be of a level you have spell slots for. The creature used cannot be a construct, an undead, an elemental, or any creature whose body vanishes upon defeat such as demons and devils. Once you complete the ritual, that creature cannot be used in any other rituals. This cannot be influenced by Gentle Repose to prolong the time in which a body can be carried for use in a ritual.

Circle Spells

The dark powers of twilight infuse you with the ability to cast certain spells. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to a number of circle spells, listed below in the twilight table.

Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn't appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	Darkness, Gentle repose
5th	Speak with dead, Animate blood
7th	Shadows of moil, Draining thread
9th	Dominate person, Enervation

 

 

Hemomancy

Certain spells included in this supplement have the special tag: hemomancy. Such a spell has an additional cost when it is cast: your own hit points. When you cast a spell with this tag, you must expend a number of hit points during the casting of the spell. The number of hit points you can spend is based on the spell’s level, and is shown in the table below. You may not use temporary hit points to cast hemomancy spells.

 

Hemomancy Spell Table

 

Spell Level	Min Cost	Max Cost
1st	1	8
2nd	4	12
3rd	7	16
4th	10	20
5th	13	24
6th	16	28
7th	19	32
8th	22	36
9th	25	40

 

When you cast a spell with the hemomancy tag, you must expend a number of hit points that is between the minimum and the maximum amount you can spend. For example, if you are casting a spell of 2nd level, you must expend at least 4 hit points to cast it, though you can choose to expend up to 12 hit points in order to increase the power of the spell.

This notably does not have to be done in a graphic manner involving actual blood, regardless of the flavour text. You are literally using your own life force to affect the world around you. Hit points are merely representative of it.

We encourage you to be aware of the server rules and others’ limits while using hemomancy.

Animate Blood

3rd-level necromancy (hemomancy) (Cleric, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 10 feet

Components: V, S, M (droplets of blood)

Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes.

You animate droplets of your own blood to act under your command. For every three hit points expended in the casting of this spell, you create a droplet of animated blood.

On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command the droplets to move as long as they are within 120 feet of you. The droplets have a speed of 30 feet, and a climbing speed of 15 feet.

As an action on your turn, you can choose to see and hear from the location of one of the blood droplets until the end of your turn, becoming blinded and deafened to your own surroundings. Additionally, you may instead use your action to cause one of the droplets to explode in a burst of necromantic energy, destroying the droplet and damaging surrounding creatures. Each creature within 5 feet of the droplet must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 5d4 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half damage on a successful one.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases to 6d4. When you use a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the damage increases to 7d4. When you use a 9th level spell slot, the damage increases to 8d4.

 

Eyes of Twilight

Starting at 6th level, you gain darkvision with a radius of 60 feet, or you increase the radius of your darkvision by 30 feet if you already have it. Additionally, you can see through magical darkness for the radius of your darkvision.

Soulseeing

At 10th level, you gain the ability to see the souls of living creatures. As a bonus action on your turn, you hone your senses to allow you to see the faint outline of any living creature or creature that has died within the last hour. This allows you to see any creature within the radius of your darkvision, including invisible creatures, as well as creatures that are obscured in some manner, such as being behind a wall or in murky water. This sight can penetrate most barriers, but it is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt. The magical sight lasts until the end of your next turn.

 

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Ritualist

When you reach 14th level, you become a master at performing rituals. Casting a spell as a ritual now only adds 1 minute to the cast time.

Additionally, when you cast a ritual using your ritual sacrifice feature, the CR of the creature only needs to be half of the spell level of the ritual to be cast, and you may use the same creature in up to two different rituals.

Finally, once per long rest, when you complete the casting of a ritual spell, you may choose one of the following spells: alter self, barkskin, enhance ability, or nystul’s magic aura. You are under the effect of the spell you have chosen for 8 hours and it does not require concentration.