Circle of Spirits

Members of the circle of spirits are a strange brand of druids. Unlike a lot of nature shamans who stay in their grove or forest, trying to keep it safe from the clutches of civilization and the modern world, druids of this circle tend to be nomadic, as they take it upon their hands to resolve the unfinished business of spirits. 

Perhaps you had a near death experience and it has granted you the ability to peer into the veil of the spiritual world, or maybe it’s been a druidic tradition in your family for generations, to take care of the leftover traces of life in the world, whether that is of humanoids or those of simple animals and plants. 

Whatever the case may be, it is your role as a member of this circle to travel the lands and put to rest the spirits of the dead, to purify spirits who have been corrupted, to bring balance amongst the world of the living, and the spiritual realm that lies beyond the veil. It’s not always an easy path however, as many have lost their sanity to voices only they can hear and attend to.

Spirit Guide

Beginning when you first choose this circle at 2nd level, you become a spiritual guide for those beyond the veil. You can see into the Ethereal Plane, and whenever you communicate with a spirit, they can understand you, regardless of how many or which languages you or they know. 

Additionally, whenever you finish a long rest, you may perform a ritual to connect yourself to the spirit world, binding a certain number of spirits to you until you perform this ritual again. These spirits, whether they are of the dead or of the natural world, are represented by a number of d4s equal to your proficiency bonus, your Spirit dice. When you reach 10th level, they become d6s, at 15th level they become d8s, and at 20th level, they become d10s. When you perform this ritual again, you reset the number of spirits bound to you, they aren’t added.

You may call to the spirits bound to you (which may be visible or not, and if so, they have the appearance you choose) to aid you when the time is needed, and when you do so, you expend the die associated with them and release them. You can call upon the spirits to perform any of the following actions:

• Bolstering Friend: As a reaction when you fail a Strength or Constitution saving throw, you may call upon one of the spirits to help you succeed. Roll a Spirit die, and add the result to the saving throw.
• Gaze of the Veil: As an action on your turn, you may call upon one of the spirits to help you detect things around you. Roll a Spirit die, and for a number of rounds equal to the result, you detect the presence of incorporeal undead (ghosts and similar creatures) and are under the effects of the Detect Magic, out of a range of 60 feet.
• Phantasmal Hand: As a bonus action on your turn, you may call upon one of the spirits for physical help. Roll a Spirit die, as you cast the Mage Hand. When cast this way, the spell lasts for a number of minutes equal to the result and its duration is 60 feet instead of 30.
• Shielding Companion: As a reaction to being hit by an attack, you may call upon one of the spirits to shield you. Roll a Spirit die, and you gain a bonus to your AC equal to the result until the beginning of your next turn.
• Spiritual Purification: As an action, you may call upon one of the spirits to help restore a spirit’s good will. Roll a Spirit die and choose a number of spirits or incorporeal undead within 15 feet of you, up to a number equal to the result. They must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC, or have its alignment change from an Evil one to a Good one that most resembles its nature (for example, a Chaotic Evil spirit lashing out and harming innocents due to the destruction of its home is turned into a Chaotic Good spirit that seeks to rebuild its home through trickery and stealing from those that destroyed it).

Spectral Summoning

Also at 2nd level, you can conjure a spirit, expending a use of your Wildshape. As an action on your turn, you may draw upon your connection with the spirit world to summon a spirit.

The spirit you conjure must be of a beast you can normally transform into with your Wildshape feature, or that of a skeleton. When you reach 4th level in this class, you may also conjure a shadow (with its Strength Drain ability only reducing a target’s Strength score by 1), and when you reach 8th level, you may conjure a specter.

Whatever creature’s spirit you conjure, it is clearly a spirit, it lasts for 1 minute or until you lose concentration, it obeys your every command, and it can move through other creatures and objects as if it were difficult terrain. In combat, it acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the creature can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge. While a spirit is summoned this way, you can't use or expend a use of your Wildshape feature.

Alternatively, as an action, you may expend both uses of your Wildshape feature to regain one of your Spirit dice, as you bind yourself with another spirit.

Circle Spells

Your connection to the spirit world grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of Spirits Spells table. Once you gain access to one of these spells, 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	Spell
2nd	bless, unseen servant
3rd	mirror image, spiritual weapon
5th	speak with dead, spirit guardians
7th	faithful hound, guardian of faith
9th	arcane hand, legend lore

Spiritual Pulse

Starting at 6th level, you may call upon the spirits to both hinder your foes and support your allies. As an action on your turn, you may emit a pulse of druidic spiritual magic. Every hostile creature within 15 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be your choice of charmed or restrained for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creature may repeat the saving throw to attempt to escape your influence, and any spirit makes this saving throw at disadvantage. 

Additionally, any ally within 15 feet of you gains temporary hit points equal to your druid level, as they are wrapped in a shield of spiritual energy. 

You can use this feature once, regaining the ability to use it again when you finish a short or long rest, or if you expend two uses of your Wildshape feature to use it again.

Ghostly Conjuration

At 10th level, your connection to the spirit world becomes more powerful. As an action, you can cast either the Summon Beast or Summon Undead spells without expending a spell slot, at a level equal to 1 + your proficiency bonus and without taking concentration (google the spell manually, as it is a Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Spell and I can't link it without DnDBeyond not letting me publish the subclass). A creature summoned this way gains temporary hit points equal to your druid level when it is first summoned, and it is clearly spectral and can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, behaving as a creature conjured by your Spectral Summoning feature. You can use this feature once, regaining the ability to use it again when you finish a long rest. 

In addition, once per long rest, you can use your bonus action and regain one expended Spirit die, as you commune with another spirit.

Perfected Bond

By the time you’ve reached 14th level, you have become a true spiritual master. Whenever you cast a spell of 1st level or higher or use your Ghostly Conjuration or Spectral Summoning features, you may draw upon the spirits you harbor and perform either of the following as a bonus action:

• You may temporarily become a spirit yourself, gaining a flying speed of 40 feet and the ability to move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain for the next minute. If you end your turn within a solid space, you are shunted to the nearest unoccupied space and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet you moved this way.
• If you are already concentrating on a spell and the spell you cast uses your concentration, you may concentrate on both spells at the same time, as you and a spirit you command share the burden, but you make any concentration checks at disadvantage.
• If it is a spell that deals damage or restores hit points, you may forgo rolling and take the maximum amount instead. If it is a spell with a duration that deals damage or restores hit points, only the first roll is affected.
• You may, until the end of your next turn, become resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing and necrotic damage.

You can use this feature once, regaining the ability to use it again when you finish a long rest, unless you expend two Spirit dice to use it again.