Druids of the Circle of the Grove tread a thin line, balancing between the world of the living and the tranquility of the afterlife. They find solace not in the transient seasons of Ysterra, but in the everlasting cycle of life and death, understanding these forces as equally vital to the world's harmony. Grove Druids take it upon themselves to respect and preserve the sanctity of this transition, as it weaves the fabric of the multiverse.

Under the boughs of ancient Ysterran trees, these druids convene in their sacred groves to whisper ageless secrets of the departed. They serve as guardians and custodians, ensuring the peace of the dead is undisturbed, and guiding restless spirits to their eternal rest. For to them, any disturbance of this peace is not just an affront to the natural order, but an abomination that threatens the stability of the world itself.

Grove Druids wield the magic that bends the brink of death, bringing solace to those in their final moments. They can stave off the inevitability of death, providing respite for those who still carry unfulfilled destinies or unfinished tasks. However, they firmly believe in the inexorable pull of death; their interventions only delay its arrival, never fully denying it. They understand that death will, in time, claim its due.

Their opposition to the undead is resolute. To them, these abominations represent a perversion of the natural cycle, a forced stagnation where change and transition should prevail. Thus, they use their magic to obliterate the undead and disrupt any practices that seek to exploit the serenity of the afterlife.

In the duality of their duties, Grove Druids provide comfort to the dying, serve as beacons of hope for those clinging to life, and ensure the tranquility of the dead. Their presence brings a somber reminder of mortality's inevitability, yet they also exemplify the beauty in accepting life's ephemeral nature. To join the Circle of the Grove is to embrace a profound understanding of the world's deepest mysteries, offering peace to the living and the dead alike.

Circle of the Grove Features

Circle Spells

Your understanding of the natural path of life and death grants you access to certain spells.

You learn the Spare the Dying cantrip and at certain levels of druid, you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of the Grove 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.

Circle of the Grove Spells

Circle of the Grove Spells List 

DRUID LEVEL	SPELLS
2nd	detect evil and good, false life
3rd	aid, gentle repose
5th	revivify, speak with dead
7th	banishment, death ward
9th	dispel evil and good, greater restoration

Stay Death

Starting at 2nd level, your magic becomes a potent force for keeping others alive. Whenever you cast a spell that affects another creature you can choose for them to gain a number of temporary hit points equal to the level of the spell slot that was used to cast the spell.

You also gain the ability to heal those that are reduced to 0 hit points. As a reaction, when a creature within 60 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points you can expend one use of this ability to allow that creature to roll a number of hit dice, up to their proficiency bonus, and heal that amount instantly. You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Death Has No Power

Starting at 6th level, your understanding of death gives you the ability to resist the kinds of magic that most cause it. This gives you resistance to Necrotic damage as well as advantage on saving throws vs spells of the Necromancy school of magic.

Wild Grove

When you reach 10th level as a Grove Druid, you are able to unleash the wild power of a druid to empower your Circle of the Grove magic. This allows you to expend a use of Wild Shape to cast one of your Circle of the Grove spells without using a spell slot. When casting these spells using this ability, you also ignore any material components for the casting as well. Using this ability is part of the action that is used to cast the desired spell.

You regain all expended uses of this ability when you finish a long rest.

Life's Embrace

When you reach 14th level, you are an icon for the essence of the living. Whenever you or your allies take a short rest, any hit dice rolled to recover hit points are treated as having rolled the maximum number possible.

In addition, you can create an aura of life around you. As an action, you can concentrate (as if concentrating on a spell) for up to 1 minute. All allies within 30 feet of you gain resistance to necrotic damage, regain maximum hit point from healing effects, and their maximum hit points cannot be reduced. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.