Circle of Companions

Druids of the Circle of Companions devote themselves entirely to the natural world and the living forces that comprise it. By choosing an animal companion, the druid offers herself and her adventuring party power, versatility, or just plain friendship.

We're Gonna Be Friends Forever

- Starting at 2nd level, you may befriend animal companions (any of type Beast).  You may only have 1 active at a time and with a maximum CR of 1/4 your druid level (not rounded).  You may have an additional active companion at levels 8, 12, 16, and 20, but if you choose to have more than one active at a time, the total effective CR is calculated with penalty: x1.5 for 2 companions and x2 for more than 2 companions.

- It takes a number of hours of friendly interaction with the animal equal to twice its CR (minimum 1 hour) in order to befriend it as a companion. Beginning the interaction is non-magical and animals are not guaranteed to be friendly at first, so bring bits of food or other favors to begin interacting. You may also use your own magical means such as the Animal Friendship spell. At the end of the interaction, roll an Animal Handling check with a DC equal to 10 plus the animal's CR to determine whether it becomes your companion.

- Companions always take their turn in combat directly after yours, and all at once. Companions obeys your commands as best as they can; on your turn, you can verbally command companions where to move (no action required by you), or you can use a bonus action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action. Given no direction, they will defend you against attackers. You may only give direction to a single companion or all of them at once in any given bonus action.  Since giving direction to a companion is verbal, if you are silenced or they are otherwise unable to hear you, they take their default actions or continue to take the last direction given to them.

- If you reach 0hp, your companions revert to their default action of defending you from attackers. They continue to take their turn in the set turn order. If you are at 0hp or dead when an encounter begins, they roll for initiative using their own ability modifiers and only the highest one is taken. If you die, each active companion will stay by your side for 1d4+1 days until venturing off, accepting you as dead. You may befriend the animals again once you are revived.

- You may release an animal from companionship at any time if, for instance, you wish to befriend a different, more powerful animal to bring you to your maximum allowed companion CR.

- You may choose the nature of your companionship; for example, an evil-aligned druid may choose subjugation rather than friendship. The initial interaction in this case might not be so friendly, but instead be intended to mold the animal’s will to its new master.

- Companionship is non-magical, and as such cannot be dispelled. Your companion may still be banished or otherwise teleported as usual, however.

What's That? Timmy's Trapped in a Well?

- At 2nd level, you gain the ability to converse with beasts. Beasts can understand your speech, and you gain the ability to decipher their noises and motions into recognizable words and phrases. Most beasts lack the intelligence to convey or understand sophisticated concepts, but a friendly beast could relay what it has seen or heard in the recent past.

- This ability does not grant you any special friendship with beasts, though you can combine this ability with gifts and other favors to curry favor with them as you would any other non-player character.

I Choose You!

- Starting at 6th level, you may imbue a small totem in an animal's likeness with a portal to a demiplane created as a paradise especially for that type of animal.  The totem must be of a material and craftsmanship that costs a minimum of 1000gp per CR of the animal it represents. Imbuing the totem takes a ritual lasting a number of hours equal to twice its CR (minimum 2 hours). You may use this totem to summon from the demiplane one of your companions of the matching animal type to a location you can see within 60 feet by performing a ritual lasting 1 minute, or to dismiss the companion back to the demiplane from anywhere on the same plane of existence as you as an action. Only one totem is needed per animal type, not per companion. You must hold the totem in your hand to summon or dismiss a companion, and you choose the specific companion by name at that time.  A dismissed companion cannot be summoned again until after it takes a long rest.

- Companions dismissed to their totems do not count toward your allowed active total companion CR. If you attempt to summon a companion that would put the total CR above your allowed maximum, the action fails [DM Discretion].

- Once imbued, a totem is immune to non-magical damage, but if destroyed via magical means, the companions in that totem's demiplane are trapped there forever and can no longer be summoned from any other totem. If the totem's magic is dispelled but the totem itself is not destroyed, the companions are similarly trapped until the totem is imbued with the portal once again [DM Discretion]. The totem itself also loses its immunity to non-magical damage if dispelled.

Situation Is Dire

- Starting at 6th level, the power of your spirit flows from you to your companions, allowing them to grow in power with you. For each active companion, calculate the difference between your maximum allowed companion CR and your companion's base CR, rounded down to a minimum of 1. Add that value to your companion's HD and natural armor (AC). Your companion’s Proficiency Bonus is also now equal to yours. For example, at Druid level 6 with max CR 1.5, your Black Bear companion will gain 1 HD and AC, and have a Proficiency Bonus of +3. At Druid level 18 with max CR 4.5, that same Black Bear companion will gain 4 HD and AC, and have a Proficiency Bonus of +6. Reduce the granted bonus HD, AC, and proficiency by 1 for each active companion above 2.

- Your companions' attacks are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical attacks and damage if they weren't already. Additionally, the bond between you and your companions is so strong that they can no longer be Charmed.

- Once you reach level 10, you may choose to add the spell effects of any self-targeted spell to your companions as well if they are within 30 feet of you.

Come to Me, My Jungle Friends!

- Starting at 10th level, your companions will rush to your side when you reach 0hp. A random set of currently dismissed companions with a combined CR up to twice your maximum allowed companion CR will appear in unoccupied spaces within 10 feet of you and defend you from enemies. Roll appropriate dice to determine which companions are summoned. The multiple-companion CR multiplier does not apply to the companions summoned with this ability.

- After 10 minutes, when you regain consciousness, or when you die, whichever comes first, the ability ends and any companions summoned in this way are automatically dismissed back to their totems if they are still alive.

- You may not use this ability again until after a long rest.

Beasts of a Different Nature

- Starting at 14th level, you may befriend fey and elementals as your companions, following the same CR rules as beasts. Double the cost and ritual casting time for totems. (Note that material and craftmanship of the highest quality, say for a CR 5 Earth Elemental totem at 10,000gp, cannot be found at just any village you come across and may require a quest of sufficient proportions.) You do not gain the language of the companion automatically, but you can speak to them and understand them as if you did. Communicating and beginning friendly interaction with them in the first place is, again, up to you.

- Due to the higher intelligence of fey and elementals than that of animals, it takes twice as many hours of friendly interaction and instead of an Animal Handling check you must choose either a Nature or Persuasion check to determine whether the fey or elemental becomes your companion. The GM may modify the checks available to choose from based on the target and may impose disadvantage or disallow it entirely based on alignment or lawfulness. You may also choose a different appropriate check based on the nature of your intended companionship; an evil-aligned druid may choose to try a Deception check instead.

- If you release a fey or elemental from companionship, they are immediately teleported to their respective outer or elemental plane if not already there.

Alternate Rule: You're Such a Fungi

Based on your background or a favored terrain type, you may wish to choose plants as your companions instead of, or in addition to, beasts at level 2, as well as gain the ability to speak with plants as you do beasts. Note that plants are typically more environmentally-bound than beasts, and there are fewer living plant options so this rule may only add flavor rather than true versatility.

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