Circle of Vermin

Even in the the largest metropolitans, nature will find its way in the crevices and shadows untreaded by civilians. Whether that be in musty basements or dank sewers, the Circle of the Vermin is dedicated to protecting and promoting the multitude of resilient rodents and insects that constitute a city's hidden population. While the Circle is not solely located in urban areas, the city is where their vermin friends thrive and prosper. Vermin druids always meet in secret, revealing their rituals to neither outsider nor fellow druid. The few individuals that even know of the circle can only speculate what ominous rites they may perform.

Swarm Start

When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn to use your magic to create a bond between yourself and creatures from the shadows. There are two branches to the Circle of the Vermin depending on your prefered companions, Rodents or Insects. You can also summon 2 types of minions, a Main Minion and Myriad Minions. For both types of vermin companions, they remain loyal to you and follow your commands as best they can, but you determine their actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. Your companions have their initiatives right after yours in the turn order. You can command an individual minion of whichever type during your turn without the need of an action; however, you can also forgo your action to delegate any number of your vermin companions with a single command, or you can also forgo your action and bonus action to delegate two seperate groups of minions with two seperate commands. Providing no commands means your minions will defend themselves from harm.

Main Minion

You can call a main companion with 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of "food", you attract a giant rat for the Circle of Rodents or giant centipede for the Circle of Insects to serve as your minion. Your DM may allow you to have variants of either beast with similar stat blocks. While you may have other minions, you can only have one creature as your main companion, and it is the only one that gains the affect of Foul Bond. If your main companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of its favorite food, you call forth your companion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return a vermin companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body. If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current main companion, your current companion leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion.

Myriad Minions

You can also call forth call other vermin that act as myriad minions. Spending an hour ritual and putting out 5 gold's worth of "food", you can attract an additional companion. When you attract a new vermin, you can choose a skill it gains proficiency with which you use your proficiency bonus for. Your myriad minions do not gain any of the same effects as Foul Bond. The total number of additional minions you can control is equal to your druid level. The options for companions are below.

Myriad Minions Circle of Rodents

Value	Rodent
1	Rat
2	Cranium Rat
2	Giant Rat

Myriad Minions Circle of Insects

Value	Insect
1	Spider
1	Scorpion
2	Giant Fire Beetle

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Creatures with a value of 2 indicate they count as 2 creatures toward your limit of myriad minions.

Foul Bond

Your main minion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. It has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, a main minion also adds your proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls. Your main companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws.

For each level you gain after 2nd, your main minion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly, adding your proficiency bonus instead of its Constitution modifier when increasing hit points. Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your minion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. As you gain levels the damage done by your companion increases by 1d4 at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels in this class.

Nesting

At 6th level, you can send out your minions to search a specific area. If you spend 10 minutes of time letting your companions scatter and look around, you gain a bonus to investigation searching that area equal to the number of myriad minions you currently have.

Plague Maker

At 10th level, You and all your vermin companions gain immunity to poison and disease. Additionally if your main minion lands a bite attack on a creature, you can choose for the target to be affected by the spell contagion.

Your main minion cannot use this feature again until it finishes a short or long rest.

Swarm Lord

Starting at 14th level, the connection you share with your swarm has reached a supreme level. It is as if the spell beast bond is always cast between you and all your vermin companions.

While you are unconscious however, the effects of beast bond are still functional but there is no active telepathic bond.