Circle of Hells

"We druids are masters of the natural world. We learn the land and channel its powers, and commune with the earth itself. But some reach farther, and lower.

There are lands beyond the Prime Material, which stand to be learned and channeled. There are worlds not natural but supernatural. And by the gods, there is more to commune with than our Mother here on earth.

We would do well to remember the verses:

'Watch your path for blood roses, and do not follow the firelight. For some paths lead to hell.' "

 

Druids of the Circle of Hells draw power from the hellscapes of the Nine Hells, from the fiery lands of Phlegethos to the icy seas of Stygia, from the stormy skies of Dis to the sickly swamps of Minauros.  Channeling hellish powers, druids of this circle are rare and usually hated and/or feared.

Hellscape

When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you choose one type of hellscape as the source of your power.  This choice affects later abilities.  While within your chosen hellscape, enemies have disadvantage on attack rolls against you until landing at least one hit (at which point they are immune to this effect for 24 hours), and you are not affected by difficult terrain. At 14th level, you may choose an additional hellscape to learn and gain the effects of.

Blood Wastes

The blood wastes of the hells are a region of wasteland characterized by streams and rivers of blood.  Blood wastes typically are inhabited by blood-drinking and flesh-eating monsters, like ghouls and biomics.  The 1st Hell, Avernus, is known for these regions, and is the site of many of the battles of the Blood War, a massive war between the legions of the hells, devils, and the denizens of the Abyss, demons.  You take this hellscape as the source of your power, and become resistant to necrotic damage.

Dead Marshes

The dead marshes of the hells are a region even most devils are wary of, a maze of rotting bog, decaying bodies, sickly waters, and haunted, black trees.  The pollution, filth, and terror of the swamps drive off most creatures, the devils living either in cities or encampments chained to the rocky rooves of the massive cavernous regions, if one exists, or in fortresses continuously fortified and reconstructed by the denizens in efforts to prevent the marsh from swallowing them whole.  Dead marshes cover nearly all the land of Minauros, the 3rd Hell, and are occasionally found in other locations.  You choose this hellscape as the source of your power and become resistant to poison damage.

Flaming Lands

The flaming lands of the Hells are easily the best known and stereotypical hellscape, being composed of rocky, fiery lands full of smoking pits, jagged obsidian mountains and caves, rivers of magma and flaming, boiling air.  Flaming lands are inhabited by all manner of fiends and monsters nearly any imaginable that can survive the climate.  The mass of the lands of both Phlegethos, the 4th Hell, and Nessus, the 9th, are composed of flaming lands.  You choose this hellscape as the source of your power and become resistant to fire damage. 

Frost Realms

The frost realms of the Hells are one of two regions: massive, frozen oceans covered in thick ice and drifting icebergs, with miles upon miles of dark, cold waters in their deeper regions, or lands so cold there are mountains of solid ice and winds that freeze alive fiery beasts in the space of a heartbeat.  Inhabitants of the frost realms must be hardy beasts to survive the extreme cold, and devils tell stories of terrifying monsters beneath the icy waves and within the frozen peaks.  Stygia, the 5th Hell, and Cania, the 8th, are both entirely frost realms.  You choose this hellscape as the source of your power and become resistant to cold damage.

Ruin Webs

The ruin webs of the Hells are massive, maddening mazes of tunnels, caverns, and pits, populated by the ruins fallen cities, deathly, winding rivers, and deep pools of blood, tears, ichor, and raw magic.  The passages of ruin webs lead through all the hells and across planes, some even stretching as far as the Far Realm, and are often said to be sentient, drawing joy from driving those within them insane.  Crazed monsters and aberrant beasts roam the mazes.  Ruin webs compose the vast majority of Maladomini, the 8th Hell, though the tunnels connect to various other hells and planes.  You choose this hellscape as the source of your power and become resistant to psychic damage.

Shift Peaks

The shift peaks of the Hells are mountains composed of perfect cubes of pitch black stone set on each other at random, odd angles, with rising clouds of smog, mazes of straight, angular caverns, and frequent, violent avalanches.  Devils and other airborne fiends and monsters roam the tunnels and cliff-faces of the shift peaks.  The 6th Hell, Malbolge is a massive realm of shift peaks.  You choose this hellscape and become resistant to bludgeoning damage.

Storm Barrens

The storm barrens of the Hells are often vast regions of mostly flat, barren land, characterized by stagnant rivers, iron deposits, and dull green, ever-storming skies.  Inhabited mostly by chain devils and airborne fiends, storm barrens comprise the near entirety of the 2nd Hell, Dis, where the City of Torment, the City of Dis stands watch over the vast cloudy fields or rock, death, and iron.  You choose this hellscape as the source of your power and become resistant to lightning damage.

Fiendish Being

Starting at 2nd level, you infuse your body, soul, and spirit with the powers of hell.  You count as a both the monster type of your race and a fiend for the purposes of classification.  You learn how to read, write, and speak Infernal.  You gain darkvision up to 60 ft. if you don't already have it.  You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Constitution modifier.

Circle Spells

Blood Wastes

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	ray of enfeeblement, aid
5th	vampiric touch, bestow curse
7th	death ward, blight
9th	raise dead, contagion

 

Thunder Barrens

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	shatter, warding wind
5th	call lightning, fly
7th	storm sphere, conjure minor elementals
9th	control winds, conjure elemental

 

Dead Marshes

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	barkskin, protection from poison
5th	stinking cloud, bestow curse
7th	blight, vitriolic sphere
9th	contagion, insect plague

 

Flame Lands

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	flame blade, aganazzar's scorcher
5th	fireball, flame arrows
7th	fire shield, wall of fire
9th	flame strike, immolation

 

Frost Realms

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	ice knife, snilloc's snowball swarm
5th	tidal wave, sleet storm
7th	ice storm, control water
9th	cone of cold, maelstrom

 

Shift Peaks

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	earthbind, maximilian's earthen grasp
5th	erupting earth, meld into stone
7th	stoneskin, stone shape
9th	transmute rock, wall of stone

 

Ruin Webs

Druid Level	Spells
3rd	crown of madness, detect thoughts
5th	fear, major image
7th	hallucinatory terrain, banishment
9th	passwall, teleportation circle

Hellshape

Starting at 6th level, your attunement to the hells allows you to infuse your wildshapes with hellish power. When you wildshape into a beast, you may choose to gain a modifier to the form based on your choice of hellscape, described below.

Blood Wastes
The beast form's hit point maximum increases by an amount equal to your druid level.

Storm Barrens
The beast form gains a flying speed of 30 feet. If it already has a flying speed, it is increased by 5 feet.

Dead Marshes
The beast form gains a swimming speed of 30 feet. If it already has a swimming speed, it is increased by 5 feet.

Flaming Lands
The beast form's melee attacks deal an additional 1d4 fire damage on a hit.

Frost Realms
The beast form's melee attacks deal an additional 1d4 cold damage on a hit.

Shift Peaks
The beast form gains a climbing speed of 30 feet or a burrowing speed of 15 feet. If it already has a climbing or burrowing speed, it increases by 5 feet.

Ruin Webs
The beast form can teleport up to 30 feet away as an action.

Hell Channeling

At 6th level, you learn to channel the power of your hellscape to cuase powerful effects. You gain an channeling ability based on your choice of hellscape, described below.

Blood Wastes - Hellbleed
Once per short rest, as an action, you may imbue yourself with hellish blood, bolstering your lifeforce. You regain an amount of hit points equal to your druid level plus your Wisdom modifier. If this effect restores you to your hit point maximum, any remaining points become temporary hit points for 1 hour.

Storm Barrens - Chains of the Damned
Once per short rest, as an action, you may summon ethereal chains, forged from the hellish iron of Dis, which lash out at a target within 30 ft.  The target must succeed on a Strength saving against your spell save DC or become restrained. While restrained in this way, at the start of each of the target's turns, it takes an amount of lighting damage equal to half your druid level plus your Wisdom modifier. Every round during the target's turn, the target may spend it's action attempting to break out of the chains and repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success.

Dead Marshes - Sickly Curse
Once per long rest, as an action, you may harness sickly, hellish power and curse an enemy within 30 ft. of you that you can see.  The target must succeed a Constitution save against your spell save DC or become afflicted by a hellish disease for a number of hours equal to your druid level plus your Wisdom modifier.  When the disease is contracted and for every hour the disease progresses, the target takes 2d6 poison damage and its hit point maximum is reduced by the same amount. Additionally, while the disease is active, the target moves at half speed and has disadvantage on Dexterity checks and saving throws.

Flaming Lands - Shroud of Hellfire
Once per short rest, as an action, you may summon hellfire and imbue yourself with its destructive power for 1 minute. For the duration, when a creature starts their turn within 15 feet of you, they must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or take an amount of fire damage equal to half your druid level plus your Wisdom modifier, or half that on a success. This effect ends early if you are knocked unconscious or enter water 5 feet deep or deeper.

Frost Realms - Icy Conduit
Whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your reaction to force the creature to make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, the creature is instantly frozen solid and entombed within a shard of ice, becoming a conduit which channels and strengthens your power by feeding off the fallen creature's soul. The creature remains frozen in this way for a number of minutes equal to half your druid level and does not make death saving throws for the duration. When the effect ends, the creature is released from the ice and resumes making death saves normally. For every conduit within 120 feet of you, you gain a +1 to damage rolls. You may have a maximum number of conduits at any one time equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Shift Peaks - Hellish Fissure
Once per short rest, as an action, you may channel the earth shattering powers of hell, opening a fissure in the ground at a point within 30 ft. of you for the duration. This point may be anywhere, including beneath a creature. Whenever a creature stands on top of the fissure or walks over it, it must succeed on a Dexterity check against a your spell save DC or fall into the fissure, taking 3d6 bludgeoning damage.  Those inside the fissure have full cover against ranged attacks and must spend half their movement to climb back out. The fissure lasts a number of minutes equal to half your druid level (round up), or until you dismiss it as a bonus action, at which point it slams closed violently. Any creatures inside the fissure when it closes must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC or take 3d6 bludgeoning damage and be shoved out of the fissure and knocked prone.

Ruin Webs - Disorienting Shift
Once per short rest, as an action, you may harness the powers of the Ruin Webs, an network of shifting, maddening tunnels that wind though the hells to teleport and disorient your enemies.  Choose one target within 30 ft. of you that you can see, who must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC or be transported through passages of the ruin web to another point within 30 ft. of you. On a failure, the target disappears for 1 round and then reappears at the chosen point and must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become stunned for 1 round.

Summon Hellspawn

When you reach 10th level, you have learned to summon the monsters of hell to fight for you. Once per long rest, as an action, you may summon up to five fiends with a combined challenge rating of no more than 3 from hell itself.  (CR 0 creatures count as CR 1/4 for the purposes of this ability.)  The summoned creatures must make an Intelligence save against your spell save DC or obey your commands, otherwise becoming hostile to everyone including you.  The creatures stay until dismissed or after 1 hour, whichever comes first, after which point, they are swallowed back into hell.

On Earth, As It Is In Hell

When you reach 14th level, you learn to summon your hellscape onto the material plane, corrupting the local area with fell, unholy magicks that can only be achieved by the spilling of blood.  Once per long rest, when you bring an enemy to 0 hit points, you harness the dark power within their lifeblood to bring literal hell on earth.

Over the course of a round, the area within a 1000 ft. sphere changes to model your chosen hellscape.  For instance, a forested area is instantly transformed into a jagged, flaming stretch of land (Flame Lands), or a stretch of field is instantly transformed into a deathly, sickly bog (Dead Marshes), ect.  This effect can drastically change the topography, such as opening pits, shifting hills, forming rocky cliffs, creating tunnels, and pulling islands from open water, or reverse, as you decide; in such cases, treat this effect similar to the Earthquake spell.  This effect also changes the temperature, air, sky, flora and fauna, and all other characteristics of an environment.

This area remains this way until it is dispelled, which can be done by casting Dispel Evil and Good, Greater Restoration, or similar effect; the topographical and structural changes remain after this, but otherwise, the area goes back to how it was before.