Circle of the Kannushi

Most of the Circle of the Kannushi are shrine-keepers to the many kami shrines that dot the landscape in the Emerald Kindgom. The Kannushi are perhaps the most rigidly disciplined and structured of any who operate as druids normally do, engaging in multiple traditional rituals to keep the kingdom's nature spirits satisfied and maintaining harmonious existence for all. However, some Kannushi see their shrines destroyed and feel as if it were the spirits' will, or they get sent into the world at the request of great kami spirits themselves, and when they do, they become extremely capable adventurers, wielding nature's magic, summoning allied kami spirits, and wielding the elements against those who would do them or their allies any harm. They are rarely ever shapeshifters like other practitioners of druidic ways, and instead they can magically imbue a kami spirit so that it may become semi-physical in the material world and assist the priest in times of trouble.

Circle Spells: You have formed a mystical bond with natural kami spirits, primordial beings tied to various aspects of creation. Your link with the spirits grants you access to certain spells. When you choose this class at 2nd level, you learn the Guidance cantrip.

When you reach certain levels in this class, you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of the Kannushi 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 Kannushi Spells

Manifest Kami

At 2nd level, you become able to summon a primal kami spirit into the material plane. As an action, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to summon this kami spirit, rather than assuming a beast form.

The spirit appears in an unoccupied space of your choice you can see within 30 feet of you. Each ally within 10 feet of the spirit (other than you) when it appears gains a number of temporary hit points equal to your Druid level.

The kami spirit is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your commands. See this creature’s game statistics in the kami spirit stat block. You determine the spirit’s appearance. Some spirits take the form of a humanoid figure, but most kami look like unusual versions of animals, or even like common objects with strange faces like paper umbrellas, oversized sandals, lanterns, and more. 

In combat, the kami spirit shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. The only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take one of the actions in its stat block or to take the Dash, Disengage, Help, or Hide action.

The kami spirit manifests for 1 hour, until it is reduced to 0 hit points, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

KAMI SPIRIT

Small elemental, any alignment

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points equal to the kami spirit’s Constitution modifier + your Wisdom modifier + five times your level in this class

Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)

Saving Throws Dex +4, Con +4, Wis +4, Cha +2

Skills Nature +4

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, prone, restrained

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12

Languages understands the languages you speak

Challenge n/a

Soul Bond. The following numbers increase by 1 when your proficiency bonus increases by 1: the spirit’s skill and saving throw bonuses above, and the bonuses to hit and damage of its Spiritual Bolt.

Actions (Requires Your Bonus Action)

Spiritual Bolt. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 30 ft., one target you can see. Hit: 1d6 + 2 force damage.

Kami's Sacred Shield (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). The spirit and each willing creature of your choice within 10 feet of it become surrounded in a field of protective magical energy. This protective field causes the spirit and the creatures you choose inside the field to gain resistance to your choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, poison, or radiant damage when this field is created. This field lasts for a number of minutes equal to the summoner's proficiency bonus.

 

At 10th level, you gain one additional use of this feature each day. This additional use does not expend a use of Wild Shape.

Kannushi Fighting

At 2nd level, when you choose this Circle, you learn the Kannushi fighting arts. Circle of Kannushi druids aren't well-known for being exemplary warriors, but their disciplines in combat are often underestimated, yet very highly notable. They train diligently in practice of archery and the yari spear, and in various forms of bare-handed fighting. You gain proficiency in the Longbow, Shortbow, and Pike. Additionally, your unarmed strikes deal 1d4 damage, and you may attack using your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifiers for your attack and damage rolls with your unarmed attacks.

Spirit's Strength

At 6th level, you learn to offer a sacrifice to the kami spirit that increases its capabilities for a short time. You must create these sacrificial bundles, which contain ritually prepared foods, special salts and incenses, and often a small drawing or figurine of the kami itself. Each of these bundles is ritually prepared in an hour's time and costs 30 gold. When you use an action to sacrifice this bundle, it bursts into bluish flames, and your kami spirit gains 10 temporary hit points and a new action:

Store Spell: You may cast any spell up to 3rd Spell Level that you have prepared as a bonus action and that spell's effect does not occur at this time, as part of the bonus action you take to command this action. Your kami spirit instead stores the spell in itself until Spirit's Strength ends, and may then be commanded to cast it as one of its actions. Your kami spirit uses your Wisdom score and save DC to cast the spell when commanded, and it casts it from its space. The kami spirit can maintain concentration on a spell in such a way, but only if it takes no other actions and does not move from its space while it does so. If your kami spirit is concentrating on a spell and suffers any damage or it is teleported in any way, it automatically fails to further concentrate. Your kami can concentrate on a spell for no more than two rounds before the magic leaves it completely and the concentration ends. 

These benefits last for a number of minutes equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1) and you must complete a long rest before you use this feature again.

In addition, when you cast a spell with a range other than self, the spell can originate from you or your kami spirit.

Command of Spirits

At 10th level, you learn special magical intonations, sounds, and gestures that mesmerize spirits and magically conjured beings. As an action, you speak aloud, ring a silver bell or chime, and gesture with a free hand, and if a creature within 50 ft of you is a creature summoned within the last minute by a spell, a feature, or a creature's action block actions, it must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. If it fails, it is charmed by you for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. At the end of each of its turns, the creature can attempt a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, and if it successful, it breaks free of the charmed effect.

Shrine Priest

At 14th level, you have achieved the pinnacle of devotion to the kami spirits, and you can erect your own kami shrine in places where the spirits would want one. This unique honor provides you with a few advantages. Firstly, the spirits always mentally and spiritually affect those who would do you harm, and you permanently gain the benefit of the Sanctuary spell targeting yourself, which you may freely cancel at any time, then immediately resume at any time after. If you make an attack or cast a spell that affects an enemy creature, the spell ends as normal for 1d4 minutes, then resumes.
Secondly, you may erect a kami shrine. This process costs at least 1000 gold pieces and takes at least 4 hours, although you may spend more time and/or money to add any additional features you'd like to this edifice. The shrine consists of one 5 ft by 5 ft altar at the minimum, although you may build a 15 ft by 15 ft building to surround and protect the altar for these basic costs. Bigger buildings or other features have their own additional costs. The center of the altar of the shrine (no matter how small or large) is the central point of the Hallow spell, which you can only ritually cast in this way, except this spell cast in this way can never prohibit Elementals from entering. Once you have created this shrine, you may cast any one of the following spells while within the area of the Hollow spell without spending a spell slot: Animal Messenger, Speak With Animals, Speak With Dead, Speak With Plants, and Zone of Truth.