Circle of the Primal

 

Circle of the Primal

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Bards, Sorcerers, and even Wizards cannot accurately trace their magical roots back to the origin of magic itself. Those who have studied magic or those lucky enough to be born with it understand the concept of magic and where it comes from, but only Druids of the Circle of the Primal truly know just how far back their magic reaches. 

By drawing upon those ancient secrets, those within the Circle of the Primal can wield magic just as their early ancestors had, tapping into the raw magic thought to be lost to time that is suffused within the world. These druids are able to take this power and augment their wild shapes into much more savage creatures; akin to the ancient beasts that used to roam the land. Some druids of this circle have been known to stay in their wild shapes for years, if not decades, letting their instincts and primal nature take over.

Ancient Origin

Consider how your druid came into these powers. The Ancient Origin table offers some examples.

Ancient Origin
d6	Origin
1	You stumble upon a shard of crystal housing magic thought to be long gone.
2	You took a nap in a really old tree and now you feel as though 100 years has passed
3	An ancient dragon laughed at you when you called yourself a druid and decided to show you what real magic is.
4	You came across a preserved burial ground and became in touch with the magic keeping it protected.
5	You find the remains of a nearly extinct animal and swear to protect those left in the world.
6	You’re part of a secret order kept with preserving the techniques of the order's founding members alive.

Primal Wild Shape

At 2nd level, you’re able to tap into ancient magic and enhance your Wild Shape to take on attributes of beasts long forgotten. This can manifest in many ways: thicker fur, tougher hide, sharper fangs and claws, or even faster reflexes.

You gain the ability to use Wild Shape on your turn as a bonus action, rather than as an action and you gain the following benefits: 

• You gain a +1 to your AC
• Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d4 damage
• Your wild shape’s hit point maximum increases by 5 times your proficiency bonus

Ancient Adaptations

At 6th level your body has started to adapt to the use of primal magic, causing your natural form to change, making you more perceptive of what’s happening around you. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier.

When you finish a short or long rest, choose one of the benefits from your Primal Form feature. This benefit applies to you outside of your Wild Shape. This lasts until you finish a short or long rest.

Pockets of the Past

Starting at level 10, you have the power to revert the very land itself back into its natural prehistoric might. Your understanding of the savage terrain gives you the upper hand when fighting in it.

When you wild shape, raw, primal energy emanates from the ground itself in an aura around you. The aura extends 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover. The land within the aura is considered difficult terrain. It costs you and your allies no extra movement while moving through difficult terrain created by this feature. You also have advantage on your attacks against creatures within your aura.

When a creature tries to leave your aura, you can use your reaction to make a melee spell attack against them. If the attack hits, the creature takes 3d6 piercing damage, and if the creature is Large or smaller, you pull the creature up to 5 feet closer to you.

Dire Wild Shape

At 14th level, you can expend two uses of Wild Shape at the same time to push your Primal Wild Shape even further. When you use this feature, you gain the following benefits:

• Double the benefits gained from your Primal Wild Shape feature.
• The aura created by Pockets of the Past is increased to 30 feet.
• If the beast you chose to Wild Shape into is smaller than Large, it becomes Large. If you lack the room to become large, your size doesn’t change.