Magical Items for Druids - a commentary for players and DMs of druids

[hymer]

This guide has moved here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?545558-5e-Druid-Handbook-Dreams-Land-Moon-and-Shepherd&p=22693950#post22693950). The reason is lack of space after XGtE came out.

[hymer]

Just to be on the safe side, this is reserved for future expansion. Feel free to comment below.

[Aridon]

Thanks for these guides, they are really well done. I'm away from my books, so forgive me if my details are off a bit, but as I recall the Staff of the Woodlands allows the casting of Awaken without the steep component material costs and it gives a +2 bonus to your spell attack to hit, which is a really rare bonus if I remember correctly and the only staff Druids get that grants that bonus. These two factors alone seem to make this a valuable staff for a Druid, not to mention access to wall of thorn without spending a precious 6th level slot.

[hymer]

Thanks for these guides, they are really well done. I'm away from my books, so forgive me if my details are off a bit, but as I recall the Staff of the Woodlands allows the casting of Awaken without the steep component material costs and it gives a +2 bonus to your spell attack to hit, which is a really rare bonus if I remember correctly and the only staff Druids get that grants that bonus. These two factors alone seem to make this a valuable staff for a Druid, not to mention access to wall of thorn without spending a precious 6th level slot.

You're welcome! And I think you're pretty much spot on the rules there. :smallsmile:

Druids don't make a lot of spell attacks that really make a difference. They may make a lot of cantrip attacks, of course, but druid cantrips are rather unimpressive for combat. Certain multiclass druids could certainly use +2 to-hit spell attacks, but for a pure druid, you hope to do better than spell attack rolls.

Avoiding the component cost on Awaken is nice, but then again, you're a druid. What else are you going to spend your money on, if not minions? And the spell lasts indefinitely if you treat your awakened minion well, so unless your table is fine with large numbers of awakened minions, you hopefully won't need so many castings in your career. I should probably put a note about it in the description, come to think of it, to warn DMs of the potential consequences of players methodically awakening every tree and animal in the country. :smallbiggrin:

If the druid gets this before having access to 6th level spells, it's darn good for them, no argument there. Maybe I need to adjust the language, because I'm trying to tell people not to get overly excited about this thing (as I did, however briefly), which seems like it should be the Staff of the Magi but for druids, and it just isn't. It's not bad, not at all. It's just nothing new, nor does it synergize with what you have already, and therefore it is unspectacular. It ought to do something for wild shapes, and maybe make land druid cantrips acceptable as at-will damage dealing.

Thanks for the opinion!

Edit: Made the language more moderate and brought up Awaken.

[SharkForce]

druids (at least, high level druids) have an excellent place to dump their excess gold, actually.

planar binding can give you access to fey and elemental minions for an extended period. the higher level you are, the further you can stretch your money with it, too :)

[hymer]

druids (at least, high level druids) have an excellent place to dump their excess gold, actually.

planar binding can give you access to fey and elemental minions for an extended period. the higher level you are, the further you can stretch your money with it, too :)

Yes. That's what I was alluding to by saying 'minions' rather than 'Awaken'. :smallsmile:

[Aridon]

Thanks for your reply and I agree with your assessment of the Staff of the Woodlands. Great job as usual.

[DrIllidan]

Thanks for this Hymer, your druid stuff has some of the best guide material out there. Your explanations really give a feel for what the pluses and minuses of a trait/item/ability/whatever are. I do, however, have one question, emphasis mine:



Necklace of Prayer Beads (rar, att): This can potentially give you access to several spells not on your list: Bless, Branding Smite, Planar Ally and Wind Walk. That you can cast them as bonus actions is icing on the cake. The bonus action casting time is actually a slight bother if you want to couple it with shifting to a wild shape as a moon druid, as that also takes a bonus action for you.


Moon Druid wild shaping action economy seems ambiguous to me. By my (potentially wrong) estimation, it is one of the few class abilities that is fungible between actions and bonus actions--it might even be the only one. P. 69 of the PHB says "you gain the ability to use Wild Shape on your turn as a bonus action, rather than as an action." Whether this means you simultaneously lose the base class ability to use it as an action is unclear to me, and I say Moon Druids could use either because it doesn't demand exclusivity. But I could totally be wrong and would love to see a for-sure RAW explanation.

Thanks again for the addendum!

[hymer]

@ Aridon: You're welcome & thanks! :smallbiggrin:

@ DrIllidan: You're also quite welcome, and thanks to you too! :smallcool:
I see what you're saying. I'm afraid we'd have to ask someone from the team to clarify, because it could be taken to mean either thing. And even so, the DM could easily decide to let you do with an action what you could otherwise do as a bonus action, although that isn't technically possible (at least AFAIK).
For me in this case, it's a simple fix language wise, though, so I'll go ahead and make a little change.
Thanks for pointing it out!

[RickAllison]

One item that has interesting uses for druids if DMs go along with the passage in the DMG that items change to fit the wielder is the Boots of Striding and Springing. Not every creature could conceivably wear them (no walking shark, unfortunately), but it means that a giant octopus can have a decent land speed. Niche, but might be worth including.

[RulesJD]

If you play Adventurer's League, there is a Poison Resistant half-plate that's made out of a mushroom.

There is also a +1 Shield made out of an anhkeg hide.

[indemnity]

If you play Adventurer's League, there is a Poison Resistant half-plate that's made out of a mushroom.

There is also a +1 Shield made out of an anhkeg hide.

Can you give the name of the adventure?

[hymer]

@ RickAllison: I see what you mean, and now the suggestion is in the thread. I'm not going to put it in the original post, I'm afraid. It requires both the use of the octopus on land (niche one), and a DM willing to let octopodei use shoes (niche two).
Thanks for the idea, though! :smallsmile:

@ RulesJD: Unfortunately, I don't have access to AL material. Even if I did, I might want to avoid spoilers, anyway. But they sound like solid druid items. I giggled at the mushroom half-plate. :smallbiggrin:

[RickAllison]

@ RickAllison: I see what you mean, and now the suggestion is in the thread. I'm not going to put it in the original post, I'm afraid. It requires both the use of the octopus on land (niche one), and a DM willing to let octopodei use shoes (niche two).
Thanks for the idea, though! :smallsmile:

@ RulesJD: Unfortunately, I don't have access to AL material. Even if I did, I might want to avoid spoilers, anyway. But they sound like solid druid items. I giggled at the mushroom half-plate. :smallbiggrin:

Oh yeah, I realize it is incredibly niche! It does become much better if a DM is using the variant encumbrance rules, since it removes the encumbered status so the druid can carry more than normal. Almost as niche as the octopus!:smallbiggrin:

[Fable Wright]

@ RickAllison: I see what you mean, and now the suggestion is in the thread. I'm not going to put it in the original post, I'm afraid. It requires both the use of the octopus on land (niche one), and a DM willing to let octopodei use shoes (niche two).
Thanks for the idea, though! :smallsmile:

Honestly, I'd still include it. When combined with the Female Steeder, you get 30mph overland travel before you multiply in Jump, or 270 ft per round that goes to 810 ft/round (92mph) with Jump.

Additionally, do note that per RAW, all of your gear melds with your form, but you don't lose attunement; you don't have to lace up your boots as an octopus or orca (though frankly I would, for the sole purpose of messing with people), you just get the benefit straight up. It's like saying that your Cloak of Resistance remains on your lion's back despite the rest of the gear merging in, and you lose its benefit if you can't get the clasp working with your fiddly lion paws. It just doesn't work that way.

And the bonus is huge, if for nothing but adding those normally aquatic creatures that are usually non-viable wildshape forms except in incredibly specific circumstances. Moon Druid 9 looks a bit less sad when you can turn into a land orca and stalk people. Or, earlier, being able to turn into a plesiosaur without your party walking off without you. They're quite handy, really.

[RickAllison]

Honestly, I'd still include it. When combined with the Female Steeder, you get 30mph overland travel before you multiply in Jump, or 270 ft per round that goes to 810 ft/round (92mph) with Jump.

Additionally, do note that per RAW, all of your gear melds with your form, but you don't lose attunement; you don't have to lace up your boots as an octopus or orca (though frankly I would, for the sole purpose of messing with people), you just get the benefit straight up. It's like saying that your Cloak of Resistance remains on your lion's back despite the rest of the gear merging in, and you lose its benefit if you can't get the clasp working with your fiddly lion paws. It just doesn't work that way.

And the bonus is huge, if for nothing but adding those normally aquatic creatures that are usually non-viable wildshape forms except in incredibly specific circumstances. Moon Druid 9 looks a bit less sad when you can turn into a land orca and stalk people. Or, earlier, being able to turn into a plesiosaur without your party walking off without you. They're quite handy, really.

Remember that the monk's ability only doubles the jump distance. So a monk gets 180' jumps and then 540' with Jump.

[Fable Wright]

Remember that the monk's ability only doubles the jump distance. So a monk gets 180' jumps and then 540' with Jump.

Who's talking about Monks? :smallconfused:

Jump, the spell, comes from Druid spell list and triples jump distance. Striding and Springing also triple jump distance. This gives you 90 base (Female Steeder form) times 9 from the two multipliers and it comes out to 810' jumps.

[RickAllison]

Who's talking about Monks? :smallconfused:

Jump, the spell, comes from Druid spell list and triples jump distance. Striding and Springing also triple jump distance. This gives you 90 base (Female Steeder form) times 9 from the two multipliers and it comes out to 810' jumps.

Ahhh, you are using the exploit from the S.P.I.D.E.R. thread. Do remember that you have to convince your DM to let your arachnid actually wear the boots. In your earlier post, you forgot this little beauty from the PHB:


Equipment that merges
with the form has no
effect until you leave
the form.

So you do have to convince a DM that the spider can actually wear the Boots of Striding and Springing if you wish to exploit that, as merged BoSaS don't give you the jumping boost.

[Fable Wright]

So you do have to convince a DM that the spider can actually wear the Boots of Striding and Springing if you wish to exploit that, as merged BoSaS don't give you the jumping boost.

I missed that; thanks for the catch.

That said, you'd be amazed at what you can do with crumpled newspaper, a bit of glue, some vines, and an Intelligence check with Guidance and Aid Other bonuses.

[RickAllison]

I missed that; thanks for the catch.

That said, you'd be amazed at what you can do with crumpled newspaper, a bit of glue, some vines, and an Intelligence check with Guidance and Aid Other bonuses.

Steeders should have an easier time with that than other forms, at least. Since they have sticky legs instead of webs, the boots should stick on the ends of the legs! Might need to clean them out afterwards :smallbiggrin:

[jhansonxi]

Moon Druid wild shaping action economy seems ambiguous to me. By my (potentially wrong) estimation, it is one of the few class abilities that is fungible between actions and bonus actions--it might even be the only one. P. 69 of the PHB says "you gain the ability to use Wild Shape on your turn as a bonus action, rather than as an action." Whether this means you simultaneously lose the base class ability to use it as an action is unclear to me, and I say Moon Druids could use either because it doesn't demand exclusivity. But I could totally be wrong and would love to see a for-sure RAW explanation.

According to Mike Mearls a druid can Wild Shape as an action or bonus action, but he's not an official rules-maker - only Jeremy Crawford is: www_sageadvice_eu/2016/03/23/druids-with-combat-wild-shape