Shepherd Druid magic initiate

[Aaedimus]

Curse of Strahd,

A party with
A Human Sorcerer
A Human Ranger
A Goblin Fighter
An Aasimar Druid

I'm going to hit level 5 soon (1 lvl dip of grave cleric), and have been debating the merits of magic initiate spells. I front line allot and Mage Armor seems the obvious choice, especially since my beast forms are relatively weak. Alternatively, I've been debating the usefulness of grabbing feather fall, disguise self, expedicious retreat, find familiar, and even useen servant (none of which the Sorcerer plans on getting)

The rest of the party is great at damage. I am pretty good at battlefield control and general out if combat usefulness.

Do you feel as if any of these other choices has merit?

My cantrips will probably be combat centric (booming blade, lightning lure) although I do love shape water, and prestitigitation.... and minor illusion

[Millface]

depends on your stats and how you use your druid.

Shepherd is very obviously a summoner, and you don't need higher wisdom for saves if your utility in combat comes from summons, so taking feats instead of ASIs can be perfectly viable.

As far as which spells to take? Mage Armor is a good one, for sure, if you spend alot of time in beast mode. Familiars can do a bunch of fun things out of combat and the owl is amazing even in combat. Warcaster is another essential feat, whether you're using battlefield control or summons in combat you'll be using concentration. It's especially necessary if you use your beast forms often, since you won't be able to re-up those spells if you lose them without changing back and wasting a ton of action economy.

If I were to run a Shepherd druid, and that's honestly probably my next character, I'd load up on utility feats once I had Warcaster. Magic Initiate is good, Alert is good, Keen Mind is good, Tough is good, Inspiring Leader is nigh on broken if you have any CHA at all and have the prep time before going to a dangerous area. Give your summons and party a stack of temp HP that you can then re-up with the totem when they go through that.

I'm going to stop before I get into gushing about how much I love the Shepherd Druid. It's alot. I love it alot.

[Aaedimus]

Lol I was planning on taking magic initiate instead of war caster, and am very aware of the awesomeness of mage armor in beast form.

I'm more interested in deciding if the out of combat utility of any if these other spells would be worth being a bit more squishy and less useful in combat.

The unfortunate part of Shephard druid being a caster focused class is that doesn't come into play till level 5. 6 for me since I dipped cleric, and the summon buff than won't hit until level 7. With Curse if Strahd only taking us to level 9, that's a pretty late blooming class.

I'll tell you what though, this is my first druid, and the fluff has been fantastic. I was an Aasimar Druid banished to roam the underdark for failing my grove. My DM has allowed me to use striders and giant wolf spiders along with normal forest creatures, and the roleplay is great.

Last game I turned to a panther, tackled a bear to the ground, and grappled it in human form as my team mates tried to incapacitate it. The shepherd bear spirit rocks.

[Millface]

Well, disguise self is great out of combat. Your AC can be decent enough without mage armor and if you get knocked out of beast form that's kind of whatever, not the worst thing that can happen.

Can I ask why the dip in grave cleric? I do think Shepherd druid has the unique ability to multiclass into basically any other full caster without losing much of what makes it awesome, but I wouldn't think so until after 6. Weirdly I think Sorcerer looks hella good on it for extend/quicken spell.

[Aaedimus]

Grave cleric seemed to fill some of my group's gaps, and it's especially useful vs undead. This is CoS after all. Divining the location of undead and a ranged bonus action spare the dying sound pretty useful.

Also it's thematic, since my character is looking to make up for accidentally letting an undead evil invade his grove, dooming his own family.

I took it on level 3 when my Aasimar abilities kick in, and suddenly you could say my God blessed me with the knowledge that I was doing the right thing. Stacking radiant damage early in this kindof campaign is pretty nice too.

[Millface]

Grave cleric seemed to fill some of my group's gaps, and it's especially useful vs undead. This is CoS after all. Divining the location of undead and a ranged bonus action spare the dying sound pretty useful.

Also it's thematic, since my character is looking to make up for accidentally letting an undead evil invade his grove, dooming his own family.

I took it on level 3 when my Aasimar abilities kick in, and suddenly you could say my God blessed me with the knowledge that I was doing the right thing. Stacking radiant damage early in this kindof campaign is pretty nice too.

That's cool, I'll have to look into that!

[Aaedimus]

What's really cool is there's nothing saying that the Aasimar racial flight can't be used in wildshape. Infact, you specifically retain racial and class abilities. So, a flying bear isn't out of question, and using vinewhip to pull someone off of a ledge also becomes much easier.

[Millface]

What's really cool is there's nothing saying that the Aasimar racial flight can't be used in wildshape. Infact, you specifically retain racial and class abilities. So, a flying bear isn't out of question, and using vinewhip to pull someone off of a ledge also becomes much easier.

That's great, and I hadn't thought of the +Level to damage once per turn working in bear form as well. Aasimar actually make a pretty solid druid, that's cool. Even more bonkers on a moon druid that leans even more on beast forms. Imagining a Brown Bear at level 3 with divine claws and wings is just fantastic. I'm playing an Aasimar currently, and I'm pretty sure that racial is very nearly overpowered regardless of your class.

[Aaedimus]

As a Shepard Druid with Mage Armor and and with the Shepard druid spirits your wildshapes also will have an average 3 higher AC and 7+ temp HP. It doesn't scale to the level of a moon druid, but I'm hoping it keeps your wildshapes relevant

[Aaedimus]

If you were going to dip multiclass Cleric what school would you choose rather than Grave, and why?