Druid-Circle of the Elements Rev:2

[RickAsWritten]

I really enjoy the Druid class. Not so much the shapeshifter side of it. I like being a battlefield-controlling, area-denial nature Wizard. That said, Druids don't have the best direct damage, with their penchant for concentration, damage-over-time spells. Unearthed Arcana released the Twilight Druid, and I loved it(but apparently no one else did and it got sent to the glue factory).
I was recently playing Divinity: Original Sin 2, and became enamored with the summonable totems that are part of the Summoner class. So I decided to mix the increased damage of the Twilight Druid and summonable totems to create...

Druid- Circle of the Elements Rev:0 See Below for Rev:2

2nd- You can draw upon the primal elemental forces of nature. Choose one type of elemental damage; acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. As a bonus action you may summon a totem of this element type in an unoccupied 5-foot space within 30 feet of you. The next time you cast a leveled spell that deals damage of the same type as the totem, you gain a bonus to the spell's damage equal to 1d10 for each totem within 30 feet of you. The totems last for one minute, or until destroyed. They are Small magical Constructs that have an AC of 15, 30 HP, zero movement speed, and immunity to their chosen elemental type. You may summon a number of totems equal to you Wisdom modifier per short rest.

6th- The area around your totems pulsate with elemental energies. The areas within a 10-foot radius of your totems are considered difficult terrain. You can move normally through these areas.

10th- Some of the elemental magic coursing through your totems is channeled back into you. If you have at least one totem summoned, and are concentrating on a spell that does elemental damage of the same type, you gain immunity to that damage type until the spell ends.

14th- You are a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. When you cast a spell of 5th level or lower, you can sacrifice a number of totems equal to the spell’s level. The totems are instantaneously destroyed, but cause the spell to be over-channeled. Instead of rolling damage for the spell, you can deal maximum damage, and you gain a spell slot of one level lower than the spell that was cast (minimum 1).

OR(I was kinda underwhelmed with that capstone)

14th- You are a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. You can use an action to sacrifice one of your uses of Wild Shape to cause your totems to animate. All of the totems that you have summoned sprout arm and legs, and animate as if affected by the spell Animate Objects; no concentration required. The animated totems count as Medium constructs, as shown in the spell’s description, but retain their original AC and immunity. The animated totems’ attacks do damage of the type that they were summoned as, and they have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. The totems remain animated until destroyed or for 10 minutes, after which they collapse into non-magical detritus.


Postscript: I am more of an ideas guy than a numbers guy, so I apologize if this is way out of wack. So P.E.A.C.H. Let me know what you like, what you hate, and what I can improve.

Thanks,

RickAsWritten

[Man_Over_Game]

I really enjoy the Druid class. Not so much the shapeshifter side of it. I like being a battlefield-controlling, area-denial nature Wizard. That said, Druids don't have the best direct damage, with their penchant for concentration, damage-over-time spells. Unearthed Arcana released the Twilight Druid, and I loved it(but apparently no one else did and it got sent to the glue factory).
I was recently playing Divinity: Original Sin 2, and became enamored with the summonable totems that are part of the Summoner class. So I decided to mix the increased damage of the Twilight Druid and summonable totems to create...



Hi, Rick! I'll take a look and see if I notice anything that particularly stands out.


Druid- Circle of the Elements

2nd- You can draw upon the primal elemental forces of nature. Choose one type of elemental damage; acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. As a bonus action you may summon a totem of this element type in an unoccupied 5-foot space within 30 feet of you. The next time you cast a leveled spell that deals damage of the same type as the totem, you gain a bonus to the spell's damage equal to 1d10 for each totem within 30 feet of you. The totems last for one minute, or until destroyed. They are Small magical Constructs that have an AC of 15, 30 HP, zero movement speed, and immunity to their chosen elemental type. You may summon a number of totems equal to you Wisdom modifier per short rest.

I'm gonna be straight with you. The very first feature of every subclass is the single most important thing in the entire subclass. Screw everything else, this HAS to be the coolest feature, or the thing that's going to determine your entire playstyle for the next 18+ levels of the entire game.

In this case, it's "Spend a bonus action, deal an extra 1d10 elemental damage". Which isn't quite as exciting as "Regenerate half of your spell slots every short rest (on a prepared caster, no less), create a passive totem that does two things and talk to animals, or CHANGE INTO A FRIGGIN BEAR". This needs more "Oomph", but not in a way that just adds damage.

As for balance, it's not terrible. They are stupidly tanky at the start, but just fine for later levels. Maybe make them have 10 + 2xdruid level in health. That seems fine and a bit more manageable. Notably, position doesn't matter, which is a bit disappointing.


6th- The area around your totems pulsate with elemental energies. The areas within a 10-foot radius of your totems are considered difficult terrain. You can move normally through these areas.


Good! Got that positioning. I like it. I'd like to maybe see this get put in as part of the level 2 feature. Maybe it starts with a 5 foot radius, improves to 10 foot at level 6. I can really see that being fun right off the bat, and be able to be regularly used for later. It also requires you to consider making them safe vs. making them as a pseudo-wall.


10th- Some of the elemental magic coursing through your totems is channeled back into you. If you have at least one totem summoned, and are concentrating on a spell that does elemental damage of the same type, you gain immunity to that damage type until the spell ends.

Sounds good, but is actually not great. How many times is Fire going to be an option for a Druid? How many times will you cast it in a fight when you know an enemy will use it against you? It's like having resistance to Acid damage. Sure, it's cool, but how often is it really going to be relevant? The one time I see this being very relevant is if you're casting Heat Metal on a metal rod you're holding to...grant yourself immunity to fire? Maybe to cross a river of lava? But how often does that happen, and what happens when you lose Concentration? It does seem really awkward casting a damage spell, ON YOURSELF, as a utility effect.

My recommendation is maybe have you gain temporary hitpoints for the damage your totems provide, and then gain resistance to the last element you cast while you have those temporary hitpoints. Defensive, but the long-term duration will allow you to use those resistances throughout the day rather than in a single fight.



14th- You are a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. When you cast a spell of 5th level or lower, you can sacrifice a number of totems equal to the spell’s level. The totems are instantaneously destroyed, but cause the spell to be over-channeled. Instead of rolling damage for the spell, you can deal maximum damage, and you gain a spell slot of one level lower than the spell that was cast (minimum 1).

OR(I was kinda underwhelmed with that capstone)

Yeah, I kinda agree. Not the worst idea, though.

14th- You are a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. You can use an action to sacrifice one of your uses of Wild Shape to cause your totems to animate. All of the totems that you have summoned sprout arm and legs, and animate as if affected by the spell Animate Objects; no concentration required. The animated totems count as Medium constructs, as shown in the spell’s description, but retain their original AC and immunity. The animated totems’ attacks do damage of the type that they were summoned as, and they have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. The totems remain animated until destroyed or for 10 minutes, after which they collapse into non-magical detritus.

Kinda creepy, kinda cool. Not sure about balance (hordes are really hard to balance right), but I kinda like it.

Overall, it has a unique idea with the totem placement, but I feel like their identity is a bit bland. "Place rock on ground. It gives me damage. Eventually, rock slows nearby enemies. Place lots of rocks and deal lots of damage". I feel like placement could be more important, as well as the decisions you need to make about when to place them aggressively or to keep them protected.

Something akin to a weak Heroism effect (temp hitpoints every turn) to adjacent allies could be useful while providing resistance to a certain element to protect against specific enemies. I do like that it gives Druids a lot more specific power in a battle, as most of what a Druid does is limited to "soft" area effect abilities that are often hit-or-miss as far as their usefulness goes. Looking forward to more of your work!

[RickAsWritten]

Overall, it has a unique idea with the totem placement, but I feel like their identity is a bit bland. "Place rock on ground. It gives me damage. Eventually, rock slows nearby enemies. Place lots of rocks and deal lots of damage". I feel like placement could be more important, as well as the decisions you need to make about when to place them aggressively or to keep them protected.

Something akin to a weak Heroism effect (temp hitpoints every turn) to adjacent allies could be useful while providing resistance to a certain element to protect against specific enemies. I do like that it gives Druids a lot more specific power in a battle, as most of what a Druid does is limited to "soft" area effect abilities that are often hit-or-miss as far as their usefulness goes. Looking forward to more of your work!

Thanks Man_!

Lots of good feedback, and it got me churning up some good ideas for the revision. I think I'll fold the level 6 into the level 2 with scaling size like you said.

I've got an idea for the new level 6 ability, but need to refine the language. It's gonna add some fun tactical decisions with totem placement and positioning.

Yeah that level 10 ability was kind of a stretch. I wanted to reward players for concentrating on damage-over-time spells, and I new that it'd be situational, but didn't have any good ideas, so I went with it. And analyzing further, the Investiture of xxxxx spells already do the whole immunity thing a few levels later. I'm considering your temp HP suggestion, or maybe a teleport swap with one of your totems. I don't know...that kinda steps on the Dreams Druid's toes though. I'll think on it. I do kinda like the accidental utility though lol.

For the capstone, I'm gonna keep the animate totems ability even if the balance is questionable. It's more fun than an ability that I pretty much just purloined from the Tempest Cleric.

I should have Rev:1 up tomorrow.

[jiriku]

I agree that animate totems is a lot more fun. Totems are the defining feature of the subclass -- you don't want to be removing them from the battlefield. And I like that animate totems gives you the ability to move that area of difficult terrain. Not sure if your allies will like it, but, well, them's the breaks when there's a controller on your team. Maybe consider whether the difficult terrain effect should apply to everyone or only foes. Although "no friendly fire" is kind of a lazy feature to write -- I'd almost rather you keep it in there and spend that part of your "subclass power budget" on something else active and engaging.

I'd encourage you to add even more features to the totems. As I read through the writeup, the totems were so interesting that I completely forgot that this was a "do more elemental damage" subclass and began to think of it as a "summon cool totems" subclass. The idea of the summonable totems just grabs you, where "more damage" really doesn't. Maybe you could include some kind of feature that allows you to spend an action to make the totems pulse out a burst of elemental damage, or fire off short-range beams of it. Or maybe add an aura to the totems that protects or inspires allies somehow -- perhaps it grants them advantage on saving throws against the element.

[RickAsWritten]

Maybe you could include some kind of feature that allows you to spend an action to make the totems pulse out a burst of elemental damage, or fire off short-range beams of it. Or maybe add an aura to the totems that protects or inspires allies somehow -- perhaps it grants them advantage on saving throws against the element.

This is exactly where I'm headed for the new Level 6 and Level 10 features.

[RickAsWritten]

Druid- Circle of the Elements Rev:1

Elemental Summons

Starting at 2nd level, you can draw upon the primal elemental forces of nature. Choose one type of elemental damage; acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. As a bonus action you may summon a totem of this element type in an unoccupied 5-foot space within 30 feet of you. The next time you cast or activate a leveled spell that deals damage of the same type as the totem, you gain a bonus to the spell's damage equal to 1d8 for each totem within 30 feet of you. The totems last for one minute, or until destroyed.
The totems are Medium magical Constructs that have an AC of 15, hit points equal to 10 plus twice your Druid level, zero movement speed, and immunity to their chosen elemental type. The totems pulsate with elemental energies. The areas within a 5-foot radius of the totems are considered difficult terrain. You can move normally through these areas. At level 6 and level 14, the radius of the difficult terrain increases by 5 feet. You may summon a number of totems equal to you Wisdom modifier per short rest.

Totem Adept

At 6th level, you have become a practiced hand at calling forth elemental energies. You can gain the benefits of one of the following abilities each time you use your Elemental Summons ability:

Forceful Summon: You cause the totem to burst into existence. The totem slams to the ground when summoned. It starts with half of its initial HP, but all creatures within 5 feet of the totem must make a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet directly away from the totem. Beginning at 10th level, any creature that fails the saving throw is also knocked prone.

Stackable Summon: You can place a totem directly on top of another totem of the same elemental type. This causes the radius of the aura of difficult terrain to expand to twice its original size, and causes a small wave of destructive magic. Any creature within 5 feet of the totem must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 damage of the totem’s type. This damage increases to 2d6 at level 10 and 3d6 at level 14.

Totemic in Nature

Beginning at 10th level, you are perfectly attuned to the imperceptible flows of natural energy, and you can use these energy channels to assist your magic. When you have at least two totems summoned, you can cause the following effects:

Ley Line: As an Action, you can cause spiritual energy to sooth your allies and harm your foes. A 5-foot wide beam of energy springs into existence between two of your totems. It lasts for one round, and passes through objects and creatures. Any ally that is in the beam’s path when it is created or that ends its turn in the energy’s beam is healed by 2d12, and any enemy that is in the beam’s path when it is created or that ends its turn in the beam must make a Dexterity saving throw; taking 2d12 radiant damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.

Totem Sacrifice: As an Action, you can sacrifice one of your summoned totems to create weakness in your enemies. One creature within 30 feet of the totem must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become cursed with vulnerability to the elemental damage type of the totem until the end of its next turn.

Balancing Ritual: You can climb atop one of your totems to be overcharged with energy. If you end your turn standing on top of one of a totem, and remain there until the beginning of your next turn, the next time one of your spells causes a creature to make a saving throw, that creature has disadvantage on the roll. While standing on your totem, any time you take damage, you must succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the totem. Due to the rigors of the Balancing Ritual you may only stay atop the totem a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. Once you have performed the Balancing Ritual you cannot attempt it again until you have completed a Long Rest.

Animate Totems

At 14th level, you have become a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. You can use an Action to sacrifice one of your uses of Wild Shape, and cause your totems to animate. All of the totems that you have summoned sprout arm and legs, and animate as if affected by the spell Animate Objects; no concentration required. The animated totems count as Large constructs, as shown in the spell’s description, but retain their original AC and immunity. The animated totems’ attacks do damage of the type that they were summoned as, and they have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. The totems remain animated until destroyed or for 10 minutes, after which they collapse into nonmagical detritus.



...


...

I'm worried I over-did it lol. It seems like it would be a blast to play, but some of those numbers may need adjusted.

[Man_Over_Game]

It does seem a BIT overboard. Keep in mind, at this point you're trying to track:

Spell slots
Spell prepared
Wild Magic uses
Wild Magic Animals Known

The number of totems used
Location of said totems
The element of each totem as you place them
The life of each totem
Whether or not totems are stacked
How many turns you've been standing awkwardly on your totem
What element you just made the enemy vulnerable to
And at level 14, they now move.

It's...a bit much.

You have two different design choices you want to follow:
1. Simple trigger, many choices (Battlemaster Fighter, lots of effects that all only need your Attack)
2. Complex trigger, few choices (Totem Barbarian, unique choices, but you only have to remember 2-3 of them)

For option 1, you can do something like having a number of options for your Totems to take, but they all are chosen at the time of creation. Examples include increasing your damage, causing a knockback/prone push, or healing adjacent allies.
For option 2, you can do something like having only one thing take place upon creation, one thing take place for sustainability, and one thing take place upon dismantling/destruction.

Somewhere, you should mention that these lose power when not rooted into the ground. Otherwise, my Ancestral Guardian/Bear Barbarian is just going to pick one up and start punching the enemy.

[RickAsWritten]

It does seem a BIT overboard. Keep in mind, at this point you're trying to track:

Spell slots
Spell prepared
Wild Magic uses
Wild Magic Animals Known

The number of totems used
Location of said totems
The element of each totem as you place them
The life of each totem
Whether or not totems are stacked
How many turns you've been standing awkwardly on your totem
What element you just made the enemy vulnerable to
And at level 14, they now move.

It's...a bit much.

You have two different design choices you want to follow:
1. Simple trigger, many choices (Battlemaster Fighter, lots of effects that all only need your Attack)
2. Complex trigger, few choices (Totem Barbarian, unique choices, but you only have to remember 2-3 of them)

For option 1, you can do something like having a number of options for your Totems to take, but they all are chosen at the time of creation. Examples include increasing your damage, causing a knockback/prone push, or healing adjacent allies.
For option 2, you can do something like having only one thing take place upon creation, one thing take place for sustainability, and one thing take place upon dismantling/destruction.

Somewhere, you should mention that these lose power when not rooted into the ground. Otherwise, my Ancestral Guardian/Bear Barbarian is just going to pick one up and start punching the enemy.

Good points all around. Thanks again. That is a lot to track. Activating quick edit mode...

[RickAsWritten]

I parsed it down some. Dumped the Balancing Act(it was neat, but too fiddly) and Stacking, made Sacrifice happen at the time of summoning, and turned Ley Line into the only Level 10 ability. The Level six is a three-parter, but Kensei Monks, Drunk Monks and Sword Bards all have multi-abilities, so it should be alright.

Druid- Circle of the Elements Rev:2

Elemental Summons

Starting at 2nd level, you can draw upon the primal elemental forces of nature. Choose one type of elemental damage; acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. As a bonus action you may summon a totem of this element type in an unoccupied 5-foot space within 30 feet of you. The next time you cast or activate a leveled spell that deals damage of the same type as the totem, you gain a bonus to the spell's damage equal to 1d8 for each totem within 30 feet of you. The totems last for one minute, or until destroyed.
The totems are Medium magical Constructs that have an AC of 15, hit points equal to 10 plus twice your Druid level, zero movement speed, and immunity to their chosen elemental type. If a totem is removed from the point it was anchored to, it collapses into nonmagical detritus. The totems pulsate with elemental energies. The areas within a 5-foot radius of the totems are considered difficult terrain. You can move normally through these areas. At level 6 and level 14, the radius of the difficult terrain increases by 5 feet. You may summon a number of totems equal to you Wisdom modifier per short rest.

Totem Adept

At 6th level, you have become a practiced hand at calling forth elemental energies. You can gain the benefits of one of the following abilities each time you use your Elemental Summons ability:

Forceful Summon: You cause the totem to burst into existence. The totem slams to the ground when summoned. It starts with half of its initial HP, but all creatures within 5 feet of the totem must make a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet directly away from the totem. Beginning at 10th level, any creature that fails the saving throw is also knocked prone.

Erupting Summon: You can cause a summoned totem to erupt in a wave of destructive magic. When it is summoned, any creature within 5 feet of the totem must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 damage of the totem’s type. This damage increases to 2d6 at level 10 and 3d6 at level 14.

Totem Sacrifice: You can sacrifice a totem to create weakness in your enemies. Instead of summoning a totem, you can redirect its energy to an enemy, causing one creature within 30 feet of you to make a Constitution saving throw; on a failed save the target is cursed with vulnerability to the elemental damage type of the totem until the end of its next turn.

Ley Line

Beginning at 10th level, you are perfectly attuned to the imperceptible flows of natural energy, and you can use these energy channels to assist your magic. When you have at least two totems summoned, as an Action you can cause spiritual energy to sooth your allies and harm your foes. A 5-foot wide beam of energy springs into existence between two of your totems. It lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier, and passes through objects and creatures. Any ally that is in the beam’s path when it is created or that ends its turn in the energy’s beam is healed by 2d12, and any enemy that is in the beam’s path when it is created or that ends its turn in the beam must make a Dexterity saving throw; taking 2d12 radiant damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.

Animate Totems

At 14th level, you have become a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. You can use an Action to sacrifice one of your uses of Wild Shape, and cause your totems to animate. All of the totems that you have summoned sprout arm and legs, and animate as if affected by the spell Animate Objects; no concentration required. The animated totems count as Large constructs, as shown in the spell’s description, but retain their original AC and immunity. The animated totems’ attacks do damage of the type that they were summoned as, and they have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. The totems remain animated until destroyed or for 10 minutes, after which they collapse into nonmagical detritus.

[Man_Over_Game]

This is masterfully well done. I could totally see someone utilize this. It has a lot of flavor, and is well balanced with plenty of decisions without being overly complicated.

Great job!

My last suggestion is to add some minor ribbon abilities in somewhere. Right now, these don't provide too much out of combat, where the other druids all have major abilities that support the Druid while they're out of combat.

Perhaps you always have an aura that resists any kind of inclement weather effects (like rain, uncomfortable heat or cold, excessive wind, etc) that extends enough to protect your allies (10 foot radius?).

Perhaps you know Message, and it's distance is doubled?

Perhaps your Totems have Magic Mouth on them?

Or maybe you always have the benefit of Tongues?

Maybe you understand Primordial, and you have advantage on Persuasion checks when speaking to elementals, plants and animals?

[RickAsWritten]

This is masterfully well done. I could totally see someone utilize this. It has a lot of flavor, and is well balanced with plenty of decisions without being overly complicated.

Great job!

Nice, thanks. Now I just need to find a game to do some playtesting lol. I presently only play/DM AL.

[RickAsWritten]

This is masterfully well done. I could totally see someone utilize this. It has a lot of flavor, and is well balanced with plenty of decisions without being overly complicated.

Great job!

My last suggestion is to add some minor ribbon abilities in somewhere. Right now, these don't provide too much out of combat, where the other druids all have major abilities that support the Druid while they're out of combat.

Perhaps you always have an aura that resists any kind of inclement weather effects (like rain, uncomfortable heat or cold, excessive wind, etc) that extends enough to protect your allies (10 foot radius?).

Perhaps you know Message, and it's distance is doubled?

Perhaps your Totems have Magic Mouth on them?

Or maybe you always have the benefit of Tongues?

Maybe you understand Primordial, and you have advantage on Persuasion checks when speaking to elementals, plants and animals?

Mmm...good point. Maybe just swipe the Primordial speech ribbon from Storm Sorcerer. It fits the theme well.

[PeteNutButter]

I parsed it down some. Dumped the Balancing Act(it was neat, but too fiddly) and Stacking, made Sacrifice happen at the time of summoning, and turned Ley Line into the only Level 10 ability. The Level six is a three-parter, but Kensei Monks, Drunk Monks and Sword Bards all have multi-abilities, so it should be alright.

Druid- Circle of the Elements Rev:2

Elemental Summons

Starting at 2nd level, you can draw upon the primal elemental forces of nature. Choose one type of elemental damage; acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. As a bonus action you may summon a totem of this element type in an unoccupied 5-foot space within 30 feet of you. The next time you cast or activate a leveled spell that deals damage of the same type as the totem, you gain a bonus to the spell's damage equal to 1d8 for each totem within 30 feet of you. The totems last for one minute, or until destroyed.
The totems are Medium magical Constructs that have an AC of 15, hit points equal to 10 plus twice your Druid level, zero movement speed, and immunity to their chosen elemental type. If a totem is removed from the point it was anchored to, it collapses into nonmagical detritus. The totems pulsate with elemental energies. The areas within a 5-foot radius of the totems are considered difficult terrain. You can move normally through these areas. At level 6 and level 14, the radius of the difficult terrain increases by 5 feet. You may summon a number of totems equal to you Wisdom modifier per short rest.

Totem Adept

At 6th level, you have become a practiced hand at calling forth elemental energies. You can gain the benefits of one of the following abilities each time you use your Elemental Summons ability:

Forceful Summon: You cause the totem to burst into existence. The totem slams to the ground when summoned. It starts with half of its initial HP, but all creatures within 5 feet of the totem must make a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet directly away from the totem. Beginning at 10th level, any creature that fails the saving throw is also knocked prone.

Erupting Summon: You can cause a summoned totem to erupt in a wave of destructive magic. When it is summoned, any creature within 5 feet of the totem must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 damage of the totem’s type. This damage increases to 2d6 at level 10 and 3d6 at level 14.

Totem Sacrifice: You can sacrifice a totem to create weakness in your enemies. Instead of summoning a totem, you can redirect its energy to an enemy, causing one creature within 30 feet of you to make a Constitution saving throw; on a failed save the target is cursed with vulnerability to the elemental damage type of the totem until the end of its next turn.

Ley Line

Beginning at 10th level, you are perfectly attuned to the imperceptible flows of natural energy, and you can use these energy channels to assist your magic. When you have at least two totems summoned, as an Action you can cause spiritual energy to sooth your allies and harm your foes. A 5-foot wide beam of energy springs into existence between two of your totems. It lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier, and passes through objects and creatures. Any ally that is in the beam’s path when it is created or that ends its turn in the energy’s beam is healed by 2d12, and any enemy that is in the beam’s path when it is created or that ends its turn in the beam must make a Dexterity saving throw; taking 2d12 radiant damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.

Animate Totems

At 14th level, you have become a conduit of the elemental forces, and your totems are extensions of your will. You can use an Action to sacrifice one of your uses of Wild Shape, and cause your totems to animate. All of the totems that you have summoned sprout arm and legs, and animate as if affected by the spell Animate Objects; no concentration required. The animated totems count as Large constructs, as shown in the spell’s description, but retain their original AC and immunity. The animated totems’ attacks do damage of the type that they were summoned as, and they have resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. The totems remain animated until destroyed or for 10 minutes, after which they collapse into nonmagical detritus.

So you want me to break this... ok. Easy. There is no limit against stacking and no limit on the spell after it was cast even though the totems only last for a minute.

Without multiclassing the first thing that comes to mind is Flame Arrows. This normally mediocre spell has a 1 hour duration, but if you dump all your totems (5 assuming 20 wisdom) before casting it you give your party archer arrows that deal 1d6+5d8 bonus fire damage. A level 11+ fighter with sharpshooter, crossbow expert, 20 dex, and a +2 weapon is putting out 82 DPR without these magic fire bolts. With this gimmick he balloons to 186 damage every round, or at least until he runs out of OP fire crossbow bolts. Might as well upcast it to give him as much ammo as possible.

Another easy exploit. Call Lightning. Toss out 5 lightning totems before casting it and it is dealing tons of damage for 10 minutes. Assuming level 11 like before, toss on a couple levels of tempest cleric (or 6) for maximum cheese, you can call lightning for 6d10+5d8 and maximize it for 100 damage.


The lame fix is to set all damage bonuses to the "first time this spell does damage." This is what the errata did to draconic sorcerer and seems in line with most official D&D stuff. It also makes it significantly less useful for things like fire wall, fire shield, flaming sphere, etc.

The more fun fix is to limit them to no more than 1 totem per type. At least then it is still functional on duration spells, without being ridiculous.

None of the higher level abilities call out to me as being super exploitable.

On the level 6 abilities, I like the idea of turning an enemy into a totem. Instead of just making him vulnerable to the element, make him vulnerable and function as a totem for as long as he is alive. Since it's a con save its a risk burning a totem that might not work, but pays off well against bosses. Just an idea.

From a purely simplicity perspective it'd make sense for the totems to use your wild shapes, but that would limit them to 2/short rest.