Melee Druid Subclass: Circle of Stone

[Xenoph0n]

You may be thinking, "Well, druids already have a melee subclass: the Circle of the Moon." This is obviously true, but there's nothing for druids who want to melee without using their Wild Shape. Therefore, I made a subclass along somewhat similar lines to the other melee subclasses for full-casters, like the Valor and Swords bards and the Bladesinger. It focuses on improvised weapons, unarmed attacks, and primal savagery. It's heavily inspired by the Goblinpunch "7 Myths Everyone Believes About Druids" post (no link because it's rather NSFW).

Homebrewery link (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ryXd8EH3mV)

Google Drive link (https://drive.google.com/file/d/123DqRRGofIxzTQI58GgJJHd05ZByx4dF/view?usp=sharing)

[Bjarkmundur]

Simple, clean and effective.

How does it compare to other spellcasters with weapon buffs, such as the bard?

[Deadfire182]

Pretty neat idea, I like it!. One thing I would suggest is to not base part of the class on improvised weapons, instead focusing on things like quarterstaves and clubs. The definition of improvised gets a bit ambiguous if you keep using it (Is a sword picked up off a dead body an improvised weapon? How about a stick you found, which would use the same stats as a quarterstaff? Can i grapple as a bonus action (if I have tavern brawler) if I attack with this first, since it's technically improvised?), so I wouldn't use it if I were you (but hey, you do you man :))

[Vulsutyr]

I agree with Deadfire182. I like the brew, but maybe you should allow the use of simple weapons without metal? I don’t see any reason why a Druid couldn’t use a sharpened stick, wood fired, and call it a spear. Another thing: for martial characters a higher levels, they need to have another source of damage. Fighter’s four attacks, sneak attack, smite, the cleric’s spiritual weapon, the bladelock’s eldritch smite, or the ranger’s spells. This subclass is probably balanced, but unless the Druid has melee spells I am forgetting I suspect an high-level will take the Attack action less that you hope.

[Xenoph0n]

Pretty neat idea, I like it!. One thing I would suggest is to not base part of the class on improvised weapons, instead focusing on things like quarterstaves and clubs. The definition of improvised gets a bit ambiguous if you keep using it (Is a sword picked up off a dead body an improvised weapon? How about a stick you found, which would use the same stats as a quarterstaff? Can i grapple as a bonus action (if I have tavern brawler) if I attack with this first, since it's technically improvised?), so I wouldn't use it if I were you (but hey, you do you man :))

I definitely see your point about improvised weapons, and I'm really not sure where to go from here, because if you give bonuses to quarterstaffs, then there's literally no reason to ever use an improvised weapons. I guess a solution is maybe to clarify the unclear rules in the PHB about improvised weapons and just say that if you pick up a stick it is both a quarterstaff and an improvised weapon, or to give a special die (i.e. any improvised weapon you use now deals 1d6 damage at 6th level and 1d8 at 10th). As to the tavern brawler synergy, absolutely! That's great and works really well with the subclass.


I agree with Deadfire182. I like the brew, but maybe you should allow the use of simple weapons without metal? I don’t see any reason why a Druid couldn’t use a sharpened stick, wood fired, and call it a spear. Another thing: for martial characters a higher levels, they need to have another source of damage. Fighter’s four attacks, sneak attack, smite, the cleric’s spiritual weapon, the bladelock’s eldritch smite, or the ranger’s spells. This subclass is probably balanced, but unless the Druid has melee spells I am forgetting I suspect an high-level will take the Attack action less that you hope.

Well, the main increase in damage will come from primal savagery. It increases from 1d10 damage (5.5 average) at 1st level to 4d10 (22 average) at 17th level. This combined with hunter's mark and maybe the damage increase I proposed above will hopefully keep it competitive. There's also flame blade, which deals 3d6 (10.5 average) damage with a 2nd level slot and increases by 1d6 (3.5 average) every 2nd spell level.

[Vulsutyr]

I definitely see your point about improvised weapons, and I'm really not sure where to go from here, because if you give bonuses to quarterstaffs, then there's literally no reason to ever use an improvised weapons. I guess a solution is maybe to clarify the unclear rules in the PHB about improvised weapons and just say that if you pick up a stick it is both a quarterstaff and an improvised weapon, or to give a special die (i.e. any improvised weapon you use now deals 1d6 damage at 6th level and 1d8 at 10th). As to the tavern brawler synergy, absolutely! That's great and works really well with the subclass.



Well, the main increase in damage will come from primal savagery. It increases from 1d10 damage (5.5 average) at 1st level to 4d10 (22 average) at 17th level. This combined with hunter's mark and maybe the damage increase I proposed above will hopefully keep it competitive. There's also flame blade, which deals 3d6 (10.5 average) damage with a 2nd level slot and increases by 1d6 (3.5 average) every 2nd spell level.

Yes, I see. So at 6th level you can attack twice unarmed or improvised then cast primal savagery. I did not remember that, and I retract my criticism.