LightningStrike
2022-02-18, 06:56 AM
Salvete! This is L1GHTN1NG_STR1KE, submitting my second subclass to the Homebrew Design subforum for your perusal!
The Circle of Communion is very much intended to blur the typical lines of what a druid is. Guardian of the wilds they might still be but they extend the primal spirituality that most druids follow into the creations of the sapient races – possibly even into civilisation itself. Where one druid might look at a shield or armour forged from iron and see the destruction and warping of the world, a Circle of Communion druid sees it, and the spirits that underlie it, shaped into a new and precious form by the care of a skilled artisan. Their communion with these spirits, in nature or in created objects, and their skill with the latter, defines them and their unique outlook.
Mechanically, the Communion druid can use their Wild Shape to emulate a pared back form of animate objects that grows more expansive as they level up. Later, they can commune with artificial sapience in constructs and then awaken that sapience in any objects they commune with. As they grow in power they also hone their skills in crafting and using objects, gaining additional proficiency with tools, weapons and armour.
You can find a link to a document containing all of this in a neatly formatted and illustrated form here: ‘homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/wFLuSlIb5OtK’. Thanks go to my good friends in real life (and my GM in the former case) Sam and Anna for their advice on balance and language and their general awesomeness. I thoroughly hope that you enjoy the subclass and, of course, welcome your thoughts and constructive feedback to make it as good as it can be!
The Circle of Communion is a new and upstart discipline, one that most druids look upon uneasily at best. Its members claim fresh insight into the elemental spirits of life – that they instantiate the substance of the world itself and that, where they might be forced into slumber or brokenness by the actions of the sapient races, the love and care of a woodcarver, jeweller, potter or blacksmith might also give them new life alongside others of their kind with whom they would have never otherwise had kinship.
Druids of this Circle are as comfortable in a workshop as the wilds; they can draw upon their connection to the spirits of the world to give lifeless objects life and empower those of their own and others’ making.
Life In All Things
Druids of the Circle of Communion understand that the spirits underlying the world exist everywhere and in everything and that, even in those parts of the world that are reshaped or broken by mortal hands, they need only be reawakened to thrive. Alongside other differences in attitude, this means that they do not share most druids’ taboo against metal and freely wear and use metal objects. These differences can bring them into conflict with other Circles; conversely, they are often more welcome than many druids among civilisation, where their love of industriousness and artistry is reciprocated.
Druidic Crafter
Your training in the ways of the Circle of Communion lends you skill in crafting, understanding and using materials and objects. At 2nd level, you gain proficiency with simple weapons and one set of artisan’s tools.
You can use any set of artisan’s tools that you are proficient with as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells. Alternatively, you can use an item that you have crafted or to which a druid spell cast by you or your Commune with Spirits feature is currently applied as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells, though if it is too cumbersome to manipulate easily you may not also use the hand holding it to perform somatic components.
At 6th level, you gain proficiency in either heavy armour or martial weapons. You also gain proficiency with another set of artisan’s tools and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses your proficiency with a tool.
At 10th level, you gain proficiency in either heavy armour or martial weapons, whichever you didn’t choose at 6th level. You also gain proficiency with a third set of artisan’s tools.
Circle Spells
Your communion with the world’s fundamental spirits grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd level, you learn the mending cantrip.
When you reach certain levels in this class, you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of Communion Spells table. Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.
CIRCLE OF COMMUNION SPELLS
Druid Level
Spells
2nd
alarm
identify
3rd
locate object
magic weapon
5th
glyph of warding
tiny servant
7th
elemental bane
fabricate
9th
commune with nature
telekinesis
Commune with Spirits
At 2nd level, you can call upon the spirits instantiating the world to aid you. As an action, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to replicate the effects of the animate objects spell, rather than assuming a beast form.
When you use this feature, instead of choosing up to ten nonmagical objects you choose a number of nonmagical objects up to half your druid level (rounded down) plus half your proficiency bonus (rounded down). Your use of this feature does not require concentration or components but ends if you concentrate on a conjuration spell, use Wild Shape again, are incapacitated, die or choose to end it (no action required); all other limitations listed in the spell apply, including duration.
When you use this feature, you can also provide mechanical, magical or other forms of power to machinery or constructs, treating each machine or construct you provide power to as an object of its size counted against the number of objects you can use this feature on.
Commune with Constructs
At 6th level, you gain understanding of artificial beings through your communion with the spirits underlying their awareness. When you cast locate animals or plants, you can name a specific kind of construct rather than a specific kind of beast or plant; when you cast commune with nature, powerful constructs are added to the subjects about which you can gain knowledge and the spell functions in places where nature has been replaced by construction (though its radius is limited to 300 feet in constructed underground settings).
Additionally, whenever you use your Commune with Spirits feature to provide power to a construct, you can communicate with it telepathically whether or not you have a common language. While a construct is affected by Commune with Spirits, you can use your spellcasting ability modifier rather than Charisma for any ability check to interact socially with the construct, it can be charmed or frightened by you and you can cast the spells animal friendship, beast bond, beast sense and dominate beast on it as if it were a beast.
Awakened Communion
At 10th level, your influence awakens the world’s elemental spirits to sentience and lets thought spring from their collective presence in material things. Each object, machine or construct of your choice affected by your Commune with Spirits feature, or that you are in the process of casting the identify spell on, has its Intelligence raised to 6, its Wisdom raised to 10 and its Charisma raised to 6 if they are not already higher than this. You can also communicate with it telepathically whether or not you have a common language; in addition to this, you can use your spellcasting ability modifier rather than Charisma for any ability check to interact socially with it, it can be charmed or frightened by you, you can name it as if it were a kind of beast or plant for the purposes of locate animals or plants, you can cast the spells animal friendship, beast bond, beast sense and dominate beast on it as if it were a beast and, if under the effects of identify, it also gains blindsight out to a radius of 30 feet as it would under the effects of Commune with Spirits. An object or machine affected by this feature typically gains knowledge of beings and objects with which it has interacted over the course of its existence as that object or machine and sometimes before, in whatever form it may have taken then.
If Commune with Spirits ends early or your casting of identify is interrupted, the effects of this feature end as well. If Commune with Spirits lasts for its full duration or you successfully cast identify, you can choose to end the effects of this feature; alternatively, you can maintain the effects of Awakened Communion (though not Commune with Spirits or identify) on each object, construct or machine of your choice for up to eight hours per object. If you do so for the full length of time, you can choose to make these effects permanent. Using Commune with Spirits again and not choosing to animate or power an object, machine or construct undergoing this process, casting identify on a different object or being more than 30 feet away from an object, machine or construct undergoing this process while it is not also under the effects of Commune with Spirits ends the process without the effects becoming permanent. After the effects of this feature become permanent you can only telepathically communicate with an object, machine or construct under its effects from within 30 feet of it, unless it is also under the effects of Commune with Spirits.
You can use an object, machine or construct under the effects of this feature as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells, though if it is too cumbersome to manipulate easily you may not also use the hand holding it to perform somatic components.
DM Note: Roleplaying Objects
A druid of the Circle of Communion suddenly having their hairbrush spring to life or wanting to talk to the front door of the local inn might be a little offputting at first. Don’t panic! Like everything else, how objects react to their newfound awareness is entirely dependent on how you believe they would act in the context of your world or setting.
Consider the experiences that an object goes through in its daily life; this can be excellent inspiration for its newly awakened personality. A candle might be as cheerful and spontaneous as the flame that burns upon it - or filled with existential dread as it comprehends, for the first time, its imminent melting. The care with which an object is treated by its users might also be an important factor in its personality; the fine blade of a skilled swordsman might inherit its master’s pride, whereas an unmaintained shoe scraper half-covered in rust might be despondent or indignant about its treatment. Alternatively, both might simply be happy to be fulfilling a purpose!
As DM, you can also decide to increase an object’s ability scores beyond the norm or grant it proficiencies to reflect its nature or history. Where a stick lying out in a field can possibly be (though need not be) left as is, a doubty shield might have a higher than average Charisma score, reflecting a confidence gained by facing blow after blow on behalf of its wielder; meanwhile, the five century-old throne of a royal dynasty might have profiency in History, bearing witness to countless events of political significance throughout its lifetime.
Of course, all of these are wonderful opportunities to offer a party stories about your world or hooks for a new adventure. Magic items, in particular, might have long and storied tales that they are all too willing to share with curious adventurers. Alternatively, what might their prized nature have given them the opportunity to overhear? Perhaps that divine hammer was privy to a dragon’s idle musings on their duel with a lich a few decades ago as it was lying in their treasure horde or a corrupt noble mentioning the location of the cult they were sponsoring while it sat on display on the wall...
All that being said, an object might not want to talk to the druid who woke it at all, at least at first! Perhaps its awakening to sentience is a slow one, or perhaps it’s irritated by what it sees as being roused from a peaceful slumber. As ever, the world is yours to shape!
Harmonic Communion
At 14th level, you are one with the spirits that instantiate the world. While using your Commune with Spirits feature, you and each object, machine or construct under its effects instantaneously share thoughts, senses and emotions with one another, unless you or it chooses not to. While you do so, you each have advantage on ability checks and saving throws.
Additionally, you can use Commune with Spirits to provide mechanical, magical or other forms of power to a machine or construct of any size rather than controlling any objects or providing power to any other machinery or constructs.
The Circle of Communion is very much intended to blur the typical lines of what a druid is. Guardian of the wilds they might still be but they extend the primal spirituality that most druids follow into the creations of the sapient races – possibly even into civilisation itself. Where one druid might look at a shield or armour forged from iron and see the destruction and warping of the world, a Circle of Communion druid sees it, and the spirits that underlie it, shaped into a new and precious form by the care of a skilled artisan. Their communion with these spirits, in nature or in created objects, and their skill with the latter, defines them and their unique outlook.
Mechanically, the Communion druid can use their Wild Shape to emulate a pared back form of animate objects that grows more expansive as they level up. Later, they can commune with artificial sapience in constructs and then awaken that sapience in any objects they commune with. As they grow in power they also hone their skills in crafting and using objects, gaining additional proficiency with tools, weapons and armour.
You can find a link to a document containing all of this in a neatly formatted and illustrated form here: ‘homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/wFLuSlIb5OtK’. Thanks go to my good friends in real life (and my GM in the former case) Sam and Anna for their advice on balance and language and their general awesomeness. I thoroughly hope that you enjoy the subclass and, of course, welcome your thoughts and constructive feedback to make it as good as it can be!
The Circle of Communion is a new and upstart discipline, one that most druids look upon uneasily at best. Its members claim fresh insight into the elemental spirits of life – that they instantiate the substance of the world itself and that, where they might be forced into slumber or brokenness by the actions of the sapient races, the love and care of a woodcarver, jeweller, potter or blacksmith might also give them new life alongside others of their kind with whom they would have never otherwise had kinship.
Druids of this Circle are as comfortable in a workshop as the wilds; they can draw upon their connection to the spirits of the world to give lifeless objects life and empower those of their own and others’ making.
Life In All Things
Druids of the Circle of Communion understand that the spirits underlying the world exist everywhere and in everything and that, even in those parts of the world that are reshaped or broken by mortal hands, they need only be reawakened to thrive. Alongside other differences in attitude, this means that they do not share most druids’ taboo against metal and freely wear and use metal objects. These differences can bring them into conflict with other Circles; conversely, they are often more welcome than many druids among civilisation, where their love of industriousness and artistry is reciprocated.
Druidic Crafter
Your training in the ways of the Circle of Communion lends you skill in crafting, understanding and using materials and objects. At 2nd level, you gain proficiency with simple weapons and one set of artisan’s tools.
You can use any set of artisan’s tools that you are proficient with as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells. Alternatively, you can use an item that you have crafted or to which a druid spell cast by you or your Commune with Spirits feature is currently applied as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells, though if it is too cumbersome to manipulate easily you may not also use the hand holding it to perform somatic components.
At 6th level, you gain proficiency in either heavy armour or martial weapons. You also gain proficiency with another set of artisan’s tools and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses your proficiency with a tool.
At 10th level, you gain proficiency in either heavy armour or martial weapons, whichever you didn’t choose at 6th level. You also gain proficiency with a third set of artisan’s tools.
Circle Spells
Your communion with the world’s fundamental spirits grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd level, you learn the mending cantrip.
When you reach certain levels in this class, you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of Communion Spells table. Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.
CIRCLE OF COMMUNION SPELLS
Druid Level
Spells
2nd
alarm
identify
3rd
locate object
magic weapon
5th
glyph of warding
tiny servant
7th
elemental bane
fabricate
9th
commune with nature
telekinesis
Commune with Spirits
At 2nd level, you can call upon the spirits instantiating the world to aid you. As an action, you can expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to replicate the effects of the animate objects spell, rather than assuming a beast form.
When you use this feature, instead of choosing up to ten nonmagical objects you choose a number of nonmagical objects up to half your druid level (rounded down) plus half your proficiency bonus (rounded down). Your use of this feature does not require concentration or components but ends if you concentrate on a conjuration spell, use Wild Shape again, are incapacitated, die or choose to end it (no action required); all other limitations listed in the spell apply, including duration.
When you use this feature, you can also provide mechanical, magical or other forms of power to machinery or constructs, treating each machine or construct you provide power to as an object of its size counted against the number of objects you can use this feature on.
Commune with Constructs
At 6th level, you gain understanding of artificial beings through your communion with the spirits underlying their awareness. When you cast locate animals or plants, you can name a specific kind of construct rather than a specific kind of beast or plant; when you cast commune with nature, powerful constructs are added to the subjects about which you can gain knowledge and the spell functions in places where nature has been replaced by construction (though its radius is limited to 300 feet in constructed underground settings).
Additionally, whenever you use your Commune with Spirits feature to provide power to a construct, you can communicate with it telepathically whether or not you have a common language. While a construct is affected by Commune with Spirits, you can use your spellcasting ability modifier rather than Charisma for any ability check to interact socially with the construct, it can be charmed or frightened by you and you can cast the spells animal friendship, beast bond, beast sense and dominate beast on it as if it were a beast.
Awakened Communion
At 10th level, your influence awakens the world’s elemental spirits to sentience and lets thought spring from their collective presence in material things. Each object, machine or construct of your choice affected by your Commune with Spirits feature, or that you are in the process of casting the identify spell on, has its Intelligence raised to 6, its Wisdom raised to 10 and its Charisma raised to 6 if they are not already higher than this. You can also communicate with it telepathically whether or not you have a common language; in addition to this, you can use your spellcasting ability modifier rather than Charisma for any ability check to interact socially with it, it can be charmed or frightened by you, you can name it as if it were a kind of beast or plant for the purposes of locate animals or plants, you can cast the spells animal friendship, beast bond, beast sense and dominate beast on it as if it were a beast and, if under the effects of identify, it also gains blindsight out to a radius of 30 feet as it would under the effects of Commune with Spirits. An object or machine affected by this feature typically gains knowledge of beings and objects with which it has interacted over the course of its existence as that object or machine and sometimes before, in whatever form it may have taken then.
If Commune with Spirits ends early or your casting of identify is interrupted, the effects of this feature end as well. If Commune with Spirits lasts for its full duration or you successfully cast identify, you can choose to end the effects of this feature; alternatively, you can maintain the effects of Awakened Communion (though not Commune with Spirits or identify) on each object, construct or machine of your choice for up to eight hours per object. If you do so for the full length of time, you can choose to make these effects permanent. Using Commune with Spirits again and not choosing to animate or power an object, machine or construct undergoing this process, casting identify on a different object or being more than 30 feet away from an object, machine or construct undergoing this process while it is not also under the effects of Commune with Spirits ends the process without the effects becoming permanent. After the effects of this feature become permanent you can only telepathically communicate with an object, machine or construct under its effects from within 30 feet of it, unless it is also under the effects of Commune with Spirits.
You can use an object, machine or construct under the effects of this feature as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells, though if it is too cumbersome to manipulate easily you may not also use the hand holding it to perform somatic components.
DM Note: Roleplaying Objects
A druid of the Circle of Communion suddenly having their hairbrush spring to life or wanting to talk to the front door of the local inn might be a little offputting at first. Don’t panic! Like everything else, how objects react to their newfound awareness is entirely dependent on how you believe they would act in the context of your world or setting.
Consider the experiences that an object goes through in its daily life; this can be excellent inspiration for its newly awakened personality. A candle might be as cheerful and spontaneous as the flame that burns upon it - or filled with existential dread as it comprehends, for the first time, its imminent melting. The care with which an object is treated by its users might also be an important factor in its personality; the fine blade of a skilled swordsman might inherit its master’s pride, whereas an unmaintained shoe scraper half-covered in rust might be despondent or indignant about its treatment. Alternatively, both might simply be happy to be fulfilling a purpose!
As DM, you can also decide to increase an object’s ability scores beyond the norm or grant it proficiencies to reflect its nature or history. Where a stick lying out in a field can possibly be (though need not be) left as is, a doubty shield might have a higher than average Charisma score, reflecting a confidence gained by facing blow after blow on behalf of its wielder; meanwhile, the five century-old throne of a royal dynasty might have profiency in History, bearing witness to countless events of political significance throughout its lifetime.
Of course, all of these are wonderful opportunities to offer a party stories about your world or hooks for a new adventure. Magic items, in particular, might have long and storied tales that they are all too willing to share with curious adventurers. Alternatively, what might their prized nature have given them the opportunity to overhear? Perhaps that divine hammer was privy to a dragon’s idle musings on their duel with a lich a few decades ago as it was lying in their treasure horde or a corrupt noble mentioning the location of the cult they were sponsoring while it sat on display on the wall...
All that being said, an object might not want to talk to the druid who woke it at all, at least at first! Perhaps its awakening to sentience is a slow one, or perhaps it’s irritated by what it sees as being roused from a peaceful slumber. As ever, the world is yours to shape!
Harmonic Communion
At 14th level, you are one with the spirits that instantiate the world. While using your Commune with Spirits feature, you and each object, machine or construct under its effects instantaneously share thoughts, senses and emotions with one another, unless you or it chooses not to. While you do so, you each have advantage on ability checks and saving throws.
Additionally, you can use Commune with Spirits to provide mechanical, magical or other forms of power to a machine or construct of any size rather than controlling any objects or providing power to any other machinery or constructs.