RustyDemiGod
2024-01-18, 07:55 PM
Recently I’ve been working on Druid subclasses for the fae courts of summer, winter, autumn, and spring. Druid circles that have solid connections to the fae.
Each court has elements to it other than the season itself. For winter we have cold, sorrow, loss, and death.
Here is my first draft of the first circle:
Circle of the Winter Court
Winter has always been the season of death and sorrow. As Winter comes the days grow short, the trees shed their leaves, beasts give into the long slumber of hibernation, and the coming chill claims the lives of those unfortunate enough to be caught unprepared in the dark. Druids of the Winter Court embrace the chill of frost and death to guard the sleeping world until it rises again from the grave with Spring’s resurrection. Despite all of this Winter Courtiers are rarely malevolent, but all carry about them the sorrow of all poor souls that will never know true warmth.
-Ice in the Veins: When you join this circle at 2nd level, your blood runs cold and your very being becomes infused with Winter’s chill. You gain resistance to cold damage. Additionally, you learn one Cantrip from any spell list deals Cold or Necrotic damage. This counts as a Druid Cantrip for you, and does not count against the number of Cantrips that you know.
-Winter Witchcraft: Starting at 2nd level, your understanding of Winter’s relationship with death and sorrow deepens. Your spell list expands to contain all Wizard spells from the school of Necromancy.
Your connection to the season of death also grants you the ability to readily cast certain spells as you gain levels in this subclass as shown in the table below. Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it does not count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that does not appear on the Druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a Druid spell for you.
Circle Spells
Druid Level Spells
2nd Ice Knife, Inflict Wounds
3rd Rime’s Binding Ice, Wither and Bloom
5th Sleet Storm, Summon Undead
7th Ice Storm, Blight
9th Cone of Cold, Danse Macabre
-Touched by Death: At 6th level, your body becomes saturated a chill beyond the scope of a mundane winter. You gain the following abilities:
-You become resistant to Necrotic damage.
-Unintelligent undead will not harm you unless you become hostile to them first.
-You may cast Speak With Dead at-will. Casting the spell in this manner requires only a verbal component. This counts as a Druid spell for you, and does not count against the number of spells that you prepare each day.
-Summon the Hungering Dead: At 10th level, you can summon a spirit of cold and death, known as a Draugr, to inhabit the corpse of a small or medium humanoid killed within the last 24 hours.
As an action you can expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to summon the Draugr spirit, rather than assuming a beast form. This spirit binds to a small or medium corpse within 30ft of you. The Draugr is friendly to you, and your companions, and follows your commands. Refer to this creature’s game statistics in the Draugr stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus in several places. Your Draugr appears as the body did in life, but gaunt and unsettling. Shadows may leak from its pores, it’s eyes may glow with pale fire, or it may even sprout wicked-seeming antlers.
In combat, the Draugr shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. The only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one on its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the spirit can take any action of its choice, not just dodge.
This spirit remains bound to its corpse until it is released, reduced to 0 hit points, until you die, or until you use the Wild Shape feature again.
Draugr
Small or Medium Undead
Armor Class: 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 5 + 5 x your Druid level
Speed: 30ft
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
14 13 14 11 15 10
(+2) (+1) (+2) (0) (+2) (0)
Damage Immunities: Cold, Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60ft, Passive Perception 12
Languages: Understands the languages you speak
Challenge ——
Proficiency Bonus: Equal to your bonus
Actions:
Icicle: Ranged weapon attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, range 60ft, one target you can see. Hit: 1d6+proficiency bonus Cold damage.
Wither: Each creature within 5ft of the Draugr must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or take 1d8+PB Necrotic damage.
Devour: Consume parts of a fallen enemy corpse, as a bonus action, to regain hit points equal to the number of the fallen enemies hit dice. It can not feed off the same corpse twice.
-Winter’s Sorrow: At 14th level, you emanate an aura of bitter cold and deep woe. Whenever a creature within 10ft targets you with a melee or spell attack they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is wracked with sorrow imposing disadvantage on their attack and they take cold damage equal to your Wisdom modifier. Unintelligent undead, constructs, and elementals are immune to this aura.
-Winter Wild Shape: (Optional) The wild shapes of the Winter Druid are unsettling to say the least. These beast forms resemble animal skeletons or carcasses held together with black magic and sheathed in frost. Many forms, regardless of the species they are mocking, are crowned by menacing antlers and wreathed in the stench of rot.
Each court has elements to it other than the season itself. For winter we have cold, sorrow, loss, and death.
Here is my first draft of the first circle:
Circle of the Winter Court
Winter has always been the season of death and sorrow. As Winter comes the days grow short, the trees shed their leaves, beasts give into the long slumber of hibernation, and the coming chill claims the lives of those unfortunate enough to be caught unprepared in the dark. Druids of the Winter Court embrace the chill of frost and death to guard the sleeping world until it rises again from the grave with Spring’s resurrection. Despite all of this Winter Courtiers are rarely malevolent, but all carry about them the sorrow of all poor souls that will never know true warmth.
-Ice in the Veins: When you join this circle at 2nd level, your blood runs cold and your very being becomes infused with Winter’s chill. You gain resistance to cold damage. Additionally, you learn one Cantrip from any spell list deals Cold or Necrotic damage. This counts as a Druid Cantrip for you, and does not count against the number of Cantrips that you know.
-Winter Witchcraft: Starting at 2nd level, your understanding of Winter’s relationship with death and sorrow deepens. Your spell list expands to contain all Wizard spells from the school of Necromancy.
Your connection to the season of death also grants you the ability to readily cast certain spells as you gain levels in this subclass as shown in the table below. Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it does not count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that does not appear on the Druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a Druid spell for you.
Circle Spells
Druid Level Spells
2nd Ice Knife, Inflict Wounds
3rd Rime’s Binding Ice, Wither and Bloom
5th Sleet Storm, Summon Undead
7th Ice Storm, Blight
9th Cone of Cold, Danse Macabre
-Touched by Death: At 6th level, your body becomes saturated a chill beyond the scope of a mundane winter. You gain the following abilities:
-You become resistant to Necrotic damage.
-Unintelligent undead will not harm you unless you become hostile to them first.
-You may cast Speak With Dead at-will. Casting the spell in this manner requires only a verbal component. This counts as a Druid spell for you, and does not count against the number of spells that you prepare each day.
-Summon the Hungering Dead: At 10th level, you can summon a spirit of cold and death, known as a Draugr, to inhabit the corpse of a small or medium humanoid killed within the last 24 hours.
As an action you can expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to summon the Draugr spirit, rather than assuming a beast form. This spirit binds to a small or medium corpse within 30ft of you. The Draugr is friendly to you, and your companions, and follows your commands. Refer to this creature’s game statistics in the Draugr stat block, which uses your proficiency bonus in several places. Your Draugr appears as the body did in life, but gaunt and unsettling. Shadows may leak from its pores, it’s eyes may glow with pale fire, or it may even sprout wicked-seeming antlers.
In combat, the Draugr shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. The only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one on its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the spirit can take any action of its choice, not just dodge.
This spirit remains bound to its corpse until it is released, reduced to 0 hit points, until you die, or until you use the Wild Shape feature again.
Draugr
Small or Medium Undead
Armor Class: 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 5 + 5 x your Druid level
Speed: 30ft
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
14 13 14 11 15 10
(+2) (+1) (+2) (0) (+2) (0)
Damage Immunities: Cold, Necrotic, Poison
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses: Darkvision 60ft, Passive Perception 12
Languages: Understands the languages you speak
Challenge ——
Proficiency Bonus: Equal to your bonus
Actions:
Icicle: Ranged weapon attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, range 60ft, one target you can see. Hit: 1d6+proficiency bonus Cold damage.
Wither: Each creature within 5ft of the Draugr must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or take 1d8+PB Necrotic damage.
Devour: Consume parts of a fallen enemy corpse, as a bonus action, to regain hit points equal to the number of the fallen enemies hit dice. It can not feed off the same corpse twice.
-Winter’s Sorrow: At 14th level, you emanate an aura of bitter cold and deep woe. Whenever a creature within 10ft targets you with a melee or spell attack they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature is wracked with sorrow imposing disadvantage on their attack and they take cold damage equal to your Wisdom modifier. Unintelligent undead, constructs, and elementals are immune to this aura.
-Winter Wild Shape: (Optional) The wild shapes of the Winter Druid are unsettling to say the least. These beast forms resemble animal skeletons or carcasses held together with black magic and sheathed in frost. Many forms, regardless of the species they are mocking, are crowned by menacing antlers and wreathed in the stench of rot.