What is the intended playstyle of the circle of stars?

[Segev]

Or how do you make it work with the rest of thejDruid class?

It feels disjointed, but I also see the Moon Druid as being "quintessential" and the Land druid as the "so you wanted to play a wizard shapeshifter" one, so I admit bias. I assume I am missing something.

The concept of a circle of stars is neat, but I don't...get...this subclass, and hope some of the crowdmind here can provide illumination as to how the Circle of Stars complementshe Druid chassis and what playing a coherent build of one looks like.

[Unoriginal]

Or how do you make it work with the rest of thejDruid class?

It feels disjointed, but I also see the Moon Druid as being "quintessential" and the Land druid as the "so you wanted to play a wizard shapeshifter" one, so I admit bias. I assume I am missing something.

The concept of a circle of stars is neat, but I don't...get...this subclass, and hope some of the crowdmind here can provide illumination as to how the Circle of Stars complementshe Druid chassis and what playing a coherent build of one looks like.

Basically its a spellcaster-focus druid but instead of getting bonus spells you get bonus powers for healing, damage, and reliable talent for INT and WIS checks as well as CON checks.

[follacchioso]

It seems a class you would choose if you like playing as a druid, and prefer to use spells instead of wild shape.

Let's say it clearly - Moon druids are all essentially the same. Wildshape into brown bear, maybe after casting some concentration spell, for most of your adventurer career. There is a point, however, where beast forms are not so strong, so you rely more on spells. And the druid spell list has some very cool items, if you play well.

So Circle of Stars druids get a BA wild shape that does not interfere with spell casting, and provides either a BA attack option, a bonus to healing, or freedom to maintain concentration spells. It's not game breaking but it could be fun.

[Willie the Duck]

hope some of the crowdmind here can provide illumination

clever.

It feels disjointed, but I also see the Moon Druid as being "quintessential" and the Land druid as the "so you wanted to play a wizard shapeshifter" one, so I admit bias. I assume I am missing something.

If Land druid is the wizard-alike, than stars is the cleric-alike. They can throw out Guiding Bolts when needed (some free, but also you have it prepared) to do some moderately decent damage and give an ally advantage on an attack, you can multiply the value of a healing spell you throw out (Chalice), keep your concentration spells up better (Dragon), or hit people with a Spiritual Weapon-like effect with your bonus action. It's disjointed in the same way that a cleric who decides not to do the Spirit Guardians dance every fight is vaguely disjointed -- you have to figure out which concentration spell makes it worth not using Spirit Guardians (in the Stars Druid's case because they can't), how close to get to the front, and what your round-to-round actions will be. Much like a lore bard or sorcerer, it seems like it makes a great fifth party member, but if you only have four I'd probably go for a moon druid (if you need more up-front support) or land druid/wizard.

[MrStabby]

I really like it, and despite the somewhat disperate parts it played like a coherent character for me. That said, I was using the UA one at the start.

It felt like a nature loving seer. The wise old hermit suffused with power. Guiding bolt was a bit offensive but augury (since removed) at such low opportunity cost really pushed a character doing a lot of divination. It had a really strong impact on the flavour of the class.

Starry form felt like it defaulted to being able to cast spiritual weapon, but that wasn't bad. It gave the class a magic feeling offensive boost sometimes and was well recieved. That said, the other forms were great and it felt like a really cool ability where you actually have to chose between which of three genuinely good options is right. Healing is great for when you misjudged a fight or reinforcements arrive and you need to blow some more resources. Dragon is great at higher levels where you have a) high level spells to concentrate on, b) dispell magic (or counterspell or telekinesis from another source), c) facing down a lot of illusions or hidden creatures.

All together they help build a bit of a unique character - I actually thought these bits were very well designed.


Cosmic omen just builds the divination druid theme. It isn't my favourite ability but it is broadly useful. 3+ times per day to give -d6 to a save is not bad. Nor is adding it to a save. Yes, you are doing it blind but... its OK.

Twinkling Constelations at level 10... is amazing. Sure it takes away the hard choice about what form to use at the start, but instead gives you a turn by turn choice. So flexible and so powerful. More healing, more domage, more mobility...

And then at 14, BPS resistance is neat. Overall it helps keep you alive and keep you concentrating.

[heavyfuel]

Star Druid is, IMO, the strongest druid overall. Moon is stronger in Tier 1 and level 20, Shepherd is stronger in in Tier 2. But star is consistently really strong.

The general playstyle you have is to be a BFCer. Most BFC spells requrie Concentration, and you're practically immune to Concentration saves as early as level 2. Getting Res (Con) at some point (level 1 with VHuman/CL or level 12 for others) means you're never having your Concentration broken ever.

Playstyle by level

1 - Regular druid

2~5 - Cast a BFC and ignore any attempts to break your concentration with Dragon. Twice per short rest means you can do this pretty much every combat. Plus, you can deal considerable damage with Archer and/or Guiding Bolt

5~9 - If you rolled Woe, you're now considerably more dangerous to enemies with your -d6 to saves. Save or Suck spells + Dragon means it's incredibly hard for enemies to break out of your BFC. Weal isn't as strong, but using it on your saves also makes it harder for enemies to break your Concentration.

10+ - Concentration-less flight means you get to stay away from the fight most of the time. You now have more slots than you know what to do with, so when an enemy escapes your BFC, just cast it again and watch the DM cry as their monsters cannot do anything.

[Hael]

I feel like this is a very generalist and multifaceted subclass that can do a bit of everything. It definitely plays more like a traditional land Druid than one of the other subclasses, but gives you nice bonus actions, flight and some strong debuffs.

IMo it’s a strict upgrade over land.

Anyway, we had one in one of our recent sessions and it felt like standard Druid fare with a little more single target blasting than usual. I would probably recommend this as the first Druid class to try for a new player.

[Pex]

It's the Blaster Druid with a helping of support. With free Guiding Bolts and Archer you're in the back firing away. Don't be surprised if you find a combat where you didn't even cast a spell. With Archer and Produce Flame you're good to go with two range attacks per turn. Archer also allows you to cast a level spell and have its attack. Use Dragon when it's Very Important you keep a buff or terrain spell going. Archer is your go to. You plan around Dragon. I advise use Chalice for after combat healing if its needed and you'll be short resting. It's ok to cast some healing spells, and Chalice means you won't need as much. If it was a tough battle and need more spell slots, with a short rest you'll still have Archer for later or Dragon if you needed to save an Important Spell Slot and don't want to lose it. If you really enjoy the healing role Chalice in combat is not terrible. In emergencies switching from Archer/Dragon to Chalice in combat to save party members is a good thing to do.

Cosmic Omen is simply fun while adding to your support role.

[Segev]

Hm. I can see how the BFC angle is helpful when you can all but guarantee the save will succeed to maintain concentration, good point. The archery being a bonus action was something I somehow missed.

A little bit of caster and blaster mixed together, then. I can see how this might work. Thanks, all. :)

[MrStabby]

Hm. I can see how the BFC angle is helpful when you can all but guarantee the save will succeed to maintain concentration, good point. The archery being a bonus action was something I somehow missed.

A little bit of caster and blaster mixed together, then. I can see how this might work. Thanks, all. :)

Yeah, its a bit of the base druid, just turned up to 11.

It does druid stuff and keeps doing it.

[Dork_Forge]

I'm DMing one at the moment, she started out as UA then moved over to the Tasha's version, curretnly level 7.

Stars has the potential to be a great supporting Druid with the different forms and Cosmic Omen, in practice she only uses the Archer form and typically just throws out the BA attack with Guiding Bolt and concentration spells like Call Lightning, Spike Growth etc. Cosmic Omen has helped out on occasion, she's only ever rolled evens on it so no testimony about Woe.

In practice, giving them Guiding Bolt for free and as a prepared spell was always going to make this more of a blaster Druid than anything else, it has potential to be a good healer etc. but when you have monsters that need killing and an ample supply of blasting on hand...

[whateew]

I agree with Hael, this druid is, to me, the "standard druid."

Land would have filled this previously, but is to my mind a wizard replacement, like was said.
Moon makes effective use out of wildshape
Shepherd is a fantastic buffer
Dreams is a reliable supporter
Spores is a bizarre melee fighter
Wildfire is a bit of a confusing skirmisher?

But stars has the immense flexibility to do everything each of these subclasses do, just less effectively.

Sure, I can't buff you as well as the shepherd, or heal you like the dream, but I can do either very easily, and reliably.

It really just seems like a "you want to play a druid just because you really like the core chassis, and you have a reliable amount of short rests? Ok, go ham.

[Yakmala]

When I first started playing a Stars Druid, I was excited about Archer. And make no mistake, it's a nice feature. But it's not going to turn your Druid into a damage monster.

Dragon, on the other hand, is spectacular. Combined with Resilient Con, you are never losing concentration. And at level 10, you have concentration-less flight. Look at how many concentration based spells a Druid has (around 75) Now imagine never having to worry about losing concentration. It's just so good!

[whateew]

When I first started playing a Stars Druid, I was excited about Archer. And make no mistake, it's a nice feature. But it's not going to turn your Druid into a damage monster.

Dragon, on the other hand, is spectacular. Combined with Resilient Con, you are never losing concentration. And at level 10, you have concentration-less flight. Look at how many concentration based spells a Druid has (around 75) Now imagine never having to worry about losing concentration. It's just so good!

If you aren't up against something with non magical resistance, I'd say that alone would make this druid the best summoner class.

They'd make very good use out of a high level casting of call lightning, which I feel is quite thematic. Flavour it as an elemental dragon attack, and it feels like this would also be quite fun. You could even fly up and, with the new druid cloak, try and hide in the storm cloud!

What other concentration spells stand out as useful here?

[Amdy_vill]

so stars forces on big D Divination(dice). witch is a concept not really done well in 5e and stars suffers from that same problems. to be honest, if i was playing a stars druid I would play it like a land druid, a focus on battle field manipulation and basic summoning then just use the stars powers as my go-to bonus action unless i have a better option. its an odd style of subclass we have seen a few times where instead of a whole main gimmick, it focuses on taking your bonus action and then just telling you to play the base class. i think i could be done better but its ok.

[whateew]

It occurs to me that a mark of the sentinel stars druid might be powerful.

With a +4 to wisdom by the time you are level 5, the dragon form guarantees that you cannot roll lower than a 14, and soon 15, on any counter spell (through your mark) or dispel magic roll, which will often be enough. However, for 6th level and higher spells, that risk is still there, unless you can somehow gain a bonus through other means... druid 5 + jack of all trades however sounds like a fantastic utility caster

Alternatively, just one level dip in peace cleric gives you bless (which is worth having anyway), and at the cost of slightly slower level progression, you get emboldening bond, fantastic by itself but amazing for adding to skill checks - such as counterspell - since casting guidance for that seems a bit of a waste. Two levels gives you another useful resource that you regain on your short rests, and a warlocks talisman pact can also make you an excellent counterspeller

[MrStabby]

I'm DMing one at the moment, she started out as UA then moved over to the Tasha's version, curretnly level 7.

Stars has the potential to be a great supporting Druid with the different forms and Cosmic Omen, in practice she only uses the Archer form and typically just throws out the BA attack with Guiding Bolt and concentration spells like Call Lightning, Spike Growth etc. Cosmic Omen has helped out on occasion, she's only ever rolled evens on it so no testimony about Woe.

In practice, giving them Guiding Bolt for free and as a prepared spell was always going to make this more of a blaster Druid than anything else, it has potential to be a good healer etc. but when you have monsters that need killing and an ample supply of blasting on hand...

Have you hit level 10 yet? I found that this was a massive change. Challace is useless unless you are casting a healing spell - but a healing word for d4+2d8 is no joke as a bonus action. Dragon for when you need to be somewhere else or are risking some big hits. Then you don't need to commit to one thing and the others are attractive enough to be used on some turns.

[Rashagar]

To be honest this is my favourite druid subclass. 5e's wildshape has never sat well with me for some reason, and this feels a lot closer to my idea of druid as a concept.

I don't know exactly what I'll be doing with it yet as far as character or build goes, but it's the most interested I've ever been in playing a 5e druid.

[Dork_Forge]

Have you hit level 10 yet? I found that this was a massive change. Challace is useless unless you are casting a healing spell - but a healing word for d4+2d8 is no joke as a bonus action. Dragon for when you need to be somewhere else or are risking some big hits. Then you don't need to commit to one thing and the others are attractive enough to be used on some turns.

They got to 7 a little while ago, but haven't achieved anywhere near enough for 8 yet, 10th is probably a few months away (weekly game).

I can see not having to commit being attractive, but I'm not sure that she'd change her style much except making use of the flight sometimes (maybe). As much as 2d8 on Healing Word is nice, I already gave the party unique boons, hers increasing the d8s to d10s, and healing two creatures for 1d4+Wis mod and 1d10+Wis mod is no joke now (and hasn't been since she got the boon around 4th level.

When it comes to healing she'll throw out a healing word here and there, but the Sorlock does a lot of healing (Lay on Hands primarily), the Ranger heals at crunch times (Aasimar Healing Hands) and the Druid makes as many healing potions as she can during down time so potions are usually available.


We'll see how things go as the difficulty continues to ratchet up, but given the strength of radiant damage (the current arc BBEG is a Vampire with his spawn) I don't see Archer getting changed out any time soon unless combat starts with multiple people hurt... maybe.

[ATHATH]

Ask your DM if the effects of your Starry Form carry over into a form you take with Polymorph. While Polymorph does strip you of your class features, Starry Form is worded like a buff, so there's an argument to be made that while you lose the ability to enter Starry Form when you get Polymorphed, being Polymorphed wouldn't be kick you out of/suppress the effects of a Starry Form that you were already in. If they say yes, turn yourself into a giant ape and rip through your enemies without worrying about losing your form to rolling a 1 on a concentration check.

[whateew]

Ask your DM if the effects of your Starry Form carry over into a form you take with Polymorph. While Polymorph does strip you of your class features, Starry Form is worded like a buff, so there's an argument to be made that while you lose the ability to enter Starry Form when you get Polymorphed, being Polymorphed wouldn't be kick you out of/suppress the effects of a Starry Form that you were already in. If they say yes, turn yourself into a giant ape and rip through your enemies without worrying about losing your form to rolling a 1 on a concentration check.

I think they would definitely apply during a wild shape - you could use two of your wildshapes to become a flying giant octopus. You grapple creatures at range, and then just fly upwards, forcing them to fall down

[sambojin]

Since it came out around the power armour/ iron man UAs, I've always thought of it as the druid+wildshape custom mech class.

You can always do a bit of blasting in caster form, but there's no wildshape that doesn't want a bonus action Archer attack or auto-10s for concentration saves with a decent spell up. Yeah, it blows both your wildshape charges to do it, but you also get free guiding bolts every so often for blasting too.

Geez, as a Frilled Deathspitter with Summon Bird up, and the Archer constellation going, you've got like 5 attacks. 5 at level 4! Or you can be a Giant eagle battle-carrier (with Dex fighter Archer aboard).

The possibilities are endless!

(Yeah, it could be other sorts of stuff. But custom mecha works too)

[Segev]

Since it came out around the power armour/ iron man UAs, I've always thought of it as the druid+custom mech class.

You can always do a bit of blasting in caster form, but there's no wildshape that doesn't want a bonus action Archer attack or auto-10s for concentration saves with a decent spell up.

Geez, as a Frilled Deathspitter with Summon Bird up, and the Archer constellation going, you've got like 5 attacks. 5 at level 4! Or you can be a Giant eagle battle-carrier (with Dex fighter Archer aboard).

The possibilities are endless!

(Yeah, it could be other sorts of stuff. But custom mecha works too)

Can't have flying forms until level 8, but still an interesting thought.

Are we sure we can combine Wild Shape and the Star Form?

[sambojin]

There is absolutely nothing that would stop that happening RAW, so why not?

Cosmic Omen/ Weal & Woe also stack pretty well with the rather poor to-hit of wildshape forms, or the DCs to escape the conditions induced by them (which are mostly ability checks).

It also works great with concentration BFC/CC spells. Woe is pretty terrifying on a full caster (that also has little wildshape and mecha forms of it on short rest back-up). -d6 on either a save or an ability check off a reaction is mighty fine for any full caster or condition inducer. And you're both.

So yeah, little *super wildshape mecha* form on Weal or Woe days + super caster form on Woe days, your option on when and what and how much by lvl6. Make *anything* stick, and either shoot them apart or don't lose concentration. You can super-heal-bot too, but you could already do that anyway. You're a druid.

Kind of "almost Moon Druid powerful" at levels 2-4, and kind of "Land Druid powerful" at 5-20 with weal&woe +free guiding bolts +constellations (and situational changes of them at lvl10).

It's a nice mix. Maybe not Shepherd powerful, but also nowhere near as "I just do a thing super-well" either. There's a lot of depth to a Stars Druid. You can do a LOT if you know how to druid a bit already.


((Yes, I know Bards can do a lot of this too. But they're usually not as wise as druids, and can't stick restrain-on-hit/ wildshape riders on someone, or know just how valuable -d6 to *any* save/ability check can be, especially off a reaction. You do. It's amazing. I've seen some people think Weal&Woe is almost a ribbon. No, no it isn't. Not in any party, and not for a druid, that can make it work for themselves. See if, RAW, you could roll an odd-sided die. I think you might be able to buy a 5-sided die for +10% odds of Woe. Off the internet! Woe is super-amazing++ 😎

Still super-big respect to the average Land Druid though. They're still the third most powerful druids. It's not Wizard powerful, but it still ranks up there, just slightly behind Shepherds at first (annoyingly good DM-destroyable summoning), or Stars at second due to their party applicability (definitely first if summons are frowned upon). Land is third, but pretty amazing, due to druid+free prep lists, duration of spells, free slots, and slot versatility. Land Druids are amazeballs good, and people don't realise it. Moon actually comes in at 4th on actual power in my rankings of druids, it's just very-very reliable in getting to level 5-6, and is amazing on short and low-level campaigns (still my favourite class though). Wildfire is about the same at 4th ranking, but a bit lower (need to explore it more. There's a lot there, but it's "just" a ranged fire damage summon stackable with wildshape and other summons with movement/ teleport, but it does eat a wildshape charge without it also being able to help casting), Spore is at 5th (and still would be even with the UA version. It's hard to make a "good" spore druid, it's incredibly easy to make a good druid of any other subclass that is incredibly playable). So, yeah. ))
-------

RP+wise, the world is the mollusc of your choice. There's no world that a Stars Druid can't fit into, but even you existing shows there's a circle of them in some way, shape or form (that's one of the often neglected parts of people playing as druids. It's kinda like the non-custom background buffs, but class-driven. Folk heroes get free shelter, nobles get snob contacts and butt-lickers, etc. But proper class+driven. Like how rogues have a thieves guild(?), clerics have a god/temple (probably) and warlocks have a patron (almost definitely), you have a circle you're in. Or a druidy thing, even if circles overlap or blur, and there's "just druids", just lots of types with class-skills doing their stuff.

There is, in theory, other Druids that like the stuff you do. Even if you've never met them. Or there's at least people that realise there's a natural world, and would like to do cool stuff. Preferably with, for, alongside, or just assisting a force of nature, or one connected to such, as yourself. Remember to ask them to make you non-metal half-plate armour at the appropriate time. Lol

((You are also the character that with even a day or two of downtime, can cross tens/hundreds of miles, to contact your circle, even at low levels. Remind your DM of your secret language, signs, amazing ability of navigation by the stars, extremely high movement in wildshape form, and all that, if there's "no druids/ rangers/ nature clerics/ etc" about.
And, there's circles within circles, both within yours, and without. Even with different classes, cliques, worldviews, or "stuff people want done/ undone/ murderized by adventure-hobos". It's just humanoid nature really 😋))

[sambojin]

But yeah, where do Stars Druids fit into an average D&D world, RP-wise?

You do omens and portents, nature style, rather than arcana style. You can sorta fit that into talky encounters by blowing a wildshape charge to consult the stars. You also have a Thaumaturgy+ cantrip of *10' proper light glowing eyes + can-actually-fire-bolts-of-starfire-from-your-eyes* for the "need to impress the local peasants" stuff through the Archer constellation (+guiding bolt if you need to actually damage anything), as well with your other constellations for helpy/me-tough stuff...

And you do basic Guidance in caster form, for general advice on not being crap at doing stuff, because omens and portents and worldly advice.

Or you can go super-evolution/ mecha+wildshape stuff if you want.
You can thereotically appear to be a shining Velociraptor with a starcannon attached to its shoulder, riding a summoned air spirit, by level 3. You could probably even wield darts/ daggers or just a tiny shield. How is this not a roleplaying opportunity?

Or you can be a primal caster, harnessing all known before on the cycles, to take form and poise most advantageous on this day or night.


There's heaps of whatever on stars druids.

They're pretty easy to roleplay

[rlc]

Blasty boy

[Mercurias]

It’s a straight-up pure-caster Druid that trades in the additional HP and combat ability from Wild Shape for general spell casting buffs.

I wouldn’t really say it’s strictly set up for blasting/healing, since that seems to be more the realm of a Flame Druid, but it’s got good bonus action options for free heals or damage. Unbreakable concentration is also very nice.

Weal/Woe is flavorful and useful for casting also.

I’d say that Land Druids still get an edge over Stars Druids for acting like a substitute Wizard due to their extra spells and spell recovery, but Stars Druids have a lot of useful back line support options and ways of keeping themselves able to maintain their spells while avoiding damage. It’s nice.

[MrStabby]

It’s a straight-up pure-caster Druid that trades in the additional HP and combat ability from Wild Shape for general spell casting buffs.

I wouldn’t really say it’s strictly set up for blasting/healing, since that seems to be more the realm of a Flame Druid, but it’s got good bonus action options for free heals or damage. Unbreakable concentration is also very nice.

Weal/Woe is flavorful and useful for casting also.

I’d say that Land Druids still get an edge over Stars Druids for acting like a substitute Wizard due to their extra spells and spell recovery, but Stars Druids have a lot of useful back line support options and ways of keeping themselves able to maintain their spells while avoiding damage. It’s nice.

I would say land druids are a bit more generalist - broader spell selection will do that. Stars is a bit more specialist - boosts to specific roles/spells like healing buffs.

[Intregus182]

SO I will be playing through Curse of Strahd here soon ( starting level 1) and my idea was to play a tortle Circle of Stars druid.

I'm having trouble coming up with a good thematic cantrip to use as my Action once I hit level 2 and get the archer form. Or should I be doing something else like dodge with my action instead of a cantrip? My thought was since archer form gives me a spell attack of taking a cantrip that targets a save.

I don't really want to multiclass since I want to get to level 10 ASAP.

There will be 2 other people in the party but I don't know what they will be playing. one person has said they might play a paladin, hexblade or some combination of that.

also any other ideas for a tortle stars druid?

[Segev]

SO I will be playing through Curse of Strahd here soon ( starting level 1) and my idea was to play a tortle Circle of Stars druid.

I'm having trouble coming up with a good thematic cantrip to use as my Action once I hit level 2 and get the archer form. Or should I be doing something else like dodge with my action instead of a cantrip? My thought was since archer form gives me a spell attack of taking a cantrip that targets a save.

I don't really want to multiclass since I want to get to level 10 ASAP.

There will be 2 other people in the party but I don't know what they will be playing. one person has said they might play a paladin, hexblade or some combination of that.

also any other ideas for a tortle stars druid?

If you want a damage cantrip, perhaps create bonfire? You could have it be ignited by falling stars, and you could try to talk your DM into having it shed an eerie white-blue light if you want a starry look to it.