Urban Druid?

[The Glyphstone]

I'll be joining an ongoing 5E campaign soon, and the GM mentioned they don't have a druid - party makeup is a barbarian, paladin, rogue, wizard, and artificer (subclasses unknown). 6th level, about to hit 7. Since I've always found the 'urban druid' archetype interesting and the setting is somewhat magitek-industrialized, I'm wondering what the best way to go about making that would be. I've seen Spores banded about a lot, the GM even suggested it. Allowed core plus 2 books of my choice.

[KorvinStarmast]

stars will probably work better.

[Dalinar]

I'll be joining an ongoing 5E campaign soon, and the GM mentioned they don't have a druid - party makeup is a barbarian, paladin, rogue, wizard, and artificer (subclasses unknown). 6th level, about to hit 7. Since I've always found the 'urban druid' archetype interesting and the setting is somewhat magitek-industrialized, I'm wondering what the best way to go about making that would be. I've seen Spores banded about a lot, the GM even suggested it. Allowed core plus 2 books of my choice.

It's actually been a longstanding to-do of mine to homebrew something urban-themed for ranger. But that doesn't really answer your question--I'm just glad I'm not the only one to whom "nature magic wielder in an urban setting" holds appeal.

There is some extent to which this can be solved by just flavor and storytelling, IMO. Imagine, say, a Warforged who maintains a small hydroponic garden inside their body, or an elf flower merchant just trying to save their goods from increasing pollution, or a dwarf who carved out a hidden nature preserve in the sewers. The Warforged might be a Moon Druid who--rather than the stereotypical Transformers-inspired Warforged Druid--uses that internal garden to cover themselves in plant life in the shape of a bear. The elf might be an Eladrin who has enlisted a fey ally for help, lending themselves to the Circle of Dreams. And the dwarf's secret underground preserve screams Underdark Land Druid to me, though it'd work great for Spores too.

Maybe your character had an incident at an astronomy lab that inspired them to become a Stars Druid, or they might be a pirate and/or shipwright and have ties to the sea (Coast Land Druid, or the new Circle of the Sea from UA, though I'm guessing that's off-limits to you), or they might be an ecological extremist from the Circle of Wildfire.

I'm pretty sure that covers everything from PHB+XGTE+TCOE, bar Shepherd. (Maybe that one just really likes feeding the pigeons?)

Really, the point I'm trying to get across is that you'd be surprised what you can make work.

[PrinceOfMadness]

As noted by Dalinar, flavor is probably the most important thing here, but I'm going to make a case for a subclass that I don't often see played: Circle of Dreams.

As written the subclass flavor is primarily Feywild, but all of these features lend themselves well thematically to an Urban Druid. At 2nd level you get some added healing ability, great for patching up after those barroom brawls and underworld scuffles. At 6th, you get the ability to better safeguard your hidey-hole, and at 10th, you gain some options to navigate through tricky tight alleys. Finally, at 14th you even get the option to teleport back home after you make the mistake of listening to some party members convince you of the 'joys of nature' outside the city

Since you mentioned the setting has 'magiteck' vibes, you may also want to check with your GM if the UA 'Modern Magic' is being utilized in any way; there are a number of spells printed in that article that specifically interact with technology that are class agnostic (or, at least, they're not defined to exist on any given class' spell list beyond a reference that they are 'suitable' for sorc, wiz, and warlock).

[Psyren]

I'll be joining an ongoing 5E campaign soon, and the GM mentioned they don't have a druid - party makeup is a barbarian, paladin, rogue, wizard, and artificer (subclasses unknown). 6th level, about to hit 7. Since I've always found the 'urban druid' archetype interesting and the setting is somewhat magitek-industrialized, I'm wondering what the best way to go about making that would be. I've seen Spores banded about a lot, the GM even suggested it. Allowed core plus 2 books of my choice.

Could you elaborate a bit on what you expect an Urban Druid to be able to do, and what you see as making them different to a standard Druid? That will help us help you to build one, whether by choosing the right subclass, multiclass, druid-themed yet different classes/subclasses entirely like Nature Cleric, or all three.

In addition, I'm guessing the core + 2 books provision means 1st-party WotC only, but can you confirm?

[The Glyphstone]

1st party only, correct. I haven't asked specifically about UA but assume no.

As far as what an Urban Druid is/does, it's more of a conceptual theme to me than any specific ability package - still very much a druid but instead of seeing the world as a dichotomy of nature vs. civilization, seeing the urban environment with its own flora and fauna as no different than a forest/grasslands/desert/tundra wild environment. Maybe a stronger affinity for vermin and small creatures than the usual large animals?

[Unoriginal]

1st party only, correct. I haven't asked specifically about UA but assume no.

As far as what an Urban Druid is/does, it's more of a conceptual theme to me than any specific ability package - still very much a druid but instead of seeing the world as a dichotomy of nature vs. civilization, seeing the urban environment with its own flora and fauna as no different than a forest/grasslands/desert/tundra wild environment. Maybe a stronger affinity for vermin and small creatures than the usual large animals?

Dream, Star and Shepherd Druids all can easily work for that.

I imagine Wildfire could also work, by playing the "fire of urbanism/industry" angle. Like a lamplighter, fire fighter or factory worker kind of deal.

[The Glyphstone]

Dream, Star and Shepherd Druids all can easily work for that.

I imagine Wildfire could also work, by playing the "fire of urbanism/industry" angle. Like a lamplighter, fire fighter or factory worker kind of deal.

That's an interesting idea, actually. If I remember the current lineup right, they're pretty light on healing and only the wizard really has solid ranged/AoE damage output. Wildfire covers both in most cases.

[Crusher]

I'll be joining an ongoing 5E campaign soon, and the GM mentioned they don't have a druid - party makeup is a barbarian, paladin, rogue, wizard, and artificer (subclasses unknown). 6th level, about to hit 7. Since I've always found the 'urban druid' archetype interesting and the setting is somewhat magitek-industrialized, I'm wondering what the best way to go about making that would be. I've seen Spores banded about a lot, the GM even suggested it. Allowed core plus 2 books of my choice.

A Spore Druid, especially vHuman with Polearm Mastery (assuming the DM lets you wield a quarterstaff+shield) is surprisingly tanky and viable in melee while still being a full caster. But, especially if the rogue isn't an archer, that party already has melee plenty covered.

I'd second the Stars Druid as being a solid choice, especially in a magitek world. Its a fun, caster-y druid option and maybe fluff it as communing with magitek stuff and you're the "nature" counterpart to the Artificer, perhaps.

[GooeyChewie]

I would be tempted to go Circle of the Land and have it in the backstory that they work for the Parks and Rec department.

[Psyren]

Spore is definitely a good choice as it is quite literally from an urban environment (you'll be hard pressed to find a more urban setting than Ravnica) and fungi/corpses are easy raw materials to find in a city.

I also agree with the Wildfire and Stars suggestions, though those will need a bit of refluffing while Spores largely works out of the box.

[Unoriginal]

That's an interesting idea, actually. If I remember the current lineup right, they're pretty light on healing and only the wizard really has solid ranged/AoE damage output. Wildfire covers both in most cases.

If I was ever to play a Wildfire Druid in a campaign like the one you described, I would make the most Studio Ghibli character I can.

[The Glyphstone]

My knowledge of Studio Ghibli extends to walking houses and goldfish. Both are interesting but I lack the more in-depth experience to know what you mean.

[Psyren]

My knowledge of Studio Ghibli extends to walking houses and goldfish. Both are interesting but I lack the more in-depth experience to know what you mean.

The only character I can think of is Howl, who has something akin to a wildfire spirit in his titular Moving Castle.

[No brains]

A druid circle with good synergy for an urban environment could be Circle of the Land (Mountain).

Spider climb helps get around buildings and Spike Growth is great for narrow alleys/ hallways, just like next level's Lightning Bolt- with Meld into Stone giving you a way to vanish into the surroundings. 7th level gives Stone Shape, which is great for creative shenanigans, but Stoneskin isn't the best. If you can get to 9th, Wall of Stone and Passwall will make the city yours to shape.

Land's Stride could even be parlayed into being useful in a city- with minor refluffing, it can help you navigate crowded streets, ascend stairs faster, and go parkour on any greenspace or potted plants the city has to offer.

You can play this as something of a 'necromancer' druid: The city is still part of 'the mountain', even if the stones are dead. Death has always given rise to new life even if it is uncomfortable to think about. It's a new phase in geology that needs guidance, just like every landform that has come before it.

[sambojin]

Stars works well. You carry a magitech gun that's bonded to you (Archer). That sometimes shoots hard (Guiding Bolt + Archer, or Ice Knife, or Tidal Wave).

And you can theme your wildshapes to be a little bit magitech'y, possibly with guns attached, if you don't mind blowing two WS charges in an encounter.

Would make for a pretty cool detective/ Clint Eastwood style character, or stealthy enforcer style character. Bonus points for going as a Firbolg, or something with Misty Step, for more urban shenanigans.

[Psyren]

A druid circle with good synergy for an urban environment could be Circle of the Land (Mountain).

Spider climb helps get around buildings and Spike Growth is great for narrow alleys/ hallways, just like next level's Lightning Bolt- with Meld into Stone giving you a way to vanish into the surroundings. 7th level gives Stone Shape, which is great for creative shenanigans, but Stoneskin isn't the best. If you can get to 9th, Wall of Stone and Passwall will make the city yours to shape.

Land's Stride could even be parlayed into being useful in a city- with minor refluffing, it can help you navigate crowded streets, ascend stairs faster, and go parkour on any greenspace or potted plants the city has to offer.

You can play this as something of a 'necromancer' druid: The city is still part of 'the mountain', even if the stones are dead. Death has always given rise to new life even if it is uncomfortable to think about. It's a new phase in geology that needs guidance, just like every landform that has come before it.

This is actually a good point - and I think it applies even more to Underdark (which has a number of cities.) Every spell on that list would fit well with an urban environment.

[Segev]

If you have access to the third party (Mage Hand Press) book Valda's Spire of Secrets, it has a Circle of the City subclass for Druids. It looks pretty good for any tech level as long as the cities are recognizable.

[eversilentone]

I'm playing an "urban druid" in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but I took a different route and went for... Bard. I went for something of an urban shaman, an animist who could speak to the spirits of the city - the murmer of the cobbles, the whispers of embers - as well as loving all its residents, humanoid and the panoply of animalkind (rats, pigeons, cockroaches, sea gulls). When he hit level 3 I went with College of Creation and that was where he started to get "gifts from the city" in the Mote of Potential and Performance of Creation.

The Bard spell list has (largely for historical reasons) a lot of overlap with the Druid spell list. He is Variant Human and I took Magic Initiate (Druid) for Guidance, Druidcraft and Goodberry (if I was less RP-heavy I would have subbed Druidcraft for Shillelagh). I also took the Urchin background as that gave him access to the different secrets of the city. He's happy to live as a vagabond ("the city provides"), largely homeless and living off of his Goodberries.

I'm not saying this is in any way optimal but I thought I'd share. I really wanted to play an Urban Druid as was presented in 3.5, but none of the Druid subclasses spoke to me. I did toy with the idea of an Artificer and leaning more into the tinker/tending to "nature" vibe, but ultimately loved the idea of my character rousing the city to defend itself and literally animate (Animating Performance) in response to his call. It's also a ton of fun as the other PCs think he's crazy as he happily has conversations with tables and moss and rats (only the latter two of whom meaninfully reply...).

Just wanted to share as a different possibility that in some ways is closer to the 3.5 Urban Druid (having an animated object as a companion rather than an animal companion, and having access to a lot of the Bard's charms).

ESO

[Myth27]

You can look at the UA called "modern magic" that has city domain for the cleric. It's written for a xxi century technology in mind but a lot of stuff can probably work for an industrial revolution with magic or Ravnica type of setting