Breaking Down the Priest Group Part 2

Returning after last week’s review, I am breaking down the changes to the Druid class, Circle of the Moon Subclass, and the new way Wild Shapes works. I think there is a lot of promising changes here, and the intent of these changes is clear. Come along with me as I Break Down the Priest Group!

Part 2

Like Paladin, the Druid class has had a very defined place in Dungeons and Dragons 5E. This class pulls on their power from nature. They can cast primal magic and change their shape into the beasts they live around. This Ua is attempting to make some big changes to the Druid class, and they have a specific mindset behind what they are doing.

Core Class

We see some large changes in this class, and there has been a lot of discourse on the internet regarding them. I am going to go through the class as it is presented in the playtest packet, and give my thoughts.

Level 1: Channel Nature and Spellcasting

The first big change we see in the class is the Channel Nature ability, which is given at 1st level. This ability is like the Channel Divinity feature that both the Paladin and Cleric get access to, encompassing their ability to harness the primal powers. You start off with the Wild Shape ability, and have two charges per day, one of which you can gain back on a Short Rest. 

I think making all the Priest classes have a Channel feature makes sense mechanically. It makes the classes a bit more uniform and easier to understand, so newer players will find learning new classes much more accessible. I do not know if I like the idea of giving Wild Shape as the first use of the ability. The goal of this rework of the Druid was to make it so they had more abilities to use than turning into a beast, but this seems to go against it entirely by making this the only ability they have for the first three levels.

Wildshape

The Wild Shape feature, which is very core to the current class, has a lot of reworks in this play-test material. This new version relies on a stat block similar to what the summon spells from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything used instead of pulling a monster from the list of monster stat blocks.

Looking just at this section of the play test alone, there are not a lot of changes with the Wild Shape besides the change to a set of stat blocks. Most of the changes, however, can be seen in the “Wild Shapes” section of the document. At a glance I like the idea of shifting to a specific stat block. It cleans up a lot of the work Druid players (and the GMs of Druid players) would have to do in order to run their character successfully. I think the concept of going this way makes sense and aligns with the intent of the rework on this class. I will inspect later, in the “Wild Shapes” section.

Spellcasting

We see a fairly similar spellcasting setup here to the other caster classes in the play-test. WoTC is experimenting with an alternate style of preparing spells. If you are not familiar, this puts some tighter restrictions on what spells you can prepare. For each spell slot you have available, you can prepare a certain number of spells equal to the number of spell slots you have. If you have a 5th level Druid, you can prepare three cantrips, four 1st level spells, three 2nd level spells, and two 3rd level spells, nine spells (twelve if you count the cantrips). This replaces the original version, which gave you a number based on your Wisdom modifier and druid level. For a point of comparison, a 5th level Druid using the old system and having a +4 Wisdom modifier could also prepare nine spells, twelve if you count the cantrips.

I think this is an attempt to simplify up the casting math, and I do not know if I entirely agree with the choices here. First off, forcing spell levels feels restrictive at a glance. Some of the spell levels might not have what a particular character is looking for, but these new rules will force them to pick something. The only positive I see is that it may encourage players to take spells they normally do not just to fill a slot. They do not have to cast every spell, but will have them at their disposal.

I also think I like the new way to calculate spells known, but I am not entirely certain. On one hand, this takes away from the benefits of making a character dependent on a single stat score, in this case Wisdom. On the other hand it feels like you lose a minor distinction characters would have based on their spell score. However, I do not know if that is something that ever really comes up, so it may be all for the better.

We are seeing a lot of abilities given right at the start. The new Channel Nature ability, with Wild Shape, now gives Druids a lot more to work with early on. This might make the class a lot less fragile early on, which would help prevent accidental TPKs. I do not agree to give Wild Shape at first level. This ties Druids to beast forms early on, and might make the class feel like their iconic feature is their only feature.

Level 2: Nature’s Aid

At level 2 we get a pair of additional uses for the Channel Nature ability: Healing Blossoms and Wild Companion. 

Healing Blossom

Healing Blossom is an area of effect ability that gives healing points that can be distributed up to creatures in a 10 foot radius sphere centered on the ability, which manifests as a blossoming flower. The healing is a number of d4s equal to your Wisdom modifier.

This ability falls in line with the themes we have seen before of making sure that every class gets some form of healing tied into a resource besides spell casting. This will make for a much more durable party. Using d4s gives an average of 2 points of healing per Druid level. While not a large bit of healing, it is a good way to help your party as an action.

Wild Companion

This ability came up first as an optional feature in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. This gives the ability of casting Find Familiar. The Familiar has to be Fey type and lasts until you complete your next long rest. The Find Familiar stat block has also had a bit of a change like Find Steed, which I will talk about later.

I like that this ability is becoming a core part of the Druid class. When this first came out, it felt like a great alternate use for Wild Shape charges, helping a Druid diversify their options. Now we see that the ability has a flat duration instead of using the same formula for Wild Shape itself. This should make the math easier and buff the ability early on. Keeping the typing to Fey only ties the druid a lot closer to the Feywild, and feels appropriately thematic.

Overall, I like these two abilities, but think that at least one of these should be given at level 1 instead of Wild Shape. Either option would help players start out without a reliance on their beast form, and help give the class an identity that is not completely tied to it. My suggestion would be for having Healing Blossom moved to level 1, with level 2 giving Wild Shape and Wild Companion. We would have a healing option earlier on, further bulking up the party. It also feels in line to give a druid two animal options at the same time.

Level 5, 7, 9, 11: Wild Shape Augments

I am going to deviate from my formula a little here to look at how Wild Shape increases in power as it goes up in level. The first option gives the “Animal of the Land” form access to a Climb Speed and the Multi-attack ability. The level 7 feature unlocks the “Animal of the Sea” form, which effectively gives the animal form a swimming form. Level 9, Aerial Form, gives access to the “Animal of the Sky”, the class’s flying form. Finally, at level 11 we see access to Tiny Creature sizes. Changing into a tiny creature can only last for 10 minutes, and they halve all damage done.

Comparing this to the original Wild Shape improvements, we see that the progression has been slowed down significantly. Druids have access to creatures with swimming speed at level 4 currently, and flying speeds at level 8. The biggest slow down here is the swimming speed option, and I think it is the wrong choice to do so. While this reduces the power of the Wild Shape feature, it feels like it also makes it a bit too boring. As I will talk about later on, the changes to the feature do a good job at balancing the power, but also make for a less interesting feature overall. Having one form for the first 7 levels of a Druid’s progression would only allow them to use one stat block, which slightly changes at level 5. 

The level 11 Tiny Critter feature also feels out of place and a bit unbalanced. Again this looks like an attempt to balance out the Wild Shape ability. Being able to be a spider or rat for hours usually meant that the party had the perfect stealth scout. While useful, this might remove any use that a Rogue character would have, especially at that low level. Limiting the form to 10 minutes and reducing damage by half makes sense, but I feel like there needs to be some benefits to the form as well. Perhaps either advantage or proficiency in Stealth to account for the small size would make sense in this case. Additionally, I think that if we are going this route, hit points should be adjusted as well. But that is an entirely different conversation.

Stretching these options out creates the illusion of the druid getting a lot of features, when instead they have just gotten their Wild Shape abilities spread out. While the new proposed class gets a feature at every level, having many of those features pertain to Wild Shape only means that if you are not using the shape, you are losing a large amount of your class ability.  One option would be to give a more generic buff to the Channel Nature features, allowing them to all slowly improve as you level up instead of just Wild Shape. The Druid could get a special version of Find Familiar that has additional options as they level up, if they want to lean into that. Healing Blossom could also have some minor boons as well.

Level 13: Alternating Forms

At level 13, Druids can use another ability with their Wild Shape. This one allows for a Druid, as a Bonus Action, switch out of their Wild Shape form. They may then go back to that form within the next minute as an additional Bonus Action, not spending a use of Channel Nature to do so.

This form gives incentive for a Druid to not always be in their animal form. This might give them a reason to cast spells while exploring, or in combat. Since they are not losing the Wild Shape charge, they can better adapt to what they need to do. The wording also prevents this from being used to cycle through forms quickly, since you have to go back to the initial animal form the Druid had chosen.

Level 15: Wild Resurgence

At level 15, Druids can combine two of their Channel Nature options together at once. When a Druid uses Wild Shape, they can also use Healing Blossom as part of that action. For one use of Channel Nature, they get an animal shape and the ability to put out healing for themselves and any close allies.

This feels like it provides some inter-party utility for a Druid that has focused on Wild Shapes over being a magic user. That initial healing option stays viable here. I will say, however, that Healing Blossom will only be slightly useful at this point due to it being linked to the Wisdom modifier alone.

Level 17: Beast Spells

Level 17 gives the ability Beast Spells, which originally was a level 18 ability. Druids can cast spells while in Wild Shape, as long as they do not require material components that have a gold cost associated with them. This is a change from the current wording, which does not allow any spell with a material cost.

At this point in the game, any Druid should be a master at their abilities if not a legend. The ability to cast spells while an animal feels decidedly powerful. The change which allows material components does not feel overpowered at all since it specifies materials that cost something need to be cast in their normal form.

Level 18: Archdruid

This level gets a mixture of two of the features from the current 5E class. First you get the level 20 feature, which gives a use of Channel Nature when you roll initiative if you do not have one. Your character will age at a tenth of the speed it normally did, rolling in the features from Timeless Body.

These abilities get condensed into the pre-Epic Boon level, and that feels fine to me. At this point a character is in the final few levels, and should feel appropriately powerful. Once again, however, I do not know if I like the Epic Boons offered.

Overall Thoughts 

While the Paladin changes felt great, I am less solid on the options given for the Druid. The developers wanted to give Druids a Channel feature like Paladin and Cleric have, but it feels less like a power source and more like Wild Shape with more steps. We have the option of Healing Blossom and Wild Companion, but neither feel like they get any sort of buff as the class grows. Most of the level up features directly reference the Wild Shape feature and augment it. While I agree this feature is iconic, I feel that by putting everything into Wild Shape makes it feel like if you play Druid you have to Wild Shape or you lose out.

I think we could also do to rebalancing out the new Wild Shape progression as well. I see the intent here, and I agree with it. Wild Shape currently is powerful, and can let the Druid do just about anything without having to specify too much. I think some of these choices went a bit too far, and lead to too little of choices and utility. Tiny Critters, for example, has some great limitations on it that prevent a small shape from becoming too powerful, but it does not come with enough benefits to balance it out. 

If I were to change the core class, I would start by trying to balance all three Channel Nature abilities a bit more. Wild Companion and Healing Blossom should be able to get some sort of improvement as the level increases, even if it is small. These buffs could come online at the same time that players get Wild Shape additions to make non-Wild Shape builds seem a bit more palatable. I think with some of these reductions in power to the Wild Shape feature; we need to give a bit more diversity in feature. Tiny Critter, for example, could reduce damage dealt and total hit points as well as have a time limit, but also provide minor bonuses to exploration focused skills like Stealth.

Interlude: Wild Shapes

Before I jump into the Subclass in this document, I wanted to look at the Wild Shape section that is presented right after the core class features. As I had said earlier, the play-test takes a Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything style approach. We have seen this in other areas of the Unearthed Arcana as well, where customizable stat blocks are presented instead of requiring a player or GM to look through official material. I like the concept of these ideas.

The previous method for a lot of summon spells, as well as the current Wild Shape, rely on reviewing the official material for specific options. With the Druid, it means looking for all beast type creatures, specifically ones that the Druid may have seen in their lifetime. I have found that this slow gameplay, as either the player or the game master has to go through their material to find the proper stat block. You can prepare this ahead of time, but it adds additional steps at the table. Also, it can lead to specific choices because they are the optimal choice mechanically. Often I see druids taking the bear Wild Shape form because it offers them the most attacks at an early level. Mechanically it feels suboptimal for players to pick anything else most of the time. This new style aimed to fix that, but I think it got a few things wrong.

The main issue I see here is that this new streamlined setup leaves a mechanically boring feature for druids. You can flavor your shapes however you want, but until level 7 they are all some sort of land creature. These creatures also unlock no further features outside of the Animal of Land’s multi-attack and climb speed. Prior to this a Druid could turn into a Constrictor Snake if they wanted to grapple an enemy. They could turn into a Tiger if they wanted to Pounce on enemies, or a Wolf if they wanted Pack Tactics to give them the tactical edge in battle. This new system strips these options down. Even if players were more inclined to take a bear, that element of choice has gone away. Once you get to level 11 you unlock tiny size creatures through Tiny Critters, but that just comes with hindrances and no advantages. 

One of the other big complaints I have seen since this released is that Wild Shapes no longer provide a gigantic pool of health for Druids, and instead rely on the Druid’s actual HP. I believe the intention here was to prevent Druids from being automatically the most tanky class. The decision to try to reduce this in the base class is a good one. I think a core druid should not have an overwhelming well of hit points can exceed what a Martial Class player can achieve. However, it feels like they have gone too far here, and pushed Wild Shapes back to being a more frail option in most cases. Many players will not feel comfortable being a front-line fighter with the setup as it stands. What was obviously intended to be a light nerf has gone too far. 

So how would I go about fixing it? I have a few ideas on how to handle this. We could add some complexity to these stat blocks, similar to the other blocks using this format. Instead of having “Animal of the Land” we could have Animal of the Land, which requires that you pick one of several subtypes. Each subtype could have its different actions, traits, or any mixture. A Grasping Animal of Land (such as a snake) could have all the benefits for grappling that a Constrictor Snake gets. A Hardy Animal of Land could be a more plain stat block that has better defensive abilities.

You could also provide options that unlock as you level up, alongside some features given to the core class. Each feature could provide a couple different options for additional Traits, Actions, and Features that can be stacked onto a Wild Shape form. We could consider this the Druid player gaining mastery of their forms as they increase in level.

Finally, we could go all out and copy the Warlock Invocation system. Druids could get a certain amount of “Primal Instincts” as they level up. Each of these would provide enhancements for the base forms. If you want to be a bulky defender, you take the Primal Fighter Instinct, which gives you more AC and HP. This would obviously be the most complex option, but would provide the most choices. 

The Hit Point issue is an interesting situation to look at, since it came with the best of intentions. They wanted to avoid having the Druid’s Wild Shape be used as a big bag of HP for players to stick in front of their problems. But I think that option needs to be brought back to allow the option of having an offensive Druid. However, I think this option could come at the cost of something. All of my choices above could provide increased AC and HP as potential options for players. In the first two options it would be a reversible choice. When our Druid transforms into a Rhinoceros to take down the enemy troll, they choose features that add to their AC and give them a buffer of HP. It would reduce the complexity of their Wild Shape at the moment, but provide them with a specialized tool for the job. Having a character that can use nature itself to create solutions for their problems feels quintessentially druid to me. The third option, Primal Instincts, would be a more permanent choice. Players would have to make the choice on leveling up.

All that being said, I think they could split a lot of these options between the core class and a subclass specifically meant for focusing on the Wild Shape forms available. Making the core Druid good at Wild Shaping but having the option to be great feels like it would be the best choice. Which brings us to the subclass portion of this review.

Subclass: Circle of the Moon

The subclass included in this play test is none other than the Circle of the Moon. This class in 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons focuses on the Wild Shape feature. Said to be as “Changeable as the moon” by the Circle description, this expanded the core druid’s abilities by allowing for stronger forms earlier, faster Wild Shapes, and even access to elemental forms later on. The new Circle looks different.

Level 3: Combat Wild Shapes

When a druid chooses the Circle of the Moon, they can use their Wild Shapes more offensively. Wild Shaping becomes a Bonus Action or Magic action for them. Moon Druids can also hit more, gaining a Bonus Action unarmed strike. Finally, we see the huge option of druids being able to cast spells while in beast form, as long as they are from the Abjuration School.

This feels like a solid option for a combat centric Druid player. We see immediately that they can hit harder, shift faster, and even protect themselves a bit more than your average Druid. However, I still feel the loss of those additional hit points. Early on it should not be a tremendous problem, but I think as Druids increase in level the threats they face will make being a front-line fighter harder. If a subclass is going to get the ability to be a melee fighter in Wild Shape form, I think this Circle is the one.

Level 6: Elemental Wild Shape

At level 6 we see Druids gaining an affinity for nature itself by being able to call upon elemental powers. When a druid wild shapes, they can choose a damage type from a list. Their Wild Shape gains resistance from that damage type, and can also choose to make their attacks with those damage choices instead of the standard non magical damage. They also gain some minor cosmetic changes, which are left up to the player to describe. 

This feature is a mix of good and bad for me. We see this replacing a feature that just made Wild Shape attacks magical for overcoming resistances. Now we instead have elemental power early on. The resistance option will give Moon Druids a strategic way to get a better defense in those higher-level fights, and put out some more damage if they want. I feel like this will encourage players to make more checks to determine knowledge on the enemies they are fighting (so hopefully we see rules like Tasha’s Research in this new system). But we are losing an elemental form, which was decidedly cool. The idea of becoming a living manifestation of fire to lash out against your foes was a decidedly cool ability, and came with a lot of abilities. This provides the flavor, but just that. 

Potentially what we could see here is a new stat block for Circle of the Moon Druids. They could have an elemental form that they can choose besides the other options. If it gets options like I had proposed in the Wild Shapes section, it could really lean into this Circle being the place for players that want to Wild Shape.

Level 10: Elemental Strike

This level 10 feature gives extra damage for Druids attacking in their Wild Shape. The type matches the type chosen using the level 6 feature. It starts off at 1d8, an average of 4, and increases to 2d6, an average of 7, at 17th level. There is no limit to the amount of times you can do this, so you could potentially do this multiple times in a turn (although since it specifies the Bestial Strike, I would assume it can not apply to the Bonus Action unarmed strike given in level 3).

This damage increase replaces the elemental forms that the Circle of the Moon Druid gets in 5E. We are seeing a much simpler elemental option here as additional damage, but we are also losing something from the original stat blocks. The Earth Elemental, for example, could move through the earth with a burrow speed. Water Elementals could fit into the spaces of other creatures and grapple enemies. While we have an easier to use a set of options, again it feels like something is lost. 

This is another great place for additional features to be allowed when Wild Shaping. The developers could provide a table here, with each damage type gaining some sort of ability on top of the other options given. They would not have to be overwhelmingly powerful, just flavorful and distinct from one another.

Level 14: Thousand Forms

The last ability for the Circle of the Moon makes the player as ever changing as the moon itself. Players can cast Alter Self at will without preparing a spell slot. This matches the original feature as well.

This seems pretty straightforward. Since this is still Tier 3 for characters, it makes sense to not make something too powerful. Having the Alter Self feels thematically appropriate as well. This Druid is the master of changing shape, and the ability to add abilities to their own form for a time feels right.

If I were to make any changes, I would want one more feature that ties into the elemental aspects. Druids could get some last ability tied in with their specific choice of damage. Something like a specific movement type, or the ability to change once per Wild Shape could be interesting.

Overall Thoughts

For the most part, I think we see a balanced subclass that feels in line with the goals of the changes to the Druid. A lot of the changes I would make with this come from the issues I saw in the core class itself. Losing those elemental forms because of the changes to Wild Shape feels like it loses one of the cooler late level abilities for the class itself. I think bringing that back in a little more would offer some options for players to really lean into that.

I also feel like Circle of the Moon was not the right choice of subclass for this play test specifically for what they said during the video. While he acknowledged that Wild Shape is an iconic part of the class in 5th Edition, Crawford mentioned wanting to give options to players who did not want to lean into Wild Shapes entirely. They wanted to provide a space for “Nature Magic” casters that did not see themselves becoming beasts whenever they could. I agree with that, and would love to see it happen, but Circle of the Moon is the opposite of that. Add that to the fact that so much of the core class focuses on changes to Wild Shape itself, and I see little evidence of this beyond the Healing Blossom and Wild Companion. I think for showing the core Druid that most people think of, Circle of the Moon is perfect. But if you want to show the range the class brings, something like Circle of the Land would make much more sense.

Conclusion

This version of the Druid has good intentions that I agree with, but did not implement them well. The core class was given additional features to expand their utility early on. Creating a Channel Nature feature to align with the Channel Divinity of the Cleric feels like the right direction. Adding the Healing Blossom and Wild Companion features as alternate ways to spend those Channel Nature uses instead of Wild Shape give the Druid much more utility for elements of the game besides combat. But the changes to Wild Shape will definitely need a few more revisions. In trying to balance out those classes we saw this feature, which is iconic to the class itself, become a bland shell of itself. I agree it needs to be balanced out, but some of the complexity needs to be brought back. Additional features should be available to improve the options given to the Wild Shape, and features such as becoming a tiny creature should be rebalanced a bit. 

The Circle of the Moon Druid felt like firm steps in the right direction, but the big change I focused on was the loss of those elemental forms. These felt like one of the most exciting features the class got, and you definitely can tell with them missing. The idea of providing damage type resistance and the ability to provide said damage is a great direction to go, and it comes with flavor to match. But again it falls victim to the lack of flavor in the core class. Similar to the core class, if they were to bring a bit more complexity back into the class I think we would find a delicate balance of a streamlined class that is not too powerful yet is fun and exciting to play.

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