Druid

# Druid Class Details

Holding high a gnarled staff wreathed with holly, an elf summons the
fury of the storm and calls down explosive bolts of lightning to smite
the torch-carrying orcs who threaten her forest.

Crouching out of sight on a high tree branch in the form of a
leopard, a human peers out of the jungle at the strange construction of a
 temple of Evil Elemental Air, keeping a close eye on the cultists’
activities.

Swinging a blade formed of pure fire, a half-elf charges into a mass
of skeletal soldiers, sundering the unnatural magic that gives the foul
creatures the mocking semblance of life.

Whether calling on the elemental forces of nature or emulating the
creatures of the animal world, druids are an embodiment of nature’s
resilience, cunning, and fury. They claim no mastery over nature.
Instead, they see themselves as extensions of nature’s indomitable will.

## Power of Nature

Druids revere nature above all, gaining their spells and other
magical powers either from the force of nature itself or from a nature
deity. Many druids pursue a mystic spirituality of transcendent union
with nature rather than devotion to a divine entity, while others serve
gods of wild nature, animals, or elemental forces. The ancient druidic
traditions are sometimes called the Old Faith, in contrast to the
worship of gods in temples and shrines.

Druid spells are oriented toward nature and animals—the power of
tooth and claw, of sun and moon, of fire and storm. Druids also gain the
 ability to take on animal forms, and some druids make a particular
study of this practice, even to the point where they prefer animal form
to their natural form.

## Preserve the Balance

For druids, nature exists in a precarious balance. The four elements
that make up a world—air, earth, fire, and water—must remain in
equilibrium. If one element were to gain power over the others, the
world could be destroyed, drawn into one of the elemental planes and
broken apart into its component elements. Thus, druids oppose cults of
Elemental Evil and others who promote one element to the exclusion of
others.

Druids are also concerned with the delicate ecological balance that
sustains plant and animal life, and the need for civilized folk to live
in harmony with nature, not in opposition to it. Druids accept that
which is cruel in nature, and they hate that which is unnatural,
including aberrations (such as beholders and mind flayers) and undead
(such as zombies and vampires). Druids sometimes lead raids against such
 creatures, especially when the monsters encroach on the druids’
territory.

Druids are often found guarding sacred sites or watching over regions
 of unspoiled nature. But when a significant danger arises, threatening
nature’s balance or the lands they protect, druids take on a more active
 role in combating the threat, as adventurers.

When making a druid, consider why your character has such a close
bond with nature. Perhaps your character lives in a society where the
Old Faith still thrives, or was raised by a druid after being abandoned
in the depths of a forest. Perhaps your character had a dramatic
encounter with the spirits of nature, coming face to face with a giant
eagle or dire wolf and surviving the experience. Maybe your character
was born during an epic storm or a volcanic eruption, which was
interpreted as a sign that becoming a druid was part of your character’s
 destiny.

Have you always been an adventurer as part of your druidic calling,
or did you first spend time as a caretaker of a sacred grove or spring?
Perhaps your homeland was befouled by evil, and you took up an
adventuring life in hopes of finding a new home or purpose.

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As a druid, you gain the following class features.

**Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per druid level after 1st

### Proficiencies

**Armor:** Light armor, medium armor, shields (druids will not wear armor or use shields made of metal)
**Weapons:** Clubs, daggers, darts, javelins, maces, quarterstaffs, scimitars, sickles, slings, spears
**Tools:** Herbalism kit
**Saving Throws:** Intelligence, Wisdom
**Skills:** Choose two from Arcana, Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Religion, and Survival

### Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

* (a) a wooden shield or (b) any simple weapon
* (a) a scimitar or (b) any simple melee weapon
* Leather armor, an explorer’s pack, and a druidic focus

### Druidic

You know Druidic, the secret language of druids.
You can speak the language and use it to leave hidden messages. You and
others who know this language automatically spot such a message. Others
spot the message’s presence with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check but can’t decipher it without magic.

### Spellcasting

Drawing on the divine essence of nature itself, you can cast spells to shape that essence to your will. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the druid spell list.

##### Cantrips

At 1st level, you know two cantrips of
your choice from the druid spell list. You learn additional druid
cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known
 column of the Druid table.

##### Preparing and Casting Spells

The Druid table shows how many spell
slots you have to cast your druid spells of 1st level and higher. To
cast one of these druid spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s
level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a
long rest.

You prepare the list of druid spells
that are available for you to cast, choosing from the druid spell list.
When you do so, choose a number of druid spells equal to your Wisdom
modifier + your druid level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be
of a level for which you have spell slots.

For example, if you are a 3rd-level
druid, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a
Wisdom of 16, your list of prepared spells can include six spells of 1st
 or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell cure wounds, you can cast it using a 1st-level or 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.

You can also change your list of
prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of
druid spells requires time spent in prayer and meditation: at least 1
minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

##### Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is
your spellcasting ability for your druid spells, since your magic draws
upon your devotion and attunement to nature. You use your Wisdom
whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you
use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a druid
spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

**Spell save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

**Spell attack modifier** = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

##### Ritual Casting

You can cast a druid spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

##### Spellcasting Focus

You can use a druidic focus (see the Adventuring Gear section) as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells.

### Wild Shape

Starting at 2nd level, you
can use your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you
have seen before. You can use this feature twice. You regain expended
uses when you finish a short or long rest.
Your druid level determines the beasts
you can transform into, as shown in the Beast Shapes table. At 2nd
level, for example, you can transform into any beast that has a
challenge rating of 1/4 or lower that doesn’t have a flying or swimming
speed.

##### Beast Shapes

 4th
 8th

You can
stay in a beast shape for a number of hours equal to half your druid
level (rounded down). You then revert to your normal form unless you
expend another use of this feature. You can revert to your normal form
earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert
if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.
While you are transformed, the following rules apply:

* Your game statistics are replaced

by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment,
personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also
retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to
gaining those of the creature. If the creature has the same proficiency
as you and the bonus in its stat block is higher than yours, use the
creature’s bonus instead of yours. If the creature has any legendary or
lair actions, you can’t use them.

* When you transform, you assume the

 beast’s hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form,
you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed.
However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any
excess damage carries over to your normal form. For example, if you take
 10 damage in animal form and have only 1 hit point left, you revert and
 take 9 damage. As long as the excess damage doesn’t reduce your normal
form to 0 hit points, you aren’t knocked unconscious.

* You can’t cast spells, and your

ability to speak or take any action that requires hands is limited to
the capabilities of your beast form. Transforming doesn’t break your
concentration on a spell you’ve already cast, however, or prevent you
from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as call lightning, that you’ve already cast.

* You retain the benefit of any

features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the
new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t use any
of your special senses, such as darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.

* You choose whether your

equipment falls to the ground in your space, merges into your new form,
or is worn by it. Worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides
 whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment,
based on the creature’s shape and size. Your equipment doesn’t change
size or shape to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form
 can’t wear must either fall to the ground or merge with it. Equipment
that merges with the form has no effect until you leave the form.

### Druid Circle

At 2nd level, you choose to identify with a
circle of druids: the Circle of the Land detailed at the end of the
class description or one from the Player's Handbook or other sources.
Your choice grants you features at 2nd level and again at 6th, 10th, and
 14th level.

### Wild Shape Improvement

At 4th level, you can use
your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen
before of challenge rating 1/2 or lower that doesn't have a flying
speed. You can use this feature twice. You regain expended uses when you
 finish a short or long rest.

### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th,
 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice
 by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As
normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

### Wild Shape Improvement

At 8th level, you can use
your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen
before of challenge rating 1 or lower. You can use this feature twice.
You regain expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

### Timeless Body

Starting at 18th level, the primal magic that you
 wield causes you to age more slowly. For every 10 years that pass, your
 body ages only 1 year.

### Beast Spells

Beginning at 18th level, you can cast many of
your druid spells in any shape you assume using Wild Shape. You can
perform the somatic and verbal components of a druid spell while in a
beast shape, but you aren’t able to provide material components.

### Archdruid

At 20th level, you can use your Wild Shape an unlimited number of times.
Additionally, you can ignore the verbal and somatic components of
your druid spells, as well as any material components that lack a cost
and aren’t consumed by a spell. You gain this benefit in both your
normal shape and your beast shape from Wild Shape.