Circle of the Shepherd Druid Guide to Fuzzy Fury

[Nhym]

Nhym’s Shepherd Druid Guide;
The Shepherd's Handbook



Full guide here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

Comments appreciated :)

[Nhym]

Reserved for later.



Updates:

Update: Added section for "Summoned Creature by Resistance, Immunity and Vulnerability"

Update: Added more sections, including additional resources.

Update: Added a "Practical Application" section.

Update: Added a dealing with Shepherd Druid flaws section and an action/bonus action uses section.

Update: Added more "Summoned Creatures by" sections.

More updates....

Updated to change certain words/phrases and added new sections.

More updates.

[nickl_2000]

Just started reading and a picky thing, but it bugs me since I do web development. Can you change the green color to darken it? It will cause some issues as it for anyone looking at it on a phone in sunlight or with colorblindness issues

[Damon_Tor]

Another shepherd druid guide I had read before mentioned some higher level beasts (a titanosaurus and a gigantosaurus IIRC) published in some adventure or another. I've been trying to find them again without any luck. Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Nhym]

Just started reading and a picky thing, but it bugs me since I do web development. Can you change the green color to darken it? It will cause some issues as it for anyone looking at it on a phone in sunlight or with colorblindness issues

Thanks for the comment. I'm darkening the green of the color scheme and the base text to compensate. Let me know if it's OK now.

[Nhym]

Another shepherd druid guide I had read before mentioned some higher level beasts (a titanosaurus and a gigantosaurus IIRC) published in some adventure or another. I've been trying to find them again without any luck. Do you know what I'm talking about?

I believe those are from Beasts of the Jungle Rot

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/220...the-Jungle-Rot

Titanosaurus is awesome if your DM allows it. I didn't add any adventure-specific creatures in this for obvious reasons.

[nickl_2000]

The color is much better, thank you! A few other comments in reading it.

Crossbow Expert- Good combined with War Caster. Otherwise pretty bad for you.

Druids don't actually get proficiency with crossbows. So, you are just getting this for the ability to not get disadvantage on ranged spell attacks? I don't even think this is worth it in red since there is Thorn Whip and Primal Savagery.

Equipment

- You should point out the Spiked Armor from SCAG. That is a medium armor at a decent pricetag that by RAW can be made without metal on it. It's the best choice. Also the Bag of Tricks is worth noting. Considering that they are allies, it plays really well with your totem abilities.

How to make your DM not hate you

- I love that you added this!


Transport Via Plants works on anyone - "For the duration, any creature can step into the target plant and exit from the destination plant by using 5 feet of movement." It lasts for 1 round.

[Nhym]

Druids don't actually get proficiency with crossbows. So, you are just getting this for the ability to not get disadvantage on ranged spell attacks? I don't even think this is worth it in red since there is Thorn Whip and Primal Savagery.

Fair enough. Removed.

You should point out the Spiked Armor from SCAG... Also the Bag of Tricks is worth noting.

I completely agree, they have been added.

I love that you added this!

Thanks! I know the biggest obstacle for playing a Shepherd Druid is the taboo of using a lot of summons so I thought that was a VERY important thing to add.

Transport Via Plants works on anyone - "For the duration, any creature can step into the target plant and exit from the destination plant by using 5 feet of movement." It lasts for 1 round.

Fixed.


Thanks for the comments! Much appreciated.

[Captain Panda]

Giant poisonous snakes are at least on par with wolves, and honestly usually just head and shoulders better.

They have higher AC, strong damage without the poison, crazy damage with the poison, blindsight, and 10 ft. of reach. The only serious drawback is that for a shepherd druid you may want to pick something with more hit dice to make better use of your level 6 feature. Owls and giant bats are good at lasting a long time, with that in mind.

[Nhym]

Giant poisonous snakes are at least on par with wolves, and honestly usually just head and shoulders better.

They have higher AC, strong damage without the poison, crazy damage with the poison, blindsight, and 10 ft. of reach. The only serious drawback is that for a shepherd druid you may want to pick something with more hit dice to make better use of your level 6 feature. Owls and giant bats are good at lasting a long time, with that in mind.

Thanks for the comment. I guess I have a soft spot for wolves. Changed Poisonous Snakes to blue.

[PhantomSoul]

Archdruid- Being able to ignore verbal, somatic and most material component spells is huge; this means that you can cast in super stealth mode while wildshaped. Pair this with unlimited wild shape and there’s hardly ever a reason now not to be wild shaped. You can literally be the scariest squirrel ever.

The first part is for Beast Spells rather than for Archdruid and should go there; from your description in the previous part it's not clear what it does!

Additionally, you don't ignore the components; you're simply capable of performing them while in beast form. That means you're not negating the V and S components, and so you don't get "super-stealth" unless you just mean that people won't assume the rat was casting a spell (it which case you should remove the phrasing of "ignore" because it's incorrect and clarify the benefit description).

[MaxWilson]

I've never thought much about Faithful Summons before, but it strikes me now that there are more ways to incapacitate someone than knocking them down to 0 HP. There's a bunch of relatively-cheap stuff in 5E that can incapacitate you, and many of those things won't leave a lasting mark.

For example, you could just dare the party bard to tell you bad jokes while you try to keep a straight face (Tasha's Hideous Daughter) until you finally bust and fall down laughing. At that point, poof! four Giant Constrictor Snakes appear (240 HP of mayhem!) and make disappoving faces at the bard until you pull yourself together, then they stick around for an hour, no concentration required, ready to soak up hits and grant everybody advantage on melee and ranged attacks. All it cost the bard was two or three 1st level spell slots--well worth doing before a tough fight.

================================

The first part is for Beast Spells rather than for Archdruid and should go there; from your description in the previous part it's not clear what it does!

Additionally, you don't ignore the components; you're simply capable of performing them while in beast form. That means you're not negating the V and S components, and so you don't get "super-stealth" unless you just mean that people won't assume the rat was casting a spell (it which case you should remove the phrasing of "ignore" because it's incorrect and clarify the benefit description).

Nay, you ignore them entirely. It's better than Subtle Spell.

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.

[Damon_Tor]

I believe those are from Beasts of the Jungle Rot

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/220...the-Jungle-Rot

Titanosaurus is awesome if your DM allows it. I didn't add any adventure-specific creatures in this for obvious reasons.

I would think there would at least be a mention. If I'm not mistaken, it's a WotC product and it even appears to be AL legal.

[Nhym]

The first part is for Beast Spells rather than for Archdruid and should go there; from your description in the previous part it's not clear what it does!

Additionally, you don't ignore the components; you're simply capable of performing them while in beast form. That means you're not negating the V and S components, and so you don't get "super-stealth" unless you just mean that people won't assume the rat was casting a spell (it which case you should remove the phrasing of "ignore" because it's incorrect and clarify the benefit description).

From Archdruid "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." i.e. most material components as I said in the guide.

[Merudo]

Another shepherd druid guide I had read before mentioned some higher level beasts (a titanosaurus and a gigantosaurus IIRC) published in some adventure or another. I've been trying to find them again without any luck. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Maybe from my druid guide? The Giganotosaurus is CR10 and only usable through the Polymorph spell, btw.

[Nhym]

I've never thought much about Faithful Summons before, but it strikes me now that there are more ways to incapacitate someone than knocking them down to 0 HP. There's a bunch of relatively-cheap stuff in 5E that can incapacitate you, and many of those things won't leave a lasting mark.

For example, you could just dare the party bard to tell you bad jokes while you try to keep a straight face (Tasha's Hideous Daughter) until you finally bust and fall down laughing. At that point, poof! four Giant Constrictor Snakes appear (240 HP of mayhem!) and make disappoving faces at the bard until you pull yourself together, then they stick around for an hour, no concentration required, ready to soak up hits and grant everybody advantage on melee and ranged attacks. All it cost the bard was two or three 1st level spell slots--well worth doing before a tough fight.

That's a really good point, just requires a bit of creativity to use well. Thanks for the comment!

Nay, you ignore them entirely. It's better than Subtle Spell.

Thanks! I replied to that as well before even seeing you said it as well xD

[Nhym]

Maybe from my druid guide? The Giganotosaurus is CR10 and only usable through the Polymorph spell, btw.

Your guide is what inspired me to create this one. I gave you credit at the bottom as well as a link to your guide :)

[PhantomSoul]

Nay, you ignore them entirely. It's better than Subtle Spell.

Oh wow, I forgot there was that extra bit hiding on the next page and just thought you mean the Beast Spells portion :o

[Merudo]

Also the Bag of Tricks is worth noting. Considering that they are allies, it plays really well with your totem abilities.

Too bad the Bag of Tricks doesn't cast a spell, and thus does not benefit from "Mighty Summoner".

[MaxWilson]

Oh wow, I forgot there was that extra bit hiding on the next page and just thought you mean the Beast Spells portion :o

Arguably it's the best part of Archdruid, and yet many people never even realize it's there, because of page formatting. WotC editing fail. :)

Too bad the Bag of Tricks doesn't cast a spell, and thus does not benefit from "Mighty Summoner".

Correct, but they can still get temp HP from Bear totem, so there's still a nice (no-concentration) synergy.

[Merudo]

Your guide is what inspired me to create this one. I gave you credit at the bottom as well as a link to your guide :)

Thank you! That means a lot to me.

I really appreciate your "Summoned Creature by Spell" and "Summoned Creature by Condition" sections, they are quite useful when considering which creature to conjure.

[Nidgit]

As far as I can tell, Faithful Spirits can also activate when your Wild Shape is reduced to 0 HP and you revert. That means you can run into battle as a Dire Wolf, get beaten up quickly to summon your Faithful goon squad, then drop a Bear Totem and calmly extricate yourself. At 18th level, just cast normally while Wild Shaped and dare your enemies to hurt you.

Also makes for some fantastic ambush tactics. Sneak in as a small animal, drop that Necklace of Fireballs you've had in your mouth for some quick nova damage, then sick four beefy Allosaurs on your recently exploded enemies. Makes for a great diversion too if you're caught while scouting.

[MaxWilson]

As far as I can tell, Faithful Spirits can also activate when your Wild Shape is reduced to 0 HP and you revert.

As a druid, I would hope this interpretation isn't true, because incapacitation causes you to lose concentration, and if you automatically lose concentration whenever you're knocked out of Wild Shape, that is bad news.

I don't think it is true though. At no time are you actually at 0 HP and therefore incapacitated; instead you just turn back into a human(oid).

[Nidgit]

As a druid, I would hope this interpretation isn't true, because incapacitation causes you to lose concentration, and if you automatically lose concentration whenever you're knocked out of Wild Shape, that is bad news.

I don't think it is true though. At no time are you actually at 0 HP and therefore incapacitated; instead you just turn back into a human(oid).

There's nothing that says you lose concentration when you hit 0 HP, though, and Faithful Summons doesn't require you to be incapacitated either. Normally reaching 0 HP causes Unconciousness, which then causes Incapacitation, which breaks concentration. Wild Shape specifies that you don't go Unconscious unless the damage you take pushes you to 0 HP in your humanoid form, but does say you revert when you drop to 0 HP while Wild Shaped. So you should hit still hit 0 HP when knocked out of Wild Shape to activate Faithful Summons, but you're never Unconscious or Incapacitated to break Concentration. You just have to make the saving throw as normal.

[MaxWilson]

There's nothing that says you lose concentration when you hit 0 HP, though, and Faithful Spirits doesn't require you to be incapacitated either. Normally reaching 0 HP causes Unconciousness, which then causes Incapacitation, which breaks concentration. Wild Shape specifies that you don't go Unconscious unless the damage you take pushes you to 0 HP in your humanoid form, but does say you revert when you drop to 0 HP while Wild Shaped. So you should hit still hit 0 HP when knocked out of Wild Shape to activate Faithful Summons, but you're never Unconscious or Incapacitated to break Concentration. You just have to make the saving throw as normal.

Oh, I see. Sorry, I misunderstood your point. I forgot about the first condition, "If you are reduced to 0 hit points or are incapacitated against your will..."

[Nhym]

There's nothing that says you lose concentration when you hit 0 HP, though, and Faithful Summons doesn't require you to be incapacitated either. Normally reaching 0 HP causes Unconciousness, which then causes Incapacitation, which breaks concentration. Wild Shape specifies that you don't go Unconscious unless the damage you take pushes you to 0 HP in your humanoid form, but does say you revert when you drop to 0 HP while Wild Shaped. So you should hit still hit 0 HP when knocked out of Wild Shape to activate Faithful Summons, but you're never Unconscious or Incapacitated to break Concentration. You just have to make the saving throw as normal.

Interesting. By RAW, you are completely correct.

Other than ending it manually or failing a Concentration check, Concentration ends "Being Incapacitated or killed. You lose Concentration on a spell if you are Incapacitated or if you die."

Whereas Wild Shape specifically says "You automatically revert if you fall Unconscious, drop to 0 Hit Points, or die." So "If you are reduced to 0 hit points" as it states in Faithful Summons while Wild Shaped, you will revert back and trigger the Faithful Summons with the only downside being a Concentration check for the taken damage assuming you dropped to 0 hp by taking damage.

Nice catch on that. Very useful.

[GeistInMachine]

No mention of Kenku for race?

Has +Dex and +Wis, Mimicry can be used in wildshape using the same logic as Dragonborn using their Breath Weapon

Knowing Auran innately means you can ask Invisible Stalkers about the location of their quarry without having to spend language proficiency on primordial

[Nhym]

No mention of Kenku for race?

Has +Dex and +Wis, Mimicry can be used in wildshape using the same logic as Dragonborn using their Breath Weapon

Knowing Auran innately means you can ask Invisible Stalkers about the location of their quarry without having to spend language proficiency on primordial

Added. Thanks for the comment!

[Nhorianscum]

Enjoyed the guide. Well written and entertaining

[Nhym]

Enjoyed the guide. Well written and entertaining

Thanks for the comment!