Druids only got two subclasses in the PHB and Xanathar's, with the more recent ones providing new wrinkles to the class, but the release of Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, with its Golgari Swarm-themed Circle of Spores, we got a distinctly different flavor of Druid. Tasha's brought reprints of all the subclasses that came from the two MTG-based campaign setting books, along with a revision to the SCAG Bladesinger for Wizards (most of the SCAG reprints had been in Xanathar's.) But we also got a pair of brand-new ones. Luckily, chronologically and alphabetically, we can start with the Spore druids.
Circle of Spores:
While druids aren't inherently good, in this day and age when we probably could use some super-powered magical protectors of nature, we tend to view them as more inherently benevolent. But the Circle of Spores turns the Druid's usual emphasis on life on its head, focusing more on death and decay, and even utilizing some necromancy to raise the dead - something most Druids would likely see as a horrible violation of the natural order. Spore Druids see undeath as just a transitional space between death and rebirth, which you can spin positively, or just play them as super scary and creepy.
At level 2, you get Circle Spells. Like with the Land druid, these weirdly don't include 1st level spells. But you get blindness/deafness, gentle repose, animate dead, gaseous form, blight, confusion, cloudkill, and contagion. Animate Dead here is a real game-changer, allowing you to raise zombies and skeletons, but likewise there's a strong theme of disease and rot here.
You also get at 2 Halo of Spores. When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage to them unless they succeed on a Con save. The damage goes up to 1d6 at 6th level, 1d8 at 10th, and 1d10 at 14th. This isn't a ton of damage, but it's a nice little punishment for getting near you.
Also at 2 you get Symbiotic Entity. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to awaken the cloud of spores that lives around you. You gain 4 temporary hit points for each druid level you have, and for 10 minutes or until your temp hit points go away, you get the following benefits: Your Halo of Spores is doubled, having you roll two dice instead of one, and your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage on a hit. This actually encourages you to play a bit of a melee druid - you probably want to take Shillelagh or other weapon-based bonuses. The temporary hit points both make you a lot more durable in melee combat (4 times your level is a pretty huge bonus.)
At level 6, you get Fungal Infestation. If a beast or humanoid that is Small or Medium dies within 10 feet of you, you can use your reaction to animate it, causing it to stand up immediately with 1 hit point. It becomes a zombie and remains active for 1 hour, after which it dies. It acts immediately after your turn, and will obey your mental commands, though the only action it can take is the Attack action (one attack.) You can do this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1) per long rest. Again, this feature really encourages you to be up front and in melee with foes. I think the one thing that's annoying about it is that it costs your reaction, which you're already likely using for Halo of Spores. A 1 HP zombie can actually be shockingly resilient thanks to Undead Fortitude, so you could make a really annoying minion for your foes (not to mention the psychological factor of having one of their friends rise as a clicker from The Last of Us.)
At level 10, you get Spreading Spores. As a bonus action while Symbiotic Entity is active, you can send your spores up to 30 feet away where they swirl in a 10-foot cube for 1 minute. They disappear early if you use this feature again or if Symbiotic Entity ends. Any creature that moves into the cube or starts its turn there takes your Halo of Spores damage unless they succeed on a Con save. (They can only take this damage once per turn, so no pinballing them back and forth into it.) While this is active, you can't use your Halo of Spores reaction. So, this basically lets you turn your spores into a true AoE area-denial feature, hitting more than one creature per round. It's a nice bit of utility and can also let this be more effective at range.
At level 14, you get Fungal Body. You can't be blinded, deafened, frightened, or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit unless you're incapacitated. Immunity to crits is quite good. I'm also trying to figure out how generous that immunity to blindness could be. Is being in total darkness technically imposing the blinded condition? I'm thinking no, or this would just say you'd get blindsight.
So, over all, I think the Spores Druid can be a rather capable melee combatant compared to most non-Moon druids. Really, the appeal here is to be able to play a necromancer druid, and this totally allows that. A very different flavor with some pretty strong mechanics to back it up.
Circle of Stars:
Stars Druids actually remind me a ton of World of Warcraft's Balance spec for Druids, in that they have this celestial theme. Beyond that, Stars is a Circle with a focus on divination magic and prophecy, which taps into a cool theme that other Druids haven't really explored - a somewhat more mystical take on the class.
At level 2, you get Star Map. You have crafted a tiny object that serves as a spellcasting focus for Druid spells. While you hold it, you get the following benefits: you know the Guidance cantrip. You also have Guiding Bolt prepared, and it doesn't count against your number of spells prepared. You can also cast Guiding Bolt for free a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
If you lose the map, you can perform a 1-hour ceremony to create a replacement, which destroys the old map, and can be done during a short or long rest.
Guiding Bolt is a strong spell, and while as a DM I kind of hate how Guidance slows down the game, it's undeniably a useful spell. I also really like the flavor of having a distinctive spell focus (though I also encourage DMs to consider, rather than handing out +1 Wands of the War Mage or the like, to consider letting story beats imbue magic into more character-based spell foci - likewise, if a player is fighting with their father's sword, maybe let that sword become magical and get a +1 bonus instead of just handing them a +1 sword.)
Also at 2 you get Starry Form, and this is another cool alternate use for Wild Shapes (something all 3 Tasha's subclasses do.) As a bonus action, rather than during into a beast, you can choose one of three Starry Forms. Your body become luminous and glows with stars and constellations, shining bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light 10 beyond that. The form lasts for 10 minutes and ends early if you dismiss it (no action required,) are incapacitated, die, or use this feature again.
The three forms are:
Archer: A constellation of an archer appears on you. When you activate this form, and as a bonus action on subsequent turns, you can make a ranged spell attack at a creature within 60 feet of you. On a hit, the attack deals radiant damage equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier.
Chalice: A life-giving goblet appears as a constellation on you. When you cast a spell using a spell slot that restores hit points to a creature, you or another creature within 30 feet of you can regain hit points equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier.
Dragon: A constellation of a wise dragon appears on you. When you make an Intelligence or a Wisdom check or a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell, you can treat any roll of 9 or lower on the d20 as a 10.
There are very clear uses for these forms: Archer is great for when you're serving mainly as a damage-dealer, while Chalice effectively gives you a ranged Cure Wounds for free every time you cast a healing spell. Dragon is, I think, more situational (if you really need to maintain concentration on a spell, or if it's crucial that you get some Intelligence or Wisdom checks right.) The visual here is utterly enchanting.
At level 6, you get Cosmic Omen. When you finish a long rest, you can consult your Star Map for omens. You roll a die (doesn't matter which as long as it's got an even number of sides.) Depending on whether you rolled an even or odd number, you get one of the following effects:
Weal (Even): When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and add the number rolled to the total.
Woe (Odd): Whenever a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is about to make an attack roll, a saving throw, or an ability check, you can use your reaction to roll a d6 and subtract the number from the total.
You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
This is useful, but perhaps not as powerful as it might be if you could see what the person rolled first, like with Bardic Inspiration or similar features. Still, I like how it is kind of reminiscent of Portent from Divination Wizards, albeit not as powerful.
At 10th level, you get Twinkling Constellations. Your three Starry Forms improve. The 1d8 from the Chalice and Archer become 2d8, and while in the Dragon form, you have a flying speed of 20 feet and can hover. Furthermore, at the start of each of your turns you can change which Starry Form you currently have - so you can start off a fight in Archer form and then swap to Chalice if you need to toss some heals around, which is fantastic. Swapping out of Dragon while you're flying is maybe not the best idea, but being able to swap between Archer and Chalice each turn is really great.
Finally, at level 14, you get Full of Stars. While in Starry Form, you become partially incorporeal and gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage - making you almost a Barbarian. Resistance to these three most common forms of damage is fantastic. I don't really know what else to say. You take way less damage, which is always good.
I have to say that the visuals of the Circle of Stars are really exciting. For WoW fans, the alternate Draenor version of Shadowmoon Valley from Warlords of Draenor, and the Shadowmoon Clan's orcs seem to have a style of shamanism very much in line with the ideas of this subclass. Also, you can bombard foes with a bunch of radiant damage, which is pretty awesome.
Circle of Wildfire:
I live in California, which means that basically every year big swaths of the state catch on fire (which is just getting more common thanks to climate change.) While these fires are destructive and deadly, fire has always played a role in the health of forests, clearing the way for new life to rise, phoenix-like fromt he ashes. The Wildfire Druid is all about this dichotomy - the destruction of fire, but also the rebirth that follows.
At level 2, you get Circle Spells. Unlike the other Druid subclasses that get this feature, you actually get 1st level spells on this list as well. They include burning hands, cure wounds, flaming sphere, scorching ray, plant growth, revivify, aura of life, fire shield, flame strike, and mass cure wounds. Naturally, there's a bit of a fire theme here, but also one of healing, which sums up this subclass pretty well.
Also at 2, you get Summon Wildfire Spirit. As an action, you can summon your wildfire spirit using a charge of your Wild Shape feature. The spirit has a scaling stat block that considers your level and your spell attack modifier, and your proficiency bonus. You can summon it to a space of your choice within 30 feet of you. Creatures within 10 feet of the spirit other than you have to make a Dex save when it appears or take 2d6 fire damage. Like most subclass-based combat pets, it acts right after your turn, and you need to use your bonus action to command it to do anything other than take the dodge action. If you're incapacitated, though, it can take any action. The spirit lasts for 1 hour, or until it's reduced to 0 hit points, or you use the feature again, or if you die.
The spirit actually has some cool abilities. It can shoot little blasts of fire, but it can also teleport itself and a friendly target 15 feet and leave a blast of fire behind that forces anyone within 5 feet of the space it just left to make a Dex save or take a bit of fire damage.
(Note that the Tasha's "Summon" spells do not require a bonus action to pilot, so you can have this and one of these active simultaneously.) The utility of being able to bamf allies out of range of a foe is great, and worst case scenario, you've got some extra fire damage to toss at foes.
At level 6, you get Enhanced Bond. If you cast a spell that causes fire damage or restores hit points while your wildfire spirit is summoned, you can roll a d8 and add the roll to one damage or healing roll of the spell. Additionally, any spell with a range other than self can originate from the spirit. That includes Revivify, so you could, for instance, cast that on an ally (and since it restores 1 hit point, you also add a d8) and then immediately have your spirit bamf that recently-not-dead ally away from the giant who just killed them.
At level 10, you get Cauterizing Flame. When a Small or larger creature dies within 30 feet of you, a spectral flame begins to flicker from the body for 1 minute. When a creature enters its space, you can use your reaction to extinguish the flame and either heal the entering creature or deal fire damage to it, equal to 2d10 + your Wisdom modifier. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. Depending on how smart your foes are, the damage might be somewhat rare. But turning every foe that goes down into a little healing beacon is pretty great. 2d10 + Wis has the potential to be a nice chunk of healing.
Finally, at level 14, you get Blazing Revival. If your wildfire spirit is within 120 feet of you when you drop to 0 hit points, you can cause the spirit to drop to 0 hit points and you immediately regain half your max hit points and immediately rise to your feet. You can do this once per long rest. A 50% heal at the cost of your Wildfire Spirit right when you need it most is really great, especially if you're the group's primary healer.
This might be my favorite Druid subclass, though its reliance on fire damage of course makes it a little vulnerable when dealing with red dragons or devils. Still, this is also a subclass that works great as a primary healer, and I think that Stars and Wildfire enabling Druids to serve that role (along with the spells added to the Druid list in Tasha's) is really great for the game, which so often relies on every party having a Cleric.
It's interesting to see the Druid evolve into a more interesting class with each of these subclass generations. Circle of the Moon is still a very potent option if you want to really focus on those beast forms, but I love how the newer ones find different ideas to explore, and get much stronger identities. I honestly hadn't thought much about the Circle of Stars before writing this, but I'm kind of falling in love with the mystical, cosmic focus of it. (Being able to shift between different constellations each turn makes it extremely versatile, too.)
For the next subclass review, we're going to get sneaky with the Rogue (I'm trying to alternate between spellcasters and physical-based classes.)
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