Playtest 8: Druids

 The most recent Druid playtest was, I think, pretty well received, though I'll once again throw my two cents in there as someone who liked the idea of Wild Shape templates rather than using existing stat blocks. This playtest version addresses some of my concerns about those stat blocks, with most of the changes here focused on getting Wild Shape right and tweaking Circle of the Moon.

Rather than going level-by-level, we're going to really zero in on Wild Shape and how it's changing in this test, as most of the class is the same as the previous playtest, I believe.

As in the last playtest, you have a limited number of "Known Forms," from which to choose your Wild Shapes. The number of forms you know is equal to 2 plus half your Druid level (rounded up) - so when you get this feature at level 2, you'll be able to learn 3 different animal forms, and at level 19, you'll cap out at 12. You can swap out a known form on a long rest. The forms must be from the Player's Handbook.

    This is a big boost to Known Forms from the previous playtest - in Playtest 6, you started with 3 forms, but only went up to 4 at 4th level and 5 at 8th level. So, greater flexibility here. However, there's a subtle nerf here as well: you're limited to forms that are in the PHB. Granted, I could imagine that in the future, if we get another Tasha's or Xanathar's-like book we might see "additional Druid forms" added, but this will put a limit on what you can grab. Indeed, with Beast Master Rangers now using standard templates, and changes to Conjure spells (which we'll get to in a later post,) the only real reason for these stat blocks will be for Wild Shape, so I'll be curious to see how they're curated.

Wild Shape no longer allows you to preserve Species (formerly Racial) features, so, for example, a Fairy Druid who turns into a Wolf cannot fly. That said, you retain skill proficiencies, so I would think skills granted by your Species would still be retained (which makes sense).

Any Druid who uses Wild Shape gains Temp HP equal to your Druid level.

    This is nice in that it allows any Druid to get some defensive benefit from using Wild Shape. We'll see how Circle of the Moon gains other benefits.

    Overall, I think the curated list here could be enough to keep Wild Shape functioning effectively, but we'll need to see what that looks like.

Now, naturally the subclass to test here is Circle of the Moon. This has seen enough of an overhaul compared to the 2014 version that I'm going to go feature-by-feature.

3rd level:

Circle Spells:

Moon Druids now get additional spells prepared at all times. But on top of that, rather than broadly "Abjuration" spells, it's just these spells that a Moon Druid can cast in beast form. The spells are:

Cantrip: Starry Wisp (which we'll touch on in the "Spells" post, but is a new ranged damage cantrip)

1st level: Cure Wounds (which got buffed)

2nd level: Moonbeam

3rd level: Vampiric Touch

4th level: Fount of Moonlight (another new spell that's a little like Spirt Shroud)

5th level: Dawn

    So, there's a theme here (even if Dawn might be better flavored as "Moonrise"). Jeremy Crawford pointed out that really only Wizards tend to care about a spell's school, so for ease of use and to get the intended functionality, they're going to just make it this curated list of spells that you can cast while shifted.

Circle Forms:

The real headlining feature, this gives you access to more powerful beast forms and also improves survivability in a number of ways:

First off, as before, the max CR for your beast forms is your Druid level divided by 3 (rounded down,) so starting at CR 1 when you get this subclass at level 3 and then capping at CR 6 when you get to 18th level.

Next, your AC in Wild Shape is equal to 13 plus your Wisdom modifier.

    This one's huge. Beast stat blocks usually have really low AC - often 11 or 12. The fix in the previous playtest was to have a Moon Druid take the Warden Primal Order at level 1 and then swap in their AC for the Beast's, but this will open up your Primal Order option along with giving you likely better AC (hitting 18 with relative ease - just as good as someone in full plate).

Finally, the Temp HP you gain when you Wild Shape is equal to three times your Druid level (presumably replacing the ones you get as part of the main class feature because Temp HP doesn't stack).

    While not the enormous boatload of HP you get with the 2014 Druid, this is at least still giving you a nice and beefy amount of HP on top of your animal form (and remember that losing this does not shift you out of that form).

    Overall, the only concern I have about Circle Forms is that I worry the attack bonuses on these creatures won't keep up with other melee classes. We'll see if items built for Monks to improve unarmed strikes might also enhance the attacks a Druid makes.

6th level:

Improved Circle Forms:

You get two benefits in Wild Shape:

Lunar Radiance allows you to replace the normal damage of your attacks in Wild Shape with radiant damage (your choice, so if you come across something resistant or immune to radiant damage but not bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing, you can revert). Increased Toughness lets you get to add your Wisdom modifier to any Con saves.

    The latter half of this is actually quite good - it makes it far easier to maintain concentration on spells while in beast form, which is something you're encouraged to be doing.

10th level:

Moonlight Step allows you, as a bonus action, to teleport 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see and gain advantage on your next attack roll before the end of the turn. You get to do this for free a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier per long rest, but you can also expend a 2nd level spell slot to restore uses of it (no action require to spend the spell slot).

    Misty Step is one of the most universally useful spell in the game, and so this gives you a bunch of free uses of a similar effect with a bonus, and then lets you spend the same level spell slot to use it. So... yeah, this is great.

14th level:

Lunar Form does two things:

Improved Lunar Radiance adds 1d10 radiant damage when you hit a target with an attack in Wild Shape form (this is on top of the potential 1d8 and later 2d8 of Primal Strike, though that is only once per turn).

Shared Moonlight lets you teleport one willing creature within 10 feet of you when you use Moonlight Step.

    Nothing super complicated here, but both of these are surely welcome bonuses.

    The thing about this is that the real proof in the pudding is going to be what kind of stat blocks we see. For example, Improved Lunar Radiance is going to be much more effective if we can get a Wild Shape form with lots of attacks - but as it stands, the only CR 6 Beast in the 2014 Monster Manual is the Mammoth, who gets only a single attack per action, which makes a bonus like Improved Lunar Radiance pretty lackluster. But if we go down to the highest CR beast that does have multiple attacks, the Giant Crocodile, the bonus to hit is only +8, which seems kind of low for a level 15 or higher Druid (the creature is CR 5).

    If we get cleaner, more consistently powerful Beasts, I'll have fewer concerns, but this is why I really liked the idea of using creature templates. These stat blocks are meant to be used by DMs.