Druids are the guardians of nature inDungeons & Dragons, and while this often means summoning natural powers to perform impressive feats of magic, it also means being the close personal friends of both natural creatures and spirits. And no druid subclass is closer to these creatures and spirits than the Circle of the Shepherd.
Druids of the Circle of the Shepherd are effectively the Disney princesses of D&D. Not only are creatures drawn to you, but thanks to your spirit totems, they receive magical enhancements just for being near you. If you’re ready to unleash your furry army on your foes, then it’s time to join the Circle of the Shepherd.
Circle Of The Shepherd Druid Features
Joining theCircle of the Shepherd at level twoprovides two immediate boons: Speech of the Woods and Spirit Totem.Speech of the Woodslets you read, speak, and write Sylvan, and also lets you communicate with beasts. This is essentially the spell Speak with Animals, so you’ll never need to cast that spell.
Spirit Totemlets you call forth a nature spirit within 60 feet of you as a bonus action. This totem produces a 30-foot aura with several beneficial effects, depending on the type of spirit summoned.
ABear Spirit Totemprovides creatures of your choice within the aura temporary hit points equal to 5 plus your druid level. They also gain advantage on Strength checks and saving throws.
AHawk Spirit Totemlets you use your reaction to provide an allied creature advantage on its attack roll so long as it’s within the aura’s radius. It also grants advantage on perception checks.
AUnicorn Spirit Totemprovides advantage to all ability checks made by allies to detect creatures within the totem’s aura. Also, healing spells cast by you cause creatures of your choice both within and outside the aura to regain hit points equal to your druid level.
At level six,Mighty Summonerprovides buffs to summoned beasts and fey. They gain two extra hit points per hit die, and they also deal magical damage for the purposes of overcoming immunity or resistance to nonmagical attacks.
Guardian Spiritat level 10 causes summoned beasts or fey to regain hit points equal to half your druid level when they end their turn inside a Spirit Totem’s aura.
Finally,Faithful Summonsat level 14 causes Conjure Animals to be cast as if through a ninth-level spell slot whenever you’re reduced to zero hit points or are otherwise incapacitated, but without actually using a spell slot. These beasts appear within 20 feet of you, must be challenge rating two or lower, and only protect you from harm and attack enemies. They last for one hour or until dismissed.
Even though there are four of them, challenge rating two beasts aren’t particularly threatening at level 14, sobest not to rely on this feature to keep you safe in combat. It can help prevent a demon from stealing your soul while you’re in your death throes, but that’s mostly it.
Best Species For A Circle Of The Shepherd Druid
Any of D&D’s species can become one with nature. Feel free to play your Circle of the Shepherd druid as any species you prefer, but there are a few species that offer some benefits to druids.Here are a few suggestions.
Autognome
Druids can learnMending, which can heal you without using a spell slot. YourArmored Casingwill offer a base armor class of 13 when you’re not wearing armor, although you’ll have to be made of something other than metal. You’reimmune to poison and disease, andBuilt for Successis useful at every level.
Eladrin
Fey Stepcan let you escape trouble as a bonus action or send one of your summoned creatures into melee combat.Perception proficiency,charm resistance, andDarkvisionare always great to have.
Elf
You’ll mostly want totake the high-elf subclassto gain access to awizard cantrip. Produce Flame is your best damage cantrip as a druid, but you can do better with a quick dip into another class’s spell list.Darkvisionandperception proficiencyare nice too.
Fairy
Faerie FireandEnlarge/Reduceare great spells to have on hand, but the real draw here is being able tofly. Keep in mind you can’t fly while wearing medium armor.
Firbolg
A classic choice for a reason.Disguise SelfandDetect Magicare great spells to have, andHidden Steplets you become invisible for short periods. you’re able to already talk to beasts just fine, butSpeech of Beast and Leafwill also give you the ability to talk to plants too.
Fire Genasi
Produce Flameis already your best damage cantrip as a druid, which frees up a cantrip slot.Burning HandsandFlame Bladeare more situational.Darkvisionandfire damage resistanceare always useful.
Goblin
Fury of the Smallworks on spells and can go a long way toward improving your damage output.Darkvisionis great, and so is being able tohide and disengage as a bonus action.
Half-Elf
Same as with elf, being a high half-elf gives you access to a more potentwizard cantriplike Fire Bolt.Darkvisionandthree stat boostsare also good to have.
Harengon
Hare-Triggerplaces you earlier in the turn order,perception proficiencyis good to have, andRabbit Hopgets you out of sticky situations as a bonus action.Lucky Footworkis good to have, but you’ll hopefully avoid Dexterity saving throws entirely by playing in the back line.
Human
Variant humanlets you start the game with afree feat, like Magic Initiate, which will give you access to a more potent cantrip than Produce Flame.
Kobold
Draconic Sorcerygives you a sorcerer cantrip like Fire Bolt.Draconic Cryis nice to do in a crowd, but you should be letting your tanks deal with monsters.Darkvisionis always a plus.
Loxodon
Loxodon’sNatural Armorlets you use your Constitution modifier to improve your armor instead of Dexterity, allowing you to completely dump Dex to improve your hit points, and concentration, and still be hard to hit.Loxodon Serenityprevents charm and fear effects, andKeen Smellprovides three skill advantages so long as you can argue your nose is involved.
Darkvision,stealth proficiency, and being able toflyare all you’ll ever need.
Shadar-Kai
A30-foot teleportas a bonus action is great to get you out of trouble.Darkvisionandnecrotic damage resistanceare also great.Fey Ancestryis less useful, butperception proficiencyis always good to have.
Thri-Kreen
Secondary Armsmeans you may hold a wand, and a shield, and still have a hand free to cast the somatic components of spells.Chameleon Carapaceprovides extra armor class and advantage on hide checks, and bothDarkvisionandTelepathyare great for any character.
Best Ability Scores For A Circle Of The Shepherd Druid
You’ll need two things to be an effective Circle of the Shepherd druid:WisdomandConstitution. Wisdom empowers your spellcasting, and Constitution ensures you can maintain concentration on your spells and provides those all-important hit points.
Most druid spells require concentration, making Constitution doubly important compared to other spellcasting classes.
Dexterityis nice to have to shore up your armor class, butStrength,Intelligence, andCharisma can all be ignored.
If you’re using D&D’s point buy system,a decent starting ability score spreadfor a Circle of the Shepherd druid might look something like this.
8(-1)
14(+2)
16(+3)
10(0)
17(+3)
Best Starting Equipment For A Circle Of The Shepherd Druid
Everything you do should center around spells, so much of your starting equipment won’t matter.Choose a wooden shieldover your first simple weapon, and then pick either a quarterstaff or a sling if you want to use either the Shillelagh or Magic Stone cantrips. Otherwise, pick a sword or a dagger to at least cut annoying branches.
Shillelagh or Magic Stone aren’t ideal cantrips. They both require the use of your bonus action, and Shillelagh requires you to be in melee combat, which is not where a spellcasting druid should be.Produce Flame is your best damage cantrip, so feel free to pick whatever weapons you want since you won’t be using them anyway.
Leather armor, anexplorer’s pack, and adruidic focusround out your adventuring arsenal.
Best Spells For A Circle Of The Shepherd Druid
Since most of your abilities require a summoned fey or beast to function, you shouldfocus on spells that summon natural minionsto do your fighting along with some helpful healing and crowd-control spells.Here are a few suggestionsat each spell level.
