Circle of Spores Revised

by StrayChowChow

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Circle of Spores

Druids of the Circle of Spores find beauty in decay. They see within mold and other fungi the ability to transform lifeless material into new life. These druids believe that life and death are part of a grand cycle, with one leading to the other and back again. Death is not the end of life, but instead a change of state that sees life shift into a new form.

Circle Spells

Your symbiotic link to fungus and your ability to tap into the cycle of life and death grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd level, you learn the chill touch cantrip. At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of Spores Spells table.

Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Circle of Spores Spells
Druid Level Spells
3rd gentle repose, ray of enfeeblement
5th gaseous form, vampiric touch
7th blight, confusion
9th cloudkill, contagion

Halo of Spores

Starting at 2nd level, you are surrounded by necrotic spores that are harmless until you unleash them on a creature nearby. When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use a reaction to infect the creature with these spores. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, the spores infect the creature, dealing 1 necrotic damage each round and poisoning the creature for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. The damage per round increases to 2 at 6th level, 3 at 9th level, and 4 at 14th level.

Fungal Form

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to take on a special fungal form with your Wild Shape feature. When you use your Wild Shape feature, you transform into a fungal-infested form instead and gain the following benefits.

  • Your type is plant, instead of humanoid.
  • You gain 5 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class.
  • When you use your Halo of Spore feature while in your fungal form, the creature takes twice as much damage per round for the duration of their infection.
  • Your unarmed strikes are magical and use a d8 damage die, and you can use Wisdom instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls with your unarmed strikes.
  • Your melee weapon attacks and unarmed strikes deal an additional 1d6 poison damage to any target they hit.

These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all temporary hit points granted by this feature, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

Fungal Germination

At 6th level, your spores gain the ability to infest a humanoid or beast corpse and animate it.

When a humanoid or beast dies within 10 feet of you, you can use your reaction to imbue it with your spores, which germinate and feed on the corpse. A Violet Fungus (Monster Manual p. 138) sprouts out of the corpse. It remains alive for 1 hour, after which it withers and dies.

In combat, the servant takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys your mental commands, and the only action it can take is the Attack action, making one Rotting Touch attack.

Spore Cloud

At 10th level, you gain the ability to seed an area with deadly spores. As a bonus action while using your Fungal Form feature, you can hurl spores up to 30 feet away, where they swirl in a 10-foot cube for 1 minute. The spores disappear early if you use this feature again, if you dismiss them as a bonus action, or if your fungal form is no longer active.

Whenever a creature moves into the cube or starts its turn there, that creature takes damage from your Halo of Spores for each turn it remains within the cube. A creature can take this damage no more than once per turn.

When a creature dies within the cube, you can use your Fungal Germination feature to grow a fungus, even if it is farther than 10 feet away from you.

While the Spore Cloud persists, you can't use your Halo of Spores reaction.

Symbiotic Entity

At 14th level, the fungus in your body alters you. You can't be blinded, deafened, frightened, or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit instead, unless you are incapacitated.

 

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