Circle of the Eclipse
By @genasilesbians
The dark cousin of Circle of the Moon. Instead of Wild Shaping into beasts and elementals, your transformation turns you into a monstrosity.
Circle of the Eclipse Features
| Druid Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Combat Wild Shape, Grim Transformation |
| 6th | Primal Strike |
| 10th | Horrid Form |
| 14th | Mastery of the Monstrous |
Combat Wild Shape
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to use Wild Shape on your turn as a bonus action, rather than as an action.
Grim Transformation
The rites of your circle give you the ability to turn into stranger, more unnatural forms. Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Wild Shape to transform into a monstrosity with a challenge rating as high as ½ (You ignore the max CR column of the Beast Shapes table, but must abide by the other limitations there.) You abide by the Circle of The Eclipse Beast Shapes table below:
| Level | Max CR | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | ½ | no flying or swimming speed |
| 4th | ½ | no flying speed |
| 6th | 1 | no flying speed |
| 8th | 1 | |
| 9th | 2 | |
| 12th | 3 | |
| 15th | 4 | |
| 18th | 5 |
Primal Strike
At 6th level, your attacks while Wild Shaped count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunity to non-magical attacks and damage.
Horrid Form
At 10th level, when you use your Wild Shape to transform into a monstrosity, each creature within 30 ft. of you must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened of you for one minute. They can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns.
Mastery of the Monstrous
At 14th level, once per long rest, you can cast Polymorph on yourself without material components or expending a spell slot. You can choose to transform into either a beast or a monstrosity. If you choose to be a monstrosity, its maximum CR is equal to half your Druid level rounded down.
Balance & Notes
If you're worried about the access to monstrosities being too powerful, you can rule that a player character can only transform into a monstrosity that they have seen or know of. This way, you as the DM have more control over what your druids capabilities are, and it adds a fun incentive for seeking out information on, or fights with, monstrosities.
Additionally because of the limited list of low level monstrosities, if your player wishes to transform into a monstrosity with a flight speed before they are 8th level, you may simply remove the ability to use the flight speed of the monstrosity.