Circle of Primal Bonds
While all druids feel a connection with nature and wish to defend it, druids in the Circle of Primal Bonds help nature to protect itself with the help of a beast companion. A Primal Bonds druid and their companion are joined in mind and spirit, aiding and empowering one another to overcome threats to themselves and their environment. The beast becomes an extension of the druid, allowing them to change both their form and their companions.
Spirit Bond
When you choose to join this druid circle, you undertake an 8 hour ceremony to bind your essence with that of one of nature's beasts. A beast is chosen by you with the DM, that is CR 1/4 and has no swim or fly speed. The chosen companion loses any multiattack ability but gains the use of your wisdom and intelligence save proficiencies. Your companion learns to understand a language of your choice but cannot speak it. While in direct line of sight, you have telepathic communication with your companion for up to 60 feet, otherwise they can follow verbal commands given in the language they understand. Your companion acts on your initiative and has their own movement, action and reaction. When you fall unconscious, your companion will do its upmost to move to and defend you from hostile creatures. Your companion is considered trained to accept you as rider if it can and may be controlled by you when mounted in combat.
Art: Randy Vargas
Deepening The Bond
As your bond strengthens and your druidic skills and abilities grow, so does your companions. Use your proficiency bonus for your companions Natural Armour (10+prof+dex), their attack rolls, skill and save proficiencies. For each druid level you gain after second, your companion gains an additional hit die and increases their hitpoints accordingly. Whenever you gain an ability score improvement druid class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can either increase one ability score by two or increase two ability scores by one.
Bestial Personality
Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the tables below. Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, “The druid who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life.”
| D6 | Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I'm dauntless in the face of adversity. |
| 2 | Threaten my friends, threaten me |
| 3 | I stay on alert so others can rest |
| 4 | People see an animal and underestimate me. I use that to my advantage. |
| 5 | I have a knack for showing up in the nick of time. |
| 6 | I put my friends' needs before my own in all things. |
| D6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | If there's food left unattended, I'll eat it. |
| 2 | I growl at strangers, and all people except my allies are strangers. |
| 3 | Any time is a good time for a belly rub. |
| 4 | I'm deathly afraid of water. |
| 5 | My idea of hello is a flurry of licks to the the face. |
| 6 | I climb atop of others to tell them how much I love them |
Companion Shape
The bond forged between you and your companion allows you to channel your druidic abilities into them. As an action you can touch your companion and use a charge of wild shape to change their form, chosen in accordance to the Wild Shape table on pg.66 of the Players Handbook. Should you be rendered unconscious, your companion will revert back to their natural form.
Restoration
Should your companion be slain, your bond allows you to restore them to life. You can perform an 8 hour long ceremony, consuming 25g worth of rare herbs, to restore your animal companion to life; even if there is no part of its body remaining. If you restore a companion after bonding with another, the current companion leaves you and is replaced by the one being restored.
At fifth level, your bond grants you the ability to magically restore your companion to life should they fall. You are able to revive them as an action, consuming 25gp worth of rare herbs as materials and a third level or higher spell slot . You always have the spell prepared and does not count against the number of spells you can prepare each day, but it can only be used on your companion.
Improved Companion Shape
At level 6, you may use Wild Shape to enlarge your companions natural form, doubling their size in all dimensions, and multiplying its weight by eight. This growth increases its size by one, e.g. Medium to Large. If there isn't enough room for the companion to double in size, they attain the maximum possible size in the space available. The companion also has advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. The companion’s attacks deal 1d4 extra damage. While Wild Shaped, your beasts’ attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Syncronised Bond
Starting at level 10, you and your companion use your bond to instinctively know what the other is doing. This allows for the exploitation of the slightest openings in the enemy defences. When attacking the same foe, the one who strikes second has advantage in their attack. Additionally, should you be hit by an attack from a hostile creature, your companion can use its reaction to move up to half its speed towards the hostile creature and attack if within range.
Two as One
At level 14, Your telepathic bond has become so strong that it allows you to channel magic through it. You can now use Wild Shape and other abilities through your companion so long as your companion is within 60 feet and in direct line of sight. You can also cast spells with a range of touch through your companion, using your action to cast the spell and your companions action for them to attack or touch the target. If the spell fails to hit then the spell is lost, as if you yourself had missed the attack.
