The manticore crashes down, pinned under a statue in its own likeness. There is a brief flurry of tooth and claw, then silence. The monster lies dead, while its stony twin shakes itself off, then sweeps its gaze past the group of adventurers, finally asking, "Any of you injured?"
Druid: Circle of Stone
Originating in monster-infested underground caverns, the Circle of Stone is built on the twin beliefs that civilization is a rightful part of the natural world, and that both deserve to be protected, including from excesses of the other. While this philosophy often sees them at odds with other Circles, they are quick to set aside any disagreements or animosities whenever their strength is needed against unnatural threats from without. Many of these solitary protectors spend days at a time in a guardian form, reserving the shapes of animals or people for the rare times they must interact with others.
Circle of Stone Features
| Druid Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Guardian Form, Protector's Instincts |
| 6th | Living Stone |
| 10th | Earthmover |
| 14th | Obsidian Protector |
Guardian Form
Once you choose this circle at 2nd level you can, as an action, expend a use of your Wild Shape ability to transform into a golemlike construct of living earth and stone. While in this guardian form, you follow the rules listed in the Wild Shape feature, with the following changes:
- Your guardian form is a construct which imitates the shape of and has the statistics of a creature of your choice of a challenge rating of 1/2 or lower. You ignore the limitations listed in the Beast Shapes table.
When you finish a long rest, you can change the
shape of your guardian form to imitate a different
creature you are familiar with. - In addition to beasts, your broader perspective
allows you to imitate some of the monstrosities and
other unnatural monsters you encounter. A suggested list of such creatures is provided at the end of this section. - Starting at 4th level, your selection of guardian forms increases. You have access to a number of different guardian forms equal to half your druid level, each of which may imitate a creature with a challenge rating as high as your druid level divided by 4, rounded down.
- Although your type is construct, you can still be targetted by spells, abilities or other effects which restore hit points but do not affect constructs. When that happens, you gain temporary hit points equal to the hit points that would be restored, plus your wisdom modifier (minimum of 0, maximum equal to the hit points restored). These temporary hit points last until you abandon the form.
- Your guardian form weighs twice as much as the creature it imitates. If the form is your only source of flying and/or swimming speed, you may use them as normal but you fall to the ground or sink to the bottom at the end of the turn.
- You can eat and drink, but do not have to. You do not need to breathe, but as long as you do, you can speak intelligibly. You do not gain any languages known by the imitated creature. You must, however, sleep as normal for your race.
- You retain limited spellcasting ability. You can cast druid spells which do not require a material component. However, until you reach 18th level, if the spell requires a somatic component, it must target you or a point in your space.
- You can stay in guardian form for a number of hours equal to your druid level, plus your own Constitution bonus, and you can maintain it even while unconscious.
Rule Tip: Resting in Guardian Form
Keep in mind that using Wild Shape or Guardian Form to change your form also gives you the hit points and Hit Dice of your transformation. This means that if you finish a short rest while transformed, you use the Hit Dice of the creature you are transformed into to regain its hit points, but you cannot use the Hit Dice normally gained from your class levels to regain your own (or the creature's) hit points. If you finish a long rest while transformed, you regain half of that creature's Hit Dice, up to the creature's maximum number of Hit Dice, instead of your own.
Additionally, remember that nothing prevents an undead or construct creature from regaining hit points through resting.
Protector's Instincts
Also at 2nd level, you become wary of threats to you and your charges. While in wild shape or guardian form, you have advantage on initiative rolls and cannot be surprised as long as you are conscious. Otherwise, if you are surprised at the beginning of combat and aren't incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn, but only if you transform before doing anything else
on that turn.
Living Stone
By 6th level, you learn to refine your guardian form into a construct of pure magical stone, resembling a living statue. While in your guardian form, you gain the following benefits:
- You gain resistance to poison damage, as well as bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from weapons which are not magical or adamantine.
- Your attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
- Your weight further doubles. If an effect would forcibly move you, it moves you 10 feet less.
- You are unaffected by (but not immune to) petrification effects as long as you remain in your guardian form.
Earthmover
At 10th level, you gain the ability to extend your control over earth and stone out onto your surroundings. As an action, you can indicate a portion of earth, dirt or unworked stone which you can see within 30 feet and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You can instantly excavate the affected terrain, breaking it into lumps or gravel and moving it along the ground and depositing it up to 5 feet away, optionally forming it into rough shapes of your choosing. This movement does not have enough force to cause damage. Alternatively, if you target the ground, you can magically cause it to become difficult terrain, or to be normal terrain if already difficult terrain.
Affected terrain is held magically in place for 1 hour or until you dismiss it as an action. You can have an amount of such effects active at one time equal to half your druid level. Afterwards, hard earth or stone return to their previous shape over the course of one minute, but loose earth or clay remains until eroded or disturbed.
Obsidian Protector
At 14th level, you gain the ability to briefly assume an empowered form. As a bonus action, you can transform into a guardian form with maximized hit points. This does not expend a use of your Wild Shape ability. You determine the appearance of your empowered form - for example, it might appear to be made of black stone, with a fiery glow emanating from its eyes, maw and joints, or it might be an idealized sculpture of marble and alabaster, seemingly more real than the creature it imitates. While empowered, you gain the following benefits:
- When you activate this ability, and at the start of each of your turns, you gain temporary hit points equal to your druid level.
- Friendly creatures within 30 feet of you are suffused with protective energy, and gain the benefits of your Living Stone feature.
- As a reaction to your empowered form being reduced to 0 hit points, you may immediately expend one use of your Wild Shape feature to transform into a guardian form imitating the same creature, which is no longer empowered.
Unless lost, your empowered form lasts for one minute, then becomes a normal guardian form. Any hit points above the new maximum are lost. Once you use this ability, you can't use it again until you complete a long rest.
Monstrous Shapes
A Druid of the Circle of Stone can imitate some of the monstrosities (perhaps even other types) they encounter, but not all make for good - or balanced - options for player use. When deciding on forms to allow a player to imitate, avoid:
- Creatures with strong passive auras (such as the basilisk or rust monster) or powerful curses (death dog).
- Sessile ambush creatures (roper, piercer).
- Powerful save-or-die effects such as petrification (basilisk, cocatrice, gorgon) or paralysis (yeti).
- Innate spellcasters (lamia)
Not every creature makes sense replicated as an earth and stone construct. Consider avoiding the following:
- Humanoid, weapon-wielding monstrosities (minotaurs, chitines, yuan-ti, tincalli)
- Shapeshifters (mimics, doppelgangers)
- Creatures defined by magical ability (displacer beast, phase spider) or unusual makeup (shadow mastiff)
Thus, the suggested list of additional forms is as follows:
From the Monster Manual: Worg (CR 1/2), Hippogriff (CR 1), Ankheg, Carrion Crawler, Ettercap, Grick, Griffon, Peryton (CR 2), Hook Horror, Manticore, Owlbear, Winter Wolf (CR 3), Chuul (CR 4), Bulette, Young Remorhaz (CR 5).
From Volo's Guide to Monsters: Giant Strider (CR 1), Guard Drake (CR 2), Leucrotta (CR 3), Girallion (CR 4).
From Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes: Young Kruthik (CR 1/8), Male Steeder (CR 1/4), Female Steeder (CR 1), Adult Kruthik (CR 2), Kruthik Hive Lord (CR 5)
Practice
Safe
Homebrewing
Art Credits
All artwork licensed from ShutterStock.
With Special Thanks To
My lovely editors, for their patience and encouragement.
DMs who let me playtest and polish this thing.
Members of the Discord of Many Things, for invaluable advice and inspiration.
This has been
This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by Matthias Derela and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.