Circle of Winter (Druid Subclass)
Druids of the Circle of Winter hail from the coldest regions of the realms. They are wanderers in the snow, guardians of the frigid tundra and the towering mountains. Those who follow this circle understand the cycle of winter, the imperceptible changing landscape, the frozen in time appearance, and ultimately the great melting that signifies the end of their time and the arrival of a new dawn.
| Druid Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Circle Spells, Aspect of Winter, Floe Shaper |
| 6th | Rimecoat |
| 10th | Cold Snap |
| 14th | Blizzard Aspect |
Circle Spells
At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Winter 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.
Winter Spells
| Druid Level | Circle Spells |
|---|---|
| 3rd | snilloc's snowball storm, hold person |
| 5th | call lightning, slow |
| 7th | fire shield*, ice storm |
| 9th | cone of cold, control winds |
*Only chill shield is available when cast this way
Aspect of Winter
Beginning at 2nd level, you can temporarily create a snowstorm around yourself. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature, rather than transforming into a beast form. You gain 4 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class. While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:
- If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points, the creature takes cold damage equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1 damage).
- Creatures of your choice that start their turn within 30 feet of you have their speed reduced by 5 feet, to a minimum of 10 feet. This reduction increases to 10 feet at 6th level, 15 feet at 10th level, and 20 feet at 14th level.
These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all these temporary hit points. or until you use your Wild Shape again.
Floe Shaper
Also at 2nd level, you learn to magically alter snow, ice, and water around you. You learn the shape water cantrip, which doesn't count against the number of druid cantrips you know. For you, it has the following changes:
- You can target an area of ice or snow in addition to water.
Art: Septimius Ferdian
- You can melt ice or snow in an area, making the area unable to freeze over again for up to 1 hour.
Rimecoat
At 6th level, You conduct an hour-long ritual to improve your armour with magical rime. While you wear armour improved in this way, you gain the following benefits:
- You gain resistance to cold damage.
- While you aren't wild shaped, your armour class cannot be less than 16. If your armour class is already a 16 or higher, you increase it by 1.
- You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws against non-magical cold-induced effects such as frigid water or slippery ice.
Cold Snap
Once you reach 10th level, as an action, you can rapidly reduce the temperature in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed a Constitution saving throw, or take a number of d4's equal to your druid level as cold damage.
While your Aspect of Winter feature is active, this range is increased to a 30-foot cone.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Blizzard Aspect
Finally, at 14th level your winter spirit makes you more elusive in your snowstorm. While your Aspect of Winter feature is active, any creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against you. An attacker is immune to this effect if it doesn't rely on sight, as with blindsight, or if they can see through heavy obscuration.
Version 1.1
Got any ideas or feedback? Message me here