#circle of the shepherd

[greyeisacreativecolor]

Decided to take a crack at making the drawtectives into a d&d party.

Grandma is obviously a shepherd druid with dumplings as the unicorn, a rhino as the bear, and a dog for the eagle.

Not sure which barbarian fits York best, but he definitely has the grappler feat, and the unarmed fighting style

Rosé is probably a thief rogue, and has the Italian cold steel chinquedea

[mothdogsart]

My Firbolg druid, Yucca, for a last minute Artfight profile update 🥰 Let’s follow each other! >

[hearthdraws]

Malyn got a new design after hitting lvl 10! My brain was huge when it came to that armour design

[raeynbowboi]

What Is the Best Party for a Necromancer

With enough time and preparation, a Necromancy Wizard can create a small army of powerful undead, but I got to wondering: what party formation does the best job at supporting the Necromancer's undead horde to reach its maximum potential? So, that's what I'm seeking to do. To create a party of 4-5 characters that best empowers and emboldens the Necromancer's army.

WIZARD SCHOOL OF NECROMANCY

The star and most likely the official team leader of the party, the Necromancy Wizard is the focal point of this team composition. With their 6th level feature: Undead Thralls, the Necromancy Wizard adds their Wizard level (6-20) to each undead's hit points, and their proficiency bonus (3-6) to each undead's weapon attack damage. This means that the Necromancy Wizard makes the strongest possible undead thralls in the game. At 14th level, the Necromancer can place any undead under their control with Command Undead. This gives the Wizard the ability to gain a free Wight, a high CR undead like a Nightwalker, or even notable villains like Acerack, Vecna, Strahd Von Zarovich, or Sylas Briarwood. Intelligent Undead can make saving throws, but a simple Feeblemind can take care of that pesky detail.

PALADIN OATHBREAKER

The Oathbreaker Paladin was chosen because of their 7th level feature: Aura of Hate. Any undead within 10 feet of the Paladin adds the Paladin's Charisma modifier (1-5) to all weapon attack damage. At 15th level, that Aura expands to 30 feet. Not only can this stack with the Necromancy Wizard's Undead Thralls feature, making undead near the paladin stronger, but the Paladin does not need to be the one who created the undead. So the Oathbreaker can lead the undead into battle on the front lines, while the Wizard stands further back sniping enemies with cantrips and low level spells. Unfortunately, only one Aura of Hate can effect a single undead, but in theory, one Necromancy Wizard with 3-4 spaced out oathbreakers each with a 10 or 30 ft aura can effectively organize your undead army into tight formation battalions. But there are other good allies to have in the game.

CLERIC GRAVE DOMAIN

We want the Grave Cleric for many reasons. Firstly, they get a lot of necromancy spells, so while their horde won't be as strong as the Wizard's they too can create a horde of undead, making an even bigger army. Their Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave makes it so that an enemy is vulnerable to the damage of the next attack that hits them, which sets up nicely for the Oathbreaker to lay down a devastating smite, or the Necromancy Wizard to ensure a fresh thrall from their Finger of Death. Sentinel at Death's Door can be used to nullify critical hits, which can keep not only party members, but even undead minions from being obliterated. The wizard's Wight that controls 12 zombies is probably an asset you don't want to risk losing, so having a way to save that valuable asset is useful. And, should the Necromancer forget to reassert control over their horde in time, the Cleric's Destroy Undead feature can help the party mow through the bodies.

DRUID CIRCLE OF THE SHEPHERD

I know, I know. A Shepherd Druid and a Necromancy Wizard in one party is a DM's nightmare, but there's a reason we're choosing this subclass. It's not the animal summoning, it's the Totem Spirit. See, the Totem Spirit radiates an aura in a 30 ft radius. And that aura bolsters as many creatures as you want within that aura. Meaning that not only can the shepherd provide aerial support with swarms of ravens and buzzards, but that aura also applies to the Wizard's undead horde. The Bear totem grants the undead Temporary Hit Points, and the Unicorn Spirit makes it so that when the Druid heals anyone outside the aura, they're also healing every creature inside the aura. While they can't target undead creatures with their healing spells, the aura's healing factor does not exclude undead, allowing the Druid to heal a party member, and in doing so, heal every undead within 30 feet of the totem spirit. The fact that the Druid can summon a stronger horde of animals is just a nice little cherry on top. There's also nothing saying you can't reflavor your animal army as being undead animal corpses with DM approval to fit in with the necromantic themes.

WARLOCK FATHOMLESS PATRON

This is the least useful of the five, but it does have its uses, so while it is the most expendable of the options, there are reasons to use it if you have a five man party. At 6th level, the Fathomless Warlock gains the ability Guardian Coil. Their summoned tentacle can defend a single ally creature, reducing damage the creature takes by 1d8, or 2d8 at level 10. At 14th level, Fathomless Plunge can be used to teleport the Warlock and up to five other creatures to any source of water within 1 mile. The Fathomless Warlock, The Shepherd Druid, and the Grave Cleric can cast Create or Destroy Water, and a puddle is a source of water, letting the warlock teleport fresh undead to the front lines, or move injured undead to the backlines. If the Druid has their Unicorn Totem, this can be a useful way to teleport party members or important undead like Wights to the Totem's aura, and giving the party ways to move important creatures. The teleported creatures also do not need to be near the Warlock, they simply need to be able to see them within 30 feet, allowing the warlock to give the undead horde greater mobility. Make your patron Davy Jones, The Captain of the Flying Dutchman, or the Eldritch Lord of Shipwrecks to keep on brand with the themes of undeath and necromancy within the party, tying yourself to those lost to watery graves.

SPELLS AND SYNERGY

The core spells of Animate Dead, Create Undead, Danse Macabre, and Finger of Death can be used to create undead thralls. Wizards get all four spells, while the Cleric only gets Animate Dead and Create Undead. Oathbreakers also get Animate Dead, but only get up to 5th level spell slots. Warlocks can learn Animate Dead through an Eldritch Invocation, but only once per long rest, and only at 3rd level. Warlocks also learn Danse Macabre and Finger of Death. They also get Create Undead, but can only cast it at 6th level.

Both the Warlock and the Wizard get access to Negative Energy Flood, which can be used to heal an undead, or to damage a living target. Like Finger of Death, a creature killed by Negative Energy Flood rises as a zombie.

Aura of Vitality is a spell for Clerics, Druids, and Paladins that creates a healing aura within 30 ft of the caster. The spell's text does not exclude undead from benefitting from this aura, however only one creature can be healed with a bonus action. While this isn't super useful given it only heals one creature, the Druid using this spell to trigger their Unicorn Totem every turn with a bonus action does make this more useful, as you're able to heal the undead army multiple turns in a row while only using one spell slot. And unlike Healing Spirit, the initial healing can also be applied to an undead. The only caveat is that the healing needs to go a creature outside of the unicorn totem's aura in order to trigger the healing. Luckily, the Totem does not have to be within any given distance of the Druid, which gives the Druid more flexibility in their positioning.

Every creature that can be created with Animate Dead and Create Undead (Skeletons, Zombies, Ghouls, Ghasts, Wights, and Mummies) are immune to Poison damage. As such, AoE spells that deal Poison damage, such as Cloudkill can be dropped on top of your undead horde without harming them, but harming any living enemy near them. Your undead can also attempt to grapple foes, holding them in the Cloudkill, preventing them from leaving as they suffocate. The Necromancy Wizard is the only member of the party that can learn Cloudkill.

Both the Grave Cleric and the Druid can learn Antilife Shell, which pushes living creatures away from the caster, while allowing undead creatures to move through the shell harmlessly. This can be a great way to keep Strength-based enemies at a distance. Unfortunately the shell is not a proper force field, as weapon and spell attacks can still pass through, so this is not a way to protect the Wizard. It only keeps melee-ranged threats at bay.

BALDUR'S GATE III

While we can't recreate this team set-up perfectly in Baldur's Gate III, we can still do a weaker version with four party members: TAV as a Necromancy Wizard, Astarion or Karlach as an Oathbreaker, Shadowheart as really any Cleric subclass, and Wyll as a Fiend Warlock with a Pact of the Tome. The Tome will allow Wyll to cast Animate Dead and Create Undead, Tav and Shadowheart will also be able to create undead, and Astarion or Karlach will be able to use their aura of hate to strengthen those undead thralls. It's not as good as what we built above, but short of mods, it's the best we can do. It doesn't really matter who's what, this is just an example of a party composition. Astarion could just as easily be the necromancer and TAV the Oathbreaker, you could have Gale as the Necromancer, or Lae'zel as the Oathbreaker. What really matters are the classes. The Cleric can still clear any undead that turn on the party, the paladin still bolsters the already stronger undead, and every member of the party is pretty much able to make equally strong undead, the Wizards undead are just juiced up to the max.

[bugpysforge]

While the cities and towns surrounding the rivers and lakes expand, Seaking makes every effort to ensure the safety of the creatures that reside there.

Race: Merfolk Class: Druid Subclass: Circle of the Shepherd Location: Ballimere Lake Alignment: Lawful Good

View the pokedex of all dungeon pokemon on the Bugpy's Forge website.

[pileojunk]

I have no new campaign to play my big crab Druid lady BUT I WILL FIND ONE BECAUSE LOOK AT HER I LOVE ME MY BIG LADIES

[worldsokayestmagicalgirl]

It’s wild thinking about how we’ve been playing this campaign for over 3 years but this is the first time we’re cosplaying our characters. But honestly I can’t express how happy getting to be Amoré for a night made me.

And we may not have had Diana this time but we did find Ziteng!

[knuxtiger4]

My druid ladies! All of them are member of the Sylvan Order which is basically an off shoot of the Emerald Enclave but them believe they can do a better job that the EE.

Esmeray is basically my self-insert in D&D that was Zula's student and Raina's teacher who over time learned to not be scared of the world around her. She eventually married Niblen Von Drex in our game who was played by my fiancé @gloriousfirepersona!

Raina was my first character I played ever in D&D and boy she caused a lot of trouble and even after post game to Esmeray too. Esme and Nilben decide to throw Nilben's sister Vanessa to get Raina into a good behavior and well...they fell in love and have been married since.

Zula is a skilled druid and one that has seen most of the world. Unfortunately that would lead her to the Underdark and an eventual slave to Lynestra Von Drex where for the long time had a very complicated relationship (those scars prove that). It eventually would lead to genuine love between the two ladies. Zula would leave Drex a few time (she trained Esme) and eventually she did not return as she was slain but a group of evil druids and her body serving as a vessel for Zuggtmoy.

Recent with the combine forces of Drex they were able to free Zula's soul and revive her!

[galilelgalileo]

I come back to the art scene via DND have a brightmaid/tiefling shepherd 🦄🌱

[bumblerhizal-art]

trying out some watercolors

[dragonbackvoyager]

The curved bones nestled between his fingers snap and click with a satisfying rhythm as he flicks his wrists, cheerfully singing their own song beside the bright crackling of the fire.

What kind of instrument would a Druid play amongst friends? I really like the rhythm bones for Taurosso. Their construction helps keep part of a necessary hunt from being wasted, and their role as percussion means that he can heartily support any musical endeavors that happen upon him during his travels!

[greyeisacreativecolor]

Decided to take a crack at making the drawtectives into a d&d party.

Grandma is obviously a shepherd druid with dumplings as the unicorn, a rhino as the bear, and a dog for the eagle.

Not sure which barbarian fits York best, but he definitely has the grappler feat, and the unarmed fighting style

Rosé is probably a thief rogue, and has the Italian cold steel chinquedea

[catsidhesilvie]

The "before" time, when Zilvra was a druid who guarded a fey crossing, until she was kidnapped and ended up having to create a pact with an archfey to escape the feywilds :D

Notice that she has all kinds of flowers around that are NOT wilting, hahaha. I figured, for her to have been so annoyed by the wilting curse without memory, being around flowers must have been a sacred and regular occurance for her.

[cagemasterfantasy]

Circle of the Shepherd (2024) (Homebrew)

Note: This is my own take on Circle of the Shepherd using the 2024 rules for Druid. This post will be deleted if this subclass gets updated to 2024 rules. Changes are described at the end.

From: Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Druids of the Circle of the Shepherd commune with the spirits of nature, especially the spirits of beasts and the fey, and call to those spirits for aid. These druids recognize that all living things play a role in the natural world, yet they focus on protecting animals and fey creatures that have difficulty defending themselves. Shepherds, as they are known, see such creatures as their charges. They ward off monsters that threaten them, rebuke hunters who kill more prey than necessary, and prevent civilization from encroaching on rare animal habitats and on sites sacred to the fey. Many of these Druids are happiest far from cities and towns, content to spend their days in the company of animals and the fey creatures of the wilds.

Members of this circle become adventurers to oppose forces that threaten their charges or to seek knowledge and power that will help them safeguard their charges better. Wherever these Druids go, the spirits of the wilderness are with them.

Level 3 Speech of the Woods: You gain the ability to converse with beasts and many fey.

Fey Speech. You learn to speak, read, and write Sylvan (Or in my homebrew Persian). If you already know Sylvan, you learn another language of your choice. 

Beastial Speech. You can cast the Speak with Animals spell without expending a spell slot. 

Level 3 Spirit Totem: You can call forth nature spirits to influence the world around you. As a Bonus Action, you can expend a use of Wild Shape to magically summon an intangible spirit to a point you can see within 60 feet of you. The spirit creates an aura in a 30-foot radius around that point. It counts as neither a creature nor an object, though it has the spectral appearance of the creature it represents. As a Bonus Action, you can move the spirit up to 60 feet to a point you can see.

The spirit persists for 1 minute or until you have the Incapacitated condition. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.

The effect of the spirit’s aura depends on the type of spirit you summon from the options below.

Bear Spirit. The bear spirit grants you and your allies its might and endurance. When a creature ends its turn in the aura, you can take a Reaction to grant it Temporary Hit Points equal to 5 plus your Druid level. In addition, you and your allies have Advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws while within the aura. 

Hawk Spirit. The hawk spirit is a consummate hunter, aiding you and your allies with its keen sight. When a creature within the spirit’s aura makes an attack roll, you can take a Reaction to grant it Advantage on that attack roll, and any other attack it makes before the start of your next turn. In addition, you and your allies have advantage on Perception checks while in the aura.

Unicorn Spirit. The unicorn spirit lends its protection to those nearby. When a creature in the aura recovers Hit Points, you can take a Reaction to increase the number of Hit Points regained by an amount equal to 5 plus your Druid level. In addition, you and your allies have Advantage on all ability checks made to detect creatures in the spirit’s aura.

Level 6 Mighty Summoner: Spirits that you summon are more resilient than normal. You always have the Summon Beast and Summon Fey spells prepared. In addition, when you cast either spell, or another spell that summons a single creature, the summoned creature gains the following benefits:

Increased Resiliency. The creature appears with more Hit Points than normal: 5 extra Hit Points per level of the spell that summoned it.

Magical Attacks. When the creature hits with an attack, you can choose for it to use its normal damage type or Force damage. You make this choice each time the creature hits with an attack.

Level 10 Guardian Spirit: Your Spirit Totem safeguards the Beasts and Fey that you call forth with your magic. If a creature summoned by your Summon Beast or Summon Fey spells ends its turn inside your Spirit Totem aura, it regains hit points equal to your Druid level.

Changes:

Speech of the Woods now lets you learn a different language if you already know Sylvan

Speech of the Woods lets you cast Speak with Animals at will, instead of giving you a special way to communicate with beasts.

Each of the Spirit Totem options now work by you using your Reaction to give a buff to one creature. The feature is now fuelled by Wild Shape. 

Hawk no longer cares about whether the target of the attack is in the aura, only the attacker. It also applied advantage to all attacks the target makes for 1 round, not just the initial attack

Unicorn no longer cares about who cast the healing spell. 

Mighty Summoner now grants the Summon Beast and Summon Fey spells, though the benefits can be used for any summoning spell. It grants extra hit points equal to 5 times the spell’s level, and the creatures can exchange their normal damage type for Force.

Guardian Spirit specifically only works on Summon Beast and Summon Fey

Faithful Summons now casts Summon Beast, rather than Conjure Animals

[dragonbackvoyager]

I’ve been staring at this art ALL day, and I’ve set it as my desktop background so that I can keep admiring it for longer! It makes me long to visit my druid’s homestead to hang out with him and his cows under the warm sun. ☺️ The atmosphere of the scene is just amazing and so incredibly inviting, from the cows’ soft fur to the texture of the environment and Taurosso’s soft expression!

You’ve done a perfect job of capturing Taurosso in his favorite place with his favorite fuzzy friends (and mine too) - thank you again, thank you so much for drawing him! ❤️

Got to draw @dragonbackvoyager cosy character, Taurosso! When I read he likes highland cows I knew I got that add that to the piece ❤️ #potlucksecretsatan2024

[bugpysforge]

Most of the time, Quagsire is an idler who doesn't want to accomplish anything. He lets others do all the work and just lounges about. He is extremely accepting of all creatures, monsters and people.

Race: Grung Class: Druid Subclass: Circle of the Shepherd Location: Harbor Inns Alignment: Neutral Good

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