Druid Circle
Notes from the Nails: this week feels extra druidy, with the Spring Equinox on Tuesday and Earth Hour tomorrow! I hope you’re all doing your bit to save the planet!
Circle of Earth Science
Druids as a group are famed for their rejection of modern technology; the way they eschew the trappings of civilization in favor of a more natural life, closer to the land. Different circles express this in different ways: many will refuse to use smelted metals and the most hardcore radicals shun all human artifice altogether. For some druids, however, this technophobic approach is a mistake.
The Circle of Earth Science is a small but energetic faction that seeks to advance the traditional druidic agenda of environmental protection and spiritual harmony via the enthusiastic embrace of technology and innovation. The druids of this circle advocate the use of new gnomish instruments to measure, record. and analyze the environments they seek to protect, as well as the deployment of alchemical compounds to control pests and disease.
Organic Pesticide
Starting when you choose this circle at 2nd level, you develop techniques that enable you to selectively target pests while leaving other creatures unharmed. Whenever you cast a spell with an area of effect, such as faerie fire, you can grant immunity to the spell to any number of creatures of your choice.
In addition, you gain access to the following spells at the levels indicated. They count as druid spells for you, and you always have them prepared; they do not count against the number of spells you can prepare each day.
Druid Level | Spells |
3rd | pyrotechnics |
5th | stinking cloud |
7th | vitriolic sphere |
9th | cloudkill |
Clean Energy
Starting at 6th level, you can draw energy from the environment to fuel your magic. If you are in direct sunlight, within 30 feet of natural magma, and/or experiencing strong winds (faster than 10 miles per hour), you can cast a spell with a casting time of 1 action as a bonus action instead.
Once you use this ability, you must complete a short or long rest before using it again. Starting at 14th level, you can use this ability twice between rests.
Environmental Monitoring
At 10th level, you always know where in the world you are, which way is north, and what the weather will be for the next 48 hours. Any air or water vehicle you pilot moves at double its usual speed.
Furthermore, you can cast the spell detect poison and disease as a ritual, even if you do not have it prepared. You can cast this spell on a volume of natural air, water or soil to gain in-depth knowledge of its properties, including pollution levels, nutrient breakdown, and microbiology.
Climate Control
By 14th level, your ability to manipulate the environment around you has reached new heights. As an action, you can fully control the atmosphere in a 120-foot sphere centered on yourself. When you do so, you can raise or lower the temperature by up to 36 degrees Fahrenheit, change the relative humidity to any value from 0 to 100% (values above 95% fill the sphere with mist, which lightly obscures it), expel and exclude noxious vapors and bad smells from the sphere, or increase the light level from darkness to dim light or from dim light to bright light. You can also choose to prevent any natural or magical lightning bolt from striking anywhere in the sphere, if you so wish. The effect persists (and travels with you) until you use an action to dismiss it, use this ability again, or become incapacitated.
Changelog:
03/26/18: Climate Control: Temperature change switched from 20C to 36F.