D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal: Shape of "New Druid"

Druid video today. Where will wildshape land?

​

We saw three druids in the playtest, and each was meaningfully different. The most recent look at the class was in PT8 (UA Playtest document 8); with the Moon Druid in PT8, and Land Druid and Sea Druid in PT6, with the Stars Druid in Tasha's. What will change? What will be revealed? Will it be feasible to pick an combat animal shape and stick with it through 20 levels? Let's find out!

OVERVIEW

• "there is a ton of new in the druid": but it was all in the playtest materials. Very little to see here. "the final version has elements people didn't get to see" in the playtest, however everything they discuss was in the playtest documents.
• Primal order choice at level 1: Warden or Magician. Warden gives proficiency in Medium armor and martial weapons; Magician gives cantrip and nature checks (and so =PT8). Magician incentivizes not dumping Intelligence.
• no mention of metal armor; presumably any restriction is now gone.
• Druidic includes speak with animals prepared.
• Wildshape (as in PT8): as a bonus action; wild companion option from Tasha's for a familiar; you can speak; spellslot for another wildshift at 5.
• NO MENTION OF BEAST FORMS IN THE PHB.
• At level 7, Elemental Fury choice not determined by level 1 choice; you can mix-and-match. (would you want to?) Improved at level 15 -- extra range option works at range while flying, if you want.
• new cantrips: Starry Wisp (ranged spell attack in PT8) and Elementalism (PT6).

Overall, this is pretty disappointing in terms of a preview for people who have been invested in the playtest. No discussion of the beast forms in the PHB, no mention of distinctive Druid features (metal armor, though the silence is probably revelatory) or adjustements to canonical spells (any adjustments to Reincarnate so it might actually see play?).

Narrator: His questions would not be answered.

SUBCLASSES
Land

• Almost all as in PT6. This is "all about your spellcasting".
• you choose your land type every long rest. Arid, Polar, Temperate, Tropical (as in PT6).
• use wildshape at 3 to create "eruption of nature magic" (harms and heals). Expanded at 14 to include resitances.
• Two damage resistances at 10 (with flexibility: poison plus one determined by land type

Sea

• wanted to "make sure we don't have the Aquaman problem".
• NEW: Water breathing replaces Sleet storm on the subclass spell list.

Moon

• Almost everything exactly as in PT8: AC is "more reliable"; gain in temporary hit points instead of just taking over the creature's hit points. (a nerf, but a needed one). (Crawford ties it to abilities that activate when you get zero hp;
• NEW: subclass spell list given (it is different from PT8):
  • 3: cure wounds, moon beam, starry wisp (unchanged)
  • 5: conjure animals (replacing Vampiric touch)
  • 7: fount of Moonlight (new spell, as in PT8)
  • 9: mass cure wounds (replacing Dawn).

Stars

• like Tasha's, but starting now at level 3. Enhanced by core class, but no specific changes made.

 

[Baumi]

My main Question would have been how they handle choosing your animals. Checking the MM for all the Beasts was horrible in the 2014 Edition. They played around with it in the UA with templates and limited number of animals, but I would have loved to know what the final Version will be.

But it seems that Druid wont change into Animals much anyway, except for the Moon Druid, since every Subclass leans heavily into using the Wildshapes for their main stick..

 

[Parmandur]

Wait... the Primal Order: Warden grants the druid proficiency in medium armor...

The 2014 druid already gave druids medium armor proficiency: "Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields (druids will not wear armor or use shields made of metal)"

Medium armor includes Hide (same AC as studded leather), Chain shirt, Scale mail, Breastplate, and Half plate...

Druids cannot wear metal armor still, right?

Are they including Chain shirts, Scale mail, Breastplate, and Half plate non-magical items in the game that are not made of metal?

That's rather muddled.

No more metal restriction, as of the UA tests.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The metal armor restriction was one of those things they should have done away with a while ago. 3e had ridiculous things to get around it, like Fullplate Wooden Armor.

 

[Kinematics]

Minor change: Wrath of the Sea (Circle of the Sea) does cold damage instead of thunder damage (what it was in UA6).

 

[Parmandur]

Some more fun art:

 

[Charlaquin]

Sea

• wanted to "make sure we don't have the Aquaman problem".
• NEW: Water breathing replaces Sleet storm on the subclass spell list.

These two statements next to each other are very funny to me

 

[Croesus]

The "Aquaman Problem"

It refers to the problem of a character with water- (or sea- or ocean-) based powers being mostly useless on land. As the video mentions, they added storm powers to the Sea druid for this reason.

 

[Kinematics]

DnD Beyond article on the changes to Wild Shape: link

 

[mellored]

One thing they didn't mention that was in the playtest.

You need to prepare a few wild shapes at the start of the days.

You no longer have access to the full monster manual on at all times. Just a few at a time.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Druids cannot wear metal armor still, right?

Are they including Chain shirts, Scale mail, Breastplate, and Half plate non-magical items in the game that are not made of metal?

That's rather muddled.

The playtest documents now offer no restrictions, and so the half plate druid is, it would seem, on.