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

Druid video today. Where will wildshape land?

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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.

 

[Argyle King]

I'm not sure how to comment on this one. A lot of the ongoing conversations are largely alien to my views on the druid.

Changes with which I agree:
•Moon Druid HP was a bit broken in 2014, so a better way of handling that is good.

Things I'm curiously optimistic about:
•Warden as a more melee-focus druid could be cool. One of my friends highly enjoyed playing Wardens in 4E. Though, I'm not 100% sure how a Warden is thematically distinct from Oath of Ancients Paladin. I'm also curious how much inspiration from 4E was taken for this Warden.
•I would like to know of Druid/Paladins can Smite-Bite (or claw) in the 2024 version of the game.

Things I'm Neutral About:
•New version of wildshape has a lot of ambiguity in the preview.

Things I'm Slightly Negative About:
•I agree with a poster above said about 5.24 coming across as noncommittal, due to being able to rest and change your character. While I 100% understand not wanting to make a trap character or get stuck with unuseful abilities, I believe there was a better way to do this. Either give pros & cons to each land choice, change the Druid fluff to be more about geomancy and communing with the surrounding nature, or... I dunno what else. I just think there was a more interesting and better way of approaching the land druid.

Things that are alien to me:
•Allegedly, a lot of people found the 2014 Druid Class too complicated. I'm not sure that I understand that viewpoint.

 

[Kobold Stew]

overall its a bit meh - and what is the Aquaman problem?

As someone who grew up playing Aquaman make-believe in the 1970s, leaping off the couch (Wonder Woman's jet) into the ocean of the living room carpet, I can say the problem is that his skillset becomes noticeably less useful when he is not near the water.

Superman has laser eyes and super strength, Wonder Woman a magic lasso, and Aquaman talks telepathically to fish.

(As a joke in comics fandom, I think the problem really only began with a Robot Chicken sketch in 2005, and Geoff Johns's run did a lot to address it. But the meme remains.)

 

[Kobold Avenger]

overall its a bit meh - and what is the Aquaman problem?

The idea that Aquaman is only useful when he's near a body of water. It's been a reoccurring joke with the character.

 

[mellored]

Could someone sell me on Magician?

You're a human and use your bonus feat to take medium armor.

Multiclass monk to make Kung Fu Panda.

You just have a stacked front line of a fighter, barbarian, monk, and paladin. So you don't expect many attacks to come at you.

You're min-maxing your nature check.

You plan on spending all your time in beast form.

You take a heavy crossbow, weapon mastery, max dex, and use it to push enemies into your Web or Spiked Growth.

I still expect 80% will choose armor. But I see no real downside to having an alternative.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

what is the Aquaman problem?

Aquaman is incredibly tough and strong! But... he's often seen with the Justice League, with Wonder Woman (incredibly tough and strong, but more so) and Superman (incredibly tough and strong and whatever else), and Martian Manhunter (incredibly tough and strong and even more of anything he wants than Superman)...

So alone, Aquaman is damn impressive. In a team, his only unique thing becomes 'can talk to fish', which makes him look bad. It's a lesson in how you shouldn't hang around with your coworkers who are all prettier than you, or something.

 

[Chaosmancer]

As to why magician, because Merlin was traditionally called a magician, and/or druid.

Yeah, the original magicians were all related to the original druids. It is only if you look at the modern stage magician that it feels off.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Druids and wildshaping have worked fine as they are in the games I have run and the changes to the class and subclasses are aesthetically displeasing to me. Don't really need anymore reason than that.

Ok. I can't see how wildshape worked fine. But if it worked for you, congratulation.

EDIT to add: To be clear, I am not seeing the 2024 PHB as a new whole ruleset, but as something to pick and choose to take from for my own home ruleset, kind of like how I used 3.5E.

Which is totally ok. Same way I used 3.5 for quite a while too.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Things I'm curiously optimistic about:
•Warden as a more melee-focus druid could be cool. One of my friends highly enjoyed playing Wardens in 4E. Though, I'm not 100% sure how a Warden is thematically distinct from Oath of Ancients Paladin. I'm also curious how much inspiration from 4E was taken for this Warden.
•I would like to know of Druid/Paladins can Smite-Bite (or claw) in the 2024 version of the game.

Well, the Warden is going to be a flavor of the druid. They really only get the armor and weapons. You can add the extra elemental damage at later levels, but that is technically separate.

The difference from the paladin is, well, kind of the same as the difference between the Ancients Paladin and the 2014 Druid. The Warden Druid just decides that armor and an axe is more effective at defending nature from those that would harm it, than focusing on wisdom and magic.

The shape-shifting warrior of nature is being referenced with this, like the bear warriors of some myths and cultures, without going into a different magical tradition.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Things I'm Slightly Negative About:
•I agree with a poster above said about 5.24 coming across as noncommittal, due to being able to rest and change your character. While I 100% understand not wanting to make a trap character or get stuck with unuseful abilities, I believe there was a better way to do this. Either give pros & cons to each land choice, change the Druid fluff to be more about geomancy and communing with the surrounding nature, or... I dunno what else. I just think there was a more interesting and better way of approaching the land druid.

I would have loved that it should not need a long rest to swap choices but some kind of downtime activity.

 

[Argyle King]

I would have loved that it should not need a long rest to swap choices but some kind of downtime activity.

A downtime activity would have been better.
Maybe that's semantics in the long run, but needing time to commune with the local spirits and "speak" to the land would be better than just taking a nap.

For consistency with other classes being able to more-easily swap powers, I kinda get it. At the same time, I feel as though some amount of a choice's meaning has been lessened.