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.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

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.
You don't even commune with the local land, you can just pick whatever.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Had a random thought mid-way through the video. Is there a consensus on what happens if there are overlapping half-cover abilities?

The Land Druid activates their 14th level ability, granting all allies within range half-cover. Devotion paladin then smites, granting all allies in their aura half cover...

Half Cover + Half Cover = Three-Quarters Cover? Or no effect?
I would expect that the whole point of having the ability grant half cover instead of +2 to AC is to not have it stack. Also to interact with abilities like Sharpshooter which at least used to negate cover (not sure if it does in 2024).
Could someone sell me on Magician?

I guess if you wildshaped into high-Dex beasts that could conceivably wear your magical leather armor, you'd lose nothing. And yes, I surely love the uncertainty of how that is going to work, given it states 'worn equipment functions as normal, but the DM decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment based on the creature’s size and shape'.
I would expect "worn equipment" refers to things like rings and amulets and whatever else provides various buffs, but not armor. So if you expect to spend a lot of time in wild shape form, you probably won't have much use of armor.

You might also not want to wear medium armor because of the encumbrance and because of stealth penalties, and you might value an extra cantrip and a hefty bonus to Arcana and Nature checks more than a point of AC – particularly if you don't expect to be in the front line when not wild shaped. The extra cantrip shouldn't be ignored as a benefit, because druids don't get very many (at least in 2014): start with 2, up to 3 at 4th, and 4 at 10th. Looking at the 2014 cantrip list, there are quite a few I'd like to have: druidcraft, guidance, mending, plus some attack cantrips like produce flame, frostbite, thorn whip, or shillelagh. Going from 2 to 3, or 3 to 4, makes that choice much less agonizing.
 

Hell yeah. This is MtG-style and quality, keep it up. Also really liked the diptych with the orc druid.

This is quite "in the zone" for what I'd like to see for D&D art nowadays generally (accepting that my personally preferred style is a little more suited to non-D&D fantasy RPGs). The vampire-slaying one is absolutely awesome.

Not super-impressed with the rules changes, Warden especially seems entirely pointless without a subclass to lean into it. Hopefully any subclasses they add will actually work with it. They should probably have ditched Stars for a "melee"-oriented Druid subclass if they were going to include that option.
 
Last edited:

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.

Not to sound like a jerk but that’s modern D&D. They can’t cover everyone’s desires for how or why their character is that specific class so now it’s all flavorless.

Clerics don’t even gods anymore. Druids don’t need to commune with nature. Warlock can just happen to fall into a power source. Paladins can believe in themselves so much they get magic.

Lack of flavor / Shades of grey. Which I suppose is better that way anyone can be anything without feeling pigeon holed by lore.

But the flip side is a class and subclass are just text and numbers. IMO that’s boring.

To each their own though.
 






Hell yeah. This is MtG-style and quality, keep it up. Also really liked the diptych with the orc druid.

This is quite "in the zone" for what I'd like to see for D&D art nowadays generally (accepting that my personally preferred style is a little more suited to non-D&D fantasy RPGs). The vampire-slaying one is absolutely awesome.

Not super-impressed with the rules changes, Warden especially seems entirely pointless without a subclass to lean into it. Hopefully any subclasses they add will actually work with it. They should probably have ditched Stars for a "melee"-oriented Druid subclass if they were going to include that option.
Yeah, this was a pretty hot set of art pieces.

Maybe it's just the Goliath art piece influencing my brain, but I think the Sea Druid is meant to be a bit tanky.
 

Remove ads

Remove ads

Top