Druid: The Circle of the Colony

Druid Circles

At 2nd level, a druid gains the Druid Circle feature. The following option, the Circle of the Colony, is available to a druid, in addition to those offered in the Player's Handbook.

Circle of the Colony

A druid of the Circle of the Colony has dwelt in the wilds among animals which live by group effort, such as bees, bats, coral, or penguins. Such a druid has observed how these animals hunt, defend, and nest together to achieve shared goals, and the druid has come to understand each colony as both a collection of individuals and a coordinated natural unit with a single will.

When druids of this circle come together, they will often form raucous packs of animals or flocks of birds, with no druid certain where he or she ends and the next begins. Druids of the Circle of the Colony are sometimes drawn toward settled regions and adventuring parties, seeking a sense of shared purpose.

Circle of the Colony Features

Druid Level Feature 2nd Modular Wild Shape, Skin Crawler 6th Piecemeal 10th Swarm Tactics 14th Hive Psychology, Psychic Strike

Modular Wild Shape

When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you gain the ability to use Wild Shape to transform into a swarm of creatures, dividing your body into dozens of units all acting in a coordinated manner.

When you use Wild Shape, you may choose to become a swarm, obeying the limitations given in the Player's Handbook for selecting beast shapes. If you choose to transform into a swarm, however, the swarm's challenge rating and Strength score increase, and you gain the Swarm Strike ability, as shown in the Swarm Shapes table, based on your druid level. At 2nd level, for example, you can transform into any beast that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower that doesn't have a flying or swimming speed, such as a wolf. Using Modular Wild Shape, you could instead take the form of a pack of wolves acting as a swarm, and that swarm would have a challenge rating of 1 and a +5 bonus to its Strength score.

The swarm's size is two sizes larger than the individual creatures it comprises--Tiny creatures form a Medium swarm, Medium creatures a Huge swarm--to a maximum of Gargantuan, but it can still fit through an opening that is only large enough for an individual creature.

The swarm's hit dice are based on its size, from d8s for a Medium swarm to d20s for a Gargantuan one, and it has a hit-point maximum equal to the Hit Die Multiplier given in the Swarm Shapes table times its hit die, plus its Constitution modifier times your druid level. For example, the wolf pack at 2nd level, being a Huge swarm, has 5d12 + 1 x 2 HP, for an average of 34. At 20th level, that same pack has 10d12 + 1 x 20 HP, or 85 on average.

Swarm Shapes

Druid Level Swarm CR Hit Die Multiplier Strength Score Increase Swarm Strike 2nd-5th 1 5x +5 4d4 6th-8th 2 6x +6 4d6 9th-11th 3 7x +7 4d8 12th-14th 4 8x +8 4d10 15th-17th 5 9x +9 4d12 18th-20th 6 10x +10 5d12

While in the form of a swarm, you may attack using its Strength or Dexterity modifier, as though wielding a finesse weapon. Your proficiency bonus for swarm attacks is appropriate to the swarm's challenge rating, +2 for CRs 1-4 or +3 at CRs 5 and 6. At the DM's discretion, the increased Strength score may increase the DC of saving throws against your swarm's features. For example, if you transform into a pride of lions at 8th level and use the pounce ability, your DM might rule that the save DC against being knocked prone is increased from 13 to 16.

In all other ways, your Wild Shape swarm retains the statistics of the base creature, and your personality, as explained in the Wild Shape rules on pp. 66-7 of the Player's Handbook.

Alternatively, you can transform into any officially published swarms, such as those presented on pp. 337-9 of the Monster Manual. If you do so, you do not retain their condition immunities but instead gain advantage on saving throws against those conditions as described below. You also do not gain any of the benefits shown on the Swarm Shapes table, but you can transform into a swarm up to CR 1 at 2nd level, and up to CR 2 at 6th level. You must abide by the other restrictions given in the Beast Shapes table on p. 66 of the Player's Handbook.

While you are transformed into a swarm, you gain the following benefits and restrictions: