Sorry for the long silence – it’s been a busy winter! This is something I just kicked around while wanting a new villainous class. I’ll get back to adventure design posts in the near future!

EDIT 28 Jan, 2015 – Big thanks to the folks at /r/dndnext for their feedback!

Druid Archetype: Circle of Decay

The Circle of Decay is to ordinary Druids as Oathbreakers are to Paladins. Corrupted and diseased of mind, druids from the Circle of Decay spread rot, pestilence, and blight wherever they gain a foothold. Many druids of the Circle of Decay consider fungus, slimes, molds, and vermin to be their preferred forms of life, for their own reasons, and consider the rest of life naught but food for their precious plagues.

TERRIBLE FORMS

Starting at 2nd level, when you use your Wild Shape ability, you choose from the following list, instead of the normal forms available to a druid:

Druid Level Forms Available (Cumulative) 2nd Rat, Scorpion, Cockatrice, Giant rat, Giant centipede, Giant wolf spider, Piercer, Worg, Violet fungus 4th Constrictor snake, Poisonous snake, Giant poisonous snake, Death dog, Giant spider, Gray ooze 8th Flying snake, Stirge, Giant bat, Darkmantle, Giant wasp, Giant vulture, Ankheg, Carrion crawler, Ettercap, Giant constrictor snake, Gibbering mouther, Grick, Peryton

MIASMA FORMS

Starting at 6th level, you can expel corruption from your body reflexively, the same way you change your form. You may expend one use of your Wild Shape ability to cast either gaseous form on yourself or stinking cloud.

At 9th level, you may expend two uses of Wild Shape to cast cloudkill.

DREAD INOCULATION

Starting at 6th level, your body has acclimated to so many contaminants that your are immune to disease and you have resistance to poison damage.

CORRUPTING TOUCH

Starting at 10th level, as an action, you can expend a spell slot to deal necrotic damage to a living creature you touch. The target must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 2d8 necrotic damage + 1d8 necrotic damage per level of the spell slot on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, it dies and rises as a gray ooze on its next turn. You do not control this ooze, but it is not hostile to you.

CORRUPTING AURA

Starting at 14th level, by expending a Wild Shape usage you may emanate an aura of plague and contamination in a 10 ft radius around you that lasts for one minute or until you dismiss it as a bonus action. Whenever an enemy creature starts its turn within the radius, that creature takes 10 necrotic damage. You cannot activate the aura while in a Wild Shape form, and you cannot use Wild Shape to transform while the aura is active.