[Cosmos] Subclass - Circle of the Void Druid (Patreon)

Druids of the Circle of the Void tame the raw hungry void to preserve the miracle of existence that sprang forth from it. Drawn across the Cosmos by the expansive nothing, Druids of this order are wandering guides and enlightened nomads who safeguard the perilous journey between worlds. The wisest among them conserve carefully and ensure nothing goes to waste.

All the subclasses are done! I expect to tweak it a little more between now and my goal of eventually updating the book to a V3, but I'm generally pleased with how these subclasses turned out. This Druid is not my favorite, but it fills a niche I really want to fill.

I eventually may even draw

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DESIGN COMMENTARY

This subclass was one of the most difficult to design. Playable Druids in the Cosmos are already well-covered by two other published subclasses (Moon and Stars), so the tough goal was designing a new one that feels and plays differently, not just among the Druid subclasses but also among the Cosmos subclasses. There were already many damage, movement, or control-based designs (particularly movement seems to be my favorite), and none that focused primarily on support. Thus, I wanted to try as hard as I could to produce a support or healing Druid.

This Druid went through many iterations and alternate ideas, including:

Circle of Adaptation/Evolution Druid that focused on adapting Wild Shapes and obtaining Beast traits and actions, which was interesting but thematically felt like a weird affront to nature. It was also tough to balance without providing limited options, plus the tank/attacker role plays too similarly to the Moon Druid. Also, there is already a similar subclass created by Loot Tavern (Circle of the Chimera).

Circle of the Void (Movement) that focused on transportation, teleportation, and movement of allies, which felt much too similar to other subclasses (e.g. Meteor Barbarian, Privacy Paladin, Worldfarer Ranger, etc).

Circle of the Void (Reach) that focused on extending spells’ reach through the void. It was a little too similar to what Sorcerers can do.

Circle of the Void (Damage) that focused on AoE Force damage, but I really didn’t want all the Cosmos subclasses to be all damage-based.

Circle of the Void (Survival) that focused on avoiding death. Despite getting far with this concept, it was thematically disconnected from what players may expect. It also spent too much of its mechanical currency actively preventing or stopping the void, which felt more like a Circle of Survival instead.

Ultimately, I settled for a hybrid subclass to take better advantage of the Cosmos spells available to it, like Void Smite.

A typical Druid design in the 2024 edition of the 5e rules differs more from the original Druid designs. Firstly, each Druid has a new use or modification for its Wild Shape, now a more prominent class resource. Second, they tend to be able to ward or affect an area. This new use for its Wild Shape starts at level 2 and increases in use later along the progression. The later benefits vary, but at levels 10 and 14, each Druid typically receives some kind of defensive feature (usually Resistances) or a mobility feature (flight or similar).

Let’s take a look at the Void Druid’s features.

SUBCLASS FEATURES

Level 3: Circle of the Void Spells

Inflict Wounds is included as a melee option for this melee Druid, and a pre-cast Sanctuary opens up optional tactics with Void Bringer that involve not dealing damage.

Air Bubble and Greater Restoration options help stave off issues related to traveling through the cosmic void.

Void Smite is a sort of a capstone that opens up dangerous damage options because Druid spell slots scale quickly as a full caster. It can combo with Void Bringer depending on the build, but is otherwise included mainly as appropriate flavor.

Level 3: Cosmic Wanderer

This feature is meant to allow the Druid to cast spells in the void. It should be a ribbon that (generally) doesn’t affect play mechanically.

Holding breath longer is sort of a ribbon (less so in this setting compared to other traditional ones).

Replacing Verbal components with Somatic still retains the need for a component and should be a ribbon as well (Subtle Spell removes all components). The primary use-case only occurs when the party is traveling unprotected through the void where breathing enemies normally wouldn’t be, so I can’t imagine how they might take unfair advantage of this.

Level 3: Void Bringer

The main feature of this subclass. It promotes a distant caster-control style, the details which are left up to the player. It also has good use outside of combat, guiding the party through void. The damage and pulling helps set up additional combos.

At Level 5, Druids can convert spell slots into Wild Shapes, so we now assume this feature is always active.

Balance: The best comparison would be against Circle of the Sea (Circle of Preservation is UA, so I won’t count this one).

Similarities: both features require a BA to activate, deals damage, and moves enemies.

Differences: the Void Bringer feature only lasts for 1 minute, provides a breathing sanctuary for allies, and improves stealth (Dim Light & Lightly Obscured). However, it deals less damage overall—about half the normal damage.

The breathing is a ribbon mainly meant to help parties move through void situations. There shouldn't be too many ways to take advantage of this.

Exploration Balance: AoE Stealth boost is good. A 1 minute duration means it’s one use (e.g. a level 1 slot) per encounter, and only works against creatures without Darkvision.

Damage Balance: Circle of the Sea deals ~10.5 damage (3d6, assuming a typical Wisdom score of 16); Circle of the Void deals 7 damage (1d6 split across an average of 2 enemies). Sea also quickly scales up with the subsequent level, assuming an optimal ASI in Wisdom. The effective differences here can be equalized with the Stealth-related exploration feature. The damage scaling follows that of the Circle of the Land but falls behind the Sea’s curve. This difference (including its shorter duration) is made up by the Stealth bonus above.

Level 6: Resourceful Spellcasting

Gaining spell slots back allows for the Druid to cast more spells, with flexibility for the Druid to decide how to re-use them. It is thematically appropriate to the “conserve resources” theme.

Balance: Assuming optimal usage (single target spells or using it on enemies with Legendary Resistances) and an average of 2 Short Rests per day means the Druid should be recovering slots slightly less than their level, with some room for more. This generally matches that of the Land Druid, which gets one free spell of max level plus half their level also for a total equal to their level.

Void Druid won’t be recovering slots as high as Land Druid, but it can trigger during combat which can be helpful.

This effect also shouldn’t trigger that often unless the Druid has a low spell save DC.

Level 10: Null Stride

Similar to the Moon Druid’s Level 10 feature, permitting a sort of Misty Step with some caveats. It’s designed to have more potential in the void, allowing the Druid to “return home” to a more distant void (or up to 60 feet to its Void Bringer Sphere). Teleporting allies moves the party out of danger or into battle, fitting the Druid’s support design.

The Magic action cost is designed to not interfere with the BA use from Void Bringer. In return for this steep cost, the Druid can take a party with them.

Level 14: Consuming Void

An offensive and defensive feature where the void increases and “swallows” up harmful effects. The defensive feature flatly reduces damage taken for yourself and your allies. 

Balance: A still worthy increase to the Sphere size helps catch more enemies and raise damage output, keeping the Void Bringer feature competitive.

Balance: This feature should happen often. At this level of play, monsters are either dealing a LOT of damage (~50) or have multiple attacks (1 Reaction per round), so overall not worrying. Other Druids’ Resistances should provide more damage mitigation overall if used well.

I hope everyone's had a wonderful holiday and new year. Please enjoy!