Play Your Next 5E D&D Game with Pride as a Circle of Manifestation Druid

Happy Pride Month to all! It’s June, which means it’s Pride month once again. If you remember last year I created the Rainbow Domain for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons clerics on Nerdarchy the Website right here. This year I thought it might be fun to transform it into a tradition. You heard right. I’m creating another 5E D&D subclass for Pride.

5E D&D nerd-powered Pride

My name is Steven Partridge and I am an out and proud queer nerd. This year I was trying to think of what I might be able to do to really show my pride with a new character option. Sorcerer feels like a natural choice to me given sorcerers come by their magic organically. Or I could – wait! Natural? Organic? Okay, boys, girls and otherwise — I’m doing a druid this year.

Why a druid? When it comes to 5E D&D subclasses druid is already hugely versatile and is my go-to staple class if I’m not sure what to play. On top of this being queer is totally natural and coming out of the closet – aka living true to your authentic self – is one of the most natural things someone can do.

Let’s lean into this perspective a bit as the inspiration for this Druid Circle and work from the concept this druid’s whole gimmick is all about authenticity and being truly organic. Druids already embrace shapeshifting as a core class mechanic but suppose you had a druid who was all about the shapechanging aspect in a totally different context? This is where I’m going with the Circle of Manifestation Druid Circle.

Circle of Manifestation for 5E D&D druids

Druids are often born humanoid yet spirits and wild creatures call to them from nature, other worlds and even from within themselves. Those druids who follow the Circle of Manifestation listen to the wild spirit of magic that sparks life within them.

People who practice druidic magic within the Circle of Manifestation understand that flesh and blood are merely physical confines of the Material Plane and the inner soul is the truest part of a being’s essence. Each Circle of Manifestation druid is guided by a spirit that helps them develop their magic. This spirit is called the druid’s Guiding Truth and is the manifestation of their soul in magic.

Beginning adherents learn to manifest their Guiding Truth, a spirit visible only to them, which assists with everything from menial labor to combat. As the druid grows in their manifestation the Guiding Truth can begin appearing visibly and audibly to others to send messages or allow the druid to see through their senses as they travel the ether.

Perhaps your Guiding Truth is some sort of spirit beast or elemental bound by your lineage to guide you on your journey? Maybe it is the true nature of your fey soul binding you to the natural world and places beyond? Whatever your Guiding Truth looks like it speaks to you in dreams and guides you with flickers of light in the deepest darkness of the world.

Circle Spells

When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn the hunter’s mark and unseen servant spells. In addition your manifestation of your truest magical essence infuses you with the ability to cast certain spells at 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th level. Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Druid Level. Spells

• 3rd. arcanist’s magic aura, see invisibility
• 5th. clairvoyance, sending
• 7th. phantasmal killer, secret chest
• 9th. arcane hand, telekinesis

Guiding Truth Spirit

Beginning when you choose this subclass at 2nd level you gain access to a spirit creature only you can see. However, your Guiding Truth is capable of interacting with the world around you by manipulating simple objects and it can even summon the power of force bolts to protect you at your behest. You gain the mage hand and eldritch blast cantrips. These are druid spells for you and do not count against the number of spells you know.

Spiritual Manifestation

When you reach 6th level you gain the ability to transform your body into an ethereal form for ten minutes by expending a use of your Wild Shape feature. When you perform a Spiritual Manifestation your armor class equals 13 + your Wisdom modifier and you gain resistance to all damage except psychic damage.

Manifest Fortune

Starting at 10th level you learn to manifest your Guiding Truth to influence the very flow of destiny. Every time you finish a long rest roll a number of d20s equal to your druid level, divided by 3 (rounded down). You can replace any d20 roll with one of these results. Once you do so the result is expended and cannot replace another die roll. Any unused results are expended upon refreshing this ability with a new long rest.

Manifest Truth

Beginning at 14th level you gain truesight out to a range of 10 feet as you have entwined yourself with the plane of spiritual truth itself.

What do you think?

This druid is admittedly a bit strange but these mechanics feel thematic and fun to me personally. Let us know what you think of this subclass by commenting below or connecting with us through Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, stay authentic, nerds!

*Featured image — The author’s creative inspiration for the Circle of Manifestation for 5E D&D comes through with personal insights as an expression of their own spiritual beliefs manifesting in a very real way. [GIF by foxadhd]

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