The Circle of Swarms

# Circle of the Swarm
Druids that belong to the Circle of Swarms understand that the tiniest creatures are necessary to the flow of life. They see within spiders, bees, frogs, and even rats the ability to spread and preserve life in all sorts of forms.

These druids understand that all things are connected by delicate threads, tying the fates of all creatures together in a complex web that must be protected. Should these threads snap forever, the natural effects could be catastrophic.

These druids seek to maintain balance between creatures, and understand that even the most unlikely of creatures have a place within the grand web that connects together all life.

### Circle Spells
Your inherent connection to your swarm grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd level, you learn the infestation cantrip, and you can choose the direction in which the creature moves if it fails its saving throw. In addition, you learn the blade ward cantrip, and can cast it on others at a range of 30 feet.

At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of Swarms Spells table. Once you gain access to one of these spells, 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 |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  2nd  | infestation, blade ward |
|  3rd  | cloud of daggers, web |
|  5th  | mass healing word, fly |
|  7th  | giant insect, fabricate |
|  9th  | insect plague, contagion |

### Swarm Keeper

*2nd-level Circle of Swarms feature*

You have a special druidic focus known as an apiary focus- this can be a staff with an orb at aloft, a hanging lantern, or a special pack. This focus can be used as a spell casting focus for your druid spells. Additionally, your connection with the great web of nature grants you affinity with a swarm of creatures. This swarm can be composed of any creatures that are tiny in size, and they live within your apiary focus.

While your apiary focus is on your person, your swarm forms a cloak of living bodies to protect you as their keeper. At the end of each long rest, the swarm forms a cloak that has a hit point maximum equal to twice your druid level + your Wisdom modifier. Whenever you take damage, the cloak takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the cloak to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.

While the cloak has 0 hit points, it can’t absorb damage, and your swarm is depleted. As a bonus action, you may choose to expend a spell slot and add three times the slot's level to the hit points of your swarm cloak. Whenever you take a long rest, the swarm cloak returns to its maximum hit points.

### Life Warden

*6th-level Circle of Swarms feature*

While your apiary focus is on your person, you can can add your wisdom modifier to the poison or acid damage dealt by your spells. Additionally, if your swarm cloak has remaining hit points, you may add your wisdom modifier to the hit points restored when casting a spell of 1st level or higher that restores hit points.

In addition, while your swarm coat has hit points remaining, you can direct your swarm to deliver spells with a range of touch for you, out to a range of 15 feet.

### Writhing Shape

*10th-level Circle of Swarms feature*

You gain the ability to split your body into many smaller ones, magically fusing with your swarm. You may expend a use of your Wild Shape to merge with your swam for up to 10 minutes. While merged with your swarm, you gain your choice of a flying, climbing, or burrowing speed equal to your walking speed, and you are able to squeeze through openings no smaller than 1 inch and diameter.

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While merged with your swarm, you may cast spells, but only if they have a range of self or touch, and they are not concentration. You may choose to become one large swarm or separate yourself into a number of smaller swarms, gaining stats based on the table below.

If you choose to split into multiple swarms, each swarm makes its own action on your turn. This action can only be to make the attack, dash, dodge, or help actions. When the duration ends, each swarm converges to a single location of your choice within 30 feet of one of your swarms. If all of the swarms reach zero hit points, the duration ends, and you suffer one point of exhaustion when you converge.

### Formless Horde
*14th-level Circle of Spores feature*

At 14th level, your swarm offers you bolstered defenses. You are resistant to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage from nonmagical weapons while your swarm cloak persists, or when you are merged with your swarm. While merged with your swarm, you cannot be blinded or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit instead.