Druid: Circle of the Spectral Rider

# Druid:  Circle of the Spectral Rider

### Druidic Knights

Druids of the Circle of the Spectral Rider are tasked with protecting the wilds through any means necessary.  Usually acting as mounted combatants, they lead fey, beasts, and other druids into combat to fiercely protect their homes against invaders.

#### Circle Spells

Your training in weaponry, chivalry, and with the spirits of the wild grants you access to certain spells.

At 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level in the Circle of the Spectral Rider 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 nonetheless a druid spell for you.

###### Circle of the Spectral Rider Spells

| Druid Level  | Spells |
|:---:|:-----------:|
|  2nd  |  *Heroism, Thunderous Smite* |
|  3rd  |  *Branding Smite, Calm Emotions* |
|  5th  | *Blinding Smite, Crusader's Mantle* |
|  7th  | *Aura of Life, Staggering Smite* |
|  9th  | *Circle of Power, Holy Weapon* |

#### Armored Cavalry

Also at 2nd level, your cavalry training has made you a formidable fighter on the battlefield.  You gain proficiency in martial weapons and you may wear armor made of metal.

#### Spectral Mount

Your connection to the fey grants you the ability to call upon them to act as your mount.  As an action, starting at 2nd level, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to call your spectral mount rather than assume a beast form.

The spirit appears in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you.

The spirit is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your commands.  See this creature's game statistics in the Spectral Mount stat block at the end of this document, which uses your proficiency bonus (PB) in several places.  You determine your mount's appearance.  Some take the form a large dire wolf covered in bark, while others might appear as a jet black boar, billowing smoke.

In combat, the spirit shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours, unless serving as your mount, in which case it acts simultaneously with you.  On its turn, while not serving as your mount, it only takes the dodge action unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action.

If you are incapacitated, the spirit can take any action of its choice, not just dodge.

The spirit manifests for a number of hours equal to your proficiency bonus, until it is reduced to 0 hit points, until you use this feature to summon the spirit again, or you die.

Any equipment you place upon your mount, such as a saddle or barding, disappears along with the mount until it is summoned again.  You can communicate telepathically with your mount as long as it is within 1 mile of you.

While mounted on your spirit, you gain the following benefits:

- You may make any spell you cast that targets only you also target your mount
- You may use Wisdom instead of Strength or Dexterity for weapon attacks
- Whenever you or your mount takes damage, you may choose to gain resistance to the damage you would take.  If you decide to, the other takes the same amount of damage
- Your mount can fit into places a medium sized creature normally could without squeezing as it is semi-intangible
- If your mount has a swimming speed, you can breathe underwater while mounted and your attacks are not made at disadvantage due to being underwater
 
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As you gain levels, you may conjure your spirit with additional movement speeds.  At 4th level, you may give your spirit a swim speed of 30 and the ability to breath underwater when you summon it.  At 8th level, when you summon your spirit, you may summon it with a swim speed of 60 and the ability to breathe underwater, or a fly speed of 60.

#### Druidic Warrior

At 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.  Moreover, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of those attacks.

#### Nature's Battlefield

At 10th level, your bond with your mount allows you to better control the battlefield.  The area within 10 feet of your spectral mount is treated as difficult terrain for hostile creatures as ghostly vines and plants grow around them.

Additionally, creatures provoke opportunity attacks from you while you are mounted, even if they take the disengage action.

#### Awakened Mount

At 14th level, your mount's connection to you has granted it additional benefits.  Your mount gains the ability to speak all languages you know, and its intelligence is increased to 10.

In combat, it may take any action, including attacking, on its turn, even when acting as your mount, and you no longer must use your bonus action to command it if it is acting independently.

Additionally, it may cast the following spells, using your spellcasting modifier, a total number of 4 times in any combination as 2nd level spells without components:  *Cure Wounds, Entangle, Faerie Fire,* and *Spike Growth.*  Any spell it casts that targets only itself, may also target you.  Your mount must concentrate on any spell that requires concentration as normal.

### New Spell

Many druids of this circle learn the *Coiling Strike* cantrip, allowing them to weave magic into their strikes.

#### Coiling Strike
*Conjuration Cantrip*
___
- **Casting Time:** 1 action
- **Range:** Equal to weapon's range
- **Components:** V, M (a weapon)
- **Duration:**  1 round
___
As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell’s range, otherwise the spell fails. On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s normal effects, and vines tether the creature to you.  They are grappled by you until the start of your next turn, and you may use your spellcasting ability in place of Strength when making Athletics checks to maintain this grapple.  You may only have one creature grappled by this spell at a time, and if you would grapple another, the first is immediately released.

This spell's damage increases when you reach higher levels.  At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 piercing damage to the target.   The damage roll increases by 1d8 at 11th and 17th level.

___
> ## Spectral Mount
>*Large fey*
> ___
> - **Armor Class** 12 + PB
> - **Hit Points** 6 + six times your druid level
> - **Speed** 60 ft.
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|18 (+4)|12 (+1)|13 (+1)|6 (-2)|15 (+2)|10 (+0)|
>___
> - **Senses** Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
> - **Languages** understands the languages you speak
> - **Challenge** -      
> - **Proficiency Bonus (PB)** equals your bonus
> ___
>
> ### Actions
>
> ***Hooves.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.   *Hit:* 1d10 + PB bludgeoning damage.
>

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 ##### Art Credit
 
- Dragon's Revenge: Last Spirt - [Magdalena Radziej](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/N5B2P1 "Webpage")

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