# Circle of the Chimera - 5E Druid Subclass Homebrew #### by Nines ## Mistakes of Creation Not all that lives is natural. Whether by choice or by accident, druids of the Circle of the Chimera have been exposed to magic, toxins, or other mutagens, triggering an unnatural growth of monstrous capabilities. ## Subclass Features ### Chimeric Mutations Starting at 2nd level, your body transforms, granting additional physical capabilities in your base form as well as in any transformations. Select two of the following Chimeric Mutations. You gain an additional Chimeric Mutation at level 6, 10 and 14. Some mutations have prerequisites. You may exchange one choice of Chimeric Mutation for another Chimeric Mutation when you level up. #### Illumination You emit 15 feet of bright light and an additional 15 feet of dim light. You may adjust your light output as a bonus action. #### Keen Senses Your nose and ears sharpen to pick up details that would otherwise be missed. You gain advantage on Perception (Wisdom) checks that rely on hearing and smell. #### Leaping Legs Your leg muscles strengthen, allowing for powerful bursts of movement. As an action, you may jump up to 3x your jumping distance. #### Octopeye Your eyes can manually adjust themselves. You treat lightly obscured areas as unobscured, and heavily obscured areas as lightly obscured. In addition, you gain 30 feet of Darkvision, even while transformed. \columnbreak #### Powerful Build Your body becomes more capable of sustaining heavy loads. You count as one size larger for grappling and determining carrying capacity. #### Regenerative Limbs You can roll a d20 at each dawn. On a 20, you may regrow a severed limb. You cannot regrow limbs removed by fire, acid, or magical weapons. #### Sure-Footed You have advantage on Strength and Dexterity saves to avoid being knocked prone. #### Tool User You can use weapons you are proficient with while transformed, such as via Wild Shape. #### Beasttongue Prerequisite: Level 6. You can cast Speak With Animals without expending a spell slot. #### Climber Prerequisite: Level 6. You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. #### Natural Weapon Prerequisite: Level 6. One of your hands is replaced with a natural weapon, which counts as an Unarmed Attack and deals 2d6 damage. #### Shell Prerequisite: Level 6. While you are not wearing armor, your AC equals 13 + your Dexterity modifier. #### Amphibious Prerequisite: Level 10. You can breathe either air or water. You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. #### Camouflage Prerequisite: Level 10. You have advantage on Stealth (Dexterity) checks to hide. \pagebreak #### Resistant Scales Prerequisite: Level 10. You gain resistance to your choice of fire, ice, lightning, or acid damage. #### Single Minded Prerequisite: Level 10. You have advantage on Constitution saves to maintain your concentration. #### Autotomy Prerequisite: Level 14. You have a tail, which you can detach as an action once per long rest. A detached tail has 10 HP and 20 AC, and while it is alive, hostile creatures within 10 feet have disadvantage to hit anything but the tail. However, the tail automatically dies at the start of your next turn. Your tail regrows at the end of a long rest. #### Burrower Prerequisite: Level 14. You gain a burrowing speed equal to your walking speed. If you end your turn inside an object, you take 1d10 damage. #### Echolocation Prerequisite: Level 14. You gain 30 feet of Blindsight. While you are deafened, you cannot use this blindsight. #### Telepathy Prerequisite: Level 14. You can speak telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of you. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language. ### Terrible Transformation Also starting at 2nd level, as an action, you may expend a use of your Wild Shape and undergo a terrible transformation into a Monstrous Form, as if Wild Shaped. As with Wild Shape, you retain your mental stats, and cannot cast spells in this form. The base statblock for your Monstrous Form is displayed below: \columnbreak #### Monstrous Form - Base Stats Unaligned Large beast - HP: (Monstrous Form's Constitution modifier + 4)x Druid Level - AC: 10 + Monstrous Form's Dexterity modifier + your Proficiency Bonus - Str: 16 - Dex: 16 - Con: 16 - 30 feet walking speed - **Slam:** Your Monstrous Form has a 1d6+Str bludgeoning natural melee weapon. In addition, you gain your choice of 3 of the following mutations for your Monstrous Form, which grant it increased stats and additional abilities. You may exchange one of your Monstrous Form's mutations for another of the same level when you level up. - **Binding Tentacle:** Your Monstrous Form gains a 1d8+Str bludgeoning natural melee weapon, which can grapple one target when it hits. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Strength score increases by 2. - **Gouging Horn:** Your Monstrous Form gains a 1d12+Str piercing natural melee weapon. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Strength score increases by 2. - **Razor Quills:** Your Monstrous Form gains a 1d6+Dex piercing 30/60 natural ranged weapon. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Dexterity score increases by 2. - **Tail Whip:** Your Monstrous Form gains a 2d4+Dex slashing natural melee weapon with Reach and Finesse. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Dexterity score increases by 2. - **Hardened Scales:** Your Monstrous Form gains a +1 bonus to its AC. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Constitution score increases by 2. - **Tough Hide:** Your Monstrous Form gains an additional +1 HP per Druid level. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Constitution score increases by 2. \pagebreak ### Monstrous Mutation At 6th level, your Monstrous Form undergoes additional mutations. Your Monstrous Form gains Multiattack, allowing it to make an attack with 2 different weapons when it takes the Attack action. In addition, attacks made by your Monstrous Form count as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity. Finally, choose one of the following mutations to add to your Monstrous Form. - **Brutal Blow:** Once per turn, when your Monstrous Form lands an attack, you can force the target to make a Strength save or be knocked prone. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Strength score increases by 2. - **Swift Striker:** Once per turn, when your Monstrous Form lands an attack, you can move up to your movement speed towards an enemy without provoking Attacks of Opportunity. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Dexterity score increases by 2. - **Piercing Poison:** Once per turn, when your Monstrous Form lands an attack, you may force the target to make a Constitution save or be poisoned. Affected targets repeat the save at the end of their turn. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Constitution score increases by 2. \columnbreak ### Abominable Alteration Starting at 10th level, your Monstrous Form develops defensive abilities as well. Choose one of the following mutations to add to your Monstrous Form. - **Choleric Carapace:** While in your Monstrous Form, as a reaction to taking damage, you can deal acid damage equal to twice your Wisdom modifier (min: 2) to all creatures within 5 feet. You may use this feature a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Strength score increases by 2. - **Relentless Reflex:** While in your Monstrous Form, you can gain advantage on a save as a reaction. You may use this feature once per long rest. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Dexterity score increases by 2. - **Armored Atrocity:** As a reaction to taking damage in your Monstrous Form, you may expend a spell slot and reduce the damage taken by 1d10 per level of spell slot expended. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Constitution score increases by 2. \pagebreak ### Chimeric Blood Starting at 14th level, your Monstrous Form reaches the apex of its growth. - **Baleful Breath:** As an action, your Monstrous Form can use a breath weapon which deals your choice of 6d6 fire, ice, acid, or lightning damage in a 30 foot cone, centered on yourself. Creatures within this area can make a Dexterity save, taking half damage if they succeed. You may use this feature a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Strength score increases by 2. - **Fearsome Flier:** Your Monstrous Form gains a 30 ft flying speed, which is further increased by 5 ft x your Wisdom modifier (min: 30 total). In addition, your Monstrous Form's Dexterity score increases by 2. - **Malignant Metastasis:** While in your Monstrous Form, you gain temporary HP equal to your Wisdom modifier at the start of your turn. In addition, your Monstrous Form's Constitution score increases by 2. \columnbreak ### Example Builds This is a complex subclass, so here's some example builds for reference. Assuming level 20 and max Wisdom. #### The AC Tank - **Chimeric Mutations:** Keen Senses, Sure-Footed, Beasttongue, Camouflage, Autotomy **Monstrous Form:** - Large - HP: 160 - AC: 25 - Str: 16 - Dex: 26 - Con: 18 - 30 feet walking speed - 55 ft flying speed (Fearsome Flier) - **Multiattack:** This monster can make 2 different attacks when it takes the Attack action. - **Slam:** +8 to hit, 1d6+3 bludgeoning damage on hit. - **Razor Quills:** +14 to hit, 1d6+8 piercing damage on hit, 30/60 ranged attack - **Tail Whip:** +14 to hit, 2d4+8 slashing damage on hit, Reach, Finesse melee attack - **Hardened Scales** - **Swift Striker** - **Reflexive Reaction** - **Fearsome Flier** Sure, just put all your points into dex, why not. \pagebreak #### The Cooler Dragonborn - **Chimeric Mutations:** Powerful Build, Tool User, Shell, Resistant Scales, Autotomy **Monstrous Form:** - Large - HP: 220 - AC: 19 - Str: 22 - Dex: 16 - Con: 22 - 30 feet walking speed - Fire Resistance (Resistant Scales) - **Multiattack:** This monster can make 2 different attacks when it takes the Attack action. - **Slam:** +12 to hit, 1d6+3 bludgeoning damage on hit. - **Gouging Horn:** +12 to hit, 1d12+6 piercing damage on hit. - **Greatsword:** +12 to hit, 2d6+6 slashing damage on hit. (Tool User) - **Hardened Scales** - **Tough Hide** - **Brutal Blow** - **Armored Abomination** - **Baleful Breath:** 6d6 fire damage, 15 ft cone, DC 19 Dex save for half damage Natural AC, fire resistance, dragon breath, huge bulk, huge sword, huge damage. What's not to like? Get out there and suplex a tarrasque. ### Closing Thoughts - Thank you for reading through this; let me know if you have any thoughts on it. - First thought: Does this differentiate itself from Moon Druid sufficiently? - It's got way more customization than most subclasses. Could be either an upside or a downside depending on how much you like that. - Does it have *not enough* choices? Like, you can go for a Str or Dex or Con build, but if you want to do that there's like two real choices, and they're either "What weapon do you want to focus on" or "Would you like +1 AC or +20 HP?" Admittedly, flying and breath weapon are both cool enough that you might consider taking them even if you don't spec into the assigned stat, but still. \columnbreak - Related to above, should the Monstrous Form's "ASIs" be decoupled from its mutations? That would allow it to take different weapons and flight and such without feeling like its paying for it mechanically. - Is the Monstrous Form strong enough to compete? It's based on the Tasha's Beastmaster beasts, and at early levels it's still weaker than a bear - but you also get invocation-like base form mutations to play with. - Reflexive Reaction is basically Indomitable but more uses. As a druid you'll have different usecases than a Fighter, of course, but still. - Is it weird you can have Darkvision in your base form but then lose it when you become a big scary monster? - The Chimeric Mutations in general. Intended to be mostly noncombat features in your base form for flavor and utility (and also to differentiate yourself from Moon Druid), except then later they definitely do help in combat. - It might be a little bit silly for the big scary monster to pull out a crossbow and shoot you as well. Stranger still is the fact that it would be *optimal,* since your other ranged weapon is 1d6 quills. - Burrower. Burrowing speed is kinda wack on a PC, though at level 14 you'd probably have ways to mess with that anyway. Taking 1d10 damage per turn is intended to prevent abuse, but with MF's HP pool that's not really a problem unless it goes on a while. Bigger issue is more about flavor - you got all sorts of stories about creatures sleeping deep in the earth, and here you are suffocating after like 2 minutes. - Echolocation. Rogue gets blindsight at level 14, but only 10 feet. Meanwhile, you get 30 feet of it, as long as you aren't deafened, and usually you won't be.