Circle of the Animist

CIRCLE OF THE ANIMIST
Druids of the Circle of the Animist are dedicated and wise guardians of the natural world. They commune with plants, forming powerful connections in attempts to become one and work alongside plants to defend nature by infusing them with sentience and powerful magic. While these druids recognize that all living things play a role in the natural world, they focus on protecting plants. Animists, as they are known, see plants as their charges but also as their equals. They ward off those who threaten their forests and groves, prevent encroaching civilizations from causing unnecessary damage to plants, conjure plantlife to fight for them, and use nature as their eyes and ears. Many of these druids are happiest tending to their private grove, leaving only to defend their forest when threats are detected. Although Animists revere plantlife and seek to protect it, they do recognize the needs of civilized peoples and allow for loggers and the likes to do their work as long as it's in moderation so as to not truly harm their charges. Because of this Animists often act as wise council to leaders, and cooperate with nearby civilized establishments to protect each other from outside threats and the establishment only taking what it needs.

Forest Servant
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At 2nd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a non-physical subservient fey creature known as a Forest Guardian which you can summon and dismiss at will.

With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and plants, you form a bond with a forest guardian to serve you. As an action, to summon your forest guardian, you choose any point within 30 feet of you on a solid surface to conjure a small spore that erupts and grows rapidly into a physical manifestation of your forest guardian. You can dismiss your forest guardian as a bonus action, causing it's physical manifestation to wither and rapidly decay.

Your forest guardian gains all the benefits of your Nature's Bond ability. You can have only one physical manifestation of your forest guardian at a time. If your forest guardian is ever slain it will leave your servitude and you will be unable to summon it anymore, however the magical bond you share allows you to return it to your servitude. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and plants, you can return the forest guardian to your servitude and you can begin summoning and dismissing it's physical manifestation again.


Nature's Bond
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Your forest guardian's physical manifestation gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The forest guardian obeys your mental commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine it's actions. Your forest guardian has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. You forest servant uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to areas it would normally add its proficency bonus, your forest guardian adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and damage rolls. For each level you gain after 2nd, your forest guardian gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly. Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your forest guardian's abilities also improve. Your forest guardian can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your forest guardian can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise.

Additionally, your forest guardian is considered to have a level equal to half your druid level rounded down and its spellcasting ability is Wisdom. Your forest guardian loses its innate spellcasting ability and can cast any 1st level spells or cantrips you have prepared by expending your spell slots while it is within 30 feet of you.


Verdant Path
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At 6th level, you gain the ability to conjure forth powerful plants and become plants yourself. Any plant summoned or created by your spells gains two benefits. Its hit point maximum increases by 2 per Hit Die, and the damage from its natural weapons is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical attacks and damage. Your wildshape class feature can now be used to change shapes into plants in addition to beasts.


Nature's Ward
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When you reach 10th level, you can’t be charmed or frightened by elementals or fey, and you are immune to poison and disease.


Attuned with Nature
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Starting at 14th level, you have become permanently attuned with nature and emit an aura of nature magic with a radius of 30 feet. You imbue plants within the aura with limited sentience and animation, giving them the ability to communicate with you and follow your simple commands. You can question plants about events in the area of the aura within the past day, gaining information about creatures that have passed, weather, and other circumstances. Plants might be able to perform other tasks on your behalf, at the DM’s discretion. The aura doesn’t enable plants to uproot themselves and move about, but they can freely move branches, tendrils, and stalks. If a plant creature is in the area, you can communicate with it as if you shard a common language, but you gain no magical ability to influence it.

This aura can cause the plants created by the entangle spell to release a restrained creature. You can also choose to turn difficult terrain caused by plant growth (such as thickets and undergrowth) into ordinary terrain, or turn ordinary terrain where plants are present into difficult terrain, causing bines and branches to hinder pursers, for example. These effects last for up to 10 minutes after the plants are no longer within the aura.

Additionally, you may permanently become one with a forest of your choosing that is not already one with another animist. Doing so requires you to perform a ritual spanning 24 hours, and once complete you can not change which forest you have become one with. Once the ritual is complete it forms a protected grove where you performed the ritual. The grove is 60 feet in diameter with a single large life tree in the center that is bound to you. The forest forms a thick wall of trees around the borders of the grove that only opens for you at your command. As long as you and the life tree lives, life flourishes within the forest where your grove resides and you are aware of the presence of any creatures within the forest and any dangers that cause the forest fear for it's saftey. If you die, the life tree becomes corrupt and curses the forest. If the life tree dies, then the forest also begins dying. The forest completely dies after 1d10 x 7 days, becoming a nonmagical region of decay and twisted barren plantlife.



CREATURES
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Creeping Spore
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Medium plant, unaligned
Armor Class 5
Hit Points 14 (3d8)
Speed 5ft
Str 3 (-4) Dex 1 (-5) Con 10 (0) Int 1 (-5) Wis 3 (-4) Cha 1 (-5)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, frightened
Senses blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 9
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

False Appearance. While the spore servant remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary fungus.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. The fungus makes 1d4 Deadly Spore attacks.

Deadly Spore. range 30ft., one creature. DC 11 Constitution save. on failure, take 2 (1d4) poison damage.

This gray mushroom uses its root-like feelers growing from its base to creep across cavern and forest floors. Its dark spotted top is home to poisonous spores that can be emitted to attack prey. These creatures are often farmed in groves tended by gnomes, elves, and druids deep in a forest. While elves and druids may farm them as a means of defending a forest, gnomes often will use them similar to livestock. Creeping spores make an excellent food source which requires minimal involvement from the farmer, and they can be used for potion making as well as spell components.


Forest Guardian
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Medium fey, neutral good
Armor Class 5
Hit Points 22 (4d8+4)
Speed 5ft
Str 3 (-4) Dex 1 (-5) Con 12 (1) Int 10 (0) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 1 (-5)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, frightened
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 11
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

False Appearance. While the forest guardian remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary fungus.
Innate Spellcasting. The forest guardian's innate spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 11). The forest guardian can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: poison spray 2/day: entangle
Potent Spellcasting. The forest guardian adds its spellcasting ability modifier to the damage it does with spells.

ACTIONS
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 5ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d8) piercing damage.

This unassuming grey-brown mushroom uses its root-like feelers growing from its base to creep across cavern and forest floors. It seems harmless until you see its top split in half revealing rows of sharp teeth, and it begins making a strange hissing noise that indicates it is casting a spell. These intelligent fey creatures are similar in appearance to creeping spores and they are highly sought after by creeping spore farmers and druids. These creatures are known to command spawns of creeping spores and they take it upon themselves to defend their grove.

SPELLS
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Sap Essence
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Necromancy
Level: Cantrip
Casting time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous

You sap the life essence of a creature you can see within range. The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d10 necrotic damage and be unable to benefit from magical healing until the end of it's next turn.

At higher level
This spell's damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), 17th level (4d10).

Conjure Plants
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Conjuration
Level: 3
Casting time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You summon plant creatures that appear in unoccupied spaces that you can see within range.

Choose one of the following options for what appears:
 • One plant creature of challenge rating 2 or lower
 • Two plant creatures of challenge rating 1 or lower
 • Four plant creatures of challenge rating 1/2 or lower
 • Eight plant creatures of challenge rating 1/4 or lower

A summoned creature disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.

The summoned creatures are friendly to you and your companions. Roll initiative for the summoned creatures as a group, which have their own turns. They obey any verbal commands that you issue to them (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions.
The DM has the creatures’ statistics.

At higher level

When you cast this spell using certain higher-level spell slots, you choose one of the summoning options above, and more creatures appear:
twice as many with a 5th-level slot
three times as many with an 7th-level slot
four times as many with a 9th-level slot