Circle of the Shepherd Druid Guide to Fuzzy Fury

[airless_wing]

One of my biggest tricks for using summons and avoiding clogging up the game is to use the Mob Rule tactics.

It doesn't require any dice rolls, is easy to put into a table or script, and generally keeps the pace up.

I can share the tables & scripts I use for it, if that would be helpful to the guide. I've thought about doing formal write-up about it myself every time I see the "Druids slow down combat to a crawl" comment.

Overall, I love the guide! Especially the last bit, which shows the utility of each summon. Well done!

Edit: I NEVER thought to upcast Conjure Woodland Beings to get an entire Hag Coven! That's a clever move.

[Nhym]

One of my biggest tricks for using summons and avoiding clogging up the game is to use the Mob Rule tactics.

It doesn't require any dice rolls, is easy to put into a table or script, and generally keeps the pace up.

I can share the tables & scripts I use for it, if that would be helpful to the guide. I've thought about doing formal write-up about it myself every time I see the "Druids slow down combat to a crawl" comment.

Overall, I love the guide! Especially the last bit, which shows the utility of each summon. Well done!

Edit: I NEVER thought to upcast Conjure Woodland Beings to get an entire Hag Coven! That's a clever move.

Thanks! That would be an awesome addition. If you can put it in a google doc or google sheets and link it, i'll add it to the guide and credit you at the bottom :). It also very much bothers me when people say druids slow down combat.

[Zuras]

I see you have Animal Friendship listed as red, and I have to strongly disagree. It is a highly situational spell, but if you are somewhere you suspect you will fight decent CR beasts, you can bypass encounters or even force a parley, especially since you can already speak with animals.

Knight charging you on a horse? Charm the horse and persuade it to stop. Merfolk attacking behind a pair of Giant Sharks? Charm both the sharks with a 2nd level slot, then see if the merfolk want to negotiate.

Not saying it’s amazing, but even at higher levels I usually have it prepared, mostly because RP wise my Druid hates killing animals when he doesn’t have to.

[Nhym]

I see you have Animal Friendship listed as red, and I have to strongly disagree. It is a highly situational spell, but if you are somewhere you suspect you will fight decent CR beasts, you can bypass encounters or even force a parley, especially since you can already speak with animals.

Knight charging you on a horse? Charm the horse and persuade it to stop. Merfolk attacking behind a pair of Giant Sharks? Charm both the sharks with a 2nd level slot, then see if the merfolk want to negotiate.

Not saying it’s amazing, but even at higher levels I usually have it prepared, mostly because RP wise my Druid hates killing animals when he doesn’t have to.

Fair enough. I suppose I thought if you were fighting it, the beast would have advantage on the save like Charm Person. For that reason, I moved it to orange as situational.
The reason I probably wouldn't move it higher is because the charmed condition doesn't make the creature fight for you, it just means they are friendly to you and won't attack you. So other than the initial Wis save, you need to make persuasion saves to make it actually do things, and chances are your Cha isn't going to be stellar. But yeah, since it doesn't give advantage on the save for combat usage, I could definitely see its use in taking a beast out of the fight if you can't persuade it with goodberries to begin with.

[Zuras]

I definitely agree with your notes on “How to Make Your DM Not Hate You”

I would also add that you should avoid trying to micromanage their creatures if you aren’t using swarm rules. If you are using map-based combat, don’t obsess about placement, just swarm your enemies and roll the dice.

You also want to keep your fellow players from hating you as well. Since you can cast Conjure Animals well before combat, you can even distribute your creatures around the party. In a 5 person party, each other player can get a wolf buddy and you can take the remaining 4. Most DMs are pretty lenient with communicating to the summons when everybody gets one.

Also, if you have lots of small PCs there are lots of steed possibilities. For example (actual game occurrence) a halfling Fighter can ride a giant wolf spider up a sheer cliff wall to attack the unsuspecting hobgoblins at the top.

When I DM Druids at mid-high levels, you get one combat to show me you can run 8 creatures without bogging down combat rounds. If you go too slow, you get encouraged to use the 2 CR 1 creatures option rather than the 8 CR 1/4. Keep that option in mind if you feel like you are playing too slowly and annoying the rest of the table despite your best efforts to play quickly.

[Zuras]

Edit: I NEVER thought to upcast Conjure Woodland Beings to get an entire Hag Coven! That's a clever move.

Another possible option, which requires a DM ruling because there are no rules for it per se, is upcasting Conjure animals to summon enough individual Cranium Rats for them to form a swarm. In my games I rule it takes 20+, so you would need a 7th level slot (24 CR 0 creatures) to pull it off, but it gives you an interesting psionic option.

[Nhym]

You also want to keep your fellow players from hating you as well. Since you can cast Conjure Animals well before combat, you can even distribute your creatures around the party. In a 5 person party, each other player can get a wolf buddy and you can take the remaining 4. Most DMs are pretty lenient with communicating to the summons when everybody gets one.

Thanks! I already actually had this in the guide

"Alternatively, just bundle your creatures into groups. Have 16 Wolves? Now you have 8 groups of two, or 4 groups of 4. Bundle roll for the whole group to hit or miss. You can also divide your summons amongst your party so they control a set number of summons. "

but I admit it wasn't actually apparent, so I made it a bit clearer.

When I DM Druids at mid-high levels, you get one combat to show me you can run 8 creatures without bogging down combat rounds. If you go too slow, you get encouraged to use the 2 CR 1 creatures option rather than the 8 CR 1/4. Keep that option in mind if you feel like you are playing too slowly and annoying the rest of the table despite your best efforts to play quickly.

Fair enough. xD

[Zene]

Great guide. I love the reference sections for spells, resistances, and the cheat sheet link.

I second the recommendation for Mob attacks rules from the dmg. They make things sooo much easier.

For Conjure Minor Elementals, are you familiar with the Chwingas from Tomb of Annihilation? CR0 elementals, and hoo boy are they useful.

[Nhym]

Great guide. I love the reference sections for spells, resistances, and the cheat sheet link.

I second the recommendation for Mob attacks rules from the dmg. They make things sooo much easier.

For Conjure Minor Elementals, are you familiar with the Chwingas from Tomb of Annihilation? CR0 elementals, and hoo boy are they useful.

Thanks! I am not familiar with them, I'll have to take a look. I'm beginning to think I should add another section for adventure-specific creatures since I know there are some very good options in Beasts of the Jungle Rot and Xanathar's notes to everything else.

Edit: Added.

[Zuras]

Thanks! I am not familiar with them, I'll have to take a look. I'm beginning to think I should add another section for adventure-specific creatures since I know there are some very good options in Beasts of the Jungle Rot and Xanathar's notes to everything else.

Chwinga are small nature spirits that can hand out magical blessings. Summoning 8 of them to buff your party is the sort of thing that gets your DM to exercise their authority to control the creatures you summon, even if they hadn’t been before...

[Osrogue]

Wolves are the superior to giant poisonous snakes against higher CR enemies. The 11DC poison is kind of pointless later on, and wolves’ innate advantage means they can still put out respectable damage through the sheer number of dice rolls.

[Nhym]

Wolves are the superior to giant poisonous snakes against higher CR enemies. The 11DC poison is kind of pointless later on, and wolves’ innate advantage means they can still put out respectable damage through the sheer number of dice rolls.

I meant damage-wise as they pull higher raw numbers provided the enemy isn't immune to poison but yeah, I much prefer wolves as well. I made it a bit clearer.

[GeistInMachine]

Have you thought about a section on what a typical first 3 turns of a fight would look like?

Maybe on High/Medium/Low difficulty fights to get a sense of what pace of resource expenditure to expect?

[Nhym]

Have you thought about a section on what a typical first 3 turns of a fight would look like?

Maybe on High/Medium/Low difficulty fights to get a sense of what pace of resource expenditure to expect?

I hadn't considered adding something like that, but I'll certainly work on it. I had wanted to work on a section for something along the lines of practically playing a Shepherd Druid.

Edit: Added a "Practical Application" section.

[Nidgit]

Can you add a section on multiclassing? Druid is obviously good single-classed but there are some good options for multiclassing too, I think.

[Nhym]

Can you add a section on multiclassing? Druid is obviously good single-classed but there are some good options for multiclassing too, I think.

I would say I do not have the proficiency required to confidently speak toward other classes in conjunction with multi-classing with the Shepherd Druid as I never multi-class, so I suggest you look at this guide http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...0#post22693950 which has a substantial multi-classing section.

I will, however, give a shout out to Life Cleric 1/Shepherd Druid X as it creates one of the greatest healers in the game with unicorn totem. I would also advise avoiding multi-classing with melee classes as you want to avoid situations that can cause you to lose concentration at all costs.

[Captain Panda]

Wolves are the superior to giant poisonous snakes against higher CR enemies.

Why? Even without poison snakes have blindsight and better to-hit. With the poison, even assuming every save is made, half of 3d6 is still quite a lot when you have 8-24 of the things. Wolves are mostly better when you have something poison immune.

[MaxWilson]

Why? Even without poison snakes have blindsight and better to-hit. With the poison, even assuming every save is made, half of 3d6 is still quite a lot when you have 8-24 of the things. Wolves are mostly better when you have something poison immune.

Agreed, but there are lots of high-CR enemies that are indeed poison immune. Maybe the poster you're responding to has encountered a lot of them.

Giant Poisonous Snakes + heavy obscurement (blindsight) is indeed awesome. Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, whatever.

[Nhym]

Agreed, but there are lots of high-CR enemies that are indeed poison immune. Maybe the poster you're responding to has encountered a lot of them.

Giant Poisonous Snakes + heavy obscurement (blindsight) is indeed awesome. Fog Cloud, Sleet Storm, whatever.

I'd say Pack Tactics is still better than a higher to-hit against higher AC enemies, but yeah Giant Poisonous Snakes are tankier and have higher damage.

If you are looking for damage too, shoutout to the Stench Kow. Common damage resistances, same to-hit as GPS, single roll for very good damage provided you can charge and AOE poison. It doesn't have the tankiness of the GPS but 8 of these charging can unleash hell.

[MaxWilson]

I'd say Pack Tactics is still better than a higher to-hit against higher AC enemies, but yeah Giant Poisonous Snakes are tankier and have higher damage.

But with Blindsight + heavy obscurement, the snakes have advantage AND a higher to-hit AND higher damage, plus disadvantage to their enemies' attacks. It's all situational, pick the animal that maches your group and/or do whatever you can with the animal your DM happens to give you.

If you are looking for damage too, shoutout to the Stench Kow. Common damage resistances, same to-hit as GPS, single roll for very good damage provided you can charge and AOE poison. It doesn't have the tankiness of the GPS but 8 of these charging can unleash ----.

Nice. Elk is also excellent. Less damage than the Stench Kow and slightly lower to-hit but higher mobility (therefore easier to use charge) and can knock prone to grant advantage for subsequent elk attacks (or stench kow attacks, in a mixed group).

[Coeus]

Love the guide. Never had a lot of interest in Druid, but this makes it look like tons of fun. One small nitpick. In several places when you are estimating potential damage, you assume 2d6 is an average of 6 damage. 2d6 will average 7 damage. Noticed it especially when you are comparing conjure animals and fireball.

Thanks for the guide!

[Nhym]

But with Blindsight + heavy obscurement, the snakes have advantage AND a higher to-hit AND higher damage, plus disadvantage to their enemies' attacks. It's all situational, pick the animal that maches your group and/or do whatever you can with the animal your DM happens to give you.

Yes, since heavy obscurment is situational, it would be a situational summon. Hell getting down to brass tax 8 of anything at level 5 is game breaking...

Nice. Elk is also excellent. Less damage than the Stench Kow and slightly lower to-hit but higher mobility (therefore easier to use charge) and can knock prone to grant advantage for subsequent elk attacks (or stench kow attacks, in a mixed group).

Yeah, wolves are also a pretty good mixed group with Elks because of more chances to prone and synergy with Hooves. I'm sure mixed groups could get even more crazy but they are also harder to maintain unless you are well prepared.

Love the guide. Never had a lot of interest in Druid, but this makes it look like tons of fun. One small nitpick. In several places when you are estimating potential damage, you assume 2d6 is an average of 6 damage. 2d6 will average 7 damage. Noticed it especially when you are comparing conjure animals and fireball.

Thanks for the reply! Fixed the numbers issue.

[MaxWilson]

Yeah, wolves are also a pretty good mixed group with Elks because of more chances to prone and synergy with Hooves. I'm sure mixed groups could get even more crazy but they are also harder to maintain unless you are well prepared.

Hooves are straight-up worse than ram + charge against a prone target. In fact, hooves are never useful on an elk except in tight quarters where there's no room to charge.

[Nhym]

Hooves are straight-up worse than ram + charge against a prone target. In fact, hooves are never useful on an elk except in tight quarters where there's no room to charge.

Fair enough. I guess I should spam charge more xD. Practical application of multiple charging Elk's can be difficult outside of open spaces, though seems statistically awesome.

[col_impact]

With regards to multi-classing . . .

A level in Life Druid is grand for making Goodberries into GREATberries. By the way, converting unused spell slots before a long rest into a ton of free 'healing potions' the next day is awesome value. It also makes everyone in your party a potential combat medic when you distribute those GREATberries each morning. Also, one level of cleric gives you Sanctuary which combos really nicely with Conjure X spells since they aren't attack spells.

A single level in Wizard is also strong. You get Shield, Mage Armor, Feather Fall, Expeditious Retreat, Disguise Self, etc. These drastically improve your action economy and defense capability by giving you in a lot of cases Concentration-free choices. You also get access to Wizard ritual spells such as Find Familiar, Alarm, Detect Magic, Identify, Comprehend Languages.

If you have a level in Life Cleric and Find Familiar somehow (via Ritual Caster, Mage Initiate, or Wizard level(s), then you can have your familiar use its action to feed you GREATberries for 4+ hit point in combat healing which doesn't use your action. I like bat familiars since echolocation gives free See Invisibility and echolocation also combos with Fog Cloud (and Darkness, etc.).

Further levels in Wizard than a single level dip are also strong. 5 levels for access to level 3 spells provides lots of further Concentration free choices to round out your action economy with Counterspell, Misty Step, Mirror Image, and Major Image (upcastable to permanent!) as standouts. Inverted Magic Circles are also great for building Elemental armies at higher levels.

I find that being a Shepherd Druid puts a big target on your back. Smart enemies will want to eliminate you as soon as possible to shut down your double threat of never-ending reinforcements and premium party healing capabilities. Wizard spells is one potent answer to your need for nigh invulnerability sometimes.

Mage Armor plus Shield plus Sanctuary plus Mirror Image plus Dodge Action plus Absorb Elements plus Counterspell plus Arcane Ward can keep you alive when the smart enemies dedicate their resources to taking you out first..

The clunkiness of multi-classing for an INT dependent class can be alleviated by acquiring/trading for a Headband of Intellect which can be relatively easily acquired since its an uncommon item that only EK and AT want. The versatility of Wizard spells pair nicely with the powerful but clunky Concentration-heavy Druid spells.

[Nhym]

With regards to multi-classing . . .

Thanks for the information! I know Life Cleric/ Shepherd Druid can be nuts but it's nice to hear that Wizard works well with it as well for those who like multi-classing. I completely forgot to add that all spell slots should be used for goodberries at the end of the day. I know mentioned it in conjunction with Dryads, but it's an obvious no risk/high reward.

[col_impact]

If someone decides to multiclass into a few levels of Wizard, I would recommend War Magic as your school of choice since you get two 2nd level abilities where other schools get one. Arcane Deflection is very strong while Wild Shaping since you pretty much don't care about the loss of non-cantrip casting the following turn.Also, if you have procured the easy to get Headband of Intellect then the second War Magic benefit nets you +4 to initiative which is stellar.

Divination school is still a solid choice because Portent is extremely potent. Also Abjuration is solid for the regenerating Arcane Ward since you are grabbing and using Wizard spells mostly for defensive action economy to counter enemies who want to defeat your summons by attacking you as the linch pin.

[Fable Wright]

This guide does not answer the one burning question that I have when playing most Druids:

How do I use my action & bonus action when I'm concentrating on summons? At level 9, I can use my action to... maybe hit for 2d6 damage within 30ft, optionally pulling a guy out of cover while doing so? Hitting for 2d8 often-resisted damage at 30ft isn't much better. And by now, Erupting Earth hasn't picked up on damage yet.

Plant Growth, Transmute Rock, and Bones of the Earth are absolutely great, yes, but they're situational, and if you pre-bake the battlefield with them, then you come back to the original problem. Best I've got so far is "turn into a horse for more party mobility", but if you've already got a horse... then what?

[Master O'Laughs]

For a Shepard Druid with 20 CON and proficiency in CON saves, would a cloak of protection or Sentinel Shield be a better uncommon magic item?

I am thinking the advantage on initiative is better since you can set up the battlefield with all the doggos.

[Nhym]

This guide does not answer the one burning question that I have when playing most Druids:

How do I use my action & bonus action when I'm concentrating on summons?

Added a section for that.

"Action Uses:

-Any Non-Concentration Spell. All these spells are listed in the “Non-Concentration Spells” section.
-Non-Attack actions: Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, Search or Use an Object(few suggestions listed below).
-Wild Shape
-Reposition enemies or your allies with Thorn Whip. (Yes your allies will take damage but the minor damage is often better than an opportunity attack by the enemy, or pulling them out of a hazard).
-Cast an attack cantrip
-Feed an ally a Goodberry
-Dismiss and Reappear a Familiar
-See through your familiar’s eyes (Very useful if your familiar has senses you do not).

Some examples of Object Use:

-Use a Potion or throw a poison/acid vial.
-Scatter Caltrops or Ball Bearings
-Stabilize an ally with a Healer’s Kit
-Use an oil flask and next turn set the enemy on fire with Produce Flame
-Cast a net

Bonus Action Uses:

-Cast Healing Word
-Summon or move your Spirit Totem
-Revert from Wild Shape"

Thanks for the comment! I think that section will be useful to a lot of people.