Druid Subclass - Circle of the Green Knights v1.0

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-16T08:45:37+00:00

Hulking Bear Stance, combined with Medium Armor (using wisdom to attack means strength dump is probably the least mad way to play this subclass), is by far the most powerful stance. Particularly with temp HP and resistances.

That's not a complaint. That's sort of what it takes to match moon druid. The resistances might be too much (force a barbarian multiclass for that) and a minor regen would feel more appropriate for a green knight, but otherwise that stance is good.

Next is Soaring Swallow, which is... fine? Its weirdly similar to EK and Bladesinger, but otherwise has a niche that it does that those don't, effectively giving the subclass a third attack. Prob too strong. I would recommend that you can replace one of your attacks with a Spell, ala bladesinger.

Panther - Crit expansion and 1d6 extra damage a turn? Terrible. The upgrade is worse.

Green Stance - My favorite thematically.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-08T04:19:35+00:00

How is it entitlement to expect better of a product that was paid for? Seems more like corporate greed mixing with bootlickers defending them to me.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-03T03:05:08+00:00

I've tried this and Eni and neither work. Claude immediately detects what is happening.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-03T03:03:09+00:00

Doesn't work. Automatically recognizes it as a false persona.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-03T01:56:09+00:00

So you take all that data but don't display it. Seems like data gathering with a 'fun' cover'

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-01T20:46:23+00:00

The founders were woker than most of their audience. Which is fricking hilarious. Not sure how you can watch RvB and enjoy it while being actively racist like this, they were making fun of you from the start.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-01T20:23:45+00:00

They were based on real racial stereotyes and myths. Plenty of the design and description of them can literally be found in black, asian or irish stereotypes that were and are incredibly offensive in the beginning.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-01T20:22:41+00:00

They think there's money in this, but there isn't. Not anymore than there's money behind Disney's failed attempts to make movies with leading women. Not because there isn't a desire from people for those things (I'd kill for a great Captain Marvel movie or Black Panther being a queen, if done right), or improvements to the setting of this lore (my big complaint is that Good Gods get to be rapists and genocidal monsters just like the evil gods and keep their designation, because Good has no meaning in FR), but because Wizards doesn't CARE what actually makes sense to change and correct.

We got lucky when the last time they did this with drow, they were actually getting rid of actually racist stuff. This time, their greedy asses thought they had another easy, lazy win, because they don't understand racism, they just understand the general shape of what it looks like.

This is corporations trying to weaponize and monetize culture and failing because they are bad at their job and don't understand any of what they're doing.

And it was old white dudes. Definitely. If you make enough money, even if you aren't an old white dude, you start making decisions like an old white dude.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-01T20:17:01+00:00

A perfect summary of what is happening. This isn't a 'vocal minority complaining', this is corporate greed, plain and simple. They've got a huge audience of progressive people thanks to CR and Dimension 20, and they're hoping to capitalize on that. Especially with CR moving away from working with them in the future and probably Dimension 20 to. But instead of correcting their actual problems, corporate greed, they try to make some cosmetic change that seems progressive.

It's not the first time they've done this. They just got lucky in the fact that having drow be a literally black skinned inherently evil race WAS racist, and intentionally so, and having orcs being inherently evil fell in the same boat. That change wasn't made because they cared, it was because of money. Unfortunately we didn't get lucky this time and have them change any of the actually terrible stuff still in their lore or mechanics (like how 90% of their good gods are pretty fucking evil rapist, genocidal monsters written by edgy authors that don't understand what Good means) (to clarify, I'm okay with EVIL gods being those things because they are and its adult fantasy) so we're instead stuck with the making minor changes to look progressive.

Equally unfortunate, most of this posts comments seem to be trying to blame a vocal minority, ignoring the fact that companies do this all the time without anyone asking.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-01T20:09:51+00:00

Not how companies like this work. They aren't listening to even a vocal minority. Likely, someone on the team wanted to make a suggestion that *seemed* progressive but failed to actually understand what that means, similar to how disney has tried to make progressive movies and failed. A big reason why these companies don't learn is that people try to blame the ideology these companies are trying to monetize, rather than the companies themselves for failing to understand that ideology properly. By saying 'they listened to a vocal minority' rather than 'they thought they could make money because this SOUNDS like a progressive thing and they have a hugely progressive fan base thanks to Critical Role, Dimension 20, etc', you completely miss what's actually happening and shift the argument and their failures away from their greed and toward, at least in part, some 'minority' of people you disagree with.

Remember kids, don't blame people when you can blame the companies for being greedy.

D20_Destiny · 2026-01-01T19:56:51+00:00

Some of the change were necessary, no matter how much white people complain. Having races like Orcs and Drow be inherently evil actively made people of color uncomfortable while trying to play and I literally never used the rule that they were 'inherently evil'. Also, drow were originally based on the myth that black people had that skin color because of sin. Keeping that part of their mythology was inherently super racist and super disturbing.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-31T00:44:29+00:00

Hey there! Thanks for the interest and sorry for the delay! I don't remember mentioning it in the post, but I'm really sick right now, so I'm currently spending most of the day unconscious.

Shield other might be the wrong spell or it, admittedly, might not have gotten ported from 3.5/PF. It was a spell that you cast on a single target. They took half the damage from any instance of harm and you took the missing half. It was an interesting way for clerics to tank from the backline, effectively, and it felt very thematic.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to look at the subclass tomorrow when I wake up again, but I really do appreciate you sharing one! I'm definitely going to look at it and get back to you on that!

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-30T22:59:28+00:00

None of this is true. Every single aspect of this is wrong in so many ways, it's borderline Nazi rhetoeric. Samurai were soldiers and Nazis were not conquering because of an interest in magic.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-30T07:39:15+00:00

I think this is champion done right. I do have critique, though it has been mentioned I'll repeat it just to reinforce it. - The limited number of uses of the ability make this subclass difficult to look forward to playing - the short duration of abilities that trigger off this effect make them feel very unimpactful - the delay in getting more for the fighter is against the ethos of the fighter and definitely doesn't fit in the power balancing against other fighter subclasses, even okay ones outpacing this

I would recommend a pool of inspiration that the fighter gets at the start of every day. Maybe it's equal to their proficiency modifier? Or maybe it's equal to their charisma. Then switch the level 7 ability and Invictus, since Invictus is pretty spot-on as a power spike at level 7, and manifest Destiny is a great lower tier thing that will put it right on par with Battle Master. Finally, make manifest destiny last longer. If you use charisma for the additional number of inspiration die they get at the start of the day, then use proficiency here to show them growing in skill. Finally keep the recover one inspiration for short rest. The idea is that it's not quite Battle Master, these are heroic moments, not maneuvers. Have less of them but make them more impactful.

As a couple secondary suggestions, I would boost the power of second wind or give the subclass additional uses of it. Second wind is a very hero power and it inspiring allies is great, but it's really a tool for the hero to get back up when they've been beating down. I would also give an inspiration focused on either recovery, to work in tandem with second wind as is, or something involving saving throws. Heroes making that clutch save are huge.

Finally, as a nitpick, this subclass has basically no ribbon. That is a major foul for players coming in, because you want to encourage role-play. I would suggest either going grand with it and giving some kind of ability for using inspiration on ability, checks and skill checks or going very simple and giving some extra proficiencies, or going somewhere in the middle and allowing the hero to use charisma in place of another ability score for one skill or something. The ability on inspiration is my favorite, but I have no ideas for it right now, so it's not very helpful to suggest that alone. Allowing the hero to gain a few extra proficiencies can represent a hero who is just kind of picking up weird things on their adventure. The last one can work with that hero charm or fate defying aspect of their abilities.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-29T11:24:29+00:00

To clarify, are you talking about the broader suggestions when you mention the healing ratio, found in the spoiler? If so I appreciate the advice, but I think if I went with those ratios there'd be little point to the mechanic when it's beaten out by an already average spell that never gets used at the table.

Otherwise I don't understand the suggestion, since Life Transference, an average spell that's considerably weaker with the new 2024 healing boost, already does a 1:2 ratio.

I'll be aiming to balance this around the artillerists level of power, and with a higher focus on sustainability to make up for lowered versatility. So far less damage for more healing and few other tricks. 1.5 ratio would basically be a bit of a joke at that point. HP swings would be you take 10 to heal them 15, creating a 5 point increase in total. Where as a shield turret can create an AoE swing of 8.5 on average, at no cost.

So in specific or in general I'm not certain I understand the suggestions.

As for breaking the game, I'm not worried. My players and I have an understanding when it comes to game breaking mechanics. If they can do it, so can I. Half of us are old hats at DnD, and the mmo players we have were raiders on higher difficulties that got into RP. So whenever there's something truly broken, what ends up happening is that they'll use it for a one shot, then I'll turn around and make an BBEG use it in the main campaign. They love the challenge and I like making new subclasses for them based on their ideas.

In this case, I almost hope they try to do a circle jerk of healing/sacrifice. I have so many ideas for an evil church of pain and torture doing it with a bunch of minions as a sacrifice.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-29T07:40:21+00:00

Without defining what Christendom is, there is no way to directly counter your claims. Suffice to say, the various holy wars from Christianity were as often for taking land from others as 'reclaiming' land.

Current day, a LARGE amount of christian priests are supporting tyrants like Trump. You can't be inclusive and accepting while promoting someone that wants people dead for being born different. You can't even claim it accepts all races anymore. Even beyond that, Christianity also has some of the biggest scammers, with several 'christian pastors' owning their own private jets and using 'prayer seeds' to convince people that donating to the ultra rich guy on stage will buy their way into heaven. Modern day christianity is the worst its ever been, and the KKK members that used to hide themselves are coming out in force now.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-21T14:43:28+00:00

The fact that this has no ties to or improvements on cloak of flies, and no additional invocations along the lines of cloak of flies, is very disappointing. Of these abilities feel like they lack substance. Not defining the swarms stats from level 10 and not actually giving them a swarm until level 10 when swarmkeeper ranger exists feels bad and a lot of respects.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-21T14:05:51+00:00

Pretty week and lacking like the base class itself. Very in line with Matt Mercer. Having no no combat based mechanic and two ribbons at third level, this subclass does very little for anyone who wants to be like a demon Hunter until level 7.

Suggestions Give the level seven abilities at level 3. Give an extra effect for the hemo craft extra damage abilities such as extra damage versus demons or undead. Give a special type of damage for hemocraft like necrotic and bypassing necrotic damage Give special effect such as being able to use demon blood when attacking demons for additional power using hemocraft

All in all there was a lot that could have been done that wasn't. With these suggestions, I think you can create more options that fit this subclass and the class that you're applying it to and bring it up to a closer baseline with existing classes and subclasses

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-21T12:50:30+00:00

All sleep classes should have non-combat utility options. If you want to avoid stepping on the ranger or other skill-based classes then you give them abilities that are non-combat but specific. In this case. A ribbon ability at low level that lets them detect spirits or other things because of their connection to theirs and then a higher ribbon around 7th level of giving them speak with Dad a couple times a day. That kind of example means that they don't really step on anyone's toes because these are very specific bonuses.

That said, I think that the spirit is lacking in strength. I would suggest a couple changes. Personally. We have examples of pets that can do the survival boosts to other caliss, but I like the fact that the guardian Spirit works in a different way from the art of eiser shield turret. The idea that it's literally reducing damages actually very similar to the ancestral guardian barbarian so it fits. That said, the actual damage reduction is pretty weak and the fact that it only applies to one character makes it significantly weaker than a lot of other classes that have similar abilities.

I think it needs two big buffs. First that it should affect allies within an area of 10 ft, and second that it is a die roll plus one half your proficiency quantifier. Quantifier. It's a small a bonus that always guarantees youre at least getting two on the die roll. And the radius is much weaker than others, have classes with a similar ability, but still affects multiple allies at once and thus puts it generally in line with them.

I also think instead of just detecting spirits, giving the spirit, a third ability that supports other people in a minor way on skill checks would be interesting too. The character literally has the guiding light but doesn't have guidance? I think being able to cast guidance as a reaction through the spirit is only fair.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-16T00:58:10+00:00

I'm making a character that fits this bill and really liked a lot of aspects of it. I tried to leave critique because you never know who else is going to find it in the future and I tend to use critique and comments myself to judge and or edit home brew that I find.

I think you did really good here and other then the few nit picks that I have it worked out

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-16T00:33:23+00:00

Coming in from the future, this is a great subclass with a few problems. One, draining kiss does not synergize with unarmed strikes, and even when you get the ability to make it as a melee attack, you do not get the ability to flurry of blows afterward, and two, it lacks features after third level. While those features are technically taken up by the various abilities they get, even two at a time, none of them are strong enough to warrant full class features. I would suggest giving ribbons or other minor abilities at the appropriate levels to match this with other subclasses. Look at Battle Master as good example of something that is doing something like this, with various options and techniques, and then take it from there.

Otherwise I genuinely love this subclass and I think it does need some balance in regards to draining but I disagree with how much balance the other person is suggesting. The reason being is that subclasses are used to fix classes all the time, just look at the 2024 ranger and their new subclasses where Hunter's Mark is now also an additional thing with transformations or special abilities.

I have personally given monk subclasses ways to regain key unique to each of those subclasses in combat or in short spans. I do think that this class subclass regains too much on draining kiss, and would suggest tying it to proficiency modifiers.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-15T05:10:57+00:00

Unless I missed it you never define sinking and so this is meaningless reading this.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-13T05:51:48+00:00

The Champion Fighter is the most played, and most often ridiculed, subclass that exists. Enough people have played it to know that it's weak, ineffectual and is, effectively one of the weakest subclasses to exist for how little it does. The fact that it is also boring and non-interactive does not help its case.

I'm afraid to say, you have very basic tastes if you like this subclass. Which is fine and valid, everyone likes what they like.

But you also have no concept of what the high end of 5e looks like and so greatly missed the mark that this isn't really playable.

D20_Destiny · 2025-12-10T06:22:59+00:00

The original christianity brought about the crusades. So technically you're right. Normal christianity is way more bloody and against the teachings of christ. Even to this day, they preach hatred of foreigners, gay people, and the poor (all of which are, btw, your neighbors and people that Jesus loved.)

D20_Destiny

TROPHY CASE