Druid Circle: Circle of the Song

I’d been throwing the idea around the echoing halls of the Mage College of a druid that uses song and magic. The first issue I had to tackle was the how to differentiate it from bard substantially enough that it didn’t feel like it was taking any spotlight from bards. so we looked into how Bladesingers worked and after conferring with the Mage College’s Head Curator, Kannah (@itskhanuh), we came up with a mechanic that would help the party but didn’t entirely ruin bards’ abilities to help.

Let us know what you think down in the comments, or on Twitter! Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated, and you can look forward to this being up on DMsGuild in an upcoming project as this is still playtest material. Stay awesome!

Without further ado, we present the Circle of the Song!

Art: Cylian Sunsinger by Jesper Ejsing, ©2018 Wizards of the Coast

Members of the Circle of the Song, often referred to as nightingales  use music to weave the powers of life and vitality into the natural world around them. With each note of their songs, the world begins to grow anew. These druids act as conduits of the forces of nature through music and inspires those forces to move.

Bonus Proficiencies

At 2nd level when you choose this druid circle, you gain proficiency in Performance and with two instruments of your choice.

Primordial Rhapsody

Beginning at 2nd level, as an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape to begin a song that conjures the essence of life and nature, instilling you and your allies with a primal vigor.  You and your allies within 30 feet of you gain the following benefits.

• When a creature starts its turn in range, it gains temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier and its base walking speed increases by 10 feet.
• When you or another creature in range makes an ability check, it gains a bonus to the roll equal to your Wisdom modifier.
• Once per turn, when you or another creature in range damages a target with an attack roll, that creature can add an additional 1d8 to the damage roll.
• When a creature within range rolls a death saving throw, it adds your Wisdom modifier to the roll.

The song lasts for 1 minute, it ends early if you are incapacitated, you enter an area in which sound can’t travel, or you use your Wild Shape feature, or you end it early (no action required).

Melody’s Reach

Starting at 6th level, your spells are carried on the songs you conjure. While your Primordial Rhapsody is active, when you cast a spell that has a range of less than 30 feet (other than self), the spell’s range increases to the range of your Primordial Rhapsody.

Reverberating Chord

With a musical flourish, you can focus your magical energy and hurl it at your enemies. Beginning at 10th level, while you concentrate on a spell of 1st level or higher, you can use your bonus action to deal thunder damage equal to your Wisdom modifier to a creature within 30 feet of you. If your Primordial Rhapsody is active, you deal additional thunder damage equal to half your druid level.

Additionally, you gain a bonus on saving throws you make made to maintain your concentration equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Distant Melody

At 14th level, the notes of your songs carry through all of creation and carry meaning back to you. You can cast sending at will without expending a spell slot.

Additionally, the range of your Primordial Rhapsody and Reverberating Chord features  increases to 60 feet.