Note before I begin: This guide is in no way official, and I won't be touching all the points of the Druid, like ALL the spells or anything like that. This is mainly for the players interested in the Druid class and those DMs that might need help figuring out the Druid.

I'd also like to apologize in advance for the puns I will make. They are terrible, nonsensical, and flat out sad.

DRUIDS!!! Why them?

Hello fellow humanoids/anthropomorphic creatures! If you're reading this, you're probably interested in the Druid (or here to watch me fail at explaining them)!

A lot of people (myself included) believe that the Druid is an extremely complicated class to learn and play, and for good reason! With Wild Shape and Divine Spellcasting, there's a lot in the Druid that can confuse newer players, and I hope to handle that.

Note that this is in no way shape or form official, and this is just tips, advice, and a beginner's guide to the Druid. I'm going to try to go over everything the best I can, so BEAR with me.

Level 0: What are Druids (Lore-Wise)?

Druids are typically known as the Power of Nature, as they work to keep the forces of nature in check, whether that means making sure some diabolical cultists of devils don't take it over or maybe they are preserving the balance of the four elements, making sure the cults of the Elemental Evil do not rise.

The elements in question are, of course, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water, and the Druid uses these throughout their spellcasting. Many believe that the Druid is just the "guardian of the forest", but they can... BRANCH out a bit. They originate from any place of nature, and they draw their powers from it (or, rather, some sort of deity of nature).

Of course, there's always the stereotype of a tree-hugging hippie Druid, but it's in your best interest to stray from that- be creative... Hug the ground! Hug the air! Hug FIRE!!! Maybe be a pyromancer who believes that the balance of fire is becoming too small! Have some fun with it!!!

Level One (Part One): What are Druids (Playing-Wise)?/Druidic

Even at the first three levels, your role in the party seems a bit... confusing. Are you a Full Caster? Caster? Maybe even Fighter? Well... it's weird.

I'll explain this more when you get Wild Shape and use your Divine Spellcasting, but you TRANSITION from role to role. You'll start out as a Fighter in your Wild Shape, taking a few hits and maybe dealing a little of your own, but when you run out of that HP, you'll go straight into /Full Caster mode, dealing a little melee damage on the side while you cast your spells several times.

Starting off with your stats, it's reccommended that you put it in WIS, DEX/CON, INT/CHA, then STR. WIS is your spellcasting stat, so it's going to be the most important, then your DEX and CON decide how much you're going to be/take hit(s). INT and CHA is kept over Wild Shape, so you'll prefer that, and STR will be used the least because you'll most likely be using Cantrips to deal your damage.

"BUT AUSTIN!!! WHAT ABOUT MY WEAPONS?! I WANT MY WEAPONS TO SMACK SOMEONE, NOT MY BRAIN!!!"

Well, I have some news for you... over at Divine Spellcasting.

For your starting equipment, your options are... limited. It's suggested (from me) to take the wooden shield to increase your AC and take a Quarterstaff so that way you can be buffed by your Divine Spellcasting, but that's really it in of customization of equipment. I mean, sure, you can choose what type of Druidic Focus you could have, but that's about it.

BUT THEN DRUIDIC BAY-BEE!!!

Druidic is weird- I can understand how they have it, but not really what came about to put this here.

Basically, you have a secret language called Druidic that only Druids understand. You can use it to speak to other Druids or to write it down somewhere in such a way that non-Druids can only SEE it (not decipher it) using a DC 15 Perception check.

If you're a DM running a campaign with a Druid, it's really easy to forget this ability exists, but you might want to keep it in mind, as it might be cool for your Druid player to gain access to some knowledge of something that other players wouldn't get. It's a smart way to include players... something that might be useful.

Level One (Part Two): Divine Spellcasting

You might be looking at the Player's Handbook and then back at my tutorial and think, "Why is this idiot calling it DIVINE Spellcasting? This illiterate sack of flaming fertilizer just has to call it Spellcasting."

First off... ow.

Second off, I have good reason!

So Wizards and Bards have this thing I call Arcane Spellcasting, which is when you just KNOW your spells, and you get more when you level up. No preparation or anything- you have your spells, you cast them, you rest, get back your spells, yadda yadda yadda.

Clerics and Druids, on the other hand, have something I call Divine Spellcasting, which basically means you get your spells not from your knowledge of casting them, but from a Divine being, such as a god/deity that grants you your powers, or some sort of otherwordly force that you worship.

This all being said, here's how it works, excluding cantrips: at first level, you know all of your first level spells, but you have to prepare them every long rest (you choose a number equal to your level + WIS mod). You can only cast the spells you have prepared using your spell slots, and you can reset your prepared spell list every long rest. If a spell is not prepared, it can't be cawst until you prepare it.

Now, for the fun stuff.

Your cantrips, if you're wanting to go by damage, should start with Thorn Whip (which does damage and pulls enemies towards you) or Shillelagh (which allows your Quarterstaff/Club to use your WIS mod and deals d8 amount of damage instead of its normal damage).

For non damaging, I'd reccomend Guidance (gives your friend a d4 on his next ability check) or Druidcraft (either predicts the weather, makes a flower bloom, creates a harmless sensory nature effect, or light/snuff out a candle, torch, or small campfire).

I'd say go with one damaging cantrip and one non damaging cantrip (Shillelagh for more damage and Guidance for a nice buff that's weaker than a Bard's Inspiration).

For spells, since you can prepare them every long rest, don't be too worried if you pick the wrong spell, but do be cautious of what spells you pick- my best example would be if your group has reliable sources of purify food (rations, etc), then perhaps Purify Food/Drink and Goodberry aren't the best options.

My personal favorites to have is Faerie Fire or Entangle to let your group wail on enemies that fail a DEX or STR save (respectively).

Level Two (Part One): Wild Shape

At level two, you get to turn into an animal! The animal has to be a weaker one, but they get stronger when you level up. You can only do this twice for a number of hours equal to half your Druid level.

Level Two (Part Two): Druid Cir-

oh, who am I kidding.

Wild Shape is actually really complicated for no real reason. I'm going to try my best to explain it to you in that an idiot like myself could understand, but keep in mind, it's a little complex.

-You have to have seen this animal before. I'll show a list of animals that you have likely seen before, but most DMs dismiss this rule and say, "You're a Druid. You've seen, like, most animals." If he doesn't, however, just look at the handy list that Xanathar's Guide provided for you all.

-This animal can't have a swimming or flying speed. Sorry, mate, no eagle at level two. You can get these speeds when you reach a certain level.

-Your animal's CR has to be either equal to or below a CR of 1/4, which increases at 4th and 8th level, along with your speeds.

-You gain all the stats of the creature except for INT, WIS, and CHA. You keep your skills as well as get the animal's skills.

-You assume the health of the creature, but when you get knocked to 0HP, you assume regular form. The best way to explain it is like follows:

You're the final boss of a video game. Your "phase one" is your animal shape. You have its health, but when you're "defeated", your "phase two" is yourself as a Druid, so your health bar goes back up.

Note that if you're at 1HP as a Druid, go into Wild Shape, then get defeated in Wild Shape, you go back to a 1HP Druid, so don't think that Wild Shape heals your wounds, it doesn't, it gives you more.

-You can't cast spells, and you can't do human things as a beast- no talking or wielding a weapon unless you transform into something that CAN do both of those things normally, like a Baboon.

-You keep your racial traits and class features, but you don't keep your special senses, like Darkvision.

-You choose what happens to your stuff- either it falls to the ground, merges with you, or you keep wearing it (but can't wield it unless it was made for your beast to wield.

-You can transform as an action twice per rest, each time for a number of hours equal to half your Druid level. This means for right now that you get at most 1hour per transformation, two transformations per rest.

Please comment any concerns in the comment section.

For the less complicated stuff, your Wild Shape allows you to sneak around as a spider, attack as a panther, and tank some hits as a bear. This allows you to your party in almost every way you can.

Level Two (Part Two): Druid Circles

Level Two hits you up with a lot of complex stuff, but BEAR with us. I'll- no, OWL explain everything the best I can.

"What did you say? ... Yes, I know I made the same pun twice. Shut up, bird."

So, I will go over four of the Druid Circles (two in both the Player's and Xanathar's), which basically acts as your Druid subclass. Choose wisely, as all of them basically decide your role- Caster, Fighter, or Full Caster.

Circles themselves are what happens when a bunch of high class Druids decide that they want to help out the lower Druids by itting them into a social gathering that gives them abilities depending on which "clique" they want to run with. They are large yet secret organizations with people travelling farther and wider than a Pokemon Trainer, and some are more isolated than a nerd on prom night.

"What? ... NO. I did NOT WANT to go to prom. Shut up, bird."

Circle of the Land

Have you ever looked at your spell list and went, "Man, I like the list but... I want more."

Well... that's what the Circle of Land is for.

As a Druid, you draw power from the forces of nature, whether that area was where you were born or where you first became initiated as a Druid (typically the latter). This Circle allows you to draw more power from that area, giving you access to more spells in order to represent and protect the balance of nature.

So right off the bat, you get to pick a bonus cantrip from the Druid cantrip list, which is nice, but you also get the ability to regain spell slots from a short rest (but it can only be of a combined level that's less than or equal to your level, so a level 8 Druid can regain 1 2nd Level Slot and 2 1st Level Slots). You can only do this once per long rest.

At level three in this Circle, you get more spells based on that area that you chose, so Arctic gets colder and more "freezing" spells, the Underdark gives you more bug and gaseous spells, but some of them are more abstract, like Divination and Scrying so you can see into what could possibly damage what you hold DEER.

Note that these spells are automatically put on your "prepared" list, and they don't take up any room in how many spells you're allowed to prepare, so think of it as free weapons in your arsenal that you can choose to use.

Later on in the class you get the ability to ignore nonmagical difficult terrain, gain advantage on any check made to escape magical plants (like Entangle and Ensnaring Strike), and even become immune to poison, disease, and being frightened/charmed by elementals and fey! In all, it's a nice class to focus on spellcasting and even helps you delve into your backstory a bit.

Circle of the Moon

Like the moon changes face every night, the Circle of the Moon Druid changes shape, whether that be a different shape every time or a little "fursona" that he adopts and keeps.

Hey man, I'm not judging, especially since at 2nd level, you can now change into your beast shape as a bonus action, and can even use a bonus action while in beast form to spend a spell slot to regain HP (1d8 times the level of slot you spent).

Oh, and you know how I said that your beast has to be of or below CR 1/4? WRONG!!! It now can be of CR 1, and at later levels, it increases rapidly- at 6th level, it can be CR 2, 9th level is CR 3, 12th level is CR 4, 15th is CR 5, 18th is CR 6.

At later levels, your attacks in beast form become magical to overcome resistance to nonmagical attacks, and you can even use both uses of your beast shape to BECOME AN ELEMENTAL. Air, Earth, Fire, or Water, it doesn't matter, you're smacking your enemies left, right, and center.

Overall, if you want to use your Wild Shape more, go ahead and pick this class, you won't regret it.

Circle of the Shepherd

Ah yes, I've always wanted to call my party sheep.

For real, though, this class comes from Xanathar's Guide, and it's all about protecting the weak, defenseless sheep that is your party . You're what happens when the party suddenly realizes that they need a Bard to save themselves from a terrible a**-beating, so you call in all the you can muster.

Not only do you now know Sylvan, you can now convey things to animals and be able to understand them, provided they are friendly towards you, and what you're saying isn't complicated. You can now aplogize to dogs about stepping on their paw accidentally! Hurray!!!

Oh, yeah, and spirits.

So, once per rest, you can summon a spirit totem for 1 minute, which can be summoned and moved as a bonus action. Since it has a 30ft radius of effect around it, don't think you'll be moving this from place to place to often, but you most certainly can.

These totems can either:

Summon a mighty bear that gives your allies temporary HP equal to (5+level), and also get advantage on STR checks and saving throws,

Summon a perceptive hawk that gives your allies advantage to Perception checks, and you can spend a reaction to grant one of them advantage on an attack roll,

OR

Summon a protective unicorn that gives your allies advantage on detecting everything that's in the aura, and also allowing your healing spells to heal all your allies an amount equal to half your level.

Later on, your summoning spells give those you summon more HP and better attacks, and later those summoned creatures can regain HP every turn when they are in a spirit totem aura.

Overall, if you feel the need to get your party out of trouble by giving them boosts like a Bard while also feeling the need to summon creatures to fight on your behalf, pick this Circle. It's great.

Circle of Dreams

"Hey, DM, can I have more healing spells?"

"No."

"But I'm the Druid!!! PLEASE?!"

"... No."

Well, my friend, if you ever had that conversation... okay.

Being part of the Fey, the Circle of Dreams allows you to connect with otherworldly beings in order to have a nice pool of d6s to heal your allies with. You can use a bonus action to spend (up to half your Druid level) of them in order to heal them, plus give them 1 temporary HP per dice spent. Your "pool" has only a number of dice equal to your Druid level, and you regain them every long rest.

At later levels, you can cause a dark sphere to arise from the Gloaming Court to give your allies easier Stealth and Perception checks, can teleport yourself and your friends multiple times, and can even cast spells to help you enter dream lands with your allies.

Although not as impressive as the Circle of Shepherds, the Circle of Dreams gets the job done, and can even be worked into a backstory involving fey.

Level Three: Uhh...

"What do you mean, there's nothing at level three?! ... SHUT UP, BIRD!!!"

Uh, well, folks at Tutorial Until Level 3, it's unfortunate to say this, but there are no class features at level 3.

I mean, I guess that's an anti climatic ending to this tutorial but-

"Wait, what? ... WAIT!!! SHUT UP BIRD!!!"

Level Three: Divine Spellcasting, but 2nd Level Spells!!!

Okay, so now that you got some 2nd Level spells, you might wonder what you should take. Here are some good suggestions:

-Barkskin can give those low AC spellcasters a bit of an edge if you're worried about them getting hit too many times.

-If you want some nice and handy fire damage, try on Flame Blade!!!

-If you ever want to set a dangerous trap, Spike Growth is the way to go... most of the time.

-How many creatures wear metal? Use Heat Metal if you KNOW you'll be in an area with a whole bunch of armored knights.

-How many humanoids do you fight? Hold Person can make them easy targets for your allies.

All in all, your spells are going to be great. Just be sure to prepare them wisely.

Outro: The (Sometimes) Everchanging, The Druid

As much as I hate overly complex features, the Druid somehow burrowed its way into my heart like a mole. The use of the elements to bring your players out of their own elements is such a great feature for them to have.

But, my word... can we make Wild Shape a bit less... complex?