The Circle of the Molt (Druid)
“Haven’t you ever wanted to live a day in another creature’s skin?”
PDF Link | D&D Beyond: Circle of the Molt
There are many ways to build a druid subclass in 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Some, like the Circle of the Moon, boost the power of the druid’s wild shape. Others, like the Circle of Wildfire (from Unearthed Arcana) or Circle of Spores, give the druid potent alternative ways to use their wild shape instead (our very own Circle of the Hybrid does this as well). Yet others like the Circle of the Land, Circle of the Shepherd, and Circle of Dreams grant the druid powerful new abilities that have no connection to wild shape at all.
D&D Unleashed contains druid subclasses of all kinds, and today’s preview is one of those subclasses that boosts the power and utility of wild shape — the Circle of the Molt. The main draw of this subclass is its level 2 feature, which enables the druid to give their wild shape transformation to allies along with some meaningful healing when the wild shape ends, as their ally sheds its skin and is renewed. There are many uses for this, including helping an assassin rogue with infiltration by turning him into a spider, changing a wizard into a tough beast like a bear or boar to help them maintain concentration on a spell, or turning a dangerous underwater encounter much more manageable by changing allies that can’t breathe underwater into sharks or giant sea horses. It’s usable as a pure healing ability too, with a bit of effort to cancel the transformation. And of course it gains the most power at level 8, when the druid gains access to flying beasts for their wild shape!
The subclass offers some other benefits too. Without multiclassing or taking the Magic Initiate feat, the Shiftling is the only way for a druid to gain a familiar of their own — and this one changes forms more easily than a normal familiar. You can wild shape into any of the forms your shiftling can take (to look like twins or something), and you cast touch spells through that familiar as well, which is useful when you reach level 10 and gain the Baleful Polymorph feature. This makes polymorph a more appealing offensive spell, as choosing a form for an enemy with more hit points enables you to deal more damage to the enemy while it is still polymorphed. The free polymorph-per-day it also grants can be cast through your familiar, because the range is reduced to Touch; that reduction is normally a limitation, but it also opens up new gameplay possibilities with the Shiftling. The final 14th level feature is an exciting capstone for a druid subclass that focuses on the regular forms a wild shape provides. Even weaker beasts can provide a lot of benefit when you gain a new set of hit points every turn!
The Circle of the Molt will appear in the compendium Legends of Prestige & Prowess, which focuses on legends, tales, and stories along with the untold expressions of classic D&D and fantasy abilities through new subclasses, spells, prestige classes, feats, and more.
PDF Link | D&D Beyond: Circle of the Molt
