One D&D: New Primal Orders

Back in December, I created a collection of new Divine (Holy) Orders for the Cleric class, and pointed out that Holy Orders reallyneeded to show up at 1st level rather than 2nd level. In the new Player’s Handbook 6 playtest document, WotC renames Holy Orders to Divine Orders (presumably to avoid implying an absence of holiness in the Primal Orders), and moves them from 2nd level to 1st. The design of the features got tweaked as well.

In this post, I’m following suit with them and imagining new Primal Orders for the Druid class. For the first time in several editions, there’s a strong suggestion that a Druid might find decent armor, a weapon, and a shield to be a good use of their time in combat, so I’ll be touching on that as well.

Natural Philosopher. Your understanding of Primal magic comes from academic study and consulting manuals of natural lore. You gain Skill Proficiency in Investigation and Intelligence is your spellcasting ability score for Druid spells.

Runecarver. With a knife or a jagged fingernail, you can carve runes that hold great power. When you cast a Primal Transmutation spell that targets one willing creature and requires Concentration, you can expend one use of Wild Shape to cast it without Concentration instead. This creates a glowing red or green rune on the target. You must be able to see and touch your target, and your spell ends immediately if you use this feature again.

Seeker. You gain proficiency with one martial ranged weapon and one martial weapon with the Thrown property. You can use your Wisdom modifier in place of Dexterity when making a ranged weapon attack.

Shaman. You preserve the history of a people through songs and tales that connect them to the land and its spirits. Bane and Blessare Primal spells for you. You gain Skill Proficiency in History, and when you roll an Intelligence (History) check, you can add your Wisdom modifier (minimum +1) to the result.

Tree-singer. Your use of Primal magic is intuitive, and you sing with the Green. You gain Skill Proficiency in Perform, you can use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus, and Charisma is your spellcasting ability score for Druid spells.

Witch. Much of your magic is distilled into brews and tinctures. You gain Tool Proficiency in Brewer’s Supplies. When you finish a Long Rest, you can create a potion that stores any Primal Abjuration spell you can cast that targets one creature. This potion retains its potency for 1 week.

Xenomancer. Little-known outside of Tu’narath, the githyanki xenomancers study the people, flora, and fauna of other planes and worlds. You gain Skill Proficiency with Persuasion, and Comprehend Languages and Tongues are Druid spells for you.

Design Notes

Natural Philosopher is a 2e Druid kit with the same theme as what I wanted from this – an Int-heavy or Int-based Druid – and the kit name captures the idea better than the first thing that came to mind for me (Botanist).

Runecarver is reusing the Runepriest idea from my previous post, but where Clerics use Abjurations, Druids use Transmutations.

Seeker and Shaman are 4e Primal-based classes, so I wanted to reference those where I could. A Wisdom-based archer druid seems like a particularlyelven thing to me (uh, not counting the Archer form of the Stars Druid, which is everyone’s favorite thing).

The Witch order here is a different take on the Witch class I helped to create for Worlds Beyond Number. This captures only one narrow aspect of that class’s overall deal.

Githyanki xenomancers are a thing in 5e Spelljammer, and I like that idea a lot, so here you have it.