Circle of the Traveler (5e Subclass)
Circle of the Traveler
The Traveler is one of the deities of the Ebberron campaign setting, the Sovereign of Chaos and Charm. S/he has many faces, and is one of few gods who walk the world in physical form, albeit unrecognizably. The Traveler is the patron of those who embrace change, or labor to create (due to their governance over artifice), and is also known as the giver of gifts. Their gifts are not always quite what they seem, however, and a famous proverb states "beware the gifts of the Traveler."
The followers of the Traveler are Druids, rather than Clerics, because the Traveler is an ancient, ambiguous deity better suited to the Old Faith than to canonized worship. In a world without gods, the Traveler secretly might be instead a myth or rumor of sorts about the Circle of the Traveler itself; the abilities that it offers would logically allow the Circle of the Traveler to propagate on its own. High level members of the Circle of the Traveler would therefore be mistaken for the "Traveler" itself.
The abilities of the Circle of the Traveler were inspired by a combination of the Traveler's description, the Circle of the Moon, the Soul Cage spell, and the Magic Jar spell.
The Traveler's Gift
When you choose this Circle at 2nd level, you can also choose to replace your racial traits with the following traits from Changelings, the Traveler’s children. Your ability scores, size, speed, and languages remain the same. Your life expectancy increases to half again what it is for your old race.
-Change Appearance: As an action, you can transform your appearance or revert to your natural form. You can’t duplicate the appearance of a creature you’ve never seen, and you revert to your natural form if you die. You decide what you look like, including your height, weight, facial features, the sound of your voice, coloration, hair length, sex, and any other distinguishing characteristics. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change. You also can’t appear as a creature of a different size than you, and your basic shape stays the same; if you’re bipedal, you can’t use this trait to become quadrupedal, for instance. Your clothing and other equipment don’t change in appearance, size, or shape to match your new form, requiring you to keep a few extra outfits on hand to make the most compelling disguise possible. Even to the most astute observers, your ruse is usually indiscernible. If you rouse suspicion, or if a wary creature suspects something is amiss, you have advantage on any Charisma (Deception) check you make to avoid detection. (Note that this description does not specify the form must be humanoid, so you also gain greater cosmetic control of your wild shape.)
-Changeling Instincts: You gain proficiency with your choice of two of the following skills: Deception, Intimidation, Insight, or Persuasion.
-Unsettling Visage: You can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on an attack roll a creature you can see makes against you. You must use this feature before knowing whether the attack hits or misses. Using this trait reveals the fact that you're a shapeshifter to any creature within 30 feet that can see you. Once you use this trait, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
-Divergent Persona: You gain proficiency with one tool of your choice. Define a unique identity associated with that proficiency; establish the name, race, gender, age, and other details. While you are in the form of this persona, the related proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses that proficiency. For you, this persona and its appearance are the race and identity that you held before choosing the Traveler’s Gift
Circle Spells
At 2nd level, you learn the Toll the Dead cantrip. At the corresponding levels, you gain access to the spells listed below. Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn't appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.
Level 3 (2nd level spells): Alter Self, Enlarge/Reduce
Level 5 (3rd level spells): Gaseous Form, Speak with Dead
Level 7 (4th level spells): Polymorph, Fabricate
Level 9 (5th level spells): Animate Objects, Danse Macabre
Level 11 (6th level spell): Word of Recall
Level 13 (7th level spell): Plane Shift
Level 15 (8th level spell): Demiplane
Level 17 (9th level spell): True Polymorph
Soul Binding
Starting at 2nd level, as a bonus action or reaction, you can magically trap the soul of a creature that dies within 60 feet of you or died 1 minute ago or less, binding it within you until you use it up or release it. While you have a soul bound within you, you can exploit it in any of the ways described below. You can use a trapped soul a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. Once you exploit a soul for the final time, you can choose to release it, transfer 1 or more charges to it from another bound soul, or, if it is friendly to you, retain it as it is, no longer counting towards your number of bound souls, but unable to be used for anything except willing conversation as specified in the Query Soul option. While a soul is trapped, the dead creature it came from can't be revived. You can bind within you a number of charged souls equal to your wisdom modifier at a time.
Steal Life: You can use a bonus action to drain vigor from the soul and regain 1d8 hit points.
Soul Weave: You can use a bonus action to draw power from the soul and regain a spell slot of a level equal to the number of charges expended or regain one use of your wild shape.
Integration: You can gain a benefit based on the soul’s former creature type as long as the soul is bound to you. You may only have a number of these benefits equal to half your proficiency bonus rounded down at any given time.
-Beast: Your AC increases by 1 and you gain a climbing speed equal to your base walking speed.
-Humanoid: When you fail a saving throw, you can reroll it. If you do so, you must use the new roll. You regain use of this feature after you finish a short or long rest.
Query Soul: You can ask the soul a question (no action required) and receive a brief telepathic answer, which you can understand regardless of the language used. The soul knows only what it knew in life, but it must answer you truthfully and to the best of its ability. The answer is no more than a sentence or two and might be unintentionally cryptic. If the soul wishes to converse with you, then it can do so at your pleasure without expending a charge.
Borrow Experience: You can expend one use of your Wild Shape to magically transform into whoever the soul was in life, as long as it was a humanoid. While you are in this form, if the soul is willing, you have access to the skills and knowledge that the soul had in life. If the soul is unwilling, then you only have access to its skills and all information that the humanoid would freely share with a casual acquaintance. Such information includes general details on its background and personal life, but doesn't include secrets. The information is enough that you can pass yourself off as the person by drawing on its memories. You can choose to allow the soul to control your body itself, shifting your consciousness to an observational role, but you can reassert control at any time.
You can expend a spell slot to bind a soul after it has already died. As a bonus action, a 1st or 2nd level slot can bind a soul an hour after death. As an action, a 3rd or 4th level slot can bind a soul a day after death. With a 1 minute ritual, a 5th or 6th level slot can bind a soul a month after death. With a 10 minute ritual, a 7th or 8th level slot can bind a soul a year after death. With a 1 hour ritual, a 9th level spell slot can bind a soul that died in living memory. The amount of the dead creature required for the ritual decreases at each level. 1st level requires the whole body, but 9th only the name.
Primal Soul
Beginning at 6th level, certain options from your Soul Binding feature improve in the following ways.
Steal Life: You can use a bonus action to drain vigor from the soul and regain 2d8 hit points.
Soul Weave: You can use a bonus action to convert a spell slot into an equivalent number of soul charges, distributed as you choose among your bound souls.
Integration: You can now also gain a benefit from souls with the following creature types.
-Elemental: You gain varying effects determined by the type of elemental;
--Air-You gain the benefits of the feather fall spell and you no longer need to breathe
--Fire-You are resistant to fire damage and your darkvision increases by 30 feet
--Earth-Your base walking speed increases by 5 and you no longer need to eat or drink
--Water-You are resistant to cold damage, can breathe underwater, and gain a swimming speed equal to your base walking speed
-Fey: You gain immunity to the charmed condition and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Borrow Experience: You can expend one use of your Wild Shape to magically transform into whoever the soul was in life, as long as it was a humanoid or beast with a challenge rating as high as your druid level divided by 3, rounded down.
Planar Wild Shape
At 10th level, you can add your proficiency bonus to the number of souls you can bind within you at once, and certain options from your Soul Binding feature improve in the following ways.
Steal Life: You can use a bonus action to drain vigor from the soul and regain 3d8 hit points.
Integration: You can now also gain a benefit from souls with the following creature types.
-Dragon: You gain resistance to a certain damage type based on what the dragon was resistant to, and a flying speed equal to your base walking speed.
-Giant: Your strength score increases by 2, to a maximum of 22, and you gain proficiency in strength saving throws and the athletics skill.
-Plant: You gain immunity to poison and acid damage and the poisoned condition.
Borrow Experience: You can expend two uses of your Wild Shape to transform into any beast, elemental, fey, or humanoid, with a challenge rating equal to half your druid level rounded down, or less.
Free Soul
Finally, at 14th level, your soul can survive independent of your body by drawing on the power of the souls bound to it. As a ritual, you can separate your soul from you body, leaving it comatose. When visible, your soul appears like a ghostly reflection of yourself and can move freely and quickly in any direction, as though on the astral or ethereal plane, but every hour your soul is not in a body expends a charge from one of your bound souls. You do not have access to your spellcasting, Wild Shape, or Soul Binding abilities in this form, the only action you can take is to attempt to possess another humanoid or beast’s body. If the target is unwilling, it must succeed on a Charisma saving throw, or you possess its body and may bind its soul to yours. If you possess a creature, you take control of it and assume all of its game statistics except alignment and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. You also keep your own class features, and don't use class features the target has. If a body your soul resides in is killed, you can use your reaction to expend 9 charges from your bound souls and immediately separate your soul from the body. If you take up permanent residence in another body, or just want a change of face, you can cast Reincarnate on yourself to change your race to that of one of your humanoid bound souls, including your own. When you exit a body, you can leave another soul in the body if you choose. In addition, certain options from your Soul Binding feature improve in the following ways.
Steal Life: You can use a bonus action to drain vigor from the soul and regain 4d8 hit points.
Integration: You can now also gain a benefit from souls with the following creature types.
-Aberration: You can communicate telepathically with any creature within 120 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language. You can telepathically hear a creature reply, but only one at a time.
-Celestial: Your constitution and wisdom scores increase by 2, to a maximum of 22, and you gain proficiency in constitution saving throws.
-Fiend: Your darkvision increases by 30 feet and you can see through magical darkness.
-Monstrosity: You gain resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage and a burrowing speed equal to your base walking speed.
At 17th level, your Steal Life option improves for the last time, allowing you to regain 5d8 hit points. In addition, you can now manipulate souls more directly. You can wipe away a soul's identity and features, replacing them with you own, or alter/augment the soul's knowledge and features, adding to or replacing them with some of your own or those of another charged bound soul. A wiped soul left in another body will act as as your thrall or proxy, and can serve as an anchor in the material plane. An altered or augmented soul, depending on the nature of the change, could continue to act as it did before, only with new abilities, or could have partially altered behavior. While Druids do not usually receive subclass features at this level, these qualities are intended to be primarily narrative or roleplay focused.
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