D&D 5.5E: WotC Unveils New Wild Shape and Circle of the Moon Rules
Now we know exactly how Wild Shape and Circle of the Moon Druids will work in the upcoming 5.5E Player’s Handbook.
When Wizards of the Coast revealed their new Druid features, Wild Shape got some mention, but not a lot of specificity, outside of the fact that a few of the Druid subclasses will be using their Wild Shape to do other things. Well, earlier, WotC unveiled how Wild Shape will work. And alongside that, specifically, how the newly “remastered” Circle of the Moon will roll with that change.
Is it an upgrade? Is it a nerf? Given that most of the changes are positive, I’d say it’s more an upgrade, though there are a few things 5E Druids may miss. At any rate, let’s take a look at how Wild Shape and Circle of the Moon Druids will work in D&D 5.5E.
Wild Shape – New Rules and Restrictions
Wild Shape and Circle of the Moon go hand in hand. So much so that you might miss that Wild Shape now just takes a Bonus Action – because previously, it was only Circle of the Moon Druids that got to use Wild Shape as a Bonus Action. For a time, Moon Druids were the most popular choice. It wasn’t until Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything came along that we got to see Wild Shape as a Bonus Action type options for other Subclasses.
But now any Druid, not just ones of Circle of the Moon, can use Wild Shape as a Bonus Action. And what’s more, you stay Wild Shaped until you decide—mostly.
Now, Wild Shape is no longer linked to the hit points of an animal form. This is nice because it means transforming into something with a low hit point total can still open up new options for you. Instead, you retain your hit point total and gain a pool of Temporary Hit points on top of that. So you can stay as a weird bird or snake or whatever until you are dropped as a character.
Also, you can talk in whatever form you happen to be in, which is a nice quality-of-life upgrade and will enhance your role-playing scenes.
Now, let’s talk restrictions. That hit point total thing is a double-edged sword. It used to be that Moon Druids could overpower encounters by assuming the form of something with a lot of hit points, like a Brown Bear, gaining a lot of effective in-combat healing. A Moon Druid could Wild Shape at 2 hit points or 20, and they’d still end up with 34 total hit points and multi-attack.
Also, the number of animal forms you can have is limited, but I hardly think that’ll be noticed. You start with 4 known forms and up with a total of 8. These are beasts you know how to change into, but functionally, there weren’t that many forms people would pick to begin with.
Circle of the Moon in 5.5E
Okay, but what about Circle of the Moon Druids? As the “combat wild shape” subclass, Circle of the Moon and Wild Shape changes go hand in hand. WotC revealed how these Druids will play as well. Starting at level 3, with Combat Wild Shape granting your Wild Shape an AC that equals 13 plus your Wisdom Modifier (making you incredibly resilient). You also gain 3 times your Druid Level in Temporary Hit Points. A nice change from the 2x of normal Druids.
Moon Druids also gain special spells that they can cast while Wild Shaped. On top of that, their Wild Shape forms can deal Radiant damage instead of normal damage. And at the 10th level, instead of turning into an elemental, Moon Druids can use a Bonus Action to teleport, gaining an advantage while they do so.
Finally, at the 14th level, Circle of the Moon druids gain 2d10 extra damage plus any extra from a Druid feature like Primal Strike.
All this makes the new Druid look pretty handy in 5.5E.
What Wild Shape would you pick for your Druid?
