With my Shepherd Druid we made a 1d12 random table to decide which creatures conjure animals would summon. This prevented OP selections for the situation and made each combat a fun surprise.
I once played a Blind Character. I did a ton of research on what class would be best for a character that permanently had the blinded condition. After looking through most spells requiring a target creature or object that I "can see", I came to the conclusion that Shepherd Druid was the best. I summoned allied creatures to fight for me, and when someone needed healing, I would heal myself to allow the Unicorn Spirit to heal them additionally. I still used spells like spike growth, plant growth, and at early levels and I would guess an area where the enemies were and cast Faerie Fire to help my allies. It was super cool playing a character with a really debilitating feature and still be very useful to the party.
@@chrismessy1002 the campaign got cut short. But I never found an answer to the fact that attacks permanently had advantage against me. My DM felt kinda bad and just didn't attack me often. But that was one thing I never figured out.
@@RobThePrincess my solution to that would have been taking the fighting style feet and taking blind fighting. 10-foot blindsight. I would have been human to take it. That's often my solution to people get advantage to hit a blind man. But it doesn't do much good against ranged attacks.
Been playing this subclass for 3 years. It is absolutely insane the range of things it can do, not to mention the intrinsic flavor of it. For me, it's the ultimate support subclass because my party has told me that they feel like they can do WHATEVER they want to do, and they know that my shepherd will come and fix shit up.
Note on Summon Elemental and Summon Draconic Spirit: Some of the Shepard's features specify that they only work with beast and fey creatures and as written would not work with those two spells
Yes!! That’s a problem I personally have with this subclass. I realize it’s a pretty simple house rule to fix this but I feel like it’s a really annoying stipulation.
I always really liked the idea of a summoner class so I always like the concept of this subclass. That being said, it is really funny that this subclass is also one of the best healers in the game.
As a DM, I don't mind summoner builds personally, but every single time without a fail the summoner character player ends up spending more time in a round on their turn than the entire rest of the table combined. II don't want the rest of the players to start wandering off the table because "it's going to be a while until it's their turn again", but neither do I want to tell them to sit down and wait patiently for their turn. Because of that, I usually try to find out what is the fantasy they want to experience, and try to come up with a build that serves to fulfill the same fantasy but doesn't take so long to manage. But I'm more a "let's see what rules we can use to make this happen" rather than a "this is what the rules say" type of DM.
@@BigPurpleCarrot Exactly. But it's just the nature of summon builds - you can be fast at it, but so can the fighter who just wants to spend their turn taking 6 attacks, or the rogue who spends most of their turn counting their sneak attack damage.
@@TheRawrnstuff Yeah it is even worse if you have ideas of how to speed up your summons actions, but then you find that you don't know how to implement that fix in a VTT you are using.
Taking 2 levels of Twilight Cleric would may you almost unstoppable . Personally I think a deeper dip into Twilight might make for an awesome multiclass. A 10/10 split would be WOW .
I have my lvl 9 Shepherd druid and I love her with my all! Known for liberating slaves, healing allies while raining arrows, and having an Homebrew Awakened Assassin Vine named Stitches!
I've played my Shepherd Druid as a nova healer and battlefield controller. I rarely use summons, and the build is one of the best healers by far. Just a single level dip into Life Cleric and wielding a Moon Sickle +1, I have yet to have anyone go down. Especially when I create many scrolls of Healing Word.
Last night my group decided Drakkenheim is our next campaign AND I’m playing a Shepherd Druid! (Where the summons are all flavored as different breeds of dogs- or angelic dogs for flying summons lol… yes a Falkor lookalike instead of a dragon!) What are the chances you guys drop this video the very next day?? ❤
Bruh xD their ranger rogue commando build came the week I was told I'd be starting a new campaign too. The exact character I was going to play. They have amazing timing
I really like taking Tidal Wave for this. You can change the size of the aeo, its instantaneous, the damage is ok but most importantly it can knock enemies prone for my summons to kick the teeth out them with advantage
Playing a Goliath shepherd Druid. Strength and charisma are the lowest scores - being small for a Goliath they set him tending the herd’s flocks. And oddly enough, as Kelly mentioned, he specializes in ice spells from his time above the frost line. Very thematic and a ton of fun!!
I've been playing around with a Goliath Shepherd Druid/Fighter multiclass who takes Mounted Combatant and rides around on the back of a polar bear or giant eagle. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test run it sometime, this subclass is so cool
Currently playing Shepard druid with a 2 level dip into peace cleric. The "peaceful Sheppard." Absolutely love it. The idea would be to the be this character that helps lead the other characters towards their goals. Also having the staff of defense, a magic breastplate, and +1 shield also makes the the parties tank and mass summoner/healer.
I can't believe they didn't even mention dropping your summons and then the bear spirit with a bonus action for those temporary hit points on the summons
I know draconic spirit says it has hit dice equal to the spell level, but it really should be 2 times the spell level, and for the other "Summon" spells too. It lines up better with their base hitpoints, and it lines up with the Conjure spells. For example CR2 beasts have 6-8 hitdice, which you can summon with a 3rd level spell.
I have played and really enjoyed the Shephard Druid. Just make sure you know what you plan to do and keep the game moving, not to slow down the game for the rest of the party. I had a DM who liked the Stirge. So, I up cast Conjure Animals and conjured 24 stirges. Most of the time, I conjured wolves. But being able to adapt your summons, based on the situations at hand, made a huge difference. I took Ritual Caster-Wizard to get Phantom Steed (looked like a dire wolf) and Find Familiar. I also took Feat-Shadow Touched, took inflict wounds, and cast it through a raven. We had a Twilight Cleric in the party, which made things ridiculous. Not just for Twilight Sanctuary, but also used the Spell-Circle of Power. Fun Subclass, great video!
I've made alot of optimized multiclass monsters but I can honestly say the shepherd druid I currently play is by far the most powerful character I've played. Utility, damage, party buffing, scouting, probably only social encounters it comes up short but even then you have things like enhance ability to help out. It's like a jack of all trades but a master of ALL. The totem is its true power. Healing with unicorn, Eagle to help your paladin or rogue hopefully get that crit, Bear to turn your front line platers and summons into absolute grapple/trip shut down, encounter enders.... You dictate any fight, You have spies everywhere, you see and hear all... Just remember with great power comes great responsibility. You can really annoy your table with battle bog down with summons, or you can get hi fives from everyone by waves of healing every round. Play optimally, but play for fun imo.
Thought I'd also chuck my advance tips for dealing with conjure animals/woodland beings and also a general courtesy I've found playing the class in general. (I also play at a table in person, so might not translate well for online play) 1. Try not to summon more than 8 creatures. Minimises bog down somewhat to eleviate round time stress. 2. *try* to research the cr beasts and fey for the spell you wish to or might (depending on your dm) ahead of time 3. Create a template page with 8 numbered boxes for creature hp count, at the top a spot for AC, to hit bonus, and damage and also your bonus hp your giving them from your abilities. Have 3 or four print outs ready to use every session. Number your creatures bases, if using minis, to correspond to the box your using to keep track of their hp. 4. Here's a tip I got from Monty and Kelly and it works ridiculously well. Unless your great at maths (of which I'm not) count UP your summons hp when taking damage rather than down. Once a summon reaches its max hp its dead. Super simple but saves alot of time. My last tip is the courtesy at the table. This class uses up ALOT of time allocation an DM focus. From longer round time in battle, to information gathering from random animals. Be concious of the other players at the table and make sure you give them room to have their time to shine. Maybe leave alot of social encounters and investigation to others to even out the play time. Hope this helps someone interested in the class and spell.
Did the mention of a druid riding a draconic spirit into battle bring to mind Carolinus and Gorebash for anyone else? I know Carolinus is technically a wizard, but his sphere of influence was nature and the living world.
I honestly think a great feat for this is the skill expert feat, especially if you nab it at level 1, having expertise in Perception from the get go is awesome
In my Curse of Strahd Game our Archfey Warlock/Shepard Druid was killer on the battlefield. She mostly used the bear Spirit but the temp Hit points also rocked. At the end of the campaign her upcast Summon Draconic Spirit Shredded both Strahd’s Minions and the man himself
How perfect for my current campaign! I am playing a Shepard Druid who used to protect a pack of Kermode bears, but was infected with lycanthropy. I use Summon Animals to conjure the spirts of the bears while also having a Werebear form I can summon. Multi classed into Pact of the Undead warlock to gain Eldritch Mind (adv on CON saves) and for the flavor of having the Werebear spirit within me. Great video Dungeon Dudes, gave me some inspiration on how I can improve him!
Fun Shepherd Druid idea I’ve just come up with: Summoning creatures and controlling them by singing like a classic Disney princess. Hit some high notes to attract a little bluebird so it can scout out enemy encampments and whatnot. Politely serenading an elk if it can charge a foe with its antlers. I’ve found my next character idea watching this video. Thanks, Dungeon Dudes!
Been playing a Shepherd Druid for over a year now. I made a mass dice roller in Google Sheets that calculates attacks, damage, and can even do enemy saving throws all at once. A 20 minute turn is reduced to a minute or two. I have worked with my DM, and, while I get to choose my summons, I have so far made all of them multiples of the same thing. Also, he’s a great healer and a good utility caster. Also, most summons can be used as cover, so they can be useful, even if they don’t all add to the action economy.
The bear totem cannot replace inspiring leader. This may be the same misconception revolting around the twilight cleric. The last part in the rules about temporary hitpoints reads the following: "Unless a feature that grants you temporary hit points has a duration, they last until they’re depleted or you finish a long rest." The totem is the feature granting it and has a duration of 1 minute, therefore they last as long as the totem
PS. Agree on the Flying Giant Ape stunt with the summoning of Pixies. Don't overdo it (maybe once in a campaign) as it is not always fun for the other players who have built their characters based on their own desires to play certain types of characters.
Guys... My shepherd druid is most likely one of the most "important to the party " type of characters I have ever played. Truly a remarkably beautiful set of skills . I dipped 2 levels as a peace cleric and it is just too good.
Giant Owls can carry most PCs, and getting 8 of them for an hour can shorten travel times dramatically or be helpful for pursuit in addition to combat. They also understand common so each rider can give them instructions if that's what the druid told them to do.
I started running a campaign a while ago with some pretty new, but awesome players. The thing is, I made all but one of the sheets for them to make sure the characters were strong enough (and because it originally started as a oneshot). One of the characters was a shepherd druid and was meant to be the healer, but little did I know the one sheet I did not make would end up being a twilight cleric. We're now almost 15 sessions in and I can barely even bring them to go down!
Please make a how to play a grappler video. I know y'all have a grappler subclass in your newest book but I would like to hear about how you two would build one RAW. I really want to play my Luchador Goliath one day
I would definitely recommend a bit of Fighter/Barbarian multiclassing. Battle Master would be good for its additional combat effects. But if you want to grapple anything and everything, Rune Knight is the way to go.
With all the Summons, something like careful spell could come in handy if you pick the metamagic adept feat, and you can pick another like empowered, heightened, or subtle spell (I'd say quicken, but that's both your points you get, so I'd pick a pair like empowered and careful, or careful and extended to extend the amount of time you summon your riding horces in? :)
So aside from the kickstarter you all did, I've never had an interest in any of the things I've seen so far. But hot damn, this looks cool as shit! gonna have to back this one.
I just played one last night. I totally forgot that elks are large so when i conjured 16, everyone just broke out laughing as the battlefield suddenly became very very crowded. 😅
I've played several characters over the last few years and none have had the sheer enjoyment, not to mention power, utility and capabilities, that my Shepherd Druid had. We used macros to make the dice rolls and damage and I was able to do my turns really quickly. I would typically drop the Bear Totem with my Bonus Action and then Summon 8 or 16 Giant Owls into the totem area (Each had like 39 HP so could take a Fireball or other AOE and be okay). Then, I would cast Plant Growth to lock down the bad guys while my owls strafed them with Fly By. Also, don't forget that you're still a Druid, so you can still Wild Shape and/or cast Find Familiar for extra utility. I was a wood elf, so I invested in the whole observant (28 Passive Perception) and stealth thing. I had a sentinel shield and Alert Feat, so I had +8 initiative with advantage. I figure if I can set the battlefield first, I wouldn't have to worry about the who concentration thing.
This is a year late, but will note that the unicorn totem does not exclude the person being healed. So you can heal someone who's badly hurt, and if they are in the area of the unicorn totem, they also get the unicorn healing if you want them to. So that 1st level healing word heals for 1d4+wis+level (plus an extra 1d4 if you have a moon sickle).
Gz your basically talking about my healer. Fairy Order-clerik1 rest Druid. 2 Spells (Bonus and regular Action) and 2 Attacks (reactions from Friends) at lvl1 and it gets only better from there.
Played a Shepherd Druid for Frostmaiden, and the first thing we fought once Mighty Summoner came online was a Demilich. We accidentally aggravated it and my Giant Owls sack beat it to death in one round (with the help of our Paladin).
I am, in fact, playing a Circle of the Shepherd Druid, and I think they're one of the best Druid play experiences I've ever had, and that's saying something as the Druid is my preferred class! Almost without fail, I can drop the Unicorn totem and keep my party standing on almost even keel with my experiences playing a Cleric, so their healer role is obvious. I pack Healing Spirit, which has actually seen some combat use healing my allies when things get tough, because (as the rules aren't exactly clear) our DM ruled that as long as I am healing using a spell that expends spell slots, I am triggering the effect of Unicorn Totem. Even if you don't get such a boon at your table, using Healing Word to restore a small flood of HP as a bonus action is too useful to pass up as a support character. I also highly recommend you obtain a Staff of the Woodlands. The +2 to spell attack rolls is marvelous for your summons, and the Moon Sickle is good for the same reasons AND it adds 1d4 to any one target of a healing spell. Bags of Tricks are actually useful, too, as they can add even more beasties on the field who should also get your HP upgrade and your magic bonus to damage, at no concentration.
So, with the half-orc's ability of coming back with 1 HP when you get knocked out, Cast that, and get the summon of the 4 rating 2 animals, and then use something to heal self, (drop totem, and cast, wither & bloom? whatever) and you got nice few animals with you. Half-orc is race to consider now.
Turn into a badger/giant badger, let your summons fight (like elementals) and you burrow 10 feet under ground and stay hidden to maintain concentration, occasionally popping in and out.
My solution to the pixie t-rex shenanigans is to make the pixies fickle and prankstery, sometimes they'll listen to you, but sometimes they'll drop fly >:)
I'll let my players pick their own beasts, unless they don't have them ready. Then you get an environment appropriate kind of beast and you don't throw a fit. With conjure Fey, you can't get all pixies usually. You get seven sprites in their pixie Queen. If you want to summon hags, great. And then cast whatever spells you want and serve you faithfully for the duration. But you did summon hags. They won't forget it. And your summoning spell is not their only way to get into your plane. I can see a little mini arc of the hags sending stronger and stronger in a music against you trying to get you to stop summing them and leave them alone
Currently playing a level 5 wood elf barbarian (ancestral spirit) that is level 1 Druid. About to be level 2 shepherd Druid. Will enjoy having animals for me and spirit guardians. This will be the ultimate shaman !!!
Here's a good team combo. All of the party is size small. A party member casts fog at the height to obscure size medium and larger. You summon your beasts of your choice size small or tiny. Your entire party and your beasts have advantage on attacks against the enemy.
I was playing a level 2 shepard druid and between the unicorn and healing word i kept myself and my 2 party members alive againt 5 bandits and a bandit captain. Even after that the "cops" showed up and threw a paralytic oil on our ranger. While our rogue ran away i picked up the paralyzed ranger and turned into a horse to run away with the "cops" on my tail
So, there's actually a way to guess-timate the amount of Hit Die a creature would have based on their size and hit points. You divide the number of hit points by (average of hit die size + con mod). Tiny creatures have a hit die size of d4, small d6, medium d8, large d10, huge d12, and gargantuan d20. It's not an accurate formula but it's closer than spell level=hit dice.
Played a Shephard Druid for a high level one-shot. I played a lot of the wargames that Warhammer intels so I'm used to rolling tons of dice and doing quick math to figure out what the hell is going on. On top of that I was a Forever dm at the time, So getting to play was fun for once. We were fighting a Ancient Purple Dragon (the one from older DnD additions, brought to fifth edition with some updated stuff) who could cast spells.
Imagine a party with a shepherd druid and a twilight priest working together,providing healing and temporary hit points for all allies including summons as well,damn that's gonna be awesome teamwork
Super enjoyed this video! Really did like the explanation on the Shepherd Druid! :) xD I've played Dungeons and Dragons for years! I've been tempted to do the Polymorph/Summon combo with Pixies but I liked my DM's too much to go and do that. :P One in the past would've loved it!! The others likely would've ejected from the game then and there. xD hahaha
my only problem with my time playing a shepherd druid is that I wish that Mighty Summoner would've been updated to synergize with the tasha's summon spells
I will make this one day: but I’ll pick the Yuan-Ti race. Being able to charm snakes, summon snakes and polymorph things into snakes to charm would be crazy.
Summon multiple elks, maybe have an ally with Shadowsteed, you could travel pretty quickly. Heck have you wizard mounted on an elk and cast Floating disk
I played a Shepherd Druid, because I wanted to play a "swarm the battlefield" character. I understood what this might have meant for the gameplay, the DM and the other players. So, before I started with that character, I spoke to the table and said that I would make sure I did the work so that the character would be conducive to fun at our table, not slow things down and cause frustration and difficulty for others. The steps I took were as follows. 1) I made standies for every possible number of creatures that the spells could summon. You read that correctly. We play IRL and, if I want to be in with a chance of summoning 16 rats, I'm going to put the effort in to make 16 rat standies so the DM doesn't have to do extra prep to accommodate me. 2) I agreed with the DM and other players that control of the creatures could be spread across the DM and the players, not just me. Everyone is playing, and everyone gets to play evenly as far as I'm concerned. 3) I made sure I had a statblock booklet (I made this as well) with all the possible creature statblock in it for reference. If I'm giving someone a giant spider to control, I'm going to go to the effort to make sure they can easily check what a giant spider can do. 4) I made sure to say that, if anyone wasn't OK with having this be an element of our game (JUST LIKE PEOPLE SHOULD DO WITH THE WILD MAGIC SORCERERS) that I could play a different character. This was important because, in practice, it wasn't the first character I played in that game, but the second. When I made it as my first choice, 2 people didn't like the idea, so I went with a second choice instead. Then, when Jorighan died, I asked again if people would mind my shepherd druid idea and that time they said they didn't mind. Summoner Druids are unique characters. They focus on these unbelievably powerful summoning spells, which can wreck fun if you don't handle them well. But if you do the leg work and talk to people, they're the most powerful combat characters in the game and incredibly fun to play.
How timely, I just went over with one of my players on how to roll up a "Shaman" we decided to go 4 marks in Monk way of the open palm, 2 marks in Druid and Circle of the Shepherd. He'll eventually level up and take 1 mark in Monk and 1 in Ranger before we probably hit end game.
My first ever dnd character is my current character; Eltoris Daewraek; Shepherd Druid lvl 12. He is an extremely awkward farm kid who has no manners and insults people unintentionally; and is thrust into the current setting which is a semi-urban campaign. Very uncharismatic when he tries to be and very charismatic when he doesn’t. He has a habit of chucking walnuts at people (that’s how you know he likes you). He also doesn’t know what doors are and enters buildings through windows unless there’s no other choice but a door. He’s also extremely random and out of pocket; and sits on the backrest of the chair rather than it’s seat. He also sits on the roof of cars rather than inside the car. Currently he’s in summer break from the school he joined a day before summer break started; and lives with his guardian Wilorin and they run a farm/stable together. He has a pet chicken named Meatloaf, a pet displacer beast named Virtus and a pet hog/mode of transport named Griffin. Some of his favorite memorable moments and quotes: -“I know I should’ve brought more lions” -After someone complements his grip strength: “Thanks, it’s because of the pigs I benchpress every day” -To the Marshall of a district “Why is this a gun” -To a raccoon after he and the party ransacked its house: “You want an apple dude?” -To a famous senator: “I have no idea who you are, nice to meet you” -He once jumped out of a 2 story building into garage, and walked it off -He was almost killed by a young black dragon (nat1 on dex save and got blasted in the face with acid). He got black dragon gauntlets out of it though. -He summoned 16 giant constrictor snakes in a battle once. -He turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and battled a Green Dragon in its lair. -He summoned wolves that proceeded to rip the d#ck off of an incubus. -He turned into a giant ape and started throwing church pews at people. -He turned into a giant ape and launched the party’s Grung wizard at and enemy and succeeded. There’s a lot more here and lot more to come but I have almost too much fun playing this character😂😂
I feel bad for my DM when I reach 8th level. Twilight Cleric's Channel Divinity gives Temp HP to all creatures within their sphere. Mixed with Unicorn, you're basically doing a full heal
There are rules for mob combat in dnd. Zee Bashew did a great video about it and even a DM I use it all the time. It really speeds up combat. still I ban the old summoning spells
Hey dungeon dudes, I'm finding it quite hard to find people to play dnd with (I live in a small town in new Zealand) trying to learn as much as possible about the game so I can teach people. Any advice to find people to play with :) or how to be a dm.
Gotta play the long game and summon all the goats. Put them on the mountainside overlooking BBEG lair. Eventually they will erode the face and cause a landslide when it rains. Evil lair buried.
Step 1: Tell your DM you are going to play a summoner.
Step 2: Apply pressure to the wound by using a firm bandage.
You can also use a website that rolls swarms for you
@@UncleMerlin can you tell me which site, new swarm ideas would be very fun and chaotic
With my Shepherd Druid we made a 1d12 random table to decide which creatures conjure animals would summon. This prevented OP selections for the situation and made each combat a fun surprise.
I do that for the 8 and 4 summon options. For the 2 and 1 summon, the player can choose.
lame
I believe there's an item that does the same
Should have done a cascading roll system to make every possible outcome possible.
I once played a Blind Character. I did a ton of research on what class would be best for a character that permanently had the blinded condition. After looking through most spells requiring a target creature or object that I "can see", I came to the conclusion that Shepherd Druid was the best. I summoned allied creatures to fight for me, and when someone needed healing, I would heal myself to allow the Unicorn Spirit to heal them additionally.
I still used spells like spike growth, plant growth, and at early levels and I would guess an area where the enemies were and cast Faerie Fire to help my allies.
It was super cool playing a character with a really debilitating feature and still be very useful to the party.
I actually love this concept. I've wanted to find different ways to play a blind character. Now I get to try and theory craft this one. Thank you.
@@chrismessy1002 the campaign got cut short. But I never found an answer to the fact that attacks permanently had advantage against me.
My DM felt kinda bad and just didn't attack me often. But that was one thing I never figured out.
@@RobThePrincess my solution to that would have been taking the fighting style feet and taking blind fighting. 10-foot blindsight. I would have been human to take it. That's often my solution to people get advantage to hit a blind man. But it doesn't do much good against ranged attacks.
@@chrismessy1002 yeah I did take that, even though I stayed in the backline. Lol
But as you point out, it doesnt help much for Ranged Attacks.
@@RobThePrincess mmh, that's something I would have to theory craft.
Been playing this subclass for 3 years. It is absolutely insane the range of things it can do, not to mention the intrinsic flavor of it. For me, it's the ultimate support subclass because my party has told me that they feel like they can do WHATEVER they want to do, and they know that my shepherd will come and fix shit up.
more or less what is your build?
Note on Summon Elemental and Summon Draconic Spirit: Some of the Shepard's features specify that they only work with beast and fey creatures and as written would not work with those two spells
Yes!! That’s a problem I personally have with this subclass. I realize it’s a pretty simple house rule to fix this but I feel like it’s a really annoying stipulation.
I always really liked the idea of a summoner class so I always like the concept of this subclass. That being said, it is really funny that this subclass is also one of the best healers in the game.
You worked hard to get those summons up. Gotta keep them healthy.
As a DM, I don't mind summoner builds personally, but every single time without a fail the summoner character player ends up spending more time in a round on their turn than the entire rest of the table combined.
II don't want the rest of the players to start wandering off the table because "it's going to be a while until it's their turn again", but neither do I want to tell them to sit down and wait patiently for their turn.
Because of that, I usually try to find out what is the fantasy they want to experience, and try to come up with a build that serves to fulfill the same fantasy but doesn't take so long to manage.
But I'm more a "let's see what rules we can use to make this happen" rather than a "this is what the rules say" type of DM.
@@TheRawrnstuffIf you play a summoner you have a responsibility to keep your turns short and concise... But that rarely happens
@@BigPurpleCarrot Exactly. But it's just the nature of summon builds - you can be fast at it, but so can the fighter who just wants to spend their turn taking 6 attacks, or the rogue who spends most of their turn counting their sneak attack damage.
@@TheRawrnstuff Yeah it is even worse if you have ideas of how to speed up your summons actions, but then you find that you don't know how to implement that fix in a VTT you are using.
Taking 2 levels of Twilight Cleric would may you almost unstoppable . Personally I think a deeper dip into Twilight might make for an awesome multiclass. A 10/10 split would be WOW .
I have my lvl 9 Shepherd druid and I love her with my all! Known for liberating slaves, healing allies while raining arrows, and having an Homebrew Awakened Assassin Vine named Stitches!
I've played my Shepherd Druid as a nova healer and battlefield controller. I rarely use summons, and the build is one of the best healers by far. Just a single level dip into Life Cleric and wielding a Moon Sickle +1, I have yet to have anyone go down. Especially when I create many scrolls of Healing Word.
Last night my group decided Drakkenheim is our next campaign AND I’m playing a Shepherd Druid! (Where the summons are all flavored as different breeds of dogs- or angelic dogs for flying summons lol… yes a Falkor lookalike instead of a dragon!) What are the chances you guys drop this video the very next day?? ❤
Bruh xD their ranger rogue commando build came the week I was told I'd be starting a new campaign too. The exact character I was going to play. They have amazing timing
when you end up getting high enough level you need to summon clifford the big red dog, its the perfect dog summon
putting a huge dog into a d&d setting would be quite interesting i feel like
I really like taking Tidal Wave for this. You can change the size of the aeo, its instantaneous, the damage is ok but most importantly it can knock enemies prone for my summons to kick the teeth out them with advantage
I love you guys! I was just thinking about doing a sheperd druid and here you guys are making a video about them.
Playing a Goliath shepherd Druid. Strength and charisma are the lowest scores - being small for a Goliath they set him tending the herd’s flocks. And oddly enough, as Kelly mentioned, he specializes in ice spells from his time above the frost line. Very thematic and a ton of fun!!
I've been playing around with a Goliath Shepherd Druid/Fighter multiclass who takes Mounted Combatant and rides around on the back of a polar bear or giant eagle. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test run it sometime, this subclass is so cool
How to play Shepherd Druid
- Conjure Uber Velociraptor
- Conjure Woodla-FLYING T-REX!
Been playing one of these for over 2 years now - excellent subclass! Excited to see you guys do a video of it.
Currently playing Shepard druid with a 2 level dip into peace cleric. The "peaceful Sheppard." Absolutely love it. The idea would be to the be this character that helps lead the other characters towards their goals. Also having the staff of defense, a magic breastplate, and +1 shield also makes the the parties tank and mass summoner/healer.
I can't believe they didn't even mention dropping your summons and then the bear spirit with a bonus action for those temporary hit points on the summons
Yeah, thats a really good combo. Also help them to shove enemies too. Its a good start
@@adriel8498Or knock prone! Or grapple!
I know draconic spirit says it has hit dice equal to the spell level, but it really should be 2 times the spell level, and for the other "Summon" spells too. It lines up better with their base hitpoints, and it lines up with the Conjure spells. For example CR2 beasts have 6-8 hitdice, which you can summon with a 3rd level spell.
I have played and really enjoyed the Shephard Druid. Just make sure you know what you plan to do and keep the game moving, not to slow down the game for the rest of the party. I had a DM who liked the Stirge. So, I up cast Conjure Animals and conjured 24 stirges. Most of the time, I conjured wolves. But being able to adapt your summons, based on the situations at hand, made a huge difference. I took Ritual Caster-Wizard to get Phantom Steed (looked like a dire wolf) and Find Familiar. I also took Feat-Shadow Touched, took inflict wounds, and cast it through a raven. We had a Twilight Cleric in the party, which made things ridiculous. Not just for Twilight Sanctuary, but also used the Spell-Circle of Power. Fun Subclass, great video!
I've made alot of optimized multiclass monsters but I can honestly say the shepherd druid I currently play is by far the most powerful character I've played. Utility, damage, party buffing, scouting, probably only social encounters it comes up short but even then you have things like enhance ability to help out.
It's like a jack of all trades but a master of ALL.
The totem is its true power.
Healing with unicorn,
Eagle to help your paladin or rogue hopefully get that crit,
Bear to turn your front line platers and summons into absolute grapple/trip shut down, encounter enders....
You dictate any fight,
You have spies everywhere, you see and hear all...
Just remember with great power comes great responsibility.
You can really annoy your table with battle bog down with summons, or you can get hi fives from everyone by waves of healing every round. Play optimally, but play for fun imo.
Thought I'd also chuck my advance tips for dealing with conjure animals/woodland beings and also a general courtesy I've found playing the class in general.
(I also play at a table in person, so might not translate well for online play)
1. Try not to summon more than 8 creatures. Minimises bog down somewhat to eleviate round time stress.
2. *try* to research the cr beasts and fey for the spell you wish to or might (depending on your dm) ahead of time
3. Create a template page with 8 numbered boxes for creature hp count, at the top a spot for AC, to hit bonus, and damage and also your bonus hp your giving them from your abilities. Have 3 or four print outs ready to use every session.
Number your creatures bases, if using minis, to correspond to the box your using to keep track of their hp.
4. Here's a tip I got from Monty and Kelly and it works ridiculously well. Unless your great at maths (of which I'm not) count UP your summons hp when taking damage rather than down. Once a summon reaches its max hp its dead. Super simple but saves alot of time.
My last tip is the courtesy at the table.
This class uses up ALOT of time allocation an DM focus.
From longer round time in battle, to information gathering from random animals. Be concious of the other players at the table and make sure you give them room to have their time to shine. Maybe leave alot of social encounters and investigation to others to even out the play time.
Hope this helps someone interested in the class and spell.
Wood elf is one I can see fitting this class, and a half orc is another interesting one to try for this class.
Did the mention of a druid riding a draconic spirit into battle bring to mind Carolinus and Gorebash for anyone else? I know Carolinus is technically a wizard, but his sphere of influence was nature and the living world.
I honestly think a great feat for this is the skill expert feat, especially if you nab it at level 1, having expertise in Perception from the get go is awesome
In my Curse of Strahd Game our Archfey Warlock/Shepard Druid was killer on the battlefield. She mostly used the bear Spirit but the temp Hit points also rocked. At the end of the campaign her upcast Summon Draconic Spirit Shredded both Strahd’s Minions and the man himself
How perfect for my current campaign! I am playing a Shepard Druid who used to protect a pack of Kermode bears, but was infected with lycanthropy. I use Summon Animals to conjure the spirts of the bears while also having a Werebear form I can summon. Multi classed into Pact of the Undead warlock to gain Eldritch Mind (adv on CON saves) and for the flavor of having the Werebear spirit within me. Great video Dungeon Dudes, gave me some inspiration on how I can improve him!
Fun Shepherd Druid idea I’ve just come up with: Summoning creatures and controlling them by singing like a classic Disney princess. Hit some high notes to attract a little bluebird so it can scout out enemy encampments and whatnot. Politely serenading an elk if it can charge a foe with its antlers. I’ve found my next character idea watching this video. Thanks, Dungeon Dudes!
I came here to say exactly this.
Been playing a Shepherd Druid for over a year now. I made a mass dice roller in Google Sheets that calculates attacks, damage, and can even do enemy saving throws all at once. A 20 minute turn is reduced to a minute or two. I have worked with my DM, and, while I get to choose my summons, I have so far made all of them multiples of the same thing. Also, he’s a great healer and a good utility caster. Also, most summons can be used as cover, so they can be useful, even if they don’t all add to the action economy.
The bear totem cannot replace inspiring leader. This may be the same misconception revolting around the twilight cleric.
The last part in the rules about temporary hitpoints reads the following:
"Unless a feature that grants you temporary hit points has a duration, they last until they’re depleted or you finish a long rest."
The totem is the feature granting it and has a duration of 1 minute, therefore they last as long as the totem
We need to see Jill take 2 levels of paladin
Hell yes. It’d be scary
For which character?
@@matttaylor3120 rudi Whittaker
@@matttaylor3120 Rudy
I am realising now that Cronk from emperors new groove is a Shepherd Druid with the chef feat
I've been watching all of your videos, love this channel so much ❤
TBH you sold me on the ad lmao, good work, first time ever
PS. Agree on the Flying Giant Ape stunt with the summoning of Pixies. Don't overdo it (maybe once in a campaign) as it is not always fun for the other players who have built their characters based on their own desires to play certain types of characters.
I don't normally watch D&D video's, but I'm a sucker for Druids.
Guys... My shepherd druid is most likely one of the most "important to the party " type of characters I have ever played. Truly a remarkably beautiful set of skills . I dipped 2 levels as a peace cleric and it is just too good.
This professional Shakespearean actor in your fan base really appreciated the Winter’s Tale reference.
Love my Shepard druid, gm was into it so we could have big battles and the turns were quick because we had all of our stuff together
Idea for a character. Shepard Druid with Barbarian dip. Boom you have Tarzan.
I love this subclass, I just wish they made it work well with the new summon spells so I'm not flooding the table with a million rats every combat
Your DM, if they’re nice, should let you use a variant using the new spells.
I really wish Shepard was the subclass being added and reworked in the new books
@@TheOneAverageJoesadly, no summoner subclass for now 😢
Giant Owls can carry most PCs, and getting 8 of them for an hour can shorten travel times dramatically or be helpful for pursuit in addition to combat. They also understand common so each rider can give them instructions if that's what the druid told them to do.
Hey Kelly, hope you're doing good man.
Wishing you all the good vibes!
Ice mage + Shepherd druid that summons reindeer... 🦌🎅❄️
I started running a campaign a while ago with some pretty new, but awesome players. The thing is, I made all but one of the sheets for them to make sure the characters were strong enough (and because it originally started as a oneshot).
One of the characters was a shepherd druid and was meant to be the healer, but little did I know the one sheet I did not make would end up being a twilight cleric. We're now almost 15 sessions in and I can barely even bring them to go down!
The only subclass where colby went the whole way without multiclassing.
He did nature cleric straight through too 😂
Please make a how to play a grappler video. I know y'all have a grappler subclass in your newest book but I would like to hear about how you two would build one RAW. I really want to play my Luchador Goliath one day
I would definitely recommend a bit of Fighter/Barbarian multiclassing. Battle Master would be good for its additional combat effects. But if you want to grapple anything and everything, Rune Knight is the way to go.
Love The Winter's Tale reference.
With all the Summons, something like careful spell could come in handy if you pick the metamagic adept feat, and you can pick another like empowered, heightened, or subtle spell (I'd say quicken, but that's both your points you get, so I'd pick a pair like empowered and careful, or careful and extended to extend the amount of time you summon your riding horces in? :)
So aside from the kickstarter you all did, I've never had an interest in any of the things I've seen so far. But hot damn, this looks cool as shit! gonna have to back this one.
I just played one last night. I totally forgot that elks are large so when i conjured 16, everyone just broke out laughing as the battlefield suddenly became very very crowded. 😅
I've played several characters over the last few years and none have had the sheer enjoyment, not to mention power, utility and capabilities, that my Shepherd Druid had. We used macros to make the dice rolls and damage and I was able to do my turns really quickly. I would typically drop the Bear Totem with my Bonus Action and then Summon 8 or 16 Giant Owls into the totem area (Each had like 39 HP so could take a Fireball or other AOE and be okay). Then, I would cast Plant Growth to lock down the bad guys while my owls strafed them with Fly By. Also, don't forget that you're still a Druid, so you can still Wild Shape and/or cast Find Familiar for extra utility. I was a wood elf, so I invested in the whole observant (28 Passive Perception) and stealth thing. I had a sentinel shield and Alert Feat, so I had +8 initiative with advantage. I figure if I can set the battlefield first, I wouldn't have to worry about the who concentration thing.
This is a year late, but will note that the unicorn totem does not exclude the person being healed. So you can heal someone who's badly hurt, and if they are in the area of the unicorn totem, they also get the unicorn healing if you want them to. So that 1st level healing word heals for 1d4+wis+level (plus an extra 1d4 if you have a moon sickle).
Gz your basically talking about my healer. Fairy Order-clerik1 rest Druid. 2 Spells (Bonus and regular Action) and 2 Attacks (reactions from Friends) at lvl1 and it gets only better from there.
So sharing this with a friend as he is getting ready to bring in a shepherd druid
I thought it'd be cool to make a shepherd NPC and was delighted to find out this class already exists
"... without a summoner."
Jack Plutoson: Am I a joke to you?
I am currently playing life cleric/Shepard. I healed a wounded camp of soldiers for nearly 400 hp
Last time I played Circle of Shepherd my DM hated me for summoning an army of frogs every fight.
Played a Shepherd Druid for Frostmaiden, and the first thing we fought once Mighty Summoner came online was a Demilich. We accidentally aggravated it and my Giant Owls sack beat it to death in one round (with the help of our Paladin).
I am, in fact, playing a Circle of the Shepherd Druid, and I think they're one of the best Druid play experiences I've ever had, and that's saying something as the Druid is my preferred class! Almost without fail, I can drop the Unicorn totem and keep my party standing on almost even keel with my experiences playing a Cleric, so their healer role is obvious. I pack Healing Spirit, which has actually seen some combat use healing my allies when things get tough, because (as the rules aren't exactly clear) our DM ruled that as long as I am healing using a spell that expends spell slots, I am triggering the effect of Unicorn Totem. Even if you don't get such a boon at your table, using Healing Word to restore a small flood of HP as a bonus action is too useful to pass up as a support character. I also highly recommend you obtain a Staff of the Woodlands. The +2 to spell attack rolls is marvelous for your summons, and the Moon Sickle is good for the same reasons AND it adds 1d4 to any one target of a healing spell. Bags of Tricks are actually useful, too, as they can add even more beasties on the field who should also get your HP upgrade and your magic bonus to damage, at no concentration.
So, with the half-orc's ability of coming back with 1 HP when you get knocked out, Cast that, and get the summon of the 4 rating 2 animals, and then use something to heal self, (drop totem, and cast, wither & bloom? whatever) and you got nice few animals with you. Half-orc is race to consider now.
Turn into a badger/giant badger, let your summons fight (like elementals) and you burrow 10 feet under ground and stay hidden to maintain concentration, occasionally popping in and out.
My solution to the pixie t-rex shenanigans is to make the pixies fickle and prankstery, sometimes they'll listen to you, but sometimes they'll drop fly >:)
group idea: a group of halfling/gnome cavalry that ride your summoned beasts into battle
Would love to see a video discussing on how to play a wildfire druid. They're a lot of fun and can be quite powerful.
I'll let my players pick their own beasts, unless they don't have them ready. Then you get an environment appropriate kind of beast and you don't throw a fit.
With conjure Fey, you can't get all pixies usually. You get seven sprites in their pixie Queen.
If you want to summon hags, great. And then cast whatever spells you want and serve you faithfully for the duration. But you did summon hags. They won't forget it. And your summoning spell is not their only way to get into your plane.
I can see a little mini arc of the hags sending stronger and stronger in a music against you trying to get you to stop summing them and leave them alone
Currently playing a level 5 wood elf barbarian (ancestral spirit) that is level 1 Druid. About to be level 2 shepherd Druid. Will enjoy having animals for me and spirit guardians. This will be the ultimate shaman !!!
Here's a good team combo. All of the party is size small. A party member casts fog at the height to obscure size medium and larger. You summon your beasts of your choice size small or tiny. Your entire party and your beasts have advantage on attacks against the enemy.
I was playing a level 2 shepard druid and between the unicorn and healing word i kept myself and my 2 party members alive againt 5 bandits and a bandit captain. Even after that the "cops" showed up and threw a paralytic oil on our ranger. While our rogue ran away i picked up the paralyzed ranger and turned into a horse to run away with the "cops" on my tail
This is how you make Squirrel Girl in DND.
So, there's actually a way to guess-timate the amount of Hit Die a creature would have based on their size and hit points. You divide the number of hit points by (average of hit die size + con mod). Tiny creatures have a hit die size of d4, small d6, medium d8, large d10, huge d12, and gargantuan d20. It's not an accurate formula but it's closer than spell level=hit dice.
Played a Shephard Druid for a high level one-shot. I played a lot of the wargames that Warhammer intels so I'm used to rolling tons of dice and doing quick math to figure out what the hell is going on. On top of that I was a Forever dm at the time, So getting to play was fun for once. We were fighting a Ancient Purple Dragon (the one from older DnD additions, brought to fifth edition with some updated stuff) who could cast spells.
Imagine a party with a shepherd druid and a twilight priest working together,providing healing and temporary hit points for all allies including summons as well,damn that's gonna be awesome teamwork
I WAS JUST LOOKING FOR A GUIDE FOR THIS SUBCLASS!!! What the chances????
27 sec pós-post
i'd say 100%
Super enjoyed this video! Really did like the explanation on the Shepherd Druid! :) xD I've played Dungeons and Dragons for years! I've been tempted to do the Polymorph/Summon combo with Pixies but I liked my DM's too much to go and do that. :P
One in the past would've loved it!! The others likely would've ejected from the game then and there. xD hahaha
MC two levels in cleric, Twilight Sanctuary is fun to have when you have 8 animals or woodland beings out.
my only problem with my time playing a shepherd druid is that I wish that Mighty Summoner would've been updated to synergize with the tasha's summon spells
I would love to see how you build an Inquisitive Rogue and why you would use the Pallid Elf. 😊
Thank you for your information video
I will make this one day: but I’ll pick the Yuan-Ti race. Being able to charm snakes, summon snakes and polymorph things into snakes to charm would be crazy.
Summon multiple elks, maybe have an ally with Shadowsteed, you could travel pretty quickly. Heck have you wizard mounted on an elk and cast Floating disk
If you took a feat to get extended spell you could go for twice as long
I played a Shepherd Druid, because I wanted to play a "swarm the battlefield" character.
I understood what this might have meant for the gameplay, the DM and the other players. So, before I started with that character, I spoke to the table and said that I would make sure I did the work so that the character would be conducive to fun at our table, not slow things down and cause frustration and difficulty for others. The steps I took were as follows.
1) I made standies for every possible number of creatures that the spells could summon. You read that correctly. We play IRL and, if I want to be in with a chance of summoning 16 rats, I'm going to put the effort in to make 16 rat standies so the DM doesn't have to do extra prep to accommodate me.
2) I agreed with the DM and other players that control of the creatures could be spread across the DM and the players, not just me. Everyone is playing, and everyone gets to play evenly as far as I'm concerned.
3) I made sure I had a statblock booklet (I made this as well) with all the possible creature statblock in it for reference. If I'm giving someone a giant spider to control, I'm going to go to the effort to make sure they can easily check what a giant spider can do.
4) I made sure to say that, if anyone wasn't OK with having this be an element of our game (JUST LIKE PEOPLE SHOULD DO WITH THE WILD MAGIC SORCERERS) that I could play a different character. This was important because, in practice, it wasn't the first character I played in that game, but the second. When I made it as my first choice, 2 people didn't like the idea, so I went with a second choice instead. Then, when Jorighan died, I asked again if people would mind my shepherd druid idea and that time they said they didn't mind.
Summoner Druids are unique characters. They focus on these unbelievably powerful summoning spells, which can wreck fun if you don't handle them well. But if you do the leg work and talk to people, they're the most powerful combat characters in the game and incredibly fun to play.
How timely, I just went over with one of my players on how to roll up a "Shaman" we decided to go 4 marks in Monk way of the open palm, 2 marks in Druid and Circle of the Shepherd. He'll eventually level up and take 1 mark in Monk and 1 in Ranger before we probably hit end game.
Would love to see another game with Treant monk and Colby.
'Rolls to save against dice goblin instincts'
What if we pick up Metamagic Adept and use "extend spell"?
Still patiently waiting for your breakdown of the Aberrant Mind sorcerer.
My first ever dnd character is my current character; Eltoris Daewraek; Shepherd Druid lvl 12. He is an extremely awkward farm kid who has no manners and insults people unintentionally; and is thrust into the current setting which is a semi-urban campaign. Very uncharismatic when he tries to be and very charismatic when he doesn’t. He has a habit of chucking walnuts at people (that’s how you know he likes you). He also doesn’t know what doors are and enters buildings through windows unless there’s no other choice but a door. He’s also extremely random and out of pocket; and sits on the backrest of the chair rather than it’s seat. He also sits on the roof of cars rather than inside the car.
Currently he’s in summer break from the school he joined a day before summer break started; and lives with his guardian Wilorin and they run a farm/stable together. He has a pet chicken named Meatloaf, a pet displacer beast named Virtus and a pet hog/mode of transport named Griffin.
Some of his favorite memorable moments and quotes:
-“I know I should’ve brought more lions”
-After someone complements his grip strength: “Thanks, it’s because of the pigs I benchpress every day”
-To the Marshall of a district “Why is this a gun”
-To a raccoon after he and the party ransacked its house: “You want an apple dude?”
-To a famous senator: “I have no idea who you are, nice to meet you”
-He once jumped out of a 2 story building into garage, and walked it off
-He was almost killed by a young black dragon (nat1 on dex save and got blasted in the face with acid). He got black dragon gauntlets out of it though.
-He summoned 16 giant constrictor snakes in a battle once.
-He turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and battled a Green Dragon in its lair.
-He summoned wolves that proceeded to rip the d#ck off of an incubus.
-He turned into a giant ape and started throwing church pews at people.
-He turned into a giant ape and launched the party’s Grung wizard at and enemy and succeeded.
There’s a lot more here and lot more to come but I have almost too much fun playing this character😂😂
How do you summon animals? Is it a spell or just a class feature? And is it concentration?
When are you guys gonna talk about the latest UA?! 😂 dying to hear your analysis of the monk
I feel bad for my DM when I reach 8th level.
Twilight Cleric's Channel Divinity gives Temp HP to all creatures within their sphere. Mixed with Unicorn, you're basically doing a full heal
Ah yes. The classic Disney Princess class
There are rules for mob combat in dnd.
Zee Bashew did a great video about it and even a DM I use it all the time. It really speeds up combat.
still I ban the old summoning spells
Even Giant insect? Or for warlock/wizard, Danse Macabre.
That die looks awesome!
Hey dungeon dudes, I'm finding it quite hard to find people to play dnd with (I live in a small town in new Zealand) trying to learn as much as possible about the game so I can teach people. Any advice to find people to play with :) or how to be a dm.
Goblin for race . Run / hide and let your summons fight for you
Would you require two attunement slots for a club that summons rats when you miss goats when you hit & wolves when you crit in battle.
Druid is the only class I never played. If I would, this would be the subclass I would go for (and one level of life cleric).
I shall show you the grand strategy of my conjure animals. Now my pets, surround him and hit them til they die!
Gotta play the long game and summon all the goats. Put them on the mountainside overlooking BBEG lair. Eventually they will erode the face and cause a landslide when it rains. Evil lair buried.