Welcome back to the weekly Tabletop Games thread! This thread is where we can talk about all kinds of RPGs, card games, board games, etc. Whether you gather around a physical table in the real world, or use a virtual space to play with friends who may live far away from you, this is where you can discuss your favorites, ask for and/or receive recommendations, recap your recent adventures, or even find some people to play games with!

Discussion Prompt: This week I’m taking a look at the 5.5e Druid class.

The major changes made to the Druid class are found in how their signature ability of Wild Shape work. In 2014, when a Druid transformed into an animal, they took on the beast’s stat block, including hit points, armor class, and traits and abilities. If the beast form reduced to zero hit points, the Druid would revert to their normal humanoid form, with the same number of hit points they had when they first activated Wild Shape. Now, they’ve changed things a bit–instead of replacing your hit points with those of the beast form, activating Wild Shape just gives you temporary hit points equal to your Druid level, so you’re not quite as tanky. You still take on the beast form’s physical stats, but rather than being able to choose any beast from the monster manual, you have a certain number of known beast forms. You start with 4 at 2nd level and eventually scale up to 8, but you can replace one known form on a long rest. You can’t cast spells while in beast form (at least, not right away), but you can still speak normally. You can also choose to expend a Wild Shape to cast the Find Familiar spell rather than transform.

There are a few other changes to the Druid class. Similar to the Cleric’s choice of Divine Order, at 1st level the Druid can choose a Primal Order, giving you either an extra cantrip known and bonuses to Arcana and Nature skills or training with martial weapons and medium armor. Druids at 1st level also learn the secret language Druidic, which also gives you Speak With Animals as an automatically prepared spell.

Both of the Druid subclasses from the 2014 PHB were pretty significantly changed. The Circle of the Land gives you a list of extra spell preparations depending on the land type you choose, but now you can change that choice with every long rest. The Circle of the Moon still enhances your Wild Shape, but now also provides a small list of extra spells that you can cast while in beast form, and later gives you a bonus action teleport ability. These are joined by Circle of Stars, which is largely unchanged from its original printing in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and the brand new Circle of the Sea subclass, which gives you a handful of ocean- and storm-themed spells as well as an emanation of sea spray that can deal damage and push targets away from you.

Share your thoughts about Druids in any edition of D&D, or similar characters from other games, in the comments!

If you would like to suggest a prompt or contribute a write-up or discussion topic of your own, let me know in the comments!