Circle of Hunger (5e Subclass)
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Circle of Hunger[edit]
As wild animals grow more vicious as they starve, so do you grow in strength as you tire.
Druids of the Circle of Hunger follow in the footsteps of the most dangerous carnivores, consuming until they no longer need to and then searching for their next meal. Unlike most circles, druids of this circle rarely gather, if ever, instead existing as a loose collection of druids that were each indoctrinated by only one or two members. Knowing that their ways are often seen as monstrous and evil by others, they realize that it's safer for them be spread far and wide, so as to not have their practices noticed by the ever-encroaching civilizations of man.
Lacking in the same raw power that druids of the Circle of the Moon have with their transformations, druids of this circle instead draw their power from the darker side of nature: the endless cycle of feeding and starving, hungering and feasting. Though it is normal for most creatures and civilized societies to kill and eat a creature for sustenance, Circle of Hunger druids do so with a ravenous, bestial ferocity, gorging on their prey only to immediately begin the hunt again, ever hungry.
Therianthropes such as jackleweres and werewolves, bestial races such as gnolls and lizardfolk, and psychopaths make up most of the population of this circle, being the ones who brought these powers into existence, but there are pockets of those who revoke the savage outlook of these creators, instead adopting genial and loving traditions and only using their more terrible powers when absolutely necessary. Those who do, though, sometimes fail to resist the temptation, becoming even more terrible than the monsters that created the circle in the first place.
- Feast and Famine
When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you grow tired more quickly, but can recover from it just as fast. As a bonus action, you gain temporary hit points equal to twice your druid level and gain one level of exhaustion. You cannot use this feature if you have 4 or more levels of exhaustion.
Additionally, whenever you kill a creature within 5 feet of you, if it was either Small or larger or CR 1/8 or greater, you can use a bonus action to quickly consume some of its flesh, magically losing one level of exhaustion when you do so.
- Need to Feed
Also at 2nd level, your hunger drives your strength. When you hit a creature within 5 feet of you with a melee attack, you gain a bonus to the attack's damage roll equal to twice your level of exhaustion. Additionally, you ignore the effects of the first 5 levels of exhaustion while transformed with your Wild Shape feature.
- Thrill of the Hunt
At 6th level, your hunger sharpens your senses, enhancing your abilities to track your prey. While you have a level of exhaustion, you can cast the hunter's mark spell without expending a spell slot or needing any components, and you have a bonus to Wisdom (Perception) checks equal to your level of exhaustion. When you cast hunter's mark in this way, you cast it as if it were from a spell slot level equal to your level of exhaustion, and you can cast this spell while you are transformed with your Wild Shape feature. In addition, you automatically succeed on Constitution saving throws you make to maintain your concentration on this spell.
You can cast hunter's mark using this feature once, and can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest, or until you have had 0 levels of exhaustion for at least 10 minutes.
- Mastication of the Living
At 10th level, you can feed on creatures even as they still breathe, restoring your vigor with each bite. When you hit a creature within 5 feet of you with a melee attack, you regain hit points equal to your level of exhaustion. You regain twice as many hit points if you are transformed with your Wild Shape feature.
- Familiar Taste
At 14th level, you have committed civilization's greatest sin: consuming the flesh of your own kind. Whenever you use your Feast and Famine feature on a creature that shares your normal form's creature type, you are considered to have one additional level of exhaustion for the purpose of determining how much exhaustion you have for your Need to Feed, Thrill of the Hunt, and Mastication of the Living features. This effect lasts for 10 minutes or until you have 0 levels of exhaustion.
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