My latest musical obsession has been Hadestown by the incomparable Anaïs Mitchell. The musical tells the familiar story of Orpheus and Eurydice in a perhaps unfamiliar way. As the story is conveyed through Mitchell’s brilliant song writing and stellar performances, the narration is handled by André De Shields as the god Hermes. This makes special sense when one stops to consider that one of Hermes tasks was guiding the souls of the dead to the Underworld. This got me thinking about the role of the psychopomp in various faiths and religions from Hermes and Mercury in the Mediterranean, to Anubis in Ancient Egypt, to the Valkyries of the frozen north, and even to celtic deity known as The Morrigan. My first instinct was to represent this idea as a cleric domain, but the more I thought about it, the warlock actually felt like a better fit. However, after additional thought and some reading, I settled on the druid as the best fit for the particular vision I had for this class option.
The first idea that came to mind was the ability to wild shape into the swarm of ravens as this bird is one of the most commonly associated with these kinds of figures along with the owl. The concept of being able to wild shape into a swarm was too neat to let go. I eventually added the owl form as well to give another option. Both of these choices grant this druid the ability to turn into a creature with a flying speed (but only those two creatures) two levels early.
Death’s Eyes is a great flavor ability. It might not immediately look like the most useful, but I’m sure some clever players can find some interesting uses for it, and it was a fitting companion to getting the spare the dying cantrip. Since Death’s Eyes itself isn’t more powerful, I decided to give these druids access to some additional spells that fit the theme of the psychopomp. These function much like Circle Spells from the Circle of the Land, with only one spell per level instead of two.
Strong in Spirit was the last ability I drafted. In fact the resistance to poison damage and inability to come back as undead were both added as I was copying my notes into the word document. Finally Undead Censure is essentially the Circle of the Land’s Nature’s Ward ability with a little bonus and another use for the druid’s wild shape should they need it.
Now, none of this has been playtested, but I’m happy with it at a first look. Let me know what you think below.
Ben Erickson
