Circle of the Keepers

Druids of the Circle of Keepers are not wanderers so much as watchers. They bind themselves to crossroads, groves, shrines, ruined circles, and other places where the world feels thin or vulnerable, standing vigil over the living and the dead alike. Where other druids see the wild as something to roam, Keepers see thresholds—lines that must not be carelessly crossed, oaths that must be honored, and wounds in the world that must be tended rather than ignored.   In battle, Keepers do not charge across the field in a frenzy. They choose the ground and change what it means to fight there. Within a Keeper’s Circle, the land itself rises in silent alliance: roots and thorns grasp at enemies, blessings and purifying light shield allies, and hostile magic and planar intrusions labor under unseen pressure. Their spells bless those who stand with them, twist the battlefield into a gauntlet of grasping growth, and call down elemental wrath or the relentless Wild Hunt on those who refuse to heed the ward.   In worlds scarred by other planes—whether by rifts, portals, or older, stranger breaches—Keepers often become the first and last line of defense. They learn to sense corruption in the air and soil, to read the shape of a portal from the way creatures move around it, and to purge or interdict such anomalies before they spread. In the Duskfall setting, many Keepers are drawn naturally into the work of the Brethren Court, but the Circle can arise anywhere mortals swear to hold a line between what belongs in the world and what does not.   Wherever they are found, Keepers are the druids who do not merely arrive at a battlefield—they consecrate it, and make the land itself choose a side.

Level 3: Circle of the Keepers Spells

When you reach a Druid level specified in the Circle of the Keepers Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.

Druid Level	Prepared Spells
3	Bless, Circle of Doctrine, Elemental Strike, Grasp of Thorns
5	Hunger of the Deep Forest, Purge Rift Corruption
7	Aura of Purity, Banishment
9	Elemental Wrath, Manifest Wild Hunt

Level 3: Keeper’s Circle

You can channel your Wild Shape not into beast form, but into a warded sanctum of living magic.   As a Bonus Action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape to create a Keeper’s Circle centered on a point you can see on the ground within 60 feet. The circle manifests as a ring of stones, roots, faint constellations, carved runes, or other signs of your circle’s rites. The circle is a 15-foot-radius, 10-foot-tall cylinder. It lasts for 10 minutes, until you are Incapacitated or die, or until you create another Keeper’s Circle. The ground in the circle is Difficult Terrain for your enemies.   While your Keeper’s Circle exists, it grants the following benefits.   Sanctum of Roots. When you or an ally starts their turn in the circle, that creature gains Temporary Hit Points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1). In addition, you and your allies in the circle have Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Wisdom (Survival) checks made to track, sense, or interpret the presence of fiends, undead, creatures suffering Rift Corruption such as Riftspawn (or a similar form of planar taint, at the DM’s discretion), or active planar anomalies such as portals and tears in reality.   Binding Earth. Whenever an enemy starts its turn in the area or enters it for the first time on a turn, the ground attempts to hold it fast. That creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or it has the Grappled until the start of its next turn. Fiends, Undead, and Rift corrupted creatures such as Riftspawn (or an equivalent corruption) have Disadvantage on this saving throw and cannot regain Hit Points until the start of its next turn on a failed save.

Level 3: Warden’s Insight

Your training as a Keeper sharpens your senses and your understanding of the forces that move through a place.   You gain proficiency in the Wisdom (Insight) skill and your choice of Arcana, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Religion, or Survival.

Level 6: Keeper’s Aura

Your connection to your circles deepens into a constant, quieter ward that follows you wherever you go.   While you are not Incapacitated, you radiate a 10-foot-radius Emanation. You and creatures of your choice within the aura have Advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the Charmed and Frightened conditions, and gains a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum +1) to Wisdom (Perception) and Wisdom (Survival) checks to detect, track, or interpret fiends, undead, creatures suffering Rift Corruption (or analogous taint), or planar anomalies such as portals and reality tears.   When your Keeper’s Circle exists, its entire area also counts as your Keeper’s Aura for the purpose of your Circle features.

Level 6: Shared Vigil

The invisible bonds between you and those under your protection grow stronger.   When a creature you can see in your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle makes a saving throw against a spell or other magical effect, you can use your Reaction to grant that creature Advantage on the saving throw. You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.   In addition, your sanctum helps your allies shake off fear and influence. Whenever a creature in your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle regains Hit Points from a spell you cast or gains Temporary Hit Points from your Keeper’s Circle, that creature can immediately end one effect currently on it that is causing it to be Charmed or Frightened.   Finally, your Keeper’s Circle refines your ability to cleanse corruption. If you and the target of your Purge Rift Corruption spell remain within your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle for the entire casting, the spell’s casting time is reduced to 10 minutes instead of 1 hour.

Level 10: Path of Hidden Roots

The lines of power within your wards become a network of short, secret paths that you and your allies can walk.   Sanctified Resilience. While a creature you choose is in your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle, it has Resistance to Necrotic and Psychic damage.   Step Between Roots. As a Bonus Action, you can call upon those hidden paths. Choose a number of willing creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier (which can include yourself) who you can see within your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle. Each chosen creature teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is within or your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. You can also regain one expended use by expending a level 3 or higher spell slot (no action required).

Level 14: Living Sanctum

Your presence and your circles become a true bastion against both mundane violence and planar intrusion.   Shelter of Bark and Stone. While a creature you choose is in your Keeper’s Aura or Keeper’s Circle, it has Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage from nonmagical attacks.   In addition, when a creature in your Keeper’s Circle would gain Temporary Hit Points from your Keeper’s Circle and it already has Temporary Hit Points from that feature, it can instead regain Hit Points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1) as its wounds knit with bark, stone, or starlit vines.   Interdiction of the Veil. Your Keeper’s Circle becomes an anchor of planar interdiction. While your Keeper’s Circle exists, teleportation, planar travel, and similar effects that would move a creature into or out of the circle are impeded unless you choose to allow them. The first time on a turn that a creature other than you or a willing ally you designate attempts to teleport or move into or out of the circle via planar travel, that creature must make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the effect is wasted, and any spell slots or uses are expended with no movement occurring. On a successful save, the effect works normally.   In addition, while your Keeper’s Circle exists, new portals, rifts, Breachpoints, or similar planar anomalies cannot open within it.   Even when your Keeper’s Circle is not active, your Keeper’s Aura still resists planar violation. When a creature you can see within your Keeper’s Aura attempts to teleport or use planar travel, you can use your Reaction to force it to make a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save, the effect fails for that creature.   You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.