Chris Lindsay, 5E Director, Goodman Games
CREATOR
1 day ago
Project Update: Design Diary: Chris Lindsay plus Circle of Storms (A Druid Subclass)
Heya Folks!
Chris Lindsay here with a story about the evolution of the Dragon Rider's Primer!
Joseph Goodman and I first began talking about a dragon rider project before I even came on at Goodman Games. It was early summer 2025 and I had very recently left WizKids. For a company that manufactured everything in China, tariffs had hit them hard, and that meant budget cuts.
Joseph had reached out to pick my brain in a series of consultations, and one of the side topics I brought up was the brilliant trilogy of novels I had just finished reading by Rebecca Yarros. Starting with the novel Fourth Wing, and on through Iron Flame and Onyx Storm… it was a whirlwind of dragon riding, romance, and derring-do not to be missed.
When Joseph asked me to join his crew in August, we renewed our conversation about these books, since he had taken the recommendation to heart and read them himself. At this point, with imaginations on fire, the idea for a supplemental rulebook for 5E that included mounted aerial combat was born.
However… when I stopped to consider what this might look like in practice at the game table, several challenges came to mind.
- Challenge #1: Giving each character an actual dragon to ride will throw game balance right in the waste basket. We needed to create the opportunity without overburdening GMs.
- Challenge #2: If one character only has an aerial mount, then splitting the party becomes inevitable… they all need aerial mounts, and the villains too!
- Challenge #3: When do characters get their mounts? How are they connected? Are they all dragons or can we provide a wider variety of options?
[Really, that last one is more than a single challenge, but who’s counting?]
Ultimately, it seemed to me that a holistic approach was not only appropriate, but incredibly necessary to pull this off. Include mounts in the game as early as possible to get everyone used to their presence and use in the game and then advance their utility as the characters themselves grow in power.
Some of you are already asking if this book is for low level characters as well as high level characters… to which I must respond… ABSOLUTELY!!! It is entirely possible for the characters to have mounts at 1st level and keep them for the duration of the campaign.
It probably comes as no surprise that the first thing I looked at for rules guidance was the Find Steed spell, followed shortly by the rules for regular mounted combat. This brings me to my next challenge.
- Challenge #4: What happens when all the characters can fly?
I mean… usually GMs don’t have to contend with flying characters until 5th level at the earliest. For this, I had a solution, however. Create “young” versions of each mount, one incapable of bearing a rider into the air, but still useful as a cool companion for each character. Then, when the characters hit 5th level, they can take to the not-so-friendly skies. Speaking of which…
- Challenge #5: Overland travel???
We can’t just let players skip the adversity associated with traversing the wilderness, but since we were going up, up, and away, I have to look skyward for a means to throw seemingly random encounters their way. Something that prevents travel from simply being straight lines on a map ala Indiana Jones. Aerial travel should be just as (if not more) dangerous than simply walking, and so we devised a set of guidelines for that as well. As you can see, out proverbial bases are starting to appear to be fairly covered. Throw in some subclasses, a bunch of new spells, feats, backgrounds, and other goodies… and viola!
Well… I could probably go on and on to talk about aerial maneuvers and mounted combat and weather patterns and a whole lot more, but I really gotta get back to working on this veritable smorgasbord of rules and character options. In the meantime, secure your saddle and flap for all your worth. We’ll see you in the skies soon!
Good Gaming!!!
Also... if you're looking for more fun Dragon Rider's Primer content... see me chatting HERE with my good friend Ben Riggs, author of Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons and Dragons.
... and now the Circle of Storms!!!
Heya Folks!
Chris Lindsay here with another AWESOME subclass. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE playing druids?
With the possible exception of the wizard, no other class has the capacity to cast a single spell and bring an encounter to a screeching halt like a druid does. When I was at Wizards of the Coast, one of my favorite characters to play at conventions for Adventurers League was a peace loving tortle druid named Amble. I love Amble so much that I dropped him into an adventure I wrote "Locathah Rising" as an NPC for others to enjoy as well. So here's a new druid subclass with a STORMY disposition... welcome the Circle of Storms!
Circle of Storms (Druid)
Many have come to revere storms as manifestations of both destruction and rebirth, but druids of the Circle of Storms have developed a far more intimate relationship with these violent atmospheric phenomena. Not only have they learned to create storms, but also to shape them the way that other druids manipulate roots and stone.
Level 3: Gathering Skies
You have learned how to not only coax the first signs of a storm into being but to exert subtle control over its unpredictable weather.
As a bonus action, you collect moisture and air pressure around yourself, creating a localized pattern of gentle rain and chilled fog that extends outward from you in a 15-foot radius that moves with you and lasts for 1 minute, until you are incapacitated, or until you dismiss it as a bonus action. The following effects, to which you’re immune, also apply.
Uncertain Distance. The area is lightly obscured and ranged attacks made into or out of this area, or that pass through this area, are made at Disadvantage.
Heavy Atmosphere. The area within is considered difficult terrain. Abilities and spells that negate the effect of difficult terrain do not function in this area.
You can use this ability a number of times equal to half your Wisdom modifier (rounded up) and must complete a short or long rest to regain these uses.
Level 3: Circle of Storms Spells
You have learned how to not only coax the first signs of a storm into being but to exert subtle control over unpredictable weather.
You gain the Shocking Grasp cantrip if you don’t have it. Additionally, when you reach a Druid level specified in the Circle of Storms table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared.
Druid Level Spells
3rd Gust of Wind, Shatter
5th Call Lightning, Sleet Storm
7th Freedom of Movement, Ice Storm
9th Commune with Nature, Cone of Cold
3rd Gust of Wind, Shatter
5th Call Lightning, Sleet Storm
7th Freedom of Movement, Ice Storm
9th Commune with Nature, Cone of Cold
Level 6: Blood that Knows the Sky
The storm no longer simply gathers at your call. It settles into your very flesh and no longer moves around you but instead moves through you. Your muscles thicken slightly, you become partially insubstantial, rain beads and drips off your body while lightning aggressively shoots under your skin.
Living Weatherform. When you use Gathering Skies you can choose to expend a use of Wild Shape, to become a manifestation of the storm. While in this state you retain your normal statistics, equipment, general appearance, though you can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You can’t be grappled, restrained, or knocked prone and you gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. While in this form you cannot take the Attack action, except as noted below.
Storm Skin. While Gathering Skies is active, you can make a single attack each round, using the Shocking Grasp cantrip. Additionally, you benefit from the effects of the Pass Without Trace spell (self only).
Level 10: The Storm Takes Precedence
The storm continues to swell within you, pushing your presence and form as you grow in power. The storm no longer fits cleanly inside of your mortal form and demands more room than your flesh can offer. It fills your blood and your presence begins to leak outward into the air around you.
The Sky Without Center. When you activate Gathering Skies, in addition to the other effects, you gain a Fly speed equal to your normal movement speed and you gain the Invisible condition. In this state, you have immunity to both Blindsight and Tremorsense, though Truesight can detect you normally.
Additionally, each round at the end of your turn, you choose where you are physically located within the area of your Gathering Skies effect. Though you use movement as normal to shift positions, you no longer have to remain in the center of that area.
Level 14: When the Storm Breaks Through
Each breath grows visibly heavier as nature’s power pulses inside of you. The light bends and splits across your form in a kaleidoscope of refracting colors as your outline fractures into soft doubles and warped edges.
The area of your Gathering Skies ability increases to encompass a 30-foot radius, and the area is now heavily obscured. When you use this ability, in addition to yourself, you may designate any number of creatures in that area you can see as sheltered by it. Those creatures can see and move normally inside the area, and immune to Thunder or Lightning damage it might otherwise cause them.
At the start of each of your turns, creatures in the area that are not sheltered by it, make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. Failure: 4d8 Thunder or Lightning damage (your choice). Success: Half damage only.
For the duration, creatures can’t teleport, plane shift, or use portals into or out of the area.
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