Here’s a rundown of the episode:

• 00:45 - Heard Any Good Rumours Lately? News from the Planes.
• 01:07 + Off To The Races: This episode features Halflings
• 08:30 + You So Classy! This episode, we’re looking at Druids 
• 18:12 + Background Check: The Sage
• 21:16 + Monster Menagerie: Not Dragons
• 22:04 + Lore Academy: The Harpers
• 26:29 + The Infamous: Elminster Aumar

Total runtime - 35:15 

Sources & further reading: 

Halflings: PHB: 26-28; SCAG: 108-110; XGTE: Racial feats - 73-75, Names - 179

Druid: PHB: 64-69; SCAG: 126-127; XGTE: 21-26

The Harpers: SCAG: 54, 123, 127, 147

Links

https://i.redd.it/3pmztddrf0v11.jpg - 5E race size comparison chart

https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial- WotC free material for its Play at Home, Stay at Home campaign during Covid lockdown.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elminster_Aumar - FR wiki on Elminster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elminster- Wikipedia on Elminster

https://dnd.wizards.com/dungeons-and-dragons/what-dd/heroes/elminster - WotC on Elminster

https://amzn.to/2K81xBH- Amazon’s list of Elminster novels, by Ed Greenwood (affiliate link)

https://dnd.wizards.com/dungeons-and-dragons/story/faction/harpers- WotC on the Harpers

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Harpers- FR wiki on the Harpers

https://syrinscape.com- Syrinscape tabletop audio

Episode TranscriptCold open

Welcome to I Cast Pod, a D&D podcast about creating characters, taking chances, rolling dice and having fun. I’m Mike, your DM and guide to all things dungeonesque and dragon-y. In this episode, we’re talking about … Halflings, Harpers, Druids, Elminster - but not Dragons. Listen on to find out why.

Heard Any Good Rumours Lately?

Stay at Home, Play at Home - free resources

Off to the RacesHalfling

Small in stature but large of heart, halflings enjoy a good meal, a blazing hearth, good drink and good conversation. Lovers of peace and home comforts, some halflings live in remote agricultural communities, while others, tempted by the wonders of new lands and new foods, form nomadic travelling societies, constantly moving in their caravan of covered wagons or boats, chasing the horizon.

Thought of by most other races as plucky, lucky and deft, The Halflings, or Hin, are nimble, and courageous - sometimes beyond their apparent means. Halfling tales are often peppered with lucky escapes and narrow squeaks.

Like Tolkien’s Hobbits, D&D halflings in general stand about 3ft tall, which makes them smaller than most other races, including Gnomes.

This, along with their stout nature, tends to make them… less than intimidating, for the most part, which has lead to them surviving for centuries by going either unnoticed, or at the very least appearing as no threat to anything else. Their complexion ranges from pale and ruddy, to tan and they usually sport brown or sandy brown wavy hair. Brown or hazel eyes are common and males often sport bushy sideburns, with beards being less common and moustaches being rare among them. They like brightly coloured clothes that favour comfort and function over style. In fact they are a generally practical and pragmatic race in general, their main concerns being occupied with basic needs rather than frippery and ostentation. Halflings have a knack for finding straightforward solutions to problems and don’t have much patience for dithering. Wealth is not flaunted in halfling society, rather kept away in a cellar or other secret place. 

Halflings are a happy and cheerful lot for the most part, and try to get on with everyone, other races included. They dislike generalisations, particularly negative ones, so tend to take people on an individual basis. They cherish their families and friends above all, and their home comforts second. Halfling adventurers usually take to the life through wanderlust, curiosity, or sometimes for reasons of community or friendship. The adventuring life is usually seen more as an opportunity than a career. The discovery of new things, even a new dish or style of clothing is a big draw for them. 

Halflings blend easily into societies of Dwarves, Elves or Humans, making themselves valuable to their adopted community, just as they would at home. Often they become so closely knit with these communities due to their friendly, easy-going nature and hard work, that members of the society often wonder what life was like before their halfling friends arrived. Also, the halfling natural predilection to stealth along with their unassuming bearing allows them to pass unnoticed where attention is unwanted.

They are loyal to friends as they would be to family and work well in groups and can be a force to be reckoned with when their companions are threatened, to the surprise of many an enemy. As a rule, they are kindhearted, giving and have a strong opposition to oppression of any kind. They hate to see suffering and are easily moved to pity - their generous nature leads them to share whatever they have even in times of personal hardship. 

Their own communities tend to be rural farmsteads or well-kept groves, or as mentioned, groups of travellers. They don’t go in for kingdoms or countries, preferring to look to their elders for governance, and to keep to their own shires in terms of land ownership. Traditions are preserved within families and they don’t usually have any caste system or hierarchy of nobility and rarely recognise royalty amongst themselves. 

The Halfling language, although not technically secret, is not normally shared with outsiders, possibly due to their rich oral traditions being their main way of recording their history.

Stat Block 

• Dex +2
• Alignment: Usually lawful good.
• Size: Small - normally about 3ft tall and around 40lbs
• Speed: 25ft
• Lucky: This feat allows you to reroll any natural one on an attack roll, ability check or saving throw, but you must use the second roll, even if it’s another nat 1.
• Brave: You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
• Nimble: You can move through any occupied square of any creature that is at least a size larger than you.
• Languages: common and halfling.

There are two sub races listed in the PHB, the Lightfoot and Stout, with Strongheart and Ghostwise as other variants in the SCAG.

Lightfoot get a +1 to Charisma, and a natural stealth ability that allows them to try to hide when obscured by a creature one size larger or more. 

Lightfoots tend to enjoy keeping moving, as their name suggests, either striking out alone, or in small bands, where the membership of individuals may shift over time as they drop in and out. They typically excel at navigation and travel tasks, such as foraging, sailing, Cartwright work and more. 

Stout halflings get a +1 to Constitution as their name suggests, and have resilience that gives advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage.

Stronghearts have all the features of Stouts, but tend to ingratiate themselves even more easily into other societies, with an intent to put down roots. Where the Lightfoot will breeze into communities, make friends and then leave on the next wind, strong hearts ingratiate themselves and often stay in an area for centuries. They are sometimes referred to by other races as “the good folk” due to their affable nature, resistance to offence and incorruptible spirits. They have nimble hands and bags of patience. Coupled with their industrious nature, they make good weavers, potters, wood carvers, basket makers, painters and farmers. Stronghearts often have blonde or black hair and blue or green eyes, unlike the generally brown tones of the Lightfoots.

Ghostwise Halflings are the rarest of the Hin sub races. They trace their ancestry to a war among halfling tribes that caused them to flee Lurien. They are only found in Chondalwood and a few other isolated forests. They often choose a natural landmark as the centre point of their territories, and members carry a piece of it with them at all times. Nightgliders are clan warriors who bond with giant owls, riding them into battle as mounts. Due to their reclusive nature, adventurer Ghostwise are even rarer still.

Ghostwise halflings get a +1 to wisdom, and the silent speech ability, allowing them to communicate telepathically with any one creature within 30ft, provided you share a language.

You So ClassyDruid

Druids are wardens of nature, revering the natural world and often eschewing city life. They see themselves as part of nature, a conduit for its will - an agent in preserving balance. This is one of the major charges a Druid is tasked with - ensuring the elements ; earth, air, fire and water - remain in a delicate equilibrium. An imbalance of power could result in the world being drawn into one of the elemental planes of existence or being destroyed entirely. Druids are opposed to elemental evil in all its forms and can often be found near places of elemental power, carefully observing that the balance is not disrupted.

Druids revere nature in all its guises, accepting nature’s inherent cruelty when it is necessary, and promote ecology in all forms, helping tend that which sustains animal and plant life, and thus the sentient races of Toril. This means they are also opposed to that which is unnatural, such as aberrations like beholders and Illithids, and any type of undead, like zombies or vampires. Druids will lead raiding parties against such creatures, especially if they encroach on druidic territory or threaten the balance of nature.

Druids gain power from nature - either from a nature deity, in a similar manner to a Cleric, (see last episode for info on Clerics,) or else from the force of nature itself. Many Druids seek to gain a transcendent mystical connection with nature, rather than devotion to a deity, but others will directly serve gods. The ancient druidic traditions are sometimes referred to as the “Old Faith”, which sets them apart from priests and acolytes who worship in constructed shrines and temples, where a Druid is more likely to be found practicing their faith in a forest or meadow.

Druid spells are of course nature based, often displaying the power of tooth and claw, shifting tides, fire and storm. Druids have the ability to change shape, shifting into the form of a noble creature to fight. Some even prefer animal form and spend the majority of time in it.

Just as an aside, my group played online for the first time the other night and our Druid had the interesting notion of climbing a tree, then using Wild Shape to transform himself into an Ox, causing him to fall from the tree onto an enemy. Gravity is a force of nature after all, so that innovation has earned him an inspiration point.

Things to consider when creating a druid:

• What has given them their close bond with nature? Were they brought up in the Old Faith? Raised by wolves? Or do they just find a calming affinity with wild spaces? Did they have an encounter with nature spirits or did they have a spiritual journey where they met with a guardian animal like a giant eagle, bear or wolf?
• It could even be that they were born during a raging storm, were struck by lightning or affected by another natural event such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption that attuned them to the inherent power of nature.
• What made your druid take up the adventuring life? Was it to experience all that nature has to offer? To seek out spiritual places in the desert or tundra? To fight Elemental Evil or the unnatural forces in the world? Were you a caretaker of a sacred grove that was destroyed or defiled by Abberations from another plane? 

Stat Block

Wisdom is the primary stat for Druids, followed by constitution. For a quick build, chose these stats and the hermit background.

HP @ 1st lvl: 8 + Con mod

HP @ higher lvls: 1D8 (or 5) + con mod/lvl

Hit Dice: 1D8/lvl

Proficiencies:

• Armour - light, medium & shields - which cannot be made from metal.
• Weapons - Clubs, daggers, darts, javelins, maces, quarterstaffs (or quarterstaves - either is correct,), scimitars, sickles, slings, and spears.
• Tools - Herbalism kit
• Saving Throws - Intelligence, Wisdom
• Skills - Choose 2 from:
• Arcana
• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Nature
• Perception
• Religion
• Survival
• Equipment - You start with: 
• A wooden shield or any simple weapon
• A scimitar or any simple weapon
• Leather armour
• An explorer’s pack
• A druidic focus

You also know Druidic, a secret language only known to druids and can use this to send secret messages to other druids, who will automatically spot it. Other can spot the message with a DC15 Perception (Wisdom) check, but cannot decipher the message without the aid of magic.

You know two cantrips of choice from the Druid spell list and can learn additional ones at later levels.

Your spell casting ability is Wisdom and draws on your attunement to nature. 

• Spell attack modifier = Wisdom mod + proficiency bonus
• Spell save DC = 8 + Wis mod + proficiency bonus.

You can cast a druid spell as a ritual if the spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

You can use your druidic focus as a spell casting focus for your druid spells.

At second level you gain Wild Shape, a major mechanic for druids, giving them the ability to shift into animal form. You must have seen the creature before and can use this twice between short or long rests. At second level you can only transform into walking beasts - no swimming or flying. At fourth level you can add swimming beasts but no flying. At 8th level you can include flying beasts.

You can remain in beast form for the number of hours equal to half your druid’s level, rounding down - so a level 3 druid can Wild Shape for an hour, for example.

You can revert to normal form as a bonus action on your turn, or automatically revert if knocked unconscious, drop to 0 HP or die.

The following rules apply to Wild Shape:

• You are limited by challenge rating as to which creatures you can transform into. At 2nd level, it is 1/4CR. At 4th level this increases to 1/2 and at level 8, you can choose CR1 creatures.
• Your stats are replaced by those of the creature you become, but your personality and alignment remain the same, as do your intelligence, wisdom and charisma scores, so you could become a charming snake, rather than a snake charmer. (Sorry.) You also retain saving throw and skill proficiencies, as well as gaining those of the creature. If the creatures bonus is higher than yours, you use the creature’s bonus score.
• You cannot use any legendary or lair actions the creature normally has.
• You get the creature’s HP & hit dice. When you revert form, you return to the HP you had before you transformed - unless you revert automatically after being reduced to 0HP, in which case, any excess damage is taken from your normal total, e.g. if you have 1HP as the creature and take 10 damage, you automatically revert and take 9 damage. If your character had more than 9HP before transforming, you aren’t knocked unconscious. 
• You can’t cast spells and can’t speak or take actions involving hands, unless you are some form of primate, otherwise you are limited by the capabilities of your beast form.
• Transforming does not break concentration on a spell already cast however, or prevent you from taking actions as part of a spell you’ve already cast, such as call lightning.
• You retain the features of your class, race or other source and can use them provided your new form is capable of doing so.
• You cannot use special sense while transformed, such as Darkvision, unless your creature form also has that sense.
• You choose whether your equipment merges with you, is worn by your new form or falls to the floor when you transform. Equipment does not change size, so there’s no Hulk shorts option. If your new form cannot physical wear gear, it must drop to the floor or merge with you. Anything that merges with you cannot be used and has no effects until you revert.

At second level, you identify with a particular circle of Druids - either the Circle of the Land or the Moon in the PHB, with the Circles of Swords, The Emerald Enclave and the Moonshae circles available in the SCAG and the circles of Dreams and Shepherd in XGTE. Check the show notes for page numbers.

The circle you choose adds additional features, such as an additional cantrip at 2nd lvl for the Circle of the Land, or the ability to use Wild Shape as a bonus action and can expend a spell slot to regain 1D8 HP/lvl of spell slot expended for the Circle of the Moon.

At level 18, you age at a rate of 1 year per 10 years of time, and can cast many of your spells while in Wild Shape form, being able to perform verbal and somatic components, but not material. At level 20, you can use Wild Shape any number of times.

Background Check Sage

As a sage you should know your stuff. Sages spend years studying the lore of the multiverse - exploring dusty old tomes, scouring ancient cracked scrolls, poring over mottled manuscripts and tirelessly listening to other experts in their respective fields. No piece of knowledge was too obscure to be brought to light and filed away to satisfy your curiosity. Your studies can be a means to an end, or else in the pursuit of some other ideal - which you can decide. It could be good, bad or as far as most other people are concerned, indifferent. You are knowledgable and hopefully also wise, and you get the same buzz from learning as others do from combat, ale or personal attention.

You can roll a D8 (sfx: die roll) to determine your area of scholarly training, from:

• Alchemist
• Astronomer
• Discredited academician
• Librarian
• Professor
• Researcher
• Wizard’s apprentice
• Scribe

You get the Researcher feature - Even if you do not know a piece of information, or are unable to recall it, you most likely know where to look or who to consult to find it out. Usually your sources would be a library, scriptorium, university or other learned sage, but it may be...