I love looking for cantrips that seem weak at first sight but might be pretty powerful if you use them creatively. As a DM who has been playing D&D for many years, I am often surprised by what my players come up with.
Druidcraft in 5e is one of those underused cantrips that doesn’t get a lot of love since it does no damage and is pretty obscure. In this blog post, my fellow experienced DM and I are going to discuss the best uses of Druidcraft in D&D and provide some tips along the way to help you get the most out of your pick.
What is Druidcraft?
If you are a druid and love to make small meaningful changes to your environment, druidcraft will give you quite a lot of options.
- Create a small burst of harmless sensory effects. These are sounds like a puff of wind, falling leaves, or a rumble of thunder.
- Predict the weather for the next 24 hours in a radius of 5-mile around you.
- Make a small flower blossom or a seed sprout instantly
- Summon/create a tiny animal or insect for a short period of time
These small but fun-to-use effects may not deal any damage, but if you are creative or experienced, you may find great uses for Druidcraft in 5e. We would love to help you along the way.
Creative and best uses for Druidcraft in DnD 5e
1. Scouting and Communication
You can use the cantrip to create a tiny animal or insect to carry a message or scout for you. I prefer using insects as they are harder to spot and usually faster and more nimble when flying.
You can use your insect to check out a building from the inside by crawling or flying through narrow cracks and crevices. Insects are also deceptively strong, making them great for carrying small notes and messages.
2. Setting a Trap
Animals and insects can be used to lure enemies into traps. You can distract your foes when they’re near your trap by using a wasp or another annoying creature to fly around their heads. The odds of them spotting your tripwire decrease considerably, giving you a significant advantage at the start of your battle.
3. Creating a Diversion:
Another way to use Druidcraft in 5e is to create diversions. When a ranger is trying to aim, having a dragonfly fly at them makes it harder to be precise. The same goes for a mouse getting into the trousers of a tank trying to keep the frontlines together. If there is a mouse where it shouldn’t be, blocking blows becomes much harder.
You can also use the sounds of Druidcraft, like the wind, to distract your enemies. The best option depends on the situation.
4. Identifying plants
If you are trying to find certain herbs or trying to avoid certain poisonous plants, then it might be useful to use Druidcraft to make them bloom or grow. That way, you might be able to distinguish the plant from others.
This is particularly useful when you have to gather quests or are trying to make some coin finding valuable plants.
5. Create a path
If your party is exploring new lands or wants to find a way to have allies follow you, then have the druid make a trail of flowers. This can also help your party and allies find the best way through an unknown place.
This is particularly useful in a dense forest when the season for flowers has passed. A trail of colorful flowers will easily stand out among the lush green and brown.
6. Guide your animal allies and scare off foes
Animals, in general, are not stupid. If you use sensory effects like wind, you might be able to guide and communicate with them. Though this use would probably need some training to be effective.
A pretty reliable way to make sure wild animals leave you alone is by using the noise of thunder to scare them. Many animals instinctively go into hiding or go back to their homes when they hear thunder.
7. Get better camouflage
Are you planning an ambush, but do you stick out like a sore thumb? Then your druid can use Druidcraft to change the environment to match your armor better. While this takes quite a bit of work, it does make for a good and unexpected ambush.
8. Create a natural barrier
Slowing down your enemies is an underrated way to win battles that are close. If you can bog down an enemy in thorns, then you can focus on other enemies for a while and make large numbers more manageable to fight.
Of course, you can also focus on the enemy who has been slowed down – or is stuck in plants – by using ranged weapons on the foe. As a DM, I give the defending creature a disadvantage against attacks.
9. Make gold
There are plenty of farmers who would like some druid to help them out germinating seeds to make sure they have a bountiful harvest. While this might not rake in a ton of gold, it is a great way to get a few coins to buy some extra potions, gear, simple weapons, or food. You can also trade your services to be allowed to stay on the farm for a bit for free.
There are many ways in which you can use the germination and growing ability of Druidcraft. So keep your eyes out for opportunities! The ability to predict weather also has a ton of potential in a society that is agrarian.
10. Survival
The Druidcraft cantrip can also be used to improve your survival skills. You should use it to predict the weather in order to find or create shelter on time. You can also use the spell to build shelters by growing plants and lighting campfires to keep warm.
Final words
We hope you will at least consider this cantrip when creating a druid character. While it may not be the strongest option, it provides a lot of utility and is great for role-playing. If you are a creative player, we are sure you will enjoy these uses of Druidcraft!
If you have any other ideas or suggestions for using this cantrip, please let us know!