Benandante
Long before saints, supersticians, and miraculists began to roam the Kingdom’s countryside, people were protected from hags, devils, monsters, and phantasms by the benandante, who still fulfill this role, despite the considerable competition.

These good forest sorcerers straddle the boundary between the spiritual, human, and wild realms. Benandante (Good Walkers) often adore the Ternal Father, but along with this figure of the Creed they usually worship old pagan gods now in decline, such as the much darker and more earthly Three Mothers.

Benandante are generally committed to defending the rhythms of nature and of the seasons, and the quiet and contented lives of peasants and rural life forms against all ailments, threats, and evils that might befall them.

The most famous benandante live near the Crown Mountains, between Quinotaria and Vortigana, but they can also be found in the most isolated and inaccessible central regions of the peninsula, and in Zagara and Tasinnanta. Sometimes they act alone, or in pairs formed by teacher and pupil; other times they join up in veritable congregations, such as the Outlanders of Zagara.

Circle of the Dance Macabre
One of the benandantes' peculiarities is their ability to fight and handle the spirits of the dead in all their forms, from the shadows of wretches lying unburied at crossroads, to the more powerful Confined and Chitinominius, through to the Wild Host, their most bitter foes, who sometimes appear in the Mala Tempora period and drag all wayfarers to Inferno: the Circle of the Dance Macabre represents this controlling power. Like other nature orders of the northern forests of Occasia, benandante can shapeshift into wild animals, favoring wolves, hawks, eagles, and bears.

The Benandante Table

Class Features
As a benandante, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per benandante level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per benandante level after 1st

Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields (you are never proficient with metal armors or shields)
Weapons: Blowguns, clubs, daggers, darts, javelins, maces, quarterstaffs, scimitars, scythes, sickles, slings, spears
Tools: Herbalism kit
Saving Throws: Strength, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Religion, and Survival

Equipment
You begin the game with 115 silver which you can spend on your knave's starting weapons, armor, and adventuring gear. You can only purchase shoddy quality equipment.

Level 1

Druidic Training
All benandante are taught to commune with nature, to become a conduit for natural power, and to maintain the secrets of their circle. You gain proficiency with Nature, and you learn the druidcraft cantrip (this does not count against your total cantrips known). 

You know Druidic, the secret language of druids. You can speak the language and use it to leave hidden messages. You and others who know this language automatically spot such a message. Others spot the message’s presence with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check but can’t decipher it without magic.

Secrets of Nature
Due to your druidic training and study of nature, you choose one of the following:

Herbal Apothecary
Forests are filled with natural medicines ripe for the picking. You gain a knack die on checks made using an herbalism kit and checks made to locate herbal ingredients. In addition, whenever you obtain a medicinal or rare herb using an herbalism kit, you gain twice as many medicinals or rare herbs.

Master Forager
No matter the brush you always know how to harvest nature’s bounty. You have advantage on checks made to locate or harvest edible flora in the wild and gain twice as much Supply as normal when doing so.

Secrets of Terrain
Due to your druidic training and exploration of terrain, you choose one of the following:

Marshland Guide
Bogs and swamps are unpleasant to most but are filled with natural beauty to you. Moving through swamps, bogs, or muddy difficult terrain costs you no extra movement and you cannot become naturally lost while traveling through marshlands. In addition, you ignore the effects of roughing it imposed by resting in wet or swampy environments.

Mountain Climber
You gain a climbing speed equal to your Speed. You gain a knack die on any Athletics checks made while climbing and you are also acclimated to high altitudes, including elevations above 20,000 feet. In addition, you ignore the effects of roughing it imposed by resting in rocky or uneven terrain.

Spellcasting
Drawing on the power of nature itself, you can cast spells to shape nature’s essence to your will.

Table: Benandante Spellcasting

Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from the druid spell list. You learn additional druid cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Benandante Spellcasting table.

Preparing and Casting Spells
The Benandante Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your druid spells. To cast one of these druid spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

You prepare the list of druid spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the druid spell list. When you do so, choose a number of druid spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your benandante level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Casting spells doesn’t remove them from your list of prepared spells.

You can change your list of prepared spells whenever you finish a long rest by meditating for at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your druid spells. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a druid spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

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

Spellcasting Focus
You can use a nature focus as a spellcasting focus for your druid spells.

Level 2

Circle Spells
Thanks to your connection with the realm of the dead, you are able to cast some particular spells. You gain the sacred flame cantrip and access the spells of the Circle of the Dance Macabre.

Once you gain access to a circle spell, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn’t appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Circle of the Dance Macabre Spells

Glimpse Beyond the Veil
You become able to see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 120 feet. You also sense the presence of any undead creatures within 60 feet of you.

Nature's Bond
Nature provides you with the ability to summon its minor spirits. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to cast the find familiar spell, without material components.

The familiar you summon is a fey instead of a beast, and it disappears after a number of hours equal to half your benandante level.

Wild Shape
You know 3 wild shapes of your choice for creatures of CR 1/2 or less that have the beast or plant type. You learn additional wild shapes of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Wild Shapes Known column of the Benandante table.

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the wild shapes you know with a new one.

As an action, you can magically assume one of your known wild shapes. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Whenever you use your Wild Shape feature to transform into a creature, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d4 × the creature’s CR (minimum 1d4).

You can stay in a wild shape for a number of hours equal to your benandante level. You then revert to your normal form unless you expend another use of this feature. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.

While you are transformed, the following rules apply:

• Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the creature, except you retain your hit points and Hit Dice, personality, the ability to speak and understand any languages you know, and your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature. If the creature has a higher bonus to a skill or saving throw, you may use the creature’s bonus instead.

• You gain all of the wild shape’s senses, movement speeds, resistances, immunities, vulnerabilities, traits, actions, and attacks. If you take a Multiattack action of a creature, you cannot make any further attacks that turn, even if another feature would normally allow you to do so.

• While in a wild shape your Armor Class equals 12 + ¼ your benandante level (rounded down). If your wild shape would have a higher AC, you may use that instead.

• While in a wild shape you may only cast spells with a range of Self or Touch. You can perform the verbal and somatic components of such spells while in a wild shape and your wild shape itself acts as your spellcasting focus. Transforming doesn’t break your concentration on a spell you’ve already cast, nor does it prevent you from taking actions that are part of a spell, such as call lightning, that you’ve already cast.

• You still retain the benefit of any features from your class or background and can use them if your wild shape is physically capable of doing so. However, you can’t utilize any features gained from your race while in a wild shape.

• Any equipment you are wearing or wielding merges into your new form. Equipment that merges with your form has no effect until you leave the form.

Level 3

Natural Demeanor
Your connection to the natural world comes forth and becomes omnipresent. Choose one of the following:

A Way With Animals
Beasts understand anything you verbally communicate in Druidic, and you can comprehend them in return. The knowledge and awareness of many beasts is limited by their intelligence, but at minimum beasts can give you information about nearby locations and monsters, including whatever they have perceived within the past day. You might be able to persuade a beast to perform a small favor for you. In addition, you gain a knack die on Animal Handling checks.

Scholar of the Old Ways
Your circle taught the old magic at the root of all things, granting you eldritch insights beyond mundane arcane studies.

You gain proficiency with Arcana. In addition, you may always choose to use Wisdom when making Arcana checks.

Level 4

Ability Score Increase
You can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or increase two ability scores of your choice 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Wild Shape Improvement
The wild shapes you know can now be for creatures of CR 1 or less that have the beast or plant type.

Level 5

Secrets of Beasts
Due to your druidic training and connection to beasts, you choose one of the following:

Aerial Surveyor
You are at home soaring at dizzying heights and peering toward the horizon. You can familiarize yourself with a 5-mile radius area around you by spending a minute studying your surroundings while flying or at great heights. Once you familiarize yourself with an area in this way, you gain a knack die on any Perception or Survival checks you make while outdoors in that area for the next 24 hours, and you cannot familiarize yourself with another area until you finish a long rest.

Cavern Skulker
You’ve grown accustomed to the echoing solitude of vast caverns. You always know the actual direction of any sound you hear regardless of any echoes. In addition, while you are in complete darkness and not deafened you gain blindsight out to a range of 15 feet.

Level 6

Dance Macabre Guardians
Undead creatures sense your connection to the spirit world and become hesitant to attack you. When an undead creature attacks you, that creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your druid spell save DC. On a failed save, the creature must choose a different target, or the attack automatically misses. On a successful save, the creature is immune to this effect for 24 hours.

The creature is aware of this effect before it makes its attack against you.