Drukeri: A Tangled Game of Druids and Wildshapes

the game of Druid mastery.

“You should’ve seen it. Match of the century, the Ellarian Satyrs vs the Tattered Thorns. It all came down to the last play. Lampren Oldways thought he could catch Voli Toothbearer out by turning into a mouse and sneaking his way by. Only Voli say that coming and became a hawk and picked up Lamprenm intending to toss him off the pitch. Well, that would’ve worked but for Sasha Slipten’s thorn whip, which pulled that bird out of the sky. Course Sasha just turned into a Labrador and caught her falling mouse teammate and carried him across the opponent’s line. It was wicked!!” – wide eyed Druid youngster regaling Drukeri match to disinterested mother.

Drukeri is the druidic sport of wildshape and spellcasting. Originally a game played by young trainee druids in Culunoc to test their morphing ability and spellcasting against their peers, it quickly became a popular spectator sport and has spread across the world.

The game involves several plays of attack and defense, where the attacking team must sneak a sprig of mistletoe behind the other team's half. The sprig of mistletoe has since been replaced by a magical golden mistletoe torc, which one of the team members wears in secret. Variations of the game include the use of a magical morphing ball that changes size depending on the creature holding it.

In most games, there are three players per side, but teams of six are also possible. Any number between three and six is permitted as long as both sides have the same number of players. All druids are allowed to carry a shillelagh. They cannot wear armor but may wear any matching team kit of their choice.

Each player is granted two uses of wildshape per drive and must choose four animals they are allowed to morph into for the entire game. Flying creatures are permitted, but a low forcefield covers the top of the pitch to ensure that none can fly out of reach of a leaping opponent. This makes birds useful for speed, rodents for stealth, and predators for combat. The dash action is not allowed on the first turn.

Druids can cast spells, but they begin with all spell slots used. They must stand over waystone marks that activate a random spell slot level between 1-4, which they can then use as normal. Druids can only cast spells in their human form and cannot take the mistletoe torc across the line while in human form. There are four hidden waystone marks on the pitch.

Teams earn five points for getting the torc across the line. Additionally, a point is awarded for knocking an opponent out of their wildshape form, and two points are awarded for knocking someone unconscious. If all players lose both of their wildshape uses, the drive ends with no points awarded.

The team may try to hide which player has the torc to confuse the opposing side. The defending team ends the attacking team's drive if they manage to take the torc from the player who has it or force the torc-bearer behind their own line or off the pitch. The torc can be taken by knocking the player unconscious or pulling it from their wrist.

The pitch is 190 feet long and 100 feet wide, with curved edges. It is filled with random patches of rough terrain, trees, pools of water, and other hazards, which are placed by the DM and changed after two drives.

There have been attempts to create a version of Drukeri that works for all classes, but none have proven functional thus far. Any thoughts on how to make this work are welcome!