Circle of the Land's Natural Recovery
In D&D 5e, the Circle of the Land subclass gives the Druid a feature called Natural Recovery at 2nd level. During a short rest, once per day, you recover expended spell slots with a combined level equal to or less than half your Druid level, rounded up. A 10th-level Druid recovers up to 5 levels of slots. None of the recovered slots can be 6th level or higher.
The math rewards patience. Spend slots freely before lunch, take a short rest, and get a meaningful fraction back for the afternoon. Players who forget the “once per day” window simply lose the value. It is not automatic on every short rest, and it does not stack with itself.
The rest of the Land Druid’s kit (bonus Circle Spells, Land’s Stride, Nature’s Ward) points the same direction: spell economy, not melee. This is a caster that keeps casting, not a shapeshifting brawler. Treat Wild Shape as utility and let the slots do the work.
At the table: After the first short rest of the day, a 6th-level Land Druid recovers a 3rd-level slot (or a 1st plus a 2nd), restoring an expended Conjure Animals before the next fight.
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