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The Circle of Spores Druid gets the level 2 feature Symbiotic Entity, which does the following:

As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to awaken those spores, rather than transforming into a beast form, and you gain 4 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class. While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:

  • When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, roll the damage die a second time and add it to the total.
  • Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target they hit. These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all these temporary hit points, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all these temporary hit points, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

It's not clear to me if the temporary hit points are included in the benefits that expires after 10 minutes, or if the temporary hit points can last until a long rest like usual.

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2 Answers 2

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The temporary hit points last until you deplete them, replace them, or you finish a long rest.

Symbiotic Entity states:

While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:

  • [benefit]
  • [benefit]

These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all these temporary hit points, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

“These benefits” is referring to the same benefits that “the following benefits” is referring to. The two bullets are “the following benefits” and the “these benefits” that last for ten minutes. Since the portion of the feature that gives temporary hit points comes before the talk of benefits and a 10 minute duration, the 10 minute duration doesn’t apply to the temporary hit points, and we defer to the usual rules for temporary hit points:

If you have temporary hit points and receive more of them, you decide whether to keep the ones you have or to gain the new ones. [...]

[...] Unless a feature that grants you temporary hit points has a duration, they last until they're depleted or you finish a long rest.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What is the point of stating 10 minutes with this interpretation? \$\endgroup\$
    – SeriousBri
    Dec 5, 2021 at 9:39
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SeriousBri because the other benefits of Symbiotic Entity only last at most ten minutes even if you never lose the temporary hitpoints. \$\endgroup\$
    – Carcer
    Dec 5, 2021 at 10:22
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They last 10 minutes

As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to awaken those spores, rather than transforming into a beast form, and you gain 4 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class. While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:

Emphasis is mine, and while this feature is active clearly refers to the temporary hit points. It then goes on to talk about additional benefits:

  • When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, roll the damage die a second time and add it to the total.
  • Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target they hit.

The duration of these features has already been defined, and they last as long as the feature (ie: the temp HP) is active.

Then we have the last sentence, which is causing the confusion:

These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all these temporary hit points, or until you use your Wild Shape again.

As mentioned the duration of the 2 bullet points has already been defined as 'while this feature is active' so we can't assume this is defining it again.

This last sentence therefore must refer to all the features granted by the ability, not just the bullet points. That means the temp HP.

Therefore the ability as a whole lasts for 10 minutes, until the temp HP are expended, or until a use of Wild Shape is expended - whichever is shortest.

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