So I’m playing a College of Lore bard, 5th level. As soon as we level up and my bard gets Additional Magical Secrets, I’m taking Counterspell and Spiritual Weapon.
Counterspell because I’d be a fool not to and I also like the idea of gaining Counterspell and Countercharm together. It’s thematic and works for the RP reasons, let alone is a clutch spell to take.
Spiritual Weapon (a spectral, glowing, greenish-blue lute) because the only damage spell my bard has in a fight is Heat Metal... which doesn’t help if the enemy has nothing metal on them or in their hands.
(I also thought of taking Barkskin so my AC 12 with leather armor on becomes AC16, but dealing damage won this time.)
I was wondering: What are some clutch spells you’ve chosen for Magical Secrets or Additional Magical Secrets? What are your favorites that worked for your characters? 🙂
If you want to play a more support oriented role, Revivify is always a very solid choice, especially if your party does not have a Cleric.
If your party struggles to stay alive, the Paladin's Aura of Healing, especially when combined with a single level in Life Cleric, will make you probably the best healer possible.
Alternatively, if you want to blow things up, good old Fireball is a solid, if not boring, choice.
But let's move away from the meta, combat-efficient spells and go towards the fun stuff.
Galder's tower for an instant house for your party while travelling. Complete with a stove and Kitchen utensils, perfect for characters proficient in cooking (which my bard is )
Or, if you are a creative player: Glyph of Warding, Tiny Servant and Plant Growth can be used in many original ways.
I took Spiritual Weapon and Counterspell. Spiritual Weapon is useful because it's 1) not concentration and 2) something to do with your bonus action every turn. I tend to use my Inspirations mainly for Cutting Words, so that wasn't competing for the bonus action slot.
The PROBLEM with Spiritual Weapon is that you still have to cast it, and casting that at the start of the combat with your Bonus Action means you can't cast something else with your Action (because you can only cast one spell between your Bonus and your regular Action). And at the higher levels, Cutting Words starts to really fall off in usefulness. That said, I still think it was a worthwhile pick.
The other two that I considered were Shield (soooo useful) and Conjure Animals, which is an insane spell for action economy. Revivify is tempting, but at 9th level you get Raise Dead, which is naturally on the Bard's spell list, so it might be worth waiting until that point for that spell without wasting a magical secrets on it. Also at 9th level, if you have any Paladins in your group, THEY get Revivify. So if you can hold out a little while longer you can use your Magical Secrets on something else. Revivify is like insurance - if you need it you're happy you have it, but you never want to have to actually use it. For me, I prefer taking something that I'm excited to use.
I cast it once before being eaten by a big fish thing. I got spit out with more health than I went in with.
Still use it when I know people are about to get too close for comfort, and I find it surprisingly effective for those dreaded close quarter encounters with a dominantly spellcasting Bard.
The PROBLEM with Spiritual Weapon is that you still have to cast it, and casting that at the start of the combat with your Bonus Action means you can't cast something else with your Action (because you can only cast one spell between your Bonus and your regular Action). And at the higher levels, Cutting Words starts to really fall off in usefulness. That said, I still think it was a worthwhile pick.
You may know this, but you can still cast a cantrip as an action when you can a spell as a bonus action or reaction. You just cannot cast a leveled spell. This may only means you send Vicious Mockery their way, but every little bit helps. DND Beyond link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/spellcasting#CastingTime
Bonus Action
A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
The PROBLEM with Spiritual Weapon is that you still have to cast it, and casting that at the start of the combat with your Bonus Action means you can't cast something else with your Action (because you can only cast one spell between your Bonus and your regular Action). And at the higher levels, Cutting Words starts to really fall off in usefulness. That said, I still think it was a worthwhile pick.
You may know this, but you can still cast a cantrip as an action when you can a spell as a bonus action or reaction. You just cannot cast a leveled spell. This may only means you send Vicious Mockery their way, but every little bit helps. DND Beyond link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/spellcasting#CastingTime
Bonus Action
A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
My fault for saying the wrong thing. When I said "at higher levels Cutting Words starts to really fall off in usefulness," I meant to say Vicious Mockery. My Lore Bard is currently level 9 and I find Cutting Words just as useful now as it was at level 3 when I got it. But Vicious Mockery? That was my go to at low levels and I very rarely cast it anymore. At higher levels it has been my experience that spell slots are just plentiful. I never seem to be going down for a long rest without level one and two spell slots left, so I just find things like Dissonant Whispers to be a much better use of my Action than Vicious Mockery.
That said, yes, Vicious Mockery is a great thing to go to when you cast Spiritual Weapon :)
Conjure Animals is very strong spell at level 6 and can stay useful at higher levels with upcasting. It also has utility value for when you just need a distraction that doesn't necessarily give away the party's position.
If your Bard can speak Elvish, Conjure Woodland Beings is excellent if your DM lets you pick the specific type of fey creature to summon. Several have useful spells like Invisibility and Fly. IOW, as long as they don't dislike you, your party gets some free spell slots. It's a 4th level slot, though.
If you have prof. in medium armor and a high DEX, Shadow Blade is one of the best melee combat spells, esp for underground or gothic themed campaigns.
Hunger of Hadar is a great control spell for dungeons.
If your Bard can speak Elvish, Conjure Woodland Beings is excellent if your DM lets you pick the specific type of fey creature to summon. Several have useful spells like Invisibility and Fly. IOW, as long as they don't dislike you, your party gets some free spell slots. It's a 4th level slot, though.
I have Conjure Woodland Beings on a Druid I play in another campaign and it is a lot of fun. By the rules (there's a Sage Advice on it) you choose your CR and number of creatures and the DM chooses what you get. I believe my DM rolls on a table for it. At the 1/8 option there's a 25% chance to get Pixies, which is the best option, obviously. I think there's one choice on that list that really sucks... maybe a Sprite? I've only actually used the spell twice, I think (it's newish for me).
I was going to choose Conjure Animals for my 6th level Magical Secrets on my Bard, but my DM allowed me to use the Unearthed Arcana spell, Summon Fey Spirit. It's on the Bard list, so I didn't have to waste a Magical Secrets spot on it. It only conjures one creature, so in terms of action economy it's not nearly as good as Conjure Animals, but it satisfied my desire for a summoning spell enough that I decided not to waste a Magical Secrets slot on Conjure Animals.
Once you reach 9th level you get access to Animate Objects on the Bard list, which is a 5th level spell. It's very similar to Conjure Animals but quite a bit better (being a 5th level spell, of course).
I've been looking through the spells for my 10th level pick (I expect to hit 10th level in the next few weeks at the pace we're going) and I've decided that Command is likely to be one of my choices. It seems a little strange to use such a high level pick on a first level spell (one I initially considered and rejected at 6th level, to boot), but I think it makes a lot of sense.
Here was the criteria I was looking for:
Spell lower than 5th level (those spell slots are in very short supply)
A control spell that can be used to disrupt the enemy's battlefield strategy
A spell that doesn't require concentration
For these reasons, I think Command is the right spell for the job. It's a first level spell, it's not concentration, and (this is the easy to miss part) it can be upcast to affect more creatures. In fact, it affects one creature for every level over first. At a 4th level casting it will affect four creatures. With the command of "FLEE," the any creature who failed their WIS save will use their full movement plus the DASH action to move away from you on their turn. On the next turn they have to use their action, again, to get back in range (or use ranged attacks if available, but those don't typically have the same umph as the melee attacks). Finally, if they are adjacent to one of my allies when they flee they will prompt an opportunity attack from my allies.
The only real downside, I think, is that it's a save or suck spell. If they save they are unaffected and I wasted the spell slot.
Command is a great spell for a low level character, but I think it might be a rare spell that scales REALLY well at higher levels. I could be wrong, but I'm suddenly very excited about trying it out.
If not for the "below 5th level" part, it sounds like Geas would be the better spell for you. It lasts a lot longer, has the same spellcasting component, and doesn't need concentration. It's also great for RP value.
Command is good spell, no question. I'm just not sure it's worth a Magical Secrets slot when the Bard already has plenty of other spells that get other creatures to waste their turn(s), like Suggestion and Phantasmal Force. Mass Suggestion at 6th level doesn't require concentration, BTW. Also, a creatively used Minor Illusion can often be used to get a creature to waste their turn as well.
Your reasoning is why I overlooked Command at level 6. But Suggestion and Phantasmal Force are both Concentration spells and -- more importantly -- cannot ever affect more than one target.
I'm looking at Command as 4th level Crowd Control spell. And through that lens it's remarkably different than the others like it.
The only other spell I found that fits that bill is Gravity Sinkhole. But I found the control effect underwhelming and the Con save is not as good as the Wis save, in my opinion. On the flipside, with Gravity Sinkhole the targets take damage even on a save.
As for Mass Suggestion, that is no doubt AMAZING for what I want. The problem is that as a level 6 spell I won't get more than one spell slot for it until level 19. I'd like something at a lower level that I can use at least twice a day, depending how the adventuring day goes. And so Mass Suggestion will not only be a once a day spell, but also will compete with other 7th level spells I may wish to use.
Well...if Command is what you really want, you could ask your DM to let to erase your College of Lore levels and convert your character to College of Glamour.
You would get to cast Command as a bonus action every single round for a minute while also possessing "unearthly beauty". If you have fairly lenient DM, that could mean advantage to all CHA checks during that minute as well, so by combining Performance skill with Command, you get overwhelming influence over a creature or multiple creatures for a minute. Depending on the campaign, that could be both more or less flexible than expending spell slots to cast Command.
Well...if Command is what you really want, you could ask your DM to let to erase your College of Lore levels and convert your character to College of Glamour.
You would get to cast Command as a bonus action every single round for a minute while also possessing "unearthly beauty". If you have fairly lenient DM, that could mean advantage to all CHA checks during that minute as well, so by combining Performance skill with Command, you get overwhelming influence over a creature or multiple creatures for a minute. Depending on the campaign, that could be both more or less flexible than expending spell slots to cast Command.
Nothing can ever come between me and my Cutting Words! 🤣
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So I’m playing a College of Lore bard, 5th level. As soon as we level up and my bard gets Additional Magical Secrets, I’m taking Counterspell and Spiritual Weapon.
I was wondering: What are some clutch spells you’ve chosen for Magical Secrets or Additional Magical Secrets? What are your favorites that worked for your characters? 🙂
Get also the Read the Thoughts spell, or Alter the Mind............ a lot of laughs worthed there.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Fireball
If you want to play a more support oriented role, Revivify is always a very solid choice, especially if your party does not have a Cleric.
If your party struggles to stay alive, the Paladin's Aura of Healing, especially when combined with a single level in Life Cleric, will make you probably the best healer possible.
Alternatively, if you want to blow things up, good old Fireball is a solid, if not boring, choice.
But let's move away from the meta, combat-efficient spells and go towards the fun stuff.
Galder's tower for an instant house for your party while travelling. Complete with a stove and Kitchen utensils, perfect for characters proficient in cooking (which my bard is )
Or, if you are a creative player: Glyph of Warding, Tiny Servant and Plant Growth can be used in many original ways.
I made a tortle bard who plays the bongos and took Earthquake. It was pretty fun.
Destructive Wave is a very strong Paladin spell, and you can get it at level 10 whereas the Paladin has to wait till level 17.
Fly, of course. There was a level that would have been much easier in Descent into Avernus if our party had had Fly.
Speaking of Paladin spells, Find Greater Steed at level 10 is solid.
I took Spiritual Weapon and Counterspell. Spiritual Weapon is useful because it's 1) not concentration and 2) something to do with your bonus action every turn. I tend to use my Inspirations mainly for Cutting Words, so that wasn't competing for the bonus action slot.
The PROBLEM with Spiritual Weapon is that you still have to cast it, and casting that at the start of the combat with your Bonus Action means you can't cast something else with your Action (because you can only cast one spell between your Bonus and your regular Action). And at the higher levels, Cutting Words starts to really fall off in usefulness. That said, I still think it was a worthwhile pick.
The other two that I considered were Shield (soooo useful) and Conjure Animals, which is an insane spell for action economy. Revivify is tempting, but at 9th level you get Raise Dead, which is naturally on the Bard's spell list, so it might be worth waiting until that point for that spell without wasting a magical secrets on it. Also at 9th level, if you have any Paladins in your group, THEY get Revivify. So if you can hold out a little while longer you can use your Magical Secrets on something else. Revivify is like insurance - if you need it you're happy you have it, but you never want to have to actually use it. For me, I prefer taking something that I'm excited to use.
Vampiric Touch.
I cast it once before being eaten by a big fish thing. I got spit out with more health than I went in with.
Still use it when I know people are about to get too close for comfort, and I find it surprisingly effective for those dreaded close quarter encounters with a dominantly spellcasting Bard.
You may know this, but you can still cast a cantrip as an action when you can a spell as a bonus action or reaction. You just cannot cast a leveled spell. This may only means you send Vicious Mockery their way, but every little bit helps.
DND Beyond link: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/spellcasting#CastingTime
Bonus Action
A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
My fault for saying the wrong thing. When I said "at higher levels Cutting Words starts to really fall off in usefulness," I meant to say Vicious Mockery. My Lore Bard is currently level 9 and I find Cutting Words just as useful now as it was at level 3 when I got it. But Vicious Mockery? That was my go to at low levels and I very rarely cast it anymore. At higher levels it has been my experience that spell slots are just plentiful. I never seem to be going down for a long rest without level one and two spell slots left, so I just find things like Dissonant Whispers to be a much better use of my Action than Vicious Mockery.
That said, yes, Vicious Mockery is a great thing to go to when you cast Spiritual Weapon :)
Conjure Animals is very strong spell at level 6 and can stay useful at higher levels with upcasting. It also has utility value for when you just need a distraction that doesn't necessarily give away the party's position.
If your Bard can speak Elvish, Conjure Woodland Beings is excellent if your DM lets you pick the specific type of fey creature to summon. Several have useful spells like Invisibility and Fly. IOW, as long as they don't dislike you, your party gets some free spell slots. It's a 4th level slot, though.
If you have prof. in medium armor and a high DEX, Shadow Blade is one of the best melee combat spells, esp for underground or gothic themed campaigns.
Hunger of Hadar is a great control spell for dungeons.
If you speak Sylvan can’t you talk to all Fey?
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"Sylvan" is the word I was looking for, thank you. Not Elvish. (Though some fey creatures do speak that as well.)
I have Conjure Woodland Beings on a Druid I play in another campaign and it is a lot of fun. By the rules (there's a Sage Advice on it) you choose your CR and number of creatures and the DM chooses what you get. I believe my DM rolls on a table for it. At the 1/8 option there's a 25% chance to get Pixies, which is the best option, obviously. I think there's one choice on that list that really sucks... maybe a Sprite? I've only actually used the spell twice, I think (it's newish for me).
I was going to choose Conjure Animals for my 6th level Magical Secrets on my Bard, but my DM allowed me to use the Unearthed Arcana spell, Summon Fey Spirit. It's on the Bard list, so I didn't have to waste a Magical Secrets spot on it. It only conjures one creature, so in terms of action economy it's not nearly as good as Conjure Animals, but it satisfied my desire for a summoning spell enough that I decided not to waste a Magical Secrets slot on Conjure Animals.
Once you reach 9th level you get access to Animate Objects on the Bard list, which is a 5th level spell. It's very similar to Conjure Animals but quite a bit better (being a 5th level spell, of course).
I've been looking through the spells for my 10th level pick (I expect to hit 10th level in the next few weeks at the pace we're going) and I've decided that Command is likely to be one of my choices. It seems a little strange to use such a high level pick on a first level spell (one I initially considered and rejected at 6th level, to boot), but I think it makes a lot of sense.
Here was the criteria I was looking for:
For these reasons, I think Command is the right spell for the job. It's a first level spell, it's not concentration, and (this is the easy to miss part) it can be upcast to affect more creatures. In fact, it affects one creature for every level over first. At a 4th level casting it will affect four creatures. With the command of "FLEE," the any creature who failed their WIS save will use their full movement plus the DASH action to move away from you on their turn. On the next turn they have to use their action, again, to get back in range (or use ranged attacks if available, but those don't typically have the same umph as the melee attacks). Finally, if they are adjacent to one of my allies when they flee they will prompt an opportunity attack from my allies.
The only real downside, I think, is that it's a save or suck spell. If they save they are unaffected and I wasted the spell slot.
Command is a great spell for a low level character, but I think it might be a rare spell that scales REALLY well at higher levels. I could be wrong, but I'm suddenly very excited about trying it out.
If not for the "below 5th level" part, it sounds like Geas would be the better spell for you. It lasts a lot longer, has the same spellcasting component, and doesn't need concentration. It's also great for RP value.
Command is good spell, no question. I'm just not sure it's worth a Magical Secrets slot when the Bard already has plenty of other spells that get other creatures to waste their turn(s), like Suggestion and Phantasmal Force. Mass Suggestion at 6th level doesn't require concentration, BTW. Also, a creatively used Minor Illusion can often be used to get a creature to waste their turn as well.
Your reasoning is why I overlooked Command at level 6. But Suggestion and Phantasmal Force are both Concentration spells and -- more importantly -- cannot ever affect more than one target.
I'm looking at Command as 4th level Crowd Control spell. And through that lens it's remarkably different than the others like it.
The only other spell I found that fits that bill is Gravity Sinkhole. But I found the control effect underwhelming and the Con save is not as good as the Wis save, in my opinion. On the flipside, with Gravity Sinkhole the targets take damage even on a save.
As for Mass Suggestion, that is no doubt AMAZING for what I want. The problem is that as a level 6 spell I won't get more than one spell slot for it until level 19. I'd like something at a lower level that I can use at least twice a day, depending how the adventuring day goes. And so Mass Suggestion will not only be a once a day spell, but also will compete with other 7th level spells I may wish to use.
Well...if Command is what you really want, you could ask your DM to let to erase your College of Lore levels and convert your character to College of Glamour.
You would get to cast Command as a bonus action every single round for a minute while also possessing "unearthly beauty". If you have fairly lenient DM, that could mean advantage to all CHA checks during that minute as well, so by combining Performance skill with Command, you get overwhelming influence over a creature or multiple creatures for a minute. Depending on the campaign, that could be both more or less flexible than expending spell slots to cast Command.
Nothing can ever come between me and my Cutting Words! 🤣