RAW you are correct. However Jeremy Crawford has said that the change to booming blade was not intentional when it comes to shadow blade.
Then why was it changed?
Shadow Blade was the most obvious reason to add the limitation, because otherwise you can add 6d8+Casting bonus fire damage on top of 5d8 (more likely 4d8) psychic damage for a single attack, and on a Bladesinger they can still attack with the shadow blade a second time. So that's 14d8-ish damage in a single turn, at the cost of only a single spell slot (to activate shadow blade), that's pretty OP, why would anyone ever not do that?
I'd say the the phrase "a melee weapon" potentially allowed natural melee weapons and improvised melee weapons to be used with BB/GFB as the wording was broad. The range of 5 feet, instead of Self (5 feet), potentially implied that when paired with Spell Sniper, the weapon attack could possibly extend outside of the weapon's normal reach.
RAW you are correct. However Jeremy Crawford has said that the change to booming blade was not intentional when it comes to shadow blade.
Then why was it changed?
Shadow Blade was the most obvious reason to add the limitation, because otherwise you can add 6d8+Casting bonus fire damage on top of 5d8 (more likely 4d8) psychic damage for a single attack, and on a Bladesinger they can still attack with the shadow blade a second time. So that's 14d8-ish damage in a single turn, at the cost of only a single spell slot (to activate shadow blade), that's pretty OP, why would anyone ever not do that?
I'd say the the phrase "a melee weapon" potentially allowed natural melee weapons and improvised melee weapons to be used with BB/GFB as the wording was broad. The range of 5 feet, instead of Self (5 feet), potentially implied that when paired with Spell Sniper, the weapon attack could possibly extend outside of the weapon's normal reach.
Nope to both of you - it wasn't for shadow blade and it wasn't for improvised weapons. We may never know the real impetus behind the change, but neither of those were it, apparently. In fact, I can't find direct tweets of any old combinations the new wording bans that JC doesn't allow at his table. Rexir's theory holds no water; if you made the spell's range greater than your reach with the weapon, the attack would fizzle like all attacks against out of range targets do. One of the real stumpers for me is why they made the range Self (5-foot radius) instead of Touch, followed by rewording the spell to target a weapon, like Holy Weapon does. From what I can tell, that fixes the range issues they seem to have been concerned about (like Distant Spell) without introducing weird new headaches. And there can't be any serious question here the component pricing issue was never even playtested, so I doubt there's even a focus group out there with any knowledge of why they changed the component. The spell never worked on an unarmed strike, for the same reason Holy Weapon doesn't.
As I understand it from the noodly technical interactions that it has this way, the entire point of the adjustments to Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade was specifically to make the Range “Self (5 ft.)” because of how some other things are worded. Things such as (but not limited to):
You summon a spirit that assumes the form of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed, creating a long-lasting bond with it. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the steed takes on a form that you choose: a warhorse, a pony, a camel, an elk, or a mastiff. (Your GM might allow other animals to be summoned as steeds.) The steed has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of its normal type. Additionally, if your steed has an Intelligence of 5 or less, its Intelligence becomes 6, and it gains the ability to understand one language of your choice that you speak.
Your steed serves you as a mount, both in combat and out, and you have an instinctive bond with it that allows you to fight as a seamless unit. While mounted on your steed, you can make any spell you cast that targets only you also target your steed.
When the steed drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can also dismiss your steed at any time as an action, causing it to disappear. In either case, casting this spell again summons the same steed, restored to its hit point maximum.
While your steed is within 1 mile of you, you can communicate with each other telepathically.
You can't have more than one steed bonded by this spell at a time. As an action, you can release the steed from its bond at any time, causing it to disappear.
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.
When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again.
While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.
As an action, you can temporarily dismiss your familiar. It disappears into a pocket dimension where it awaits your summons. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.
You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.
Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll.
(Same as an Artificer’s Homunculus Servant.)
* - (10 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier)
Because of the “5 ft.” After the “Self,” it cannot count as a spell “that targets only you.” So there’s no possibility of a goofy interaction with an Instantaneous spell like that get’s applied to a companion that cannot use it right away and has that would muck up combat. And since it doesn’t have a range of “Touch” it cannot be delivered through a Familiar or Homunculus Servant. If I recall, there were a couple other things it got excluded from either because it technically targets more than “the caster,” or “a single creature,” and since it also does not have a “a range greater than self” at the same time. By having those spells have such peculiarly specific ranges it actually seems to have closed a whole bunch of loopholes without having to change a whole bunch of other stuff too.
RAW you are correct. However Jeremy Crawford has said that the change to booming blade was not intentional when it comes to shadow blade.
Then why was it changed?
Shadow Blade was the most obvious reason to add the limitation, because otherwise you can add 6d8+Casting bonus fire damage on top of 5d8 (more likely 4d8) psychic damage for a single attack, and on a Bladesinger they can still attack with the shadow blade a second time. So that's 14d8-ish damage per turn for up to ten turns, at the cost of only a single spell slot (to activate shadow blade), that seems a bit much.
While an Eldritch Knight can put out more damage with shadow blade alone, they're fighters with much more limited spell slots; whereas a Bladesinger is a full caster at the end of the day, and can just cast it for free at 2nd level once at level 18, so even the spell slot isn't an issue.
this limitation, however good or bad you may call it, lends itself well to a much better aestetic/ technique:
have a scimitar in one hand, and yer shadow blade in the other. Using your action, cast green flame blade using your scimitar as the component and make one shadow blade attack, then use a bonus action to make an attack with your shadow blade thanks to two-weapon fighting.
See the rules for two-weapon fighting:
Two-Weapon Fighting When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative.
If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.
notice how via green flame blade, we made an attack using the scimitar, and we are holding the effect of the Shadow Blade in the other, so thus we get to make another attack with it.
Like the only disadvantage between this method and what you would have been able to do with the Bladesinger is that your bonus action to cast the spell means that you get one less attack using that weapon during your turn. That's it. That is not a big difference overall, and honestly wielding a flaming scimitar in one hand and a blade made of shadow in the other looks WAY cooler than a shadowy blade covered in green fire.
(If you are playing as a Mark of Making human from ebberon you would also get to cast Magic Weapon without needing concentration for use on the scimitar while you concentrate on shadow blade, and cast Conjure Barrage using the shadow blade to deal psychic damage with the spell in a move that looks very frightening even if it is arguably worse than fireball/ lighting bolt)
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The iron golem cares not for this cheesy combo.
I'd say the the phrase "a melee weapon" potentially allowed natural melee weapons and improvised melee weapons to be used with BB/GFB as the wording was broad. The range of 5 feet, instead of Self (5 feet), potentially implied that when paired with Spell Sniper, the weapon attack could possibly extend outside of the weapon's normal reach.
Nope to both of you - it wasn't for shadow blade and it wasn't for improvised weapons. We may never know the real impetus behind the change, but neither of those were it, apparently. In fact, I can't find direct tweets of any old combinations the new wording bans that JC doesn't allow at his table. Rexir's theory holds no water; if you made the spell's range greater than your reach with the weapon, the attack would fizzle like all attacks against out of range targets do. One of the real stumpers for me is why they made the range Self (5-foot radius) instead of Touch, followed by rewording the spell to target a weapon, like Holy Weapon does. From what I can tell, that fixes the range issues they seem to have been concerned about (like Distant Spell) without introducing weird new headaches. And there can't be any serious question here the component pricing issue was never even playtested, so I doubt there's even a focus group out there with any knowledge of why they changed the component. The spell never worked on an unarmed strike, for the same reason Holy Weapon doesn't.
As I understand it from the noodly technical interactions that it has this way, the entire point of the adjustments to Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade was specifically to make the Range “Self (5 ft.)” because of how some other things are worded. Things such as (but not limited to):
&
Because of the “5 ft.” After the “Self,” it cannot count as a spell “that targets only you.” So there’s no possibility of a goofy interaction with an Instantaneous spell like that get’s applied to a companion that cannot use it right away and has that would muck up combat. And since it doesn’t have a range of “Touch” it cannot be delivered through a Familiar or Homunculus Servant. If I recall, there were a couple other things it got excluded from either because it technically targets more than “the caster,” or “a single creature,” and since it also does not have a “a range greater than self” at the same time. By having those spells have such peculiarly specific ranges it actually seems to have closed a whole bunch of loopholes without having to change a whole bunch of other stuff too.
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this limitation, however good or bad you may call it, lends itself well to a much better aestetic/ technique:
have a scimitar in one hand, and yer shadow blade in the other. Using your action, cast green flame blade using your scimitar as the component and make one shadow blade attack, then use a bonus action to make an attack with your shadow blade thanks to two-weapon fighting.
See the rules for two-weapon fighting:
notice how via green flame blade, we made an attack using the scimitar, and we are holding the effect of the Shadow Blade in the other, so thus we get to make another attack with it.
Like the only disadvantage between this method and what you would have been able to do with the Bladesinger is that your bonus action to cast the spell means that you get one less attack using that weapon during your turn. That's it. That is not a big difference overall, and honestly wielding a flaming scimitar in one hand and a blade made of shadow in the other looks WAY cooler than a shadowy blade covered in green fire.
(If you are playing as a Mark of Making human from ebberon you would also get to cast Magic Weapon without needing concentration for use on the scimitar while you concentrate on shadow blade, and cast Conjure Barrage using the shadow blade to deal psychic damage with the spell in a move that looks very frightening even if it is arguably worse than fireball/ lighting bolt)
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes