Mine is easily Ceremony (from one of the splatbooks, 1st level cleric spells).
Not because its a particularly bad spell, but because of its implications. One effect allows you to restore the alignment of a willing creature whose alignment has changed. Basically implying that alignment is static, and not based off your actions in life. Basically a CE character cannot atone into a TN or NG character without magic.
There's also the marriage spell, which says that the spell can only be done again if widowed. Which means divorce doesn't exist in DnD, or at least its not acknowledged by the magical forces of reality.
There's also Weird which is kind of insulting that a 9th level spell is just mass phantasmal killer.
Not because its a particularly bad spell, but because of its implications. One effect allows you to restore the alignment of a willing creature whose alignment has changed. Basically implying that alignment is static, and not based off your actions in life. Basically a CE character cannot atone into a TN or NG character without magic.
Re: Atonement
I don't think this is the implication at all, rather it's a magical shortcut to a mundane problem. Alignment is kind of like addiction. If you found yourself heading down the wrong path, would you rather spend the next few years struggling and relapsing, or quit cold turkey without any cravings?
The phrasing of "Original Alignment" is complicated. Infants are presumably unaligned, like beasts, so it could be said that this ceremony returns you to a moral blank slate, and your next decision gets the ball rolling.
Either way, as a 1st level spell, Ceremony can't be so powerful as to change someone's alignment arbitrarily, otherwise it would ruin the whole concept of a "Redemption Arc", which is bad for business.
Re: Wedding
Some things are temporary while other things are permanent. This is why it's not recommended to get a partner's face tattooed on your ass.
Basically, if you give someone a kidney, they get to keep it whether or not you stay on good terms. (But you can technically reclaim it when they die.)
Though, obviously, this limitation is to prevent players from exploiting it.
I don't necessarily dislike any spells, since any level of utility means they at least have some situational value, but True Strike and Witch Bolt are pretty low on the list.
True Strike because it's nearly pointless given how easy it is to gain advantage without wasting an action.
Witch Bolt because it scales so poorly that the only people who take it are those who haven't yet realized that they shouldn't have.
I used it to good effect when there was a band of mercenaries our party was trying to track down and convince to not attack a rival group. One of their own was murdered by a traitor in an effort to fan the flames, and while we caught the traitor, I used the funeral rite as a way to honor their fallen comrade and thus make convincing them to not proceed with the attack a lot easier than had I not done otherwise.
The funeral rite has also been done to give PCs who were killed a proper send off, where the focus is entirely on them for that moment. Very nice touch.
Wedding's real lovely to have. Sure, in a home game you can do whatever you want and have your PCs married to start or later on, but it's a nice touch to be able to do it yourself and gain a nice bonus to your AC during the honeymoon ontop of it. In short, it's a great roleplay spell.
I heavily dislike Grease, and it has nothing to do with its effectiveness as a spell. I know it's a good spell. My boy can cast some cool magic spells, but instead he does the equivalent of taking butter and rubbing it across the floor in order to re-enact a silly Home Alone/HannaBarbera-esque scene. I hate that, especially when it's simply the most pragmatic option at the time.
There's also the marriage spell, which says that the spell can only be done again if widowed. Which means divorce doesn't exist in DnD, or at least its not acknowledged by the magical forces of reality.
Possibly skirting some forum rules here, but: we're not talking about legal/formal marriage in the case of Ceremony. We're talking about a religious rite. In real life, divorce doesn't allow you to get married in church again either - that requires annulment (basically a statement the previous marriage never actually happened). Magical fantasy sauce aside, it's really quite comparable.
I have a personal dislike for Healing Word. It's far too convenient compared to Cure Wounds.
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Vicious Mockery. It’s so...stupid. As far as I’m concerned, the spell can be houseruled as “Dissonant Chord” and will be all the better for it.
As for the Atonement option for Ceremony, I believe it’s only intended to be used for when magic changes a character’s alignment (like a helm of alignment changing or that one doorway in the old Tomb of Horrors). It’s not intended to reverse character development.
The only use in 5th Edition for the Atonement Ceremony I know is dealing with the Were-critter curse. Get changed to Evil, Atone for it. Other examples where it would have been handy have been removed from the game. Pity. Used to have a Githyanki Knight who was Lawful Good and helped adventurers. I am sure there are other uses for Atonement in 5th, I just can't think of them.
The other Ceremonies are all right. Wedding is a little iffy as has been said. I don't see why a Fantasy Setting should have no place for Divorces.
As for Least Favorite Spell, that depends. Whatever one is currently the hot topic for debate on the Forum. I think Magic Missile is currently the one. Great spell honestly, but *so* much noise and heat generated by the arguments. It used to be Green Flame Blade.
It's not that there's no place for divorce in D&D, it's that there's no need to have a spell that causes some magical effect on you as the result of getting divorce.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
It's not that there's no place for divorce in D&D, it's that there's no need to have a spell that causes some magical effect on you as the result of getting divorce.
Not what I'm saying, its just that the spell doesn't work unless your (former) partner is dead. So....? Dart frog flavored divorce anyone?
Now, it's a really cool spell, I just don't like how it works. Imo it shouldn't be a 1BA "touch" spell, that you "could" give someone else to use for 1A. It should be a 1A spell that you can only use yourself. Like this.
It's not that there's no place for divorce in D&D, it's that there's no need to have a spell that causes some magical effect on you as the result of getting divorce.
Not what I'm saying, its just that the spell doesn't work unless your (former) partner is dead. So....? Dart frog flavored divorce anyone?
Again, same thing in real life minus the fantasy part.
Divorce is an option. It just doesn't work in the eyes of the deity overseeing your wedding ceremony. Convince them it was a sham marriage that was never really true though, and you should be golden.
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Now, it's a really cool spell, I just don't like how it works. Imo it shouldn't be a 1BA "touch" spell, that you "could" give someone else to use for 1A. It should be a 1A spell that you can only use yourself. Like this.
That's Burning Hands. Just describe it that way and there you go.
Counterspell. It’s super useful and I’ll always carry it, but it feels anticlimactic when I cast Nothing Happens and so nothing happens.
This is mine. A well-timed counterspell is awesome and dramatic. But that gets people to want to use it all the time, which turns it into Anticlimax: The Spell. Not only do you annul the cool thing I was going to do, now you have fewer spell slots to do the cool things you can do.
Part of my Session Zero is proposing a Counterspell truce. Never CS me and I'll never CS you.
Anything that conjures more than one creature. Especially anything that conjures a creature with a "your DM will have the statistics of the creature".
Pre-Dnd Beyond, I actually banned the majority of summoning/conjuring ally spells from my original games. The hassle of accessing the info for the necessary creature was too much of a burden and slowed combat to a crawl. At the time I was also a new DM so my process was even slower explaining to new players how some of that stuff worked. No longer an issue now though.
I actually really like Ceremony; unlike some spells, this is a great role play opportunity and has some tangible benefits. It's a shame that the 'Dedication' feature only works once on a creature for its existence when Shield of Faith will give a better AC bonus and can be recast on the same creature at a later time.
Worst spell for me? True Strike because you're better off just rolling twice. Legend Lore is a far far second as DM's can make it work, but a lot of players would probably just attempt a skill check to get a similar result.
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But I agree that any spell which summons multiple entities into a combat is definitely on my hate list. My players haven't even tried to use these yet, but just the idea of adding 2, 4, 8 or more things into a battle to make it that much longer and more complicated... ugh.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Toll the Dead. Once this cantrip came on the scene so many others became obsolete. It feels like a patch of "save vs damage" cantrips in general.
i dont think its bad, per say, but yeah its definitely overpowered compared to other damage cantrips, barring eldritch blast. they shouldve made it a more defended-against damage type (such as maybe fire or poison) although that runs the risk of becoming obsolete at higher levels.
I can't stand how much this spell steps on the toes of anyone trying to be explorer person. Why send in the fragile meat suit when you can send in the infinite spirit bird. Ritual Casting eliminates the one cost the spell has making it far too free of a resource compared to what it can accomplish. I also find the play pattern of constantly sending in the familiar first to be super boring. It sucks so much of the drama right out of the moment because there is basically no consequence to the thing hitting trouble.
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Mine is easily Ceremony (from one of the splatbooks, 1st level cleric spells).
Not because its a particularly bad spell, but because of its implications. One effect allows you to restore the alignment of a willing creature whose alignment has changed. Basically implying that alignment is static, and not based off your actions in life. Basically a CE character cannot atone into a TN or NG character without magic.
There's also the marriage spell, which says that the spell can only be done again if widowed. Which means divorce doesn't exist in DnD, or at least its not acknowledged by the magical forces of reality.
There's also Weird which is kind of insulting that a 9th level spell is just mass phantasmal killer.
What're yours?
"h"
Re: Atonement
I don't think this is the implication at all, rather it's a magical shortcut to a mundane problem. Alignment is kind of like addiction. If you found yourself heading down the wrong path, would you rather spend the next few years struggling and relapsing, or quit cold turkey without any cravings?
The phrasing of "Original Alignment" is complicated. Infants are presumably unaligned, like beasts, so it could be said that this ceremony returns you to a moral blank slate, and your next decision gets the ball rolling.
Either way, as a 1st level spell, Ceremony can't be so powerful as to change someone's alignment arbitrarily, otherwise it would ruin the whole concept of a "Redemption Arc", which is bad for business.
Re: Wedding
Some things are temporary while other things are permanent. This is why it's not recommended to get a partner's face tattooed on your ass.
Basically, if you give someone a kidney, they get to keep it whether or not you stay on good terms. (But you can technically reclaim it when they die.)
Though, obviously, this limitation is to prevent players from exploiting it.
I don't necessarily dislike any spells, since any level of utility means they at least have some situational value, but True Strike and Witch Bolt are pretty low on the list.
True Strike because it's nearly pointless given how easy it is to gain advantage without wasting an action.
Witch Bolt because it scales so poorly that the only people who take it are those who haven't yet realized that they shouldn't have.
Even if there weren't a bunch of ways to get advantage on attack rolls, True Strike is so limited and convoluted that it's pointless.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I like ceremony.
I used it to good effect when there was a band of mercenaries our party was trying to track down and convince to not attack a rival group. One of their own was murdered by a traitor in an effort to fan the flames, and while we caught the traitor, I used the funeral rite as a way to honor their fallen comrade and thus make convincing them to not proceed with the attack a lot easier than had I not done otherwise.
The funeral rite has also been done to give PCs who were killed a proper send off, where the focus is entirely on them for that moment. Very nice touch.
Wedding's real lovely to have. Sure, in a home game you can do whatever you want and have your PCs married to start or later on, but it's a nice touch to be able to do it yourself and gain a nice bonus to your AC during the honeymoon ontop of it. In short, it's a great roleplay spell.
I heavily dislike Grease, and it has nothing to do with its effectiveness as a spell. I know it's a good spell. My boy can cast some cool magic spells, but instead he does the equivalent of taking butter and rubbing it across the floor in order to re-enact a silly Home Alone/HannaBarbera-esque scene. I hate that, especially when it's simply the most pragmatic option at the time.
yeah that plus advantage doesn't stack
"h"
Possibly skirting some forum rules here, but: we're not talking about legal/formal marriage in the case of Ceremony. We're talking about a religious rite. In real life, divorce doesn't allow you to get married in church again either - that requires annulment (basically a statement the previous marriage never actually happened). Magical fantasy sauce aside, it's really quite comparable.
I have a personal dislike for Healing Word. It's far too convenient compared to Cure Wounds.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Vicious Mockery. It’s so...stupid. As far as I’m concerned, the spell can be houseruled as “Dissonant Chord” and will be all the better for it.
As for the Atonement option for Ceremony, I believe it’s only intended to be used for when magic changes a character’s alignment (like a helm of alignment changing or that one doorway in the old Tomb of Horrors). It’s not intended to reverse character development.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
The only use in 5th Edition for the Atonement Ceremony I know is dealing with the Were-critter curse. Get changed to Evil, Atone for it. Other examples where it would have been handy have been removed from the game. Pity. Used to have a Githyanki Knight who was Lawful Good and helped adventurers. I am sure there are other uses for Atonement in 5th, I just can't think of them.
The other Ceremonies are all right. Wedding is a little iffy as has been said. I don't see why a Fantasy Setting should have no place for Divorces.
As for Least Favorite Spell, that depends. Whatever one is currently the hot topic for debate on the Forum. I think Magic Missile is currently the one. Great spell honestly, but *so* much noise and heat generated by the arguments. It used to be Green Flame Blade.
<Insert clever signature here>
It's not that there's no place for divorce in D&D, it's that there's no need to have a spell that causes some magical effect on you as the result of getting divorce.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Not what I'm saying, its just that the spell doesn't work unless your (former) partner is dead. So....? Dart frog flavored divorce anyone?
"h"
Counterspell. It’s super useful and I’ll always carry it, but it feels anticlimactic when I cast Nothing Happens and so nothing happens.
Anything that conjures more than one creature. Especially anything that conjures a creature with a "your DM will have the statistics of the creature".
Dragon's Breath
Now, it's a really cool spell, I just don't like how it works. Imo it shouldn't be a 1BA "touch" spell, that you "could" give someone else to use for 1A. It should be a 1A spell that you can only use yourself. Like this.
Again, same thing in real life minus the fantasy part.
Divorce is an option. It just doesn't work in the eyes of the deity overseeing your wedding ceremony. Convince them it was a sham marriage that was never really true though, and you should be golden.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
That's Burning Hands. Just describe it that way and there you go.
This is mine. A well-timed counterspell is awesome and dramatic. But that gets people to want to use it all the time, which turns it into Anticlimax: The Spell. Not only do you annul the cool thing I was going to do, now you have fewer spell slots to do the cool things you can do.
Part of my Session Zero is proposing a Counterspell truce. Never CS me and I'll never CS you.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Pre-Dnd Beyond, I actually banned the majority of summoning/conjuring ally spells from my original games. The hassle of accessing the info for the necessary creature was too much of a burden and slowed combat to a crawl. At the time I was also a new DM so my process was even slower explaining to new players how some of that stuff worked. No longer an issue now though.
I actually really like Ceremony; unlike some spells, this is a great role play opportunity and has some tangible benefits. It's a shame that the 'Dedication' feature only works once on a creature for its existence when Shield of Faith will give a better AC bonus and can be recast on the same creature at a later time.
Worst spell for me? True Strike because you're better off just rolling twice. Legend Lore is a far far second as DM's can make it work, but a lot of players would probably just attempt a skill check to get a similar result.
#Open D&D
Have the Physical Books? Confused as to why you're not allowed to redeem them for free on D&D Beyond? Questions answered here at the Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You FAQ
Looking to add mouse-over triggered tooltips to such things like magic items, monsters or combat actions? Then dash over to the How to Add Tooltips thread.
There are just so many to choose from....
But I agree that any spell which summons multiple entities into a combat is definitely on my hate list. My players haven't even tried to use these yet, but just the idea of adding 2, 4, 8 or more things into a battle to make it that much longer and more complicated... ugh.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Toll the Dead. Once this cantrip came on the scene so many others became obsolete. It feels like a patch of "save vs damage" cantrips in general.
i dont think its bad, per say, but yeah its definitely overpowered compared to other damage cantrips, barring eldritch blast. they shouldve made it a more defended-against damage type (such as maybe fire or poison) although that runs the risk of becoming obsolete at higher levels.
"h"
Find Familiar
I can't stand how much this spell steps on the toes of anyone trying to be explorer person. Why send in the fragile meat suit when you can send in the infinite spirit bird. Ritual Casting eliminates the one cost the spell has making it far too free of a resource compared to what it can accomplish. I also find the play pattern of constantly sending in the familiar first to be super boring. It sucks so much of the drama right out of the moment because there is basically no consequence to the thing hitting trouble.