Since a character can only learn a limited number of cantrips, the niche nature of Blade Ward and True Strike means that it's not actually worth learning either of them instead of nearly any other cantrip.
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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.
Eh, Blade Ward somewhat works if you want to run some melee sorcerer build and take the Quicken Metamagic so you can cast it and a typical combat spell in melee. Plus as of MotM, Earth Genasi can cast is a bonus action PB/LR. True Strike is pretty much useless though, yeah. Like, I get the concept, but in practice the nature of action economy means it's never worth it.
On the subject of weird it is a relatively easy fix reword the spell so that damage starts immediately and if you really want to put the screws to people the saving throw every round is at disadvantage.
On the subject of weird it is a relatively easy fix reword the spell so that damage starts immediately and if you really want to put the screws to people the saving throw every round is at disadvantage.
Automatically making all the saving throws be at disadvantage would be super broken. By the time you're casting Weird, your spell save DC should be at least 19, possibly into the 20's if you've got a magic item to boost it. No, it's not the best spell for blasting a boss with, as I've said, but you find a group of four or five low to mid level targets and you should have a good portion of them tied down for at least two or three turns.
Not a spell, but the beholder's petrification ray requires a repeated DEX save, which is automatically at disadvantage due to the first failure causing the target to be restrained. Compared to the spell version, flesh to stone, which uses a CON save, this is somewhat broken.
To what The Ace of Rogues said earlier, blade does not cancel damage, but it does make the save easier by reducing the damage. It's still not very good for that purpose, though, and I agree that it is not worth an action. However, if it were a bonus action, it would be too powerful, as there would be little reason not to cast it every time you used an action for a leveled spell.
A single attack needs to do over 20 damage to change the save DC. Most purely physical attacks aren’t going to be consistently hitting that threshold, so it’s unlikely to move the needle on concentration saves much.
Since a character can only learn a limited number of cantrips, the niche nature of Blade Ward and True Strike means that it's not actually worth learning either of them instead of nearly any other cantrip.
their worth and 'poor design' estimation changes when you consider cantrips as role play spells rather than necessary reliable damage. prestidigitation, spare the dying, blade ward.. even firebolt, to a degree. but i've found that i never feel so free and in charge of my own playtime as when my character doesn't have an eldritch blast to lean on.
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To what The Ace of Rogues said earlier, blade does not cancel damage, but it does make the save easier by reducing the damage. It's still not very good for that purpose, though, and I agree that it is not worth an action. However, if it were a bonus action, it would be too powerful, as there would be little reason not to cast it every time you used an action for a leveled spell.
Even if Blade Ward were a bonus action (which it can be for the new Earth Genasi a limited number of times per day), it is still a spell, so they would not be able to cast a levelled spell as an action due to the rules for bonus action spells.
My bad. I thought that you could still cast a leveled spell with your action if you cast a cantrip with a bonus action. I just looked it up in the PHB and to cast to spells in a turn the leveled spell must be a bonus action. Makes me wonder why it isn't a bonus action.
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I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)
As a little aside for fellow DM's and anyone interested in a very niche, and possibly pointless, use of True Strike......
Picture the scene, "Kingdom A" is at war with "Kingdom B". "Kingdom A" is worried about spies infiltrating the kingdom and trains several groups of guards with the Magic Initiate feat (using Message & True Strike + whatever 1st level spell they see fit), these guards are placed at entry points into vital area such as banks, high end merchants, notable taverns, main gates etc, anywhere where the flow of people can be controlled to some extent, this is important to the security of the area.
The guards only function is to cast True Strike on each person entering the area, as True Strike only has a somatic component of pointing at a target this can be done quite surreptisouly and would be easily mistaken by most as the guard tapping or clicking their finger. The guards are only looking for targets that cannot be affected/targeted by True Strike as this would reveal the target is immune to Divination Magic such as through the use of a Nondetection spell or Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location which a spy or assassin may well have access to.
Once a target is identified as not being affected by the True Strike Cantrip the guard can then use Message to send a description of the target to a commanding officer and a unit of guards can sweep in to apprehend them or keep them under physical surveillance.
As True Strike is a cantrip this requires very little in terms of resources aside from the guards being observant enough to keep track of the people coming and going, hence the reason why they are only in ceratin places where the flow of people can be controlled.
Since a character can only learn a limited number of cantrips, the niche nature of Blade Ward and True Strike means that it's not actually worth learning either of them instead of nearly any other cantrip.
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.
Eh, Blade Ward somewhat works if you want to run some melee sorcerer build and take the Quicken Metamagic so you can cast it and a typical combat spell in melee. Plus as of MotM, Earth Genasi can cast is a bonus action PB/LR. True Strike is pretty much useless though, yeah. Like, I get the concept, but in practice the nature of action economy means it's never worth it.
On the subject of weird it is a relatively easy fix reword the spell so that damage starts immediately and if you really want to put the screws to people the saving throw every round is at disadvantage.
Automatically making all the saving throws be at disadvantage would be super broken. By the time you're casting Weird, your spell save DC should be at least 19, possibly into the 20's if you've got a magic item to boost it. No, it's not the best spell for blasting a boss with, as I've said, but you find a group of four or five low to mid level targets and you should have a good portion of them tied down for at least two or three turns.
Not a spell, but the beholder's petrification ray requires a repeated DEX save, which is automatically at disadvantage due to the first failure causing the target to be restrained. Compared to the spell version, flesh to stone, which uses a CON save, this is somewhat broken.
To what The Ace of Rogues said earlier, blade does not cancel damage, but it does make the save easier by reducing the damage. It's still not very good for that purpose, though, and I agree that it is not worth an action. However, if it were a bonus action, it would be too powerful, as there would be little reason not to cast it every time you used an action for a leveled spell.
I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)
A single attack needs to do over 20 damage to change the save DC. Most purely physical attacks aren’t going to be consistently hitting that threshold, so it’s unlikely to move the needle on concentration saves much.
their worth and 'poor design' estimation changes when you consider cantrips as role play spells rather than necessary reliable damage. prestidigitation, spare the dying, blade ward.. even firebolt, to a degree. but i've found that i never feel so free and in charge of my own playtime as when my character doesn't have an eldritch blast to lean on.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Even if Blade Ward were a bonus action (which it can be for the new Earth Genasi a limited number of times per day), it is still a spell, so they would not be able to cast a levelled spell as an action due to the rules for bonus action spells.
My bad. I thought that you could still cast a leveled spell with your action if you cast a cantrip with a bonus action. I just looked it up in the PHB and to cast to spells in a turn the leveled spell must be a bonus action. Makes me wonder why it isn't a bonus action.
I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)
Would make almost every martial take Magic Initiate to have it.
Yeah, at that point it would be so good that pretty much every class would want it.
Personally, I think it should have been a reaction that applies to a single attack.
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.
As a little aside for fellow DM's and anyone interested in a very niche, and possibly pointless, use of True Strike......
Picture the scene, "Kingdom A" is at war with "Kingdom B". "Kingdom A" is worried about spies infiltrating the kingdom and trains several groups of guards with the Magic Initiate feat (using Message & True Strike + whatever 1st level spell they see fit), these guards are placed at entry points into vital area such as banks, high end merchants, notable taverns, main gates etc, anywhere where the flow of people can be controlled to some extent, this is important to the security of the area.
The guards only function is to cast True Strike on each person entering the area, as True Strike only has a somatic component of pointing at a target this can be done quite surreptisouly and would be easily mistaken by most as the guard tapping or clicking their finger. The guards are only looking for targets that cannot be affected/targeted by True Strike as this would reveal the target is immune to Divination Magic such as through the use of a Nondetection spell or Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location which a spy or assassin may well have access to.
Once a target is identified as not being affected by the True Strike Cantrip the guard can then use Message to send a description of the target to a commanding officer and a unit of guards can sweep in to apprehend them or keep them under physical surveillance.
As True Strike is a cantrip this requires very little in terms of resources aside from the guards being observant enough to keep track of the people coming and going, hence the reason why they are only in ceratin places where the flow of people can be controlled.
Frightened as a condition is only here to fill the condition role being afraid. It sucks, but it has to exist
I am surprised, in 3 pages, that nobody has brought up Chill Touch.
This is a most misleading spell, as it neither deals cold damage, nor does it have a range of "touch".
"Grasp of the Grave" or somethign like that would be a much more intuitive name for the spell!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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It’s called poetic license
It's not poetic license, it's that they recycled the name from older editions while radically changing the effects of the spell.
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.
On a similar note, Detect Evil and Good does not give you any direct insight into a creatures alignment.
I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)