I'll go first as an example: more "blade" cantrips like Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade. It'd be pretty simple to make variations for ice, lighting, etc.
Also, some spell or cantrip that creates magical ammunition for bows/crossbows.
I'll go first as an example: more "blade" cantrips like Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade. It'd be pretty simple to make variations for ice, lighting, etc.
Some people might argue that's already two too many; these spells let spellcasters compete with martials, who they're already more powerful than overall thanks to 5e being very caster friendly. 😝
I think Transmuted Spell lets you swap the damage type on a sorcerer though, you just need to get a suitable weapon proficiency.
For me the biggest omissions are "earth" spells, as the selection of spells for playing a "geomancer" aren't amazing; there are some okay ones but I feel like we need a few more "bread and butter" spells to go alongside the really useful utility spells. I guess it depends whether you count catapult as a geomancy spell (depends if your DM assumes there's rocks in most environments, or lets you bring your own)? I like the idea of some of the mixed damage/control "rock" spells, but they're often a bit underwhelming at both tasks.
I was going to say the same for water spells but in that case the problem is more that a lot of water spells like tidal wave and maelstrom don't have any higher level scaling, meanwhile tsunami is a tricky one to actually use. But again there could probably do with some lower level options to get you started using water in combat if that's the theme you want.
In general "more elemental spells" is the issue I think. Acid could use some more options, or some slightly stronger ones, there's no good basic ranged lightning cantrip (lightning lure is basically just thorn whip but worse, with storm sorcerers being the only exception because it can trigger some of their features) and so-on. Every element should have roughly equal representation, so we can choose what we want to pick more easily.
Not sure if Rules & Game Mechanics is the best forum for this though? Feels like it might be General Discussion, or maybe Unearthed Arcana if you're thinking in terms of "what should WotC add to OneD&D"?
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I second the lack of elemental spells. In my mind, there should really be at least one per element per level, maybe with exceptions at 7th+ level spells. Fire does a great job of this: fire bolt, burning hands, scorching ray, fireball, wall of fire, and flame strike (even though I count flame strike begrudgingly because it's always seemed more clerical/radiant than elemental to me).
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Wasn't there a Control Winds spell in older editions of D&D? Seems like a very obvious elemental spell that should have been reprinted in 5e with an update to how it works. I'm really surprised that they skipped that one.
I know there is a spell called Heat Metal, but there should also be other elemental spells for electrical damage, cold damage and others.
I would argue that a 1st level spell that allows a ranger or other archer to enchant 3 arrows (ammunition) with a +1 bonus to hit and damage would be a balanced option. Some may argue for more or less. I would stipulate the enchantment only lasts 1 minute. In this way, nobody is going to enchant 50 arrows the night before leaving town.
There should be more spells that act like a Magic Hand, with higher force limits and or better range. Telekinesis should be a highly developed area of magic.
There should be some sort of spell that animates a simple mechanism to replace what steam power did later. The farmers would have access to automatic reapers and plows. Elevators could be built to raise and lower heavy loads. Draw bridges would be able to become more massive. But the mechanism needs to be pretty simple. There is a difference between raising a drawbridge and operating a flying mechanical bird.
There should be a spell at low levels that calms bad weather or allows a light breeze and light cloud cover. It would simply be a weak version of the grand spells that cause great storms. Spells of this sort could help agriculture in the case where you have extreme heat waves or a drought.
Spells that shrink and enlarge items should be well developed. This would allow large bulky loads to be transported on wagons and then enlarged back to the normal size. Low level applications would only allow inanimate objects to be shrunk or enlarged, and only be some fraction, not to extreme proportions. Higher level spells would allow for living matter to be treated this way.
The ability to "Worg" into an animal so the magic user can see through their eyes and hear and smell what they sense would be good. The lowest level of this would not allow the magic user to "direct or communicate" with the animal, but only to sense through the animal's senses. Higher level spells would allow the magic user to have some influence over the animal's movement. This is a much watered down version of Find Familiar, which I believe should be a higher level spell because it creates a permanent animal partner. The trope of a magic user having a familiar is totally appropriate, but I also consider it appropriate for that to be something the magician has to work up to.
If everything were up to me, every spell in the game would have variations. So, you have your bog standard Fireball, which everyone knows. Variations might include:
Necromancy: You create a massive implosion of negative energy, doing 8d4 damage (save for half) to all living beings in the area, or healing undead for half that amount. If any living creatures dies from this spell, the caster gains 1d4+spell casting modifier health. (this is likely OP, but that's not the point - I'm going for variation, not balance).
Conjuration: You conjure a massive storm of whirling shards of whatever the environment offers - stone, wood, glass, sand. Anyone caught in the blast takes 4d6 physical damage (no save).
I'm sure you get the point: Create variations of the spells so you can actually play a necromancer, with necromantic spells, or a conjurer, with conjurations spells - other than the few that are currently in the rules. As it is, all wizards all behave the same. Low level, you're just waiting for the Sleep spell to land, level 5 you know the fireball is coming, and so on.
Balancing out the variations is obviously another matter entirely.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
A spell that makes your weapon come to life. Like Spiritual Weapon but for a real sword.
A spell to put someone into a long sleep.
A spell that sends you backwards or forwards in time.
A spell to shoot a big laser that can smash into someone else's big laser spell and push back against it in a contest of power.
A spell that records what happened so you can show it to someone later.
I've thought of the last one but encode thoughts can do it. Or you could probably do it with an illusion spell. But sure, there could be an easier way.
I'd like to see 2 cleric cantrip that are ranged spell attack like firebolt (and also the cold equivalent) but they would be fine if it was radiant damage and necrotic damage. There do need to be more cleric cantrips anyway.
Illusions can illustrate what happened, but they can't prove what happened. I expect that with the ascension of deepfakes, the following will cease to be true, but there was a time when the predominant cultural opinion was that photographic, video, or audio records were incontrovertible truth, and it's weird that D&D never got around to reflecting this.
As it stands, if a PC tells an NPC something happened, the only way the NPC can even attempt to find out if they're telling the truth is with an Insight check.
Illusions can illustrate what happened, but they can't prove what happened. I expect that with the ascension of deepfakes, the following will cease to be true, but there was a time when the predominant cultural opinion was that photographic, video, or audio records were incontrovertible truth, and it's weird that D&D never got around to reflecting this.
As it stands, if a PC tells an NPC something happened, the only way the NPC can even attempt to find out if they're telling the truth is with an Insight check.
Detect thoughts can be used as part of an interrogation or in court and it can be combined with encode thoughts for playback. There is a saving throw. Maybe combine this with a spell or ability that lowers or gives disadvantage on saving throws. That said, I can only see a lawful society using these kind of measures. It would be abhorrent to a chaotic society.
Sorry, what I'm getting at is that there's no spell a person can use to prove they themselves are telling the truth about a situation.
Like, you go to the king and tell him the demon portal that has been sealed for ten thousand years broke open on Tuesday. But nobody's seen any demons and lived to tell the tale, so the king obviously hasn't heard this yet. You're asking him for a bunch of his precious magic swords so you can, allegedly, stop the demons. Why's he going to take you at your word on this? Well, you show him photos you took of the broken portal. Except wait, you can't do that. That's not a thing.
The game has magic cell phones (Sending) and magic drones (Arcane Eye). So it's not like it's too much of a stretch. There are things the king could do to verify, but there's nothing YOU can do, short of teleporting him away from his court to go see the portal with his own eyes.
Anyway.
A spell that preserves food. I've heard people argue that Gentle Repose does this for meat, but without getting into that, what about fruit, eh?
Sorry, what I'm getting at is that there's no spell a person can use to prove they themselves are telling the truth about a situation.
Like, you go to the king and tell him the demon portal that has been sealed for ten thousand years broke open on Tuesday. But nobody's seen any demons and lived to tell the tale, so the king obviously hasn't heard this yet. You're asking him for a bunch of his precious magic swords so you can, allegedly, stop the demons. Why's he going to take you at your word on this? Well, you show him photos you took of the broken portal. Except wait, you can't do that. That's not a thing.
The game has magic cell phones (Sending) and magic drones (Arcane Eye). So it's not like it's too much of a stretch. There are things the king could do to verify, but there's nothing YOU can do, short of teleporting him away from his court to go see the portal with his own eyes.
Anyway.
A spell that preserves food. I've heard people argue that Gentle Repose does this for meat, but without getting into that, what about fruit, eh?
There are fridges: We found a Chest of Preserving on a ship we captured -- it also had a bunch of beads of refreshment and beads of nourishment. You could use Gentle Repose on the body of a stag or other animal you killed for food and it would not decay. Also, there used to be a 2E spell called Preservation, which your DM could bring back. I've seen some "Preserve" spells on the web but they seemed like homebrew.
Sorry, what I'm getting at is that there's no spell a person can use to prove they themselves are telling the truth about a situation.
Like, you go to the king and tell him the demon portal that has been sealed for ten thousand years broke open on Tuesday. But nobody's seen any demons and lived to tell the tale, so the king obviously hasn't heard this yet. You're asking him for a bunch of his precious magic swords so you can, allegedly, stop the demons. Why's he going to take you at your word on this? Well, you show him photos you took of the broken portal. Except wait, you can't do that. That's not a thing.
The game has magic cell phones (Sending) and magic drones (Arcane Eye). So it's not like it's too much of a stretch. There are things the king could do to verify, but there's nothing YOU can do, short of teleporting him away from his court to go see the portal with his own eyes.
I believe that Zone of Truth is exactly the "courtroom drama" spell you are looking for. Well, that and a Bestow Curse or something of that nature to mostly ensure that the creature giving testimony is not passing that CHA saving throw to get past the Zone's magic.
I believe that Zone of Truth is exactly the "courtroom drama" spell you are looking for.
The trouble with zone of truth is that if you want to prove you aren't lying, then it can't be you that casts it. You need either the person you're trying to convince to cast it, or someone they trust, because only the caster knows who the spell took effect upon.
But I feel like any sufficiently important group like a royal court should have a court mage with spells like this for that kind of purpose, but it depends on your DM to run it that way.
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Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I believe that Zone of Truth is exactly the "courtroom drama" spell you are looking for.
The trouble with zone of truth is that if you want to prove you aren't lying, then it can't be you that casts it. You need either the person you're trying to convince to cast it, or someone they trust, because only the caster knows who the spell took effect upon.
But I feel like any sufficiently important group like a royal court should have a court mage with spells like this for that kind of purpose, but it depends on your DM to run it that way.
*Shrug* If magic exists, one would assume that the wealthy and well-connected would have access to it. At the very least be able to obtain scrolls of Zones of Truth, etc.
Surprised there's not a spell that makes everyone hate or distrust a target. Like, with permission you could get there using an upcast Bestow Curse, but that's kinda jank. This would definitely be a curse, but yeah, imagine everything the target says comes out in the worst way. They're always the first person blamed for any wrongdoing or mistake, and nobody ever feels bad for misjudging them if it turns out it wasn't their fault. A proper ruin-your-life kind of curse.
Frankly there aren't many long-lasting spells. Used to be, you could make any spell permanent with a Permanency spell, and I think the designers kinda got complacent because they had that tool. Then they took it out and didn't make any adjustments to compensate lol. That's just a half-baked theory though.
A spell that tames an animal permanently. A spell that makes someone stronger as long as they're in the caster's employment. I think there's stuff to do in this space.
Frankly there aren't many long-lasting spells. Used to be, you could make any spell permanent with a Permanency spell, and I think the designers kinda got complacent because they had that tool. Then they took it out and didn't make any adjustments to compensate lol. That's just a half-baked theory though.
A spell that tames an animal permanently. A spell that makes someone stronger as long as they're in the caster's employment. I think there's stuff to do in this space.
I'm guessing they got rid of the Permanency spell b/c it made Wizards too powerful since they were the only class that could Permanent their own spells. But I agree overall that upcasting should be able to make spells last longer or even made them have permanent effects. Not that I think it's good for the game, but my guess is that they nerfed Alchemist Artificer into dullard-healerbot mode because they did not want players to be able to actually experiment with magic to do stuff outside of limited short term boosts and direct damage.
I'll go first as an example: more "blade" cantrips like Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade. It'd be pretty simple to make variations for ice, lighting, etc.
Also, some spell or cantrip that creates magical ammunition for bows/crossbows.
There are a few that works with ammunition weapons like Flame Arrows or Lightning Arrow or Swift Quiver.
Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon also works with ranged weapons.
I'm not against adding more but I wouldn't expect them to be Cantrips when the current ones are 3rd - 5th level spells.
Some people might argue that's already two too many; these spells let spellcasters compete with martials, who they're already more powerful than overall thanks to 5e being very caster friendly. 😝
I think Transmuted Spell lets you swap the damage type on a sorcerer though, you just need to get a suitable weapon proficiency.
For me the biggest omissions are "earth" spells, as the selection of spells for playing a "geomancer" aren't amazing; there are some okay ones but I feel like we need a few more "bread and butter" spells to go alongside the really useful utility spells. I guess it depends whether you count catapult as a geomancy spell (depends if your DM assumes there's rocks in most environments, or lets you bring your own)? I like the idea of some of the mixed damage/control "rock" spells, but they're often a bit underwhelming at both tasks.
I was going to say the same for water spells but in that case the problem is more that a lot of water spells like tidal wave and maelstrom don't have any higher level scaling, meanwhile tsunami is a tricky one to actually use. But again there could probably do with some lower level options to get you started using water in combat if that's the theme you want.
In general "more elemental spells" is the issue I think. Acid could use some more options, or some slightly stronger ones, there's no good basic ranged lightning cantrip (lightning lure is basically just thorn whip but worse, with storm sorcerers being the only exception because it can trigger some of their features) and so-on. Every element should have roughly equal representation, so we can choose what we want to pick more easily.
Not sure if Rules & Game Mechanics is the best forum for this though? Feels like it might be General Discussion, or maybe Unearthed Arcana if you're thinking in terms of "what should WotC add to OneD&D"?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I second the lack of elemental spells. In my mind, there should really be at least one per element per level, maybe with exceptions at 7th+ level spells. Fire does a great job of this: fire bolt, burning hands, scorching ray, fireball, wall of fire, and flame strike (even though I count flame strike begrudgingly because it's always seemed more clerical/radiant than elemental to me).
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Wasn't there a Control Winds spell in older editions of D&D? Seems like a very obvious elemental spell that should have been reprinted in 5e with an update to how it works. I'm really surprised that they skipped that one.
I know there is a spell called Heat Metal, but there should also be other elemental spells for electrical damage, cold damage and others.
I would argue that a 1st level spell that allows a ranger or other archer to enchant 3 arrows (ammunition) with a +1 bonus to hit and damage would be a balanced option. Some may argue for more or less. I would stipulate the enchantment only lasts 1 minute. In this way, nobody is going to enchant 50 arrows the night before leaving town.
There should be more spells that act like a Magic Hand, with higher force limits and or better range. Telekinesis should be a highly developed area of magic.
There should be some sort of spell that animates a simple mechanism to replace what steam power did later. The farmers would have access to automatic reapers and plows. Elevators could be built to raise and lower heavy loads. Draw bridges would be able to become more massive. But the mechanism needs to be pretty simple. There is a difference between raising a drawbridge and operating a flying mechanical bird.
There should be a spell at low levels that calms bad weather or allows a light breeze and light cloud cover. It would simply be a weak version of the grand spells that cause great storms. Spells of this sort could help agriculture in the case where you have extreme heat waves or a drought.
Spells that shrink and enlarge items should be well developed. This would allow large bulky loads to be transported on wagons and then enlarged back to the normal size. Low level applications would only allow inanimate objects to be shrunk or enlarged, and only be some fraction, not to extreme proportions. Higher level spells would allow for living matter to be treated this way.
The ability to "Worg" into an animal so the magic user can see through their eyes and hear and smell what they sense would be good. The lowest level of this would not allow the magic user to "direct or communicate" with the animal, but only to sense through the animal's senses. Higher level spells would allow the magic user to have some influence over the animal's movement. This is a much watered down version of Find Familiar, which I believe should be a higher level spell because it creates a permanent animal partner. The trope of a magic user having a familiar is totally appropriate, but I also consider it appropriate for that to be something the magician has to work up to.
If everything were up to me, every spell in the game would have variations. So, you have your bog standard Fireball, which everyone knows. Variations might include:
Necromancy: You create a massive implosion of negative energy, doing 8d4 damage (save for half) to all living beings in the area, or healing undead for half that amount. If any living creatures dies from this spell, the caster gains 1d4+spell casting modifier health. (this is likely OP, but that's not the point - I'm going for variation, not balance).
Conjuration: You conjure a massive storm of whirling shards of whatever the environment offers - stone, wood, glass, sand. Anyone caught in the blast takes 4d6 physical damage (no save).
I'm sure you get the point: Create variations of the spells so you can actually play a necromancer, with necromantic spells, or a conjurer, with conjurations spells - other than the few that are currently in the rules. As it is, all wizards all behave the same. Low level, you're just waiting for the Sleep spell to land, level 5 you know the fireball is coming, and so on.
Balancing out the variations is obviously another matter entirely.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
A spell that makes your weapon come to life. Like Spiritual Weapon but for a real sword.
A spell to put someone into a long sleep.
A spell that sends you backwards or forwards in time.
A spell to shoot a big laser that can smash into someone else's big laser spell and push back against it in a contest of power.
A spell that records what happened so you can show it to someone later.
I've thought of the last one but encode thoughts can do it. Or you could probably do it with an illusion spell. But sure, there could be an easier way.
I'd like to see 2 cleric cantrip that are ranged spell attack like firebolt (and also the cold equivalent) but they would be fine if it was radiant damage and necrotic damage. There do need to be more cleric cantrips anyway.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
Illusions can illustrate what happened, but they can't prove what happened. I expect that with the ascension of deepfakes, the following will cease to be true, but there was a time when the predominant cultural opinion was that photographic, video, or audio records were incontrovertible truth, and it's weird that D&D never got around to reflecting this.
As it stands, if a PC tells an NPC something happened, the only way the NPC can even attempt to find out if they're telling the truth is with an Insight check.
Detect thoughts can be used as part of an interrogation or in court and it can be combined with encode thoughts for playback. There is a saving throw. Maybe combine this with a spell or ability that lowers or gives disadvantage on saving throws. That said, I can only see a lawful society using these kind of measures. It would be abhorrent to a chaotic society.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
Sorry, what I'm getting at is that there's no spell a person can use to prove they themselves are telling the truth about a situation.
Like, you go to the king and tell him the demon portal that has been sealed for ten thousand years broke open on Tuesday. But nobody's seen any demons and lived to tell the tale, so the king obviously hasn't heard this yet. You're asking him for a bunch of his precious magic swords so you can, allegedly, stop the demons. Why's he going to take you at your word on this? Well, you show him photos you took of the broken portal. Except wait, you can't do that. That's not a thing.
The game has magic cell phones (Sending) and magic drones (Arcane Eye). So it's not like it's too much of a stretch. There are things the king could do to verify, but there's nothing YOU can do, short of teleporting him away from his court to go see the portal with his own eyes.
Anyway.
A spell that preserves food. I've heard people argue that Gentle Repose does this for meat, but without getting into that, what about fruit, eh?
There are fridges: We found a Chest of Preserving on a ship we captured -- it also had a bunch of beads of refreshment and beads of nourishment. You could use Gentle Repose on the body of a stag or other animal you killed for food and it would not decay. Also, there used to be a 2E spell called Preservation, which your DM could bring back. I've seen some "Preserve" spells on the web but they seemed like homebrew.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
I believe that Zone of Truth is exactly the "courtroom drama" spell you are looking for. Well, that and a Bestow Curse or something of that nature to mostly ensure that the creature giving testimony is not passing that CHA saving throw to get past the Zone's magic.
The trouble with zone of truth is that if you want to prove you aren't lying, then it can't be you that casts it. You need either the person you're trying to convince to cast it, or someone they trust, because only the caster knows who the spell took effect upon.
But I feel like any sufficiently important group like a royal court should have a court mage with spells like this for that kind of purpose, but it depends on your DM to run it that way.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
*Shrug* If magic exists, one would assume that the wealthy and well-connected would have access to it. At the very least be able to obtain scrolls of Zones of Truth, etc.
Oh, a quicksand spell would be great!
Surprised there's not a spell that makes everyone hate or distrust a target. Like, with permission you could get there using an upcast Bestow Curse, but that's kinda jank. This would definitely be a curse, but yeah, imagine everything the target says comes out in the worst way. They're always the first person blamed for any wrongdoing or mistake, and nobody ever feels bad for misjudging them if it turns out it wasn't their fault. A proper ruin-your-life kind of curse.
Frankly there aren't many long-lasting spells. Used to be, you could make any spell permanent with a Permanency spell, and I think the designers kinda got complacent because they had that tool. Then they took it out and didn't make any adjustments to compensate lol. That's just a half-baked theory though.
A spell that tames an animal permanently. A spell that makes someone stronger as long as they're in the caster's employment. I think there's stuff to do in this space.
I'm guessing they got rid of the Permanency spell b/c it made Wizards too powerful since they were the only class that could Permanent their own spells. But I agree overall that upcasting should be able to make spells last longer or even made them have permanent effects. Not that I think it's good for the game, but my guess is that they nerfed Alchemist Artificer into dullard-healerbot mode because they did not want players to be able to actually experiment with magic to do stuff outside of limited short term boosts and direct damage.
I'd like to see a few new cantrips or low-level spells:
If I was a judge I would not trust any illusion presented to me as evidence in a case.
Illusions by their nature are illusions and thus alterable.
Magic in all its forms is malleable and thus changeable by the caster.
If the judge does not trust the caster there is nothing anyone can do.