i know reading the title might be odd. it was the best i could think of for this question. but i was looking at a homebrew class the other night and saw it got extra attack and spells. so my question is if a spell is labeled as a spell attack does it count toward the multiple attack that some class get. for example if i had two attacks for my turn could i use two lightning bolts?
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a simple dm with a lot of lore and homebrew to be made and a cultist of lambalI. prefer any pronouns bwt.
A spell attack is still an attack but it's not the Attack Action. I'm assuming you're referring to Extra Attack, which allows you to make additional attacks when you take the Attack Action. Spell attacks are most commonly made as part of a spell, casting which does not use the Attack action but most commonly the Magic action.
There are some characters who can do this to some extent — Eldritch Knight Fighters and College of Valor Bards both have a feature that lets them cast a spell in place of one of their attacks in an Attack action — but without a special feature like that, it's not allowed, for the reason Davyd pointed out.
Spell Attacks count as Attacks which is mostly relevant for the Warlock Spell Eldritch Blast, which is capable of producing multiple attacks per casting. It gains rays (attacks) at character levels 5, 11 & 17. This is notable for spells like Hex or Features like the Agonizing Blast Invocation, as Hex does damage per attack, Eldritch Blast is capable of activating Hex multiple times per cast. Another spell would be Scorching Ray which gets 2+spell level rays, it's a 2nd level spell so starts at 3 but ends at 10 for upcasting to 9th level, each ray counts as a separate attack.
No. As explained in the Player’s Handbook, you can take one action on your turn in combat, in addition to moving. You choose your action from the options available to everyone—options such as Attack, Dash, and Magic—or you choose from among the special actions you’ve gained from a class or another source.
To cast a spell on your turn, you take the Magic action. Doing so means you’re not taking the Attack action or any other action. It is true that a number of spells, such as Fire Bolt and Ray of Frost, involve making an attack roll, but you can’t make such an attack without first casting the spell that delivers it. In other words, just because something involves an attack roll doesn’t mean the Attack action is being used.
By extension, the Extra Attack feature (given by several classes, including the Fighter and Paladin) doesn’t let you cast extra attack spells. That feature specifically relies on the Attack action, not the Magic action or any other action.
In summary, to make a spell attack, you have to first cast a spell or use a feature that creates the spell’s effect. A game feature, such as Extra Attack, that lets you make an attack doesn’t let you cast a spell unless it says it does.
i know reading the title might be odd. it was the best i could think of for this question. but i was looking at a homebrew class the other night and saw it got extra attack and spells. so my question is if a spell is labeled as a spell attack does it count toward the multiple attack that some class get. for example if i had two attacks for my turn could i use two lightning bolts?
In addition to what everyone else has said, in DnD terminology, an Attack means the one doing it rolls a d20 and add your modifier to see if it hits the enemy's armor class, but not everything which does damage is an Attack. Some spells/specials have Saving Throws to avoid a negative effect.
Lightning Bolt is not a Spell Attack, but it requires the target to succeed on a Dexterity Saving Throw, so it would never count as an Attack in the first place.
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i know reading the title might be odd. it was the best i could think of for this question. but i was looking at a homebrew class the other night and saw it got extra attack and spells. so my question is if a spell is labeled as a spell attack does it count toward the multiple attack that some class get. for example if i had two attacks for my turn could i use two lightning bolts?
a simple dm with a lot of lore and homebrew to be made and a cultist of lambalI. prefer any pronouns bwt.
A spell attack is still an attack but it's not the Attack Action. I'm assuming you're referring to Extra Attack, which allows you to make additional attacks when you take the Attack Action. Spell attacks are most commonly made as part of a spell, casting which does not use the Attack action but most commonly the Magic action.
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There are some characters who can do this to some extent — Eldritch Knight Fighters and College of Valor Bards both have a feature that lets them cast a spell in place of one of their attacks in an Attack action — but without a special feature like that, it's not allowed, for the reason Davyd pointed out.
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Spell Attacks count as Attacks which is mostly relevant for the Warlock Spell Eldritch Blast, which is capable of producing multiple attacks per casting. It gains rays (attacks) at character levels 5, 11 & 17. This is notable for spells like Hex or Features like the Agonizing Blast Invocation, as Hex does damage per attack, Eldritch Blast is capable of activating Hex multiple times per cast. Another spell would be Scorching Ray which gets 2+spell level rays, it's a 2nd level spell so starts at 3 but ends at 10 for upcasting to 9th level, each ray counts as a separate attack.
There's a related answer about the OP in the SAC:
In addition to what everyone else has said, in DnD terminology, an Attack means the one doing it rolls a d20 and add your modifier to see if it hits the enemy's armor class, but not everything which does damage is an Attack. Some spells/specials have Saving Throws to avoid a negative effect.
Lightning Bolt is not a Spell Attack, but it requires the target to succeed on a Dexterity Saving Throw, so it would never count as an Attack in the first place.