1. What happens if you miss the spell attack on a concentration spell like Witch Bolt? Do I have to spend another spell slot to 'hit', then I can maintain the concentration?
2. Witch Bolt seems to be missing from the 'spells' section of D&D Beyond.
The System Document Reference (SRD) and the Player Handbook are two different things.
The first one is a sort of Basic rules and it is free.
You mean System Reference Document (SRD) :P
Keyboard's fault :-P
I want a keyboard that swaps words around! After seeing all the posts about SRD vs. PHB, etc., it might be good to have a master post somewhere that explains the difference. Not many people know what the SRD is.
The System Document Reference (SRD) and the Player Handbook are two different things.
The first one is a sort of Basic rules and it is free.
You mean System Reference Document (SRD) :P
Keyboard's fault :-P
I want a keyboard that swaps words around! After seeing all the posts about SRD vs. PHB, etc., it might be good to have a master post somewhere that explains the difference. Not many people know what the SRD is.
I agree, I had no idea it even existed before this conversation.
1. What happens if you miss the spell attack on a concentration spell like Witch Bolt? Do I have to spend another spell slot to 'hit', then I can maintain the concentration?
I might be misreading/misinterpreting your post, so I'll just describe how it works: You must hit with the spell first for the initial effect to take place. Once the initial effect takes place, so long as you remain concentrating on that spell, you can use your action to deal the Witch Bolt damage automatically. You don't have to use your action this way, and you can use your action for something else and maintain concentration on this spell (you just don't get the free damage that round).
For example: you attack with a 1st level witch bolt and hit; you deal 1d12 lightning damage. The next turn occurs, you maintain concentration and use your action to deal another 1d12 lightning damage to the target. The next turn occurs and the floor has given way causing you to have to climb to the next level. You maintain your concentration but use your action to take the Dash action to double your movement. The next turn occurs, you maintain your concentration, and decide to use your action to deal another 1d12 lightning damage.
So, after the initial casting, you've dealt 2d12 to the enemy and haven't had to roll a single attack. The context I inferred from your post made it sound like you thought you had to continue making attack rolls each round for your concentration and you were wondering what happens if you miss an attack while concentrating. If that's not the case, then I'm sorry for rambling :P
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For witch bolt, it says the spell ends if you use your action to do anything other than continue dealing damage the spell ends. It'll work how you said for other concentration spells, but not this one.
is this still sdr only? I can see it when looking for spells on the spell page and filtering for stuff under wizard spells but not select it char creation... a pysical version of a phb dont help me add it here :/
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is this still sdr only? I can see it when looking for spells on the spell page and filtering for stuff under wizard spells but not select it char creation... a pysical version of a phb dont help me add it here :/
Witch Bolt is not a free spell, it must be purchased from the Marketplace (either with the entire PHB or the singular spell).
I have access to the PHB and it still won't let me add it to my spell list (warlock).
If your access is because you purchased the PHB please refresh your browser or clear its cache and try again. If it is still missing when you make a spellcasting character that would normally be able to use it then you have a bug. Consider posting in the Bugs & Support forum with a link to your character sheet.
If your access is because you are in a campaign with somebody who has purchased PHB and have a Master Tier subscription to share content then ensure that you are creating the character through the campaign using its "join" link and that player has turned on content sharing for that campaign and the campaign has less than 12active characters already in it. If after all these checks you still do not have access please onsider posting in the Bugs & Support forum with a link to your character sheet and the campaign (main one not join link).
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
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1. What happens if you miss the spell attack on a concentration spell like Witch Bolt? Do I have to spend another spell slot to 'hit', then I can maintain the concentration?
2. Witch Bolt seems to be missing from the 'spells' section of D&D Beyond.
http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/Witch_Bolt
SRD only so far.
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D&D Beyond Staff1. Correct. If you miss the spell, you would have to use another spell slot to try to hit again, then maintain concentration.
2. Only the SRD is included in the beta. Witch Bolt is not part of the SRD spell list.
But which bolt is SDR. PHB Pg 289
The System Document Reference (SRD) and the Player Handbook are two different things.
The first one is a sort of Basic rules and it is free.
For more information on what is included in SRD: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd
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OH, ok, my bad, I thought SRD stood for Standard Release Documents, and i thought that was the PHB. I should have looked into it more.
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I might be misreading/misinterpreting your post, so I'll just describe how it works: You must hit with the spell first for the initial effect to take place. Once the initial effect takes place, so long as you remain concentrating on that spell, you can use your action to deal the Witch Bolt damage automatically. You don't have to use your action this way, and you can use your action for something else and maintain concentration on this spell (you just don't get the free damage that round).
For example: you attack with a 1st level witch bolt and hit; you deal 1d12 lightning damage. The next turn occurs, you maintain concentration and use your action to deal another 1d12 lightning damage to the target. The next turn occurs and the floor has given way causing you to have to climb to the next level. You maintain your concentration but use your action to take the Dash action to double your movement. The next turn occurs, you maintain your concentration, and decide to use your action to deal another 1d12 lightning damage.
So, after the initial casting, you've dealt 2d12 to the enemy and haven't had to roll a single attack. The context I inferred from your post made it sound like you thought you had to continue making attack rolls each round for your concentration and you were wondering what happens if you miss an attack while concentrating. If that's not the case, then I'm sorry for rambling :P
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“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
For witch bolt, it says the spell ends if you use your action to do anything other than continue dealing damage the spell ends. It'll work how you said for other concentration spells, but not this one.
is this still sdr only? I can see it when looking for spells on the spell page and filtering for stuff under wizard spells but not select it char creation... a pysical version of a phb dont help me add it here :/
Cancelled my Master Tier Subscription 01/14/23 because of CGL 1.1/OGL 2.0
I have access to the PHB and it still won't let me add it to my spell list (warlock).
If your access is because you purchased the PHB please refresh your browser or clear its cache and try again. If it is still missing when you make a spellcasting character that would normally be able to use it then you have a bug. Consider posting in the Bugs & Support forum with a link to your character sheet.
If your access is because you are in a campaign with somebody who has purchased PHB and have a Master Tier subscription to share content then ensure that you are creating the character through the campaign using its "join" link and that player has turned on content sharing for that campaign and the campaign has less than 12active characters already in it. If after all these checks you still do not have access please onsider posting in the Bugs & Support forum with a link to your character sheet and the campaign (main one not join link).
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.