I play an illusion wizard (Timmmi) and wanted a mid level illusion spell I could use as a bread and butter damage spell in combat. The only available option currently is Phantasmal Killer, which I think most people agree is a really bad spell.
The target can see a creature which is attacking it, potentially causing it to use attacks or spells against the illusion.
The saving throw is changed from Wisdom to Intelligence.
I kept the damage at the same level, even though it no longer applies Frightened. According to the DMG's table for spell damage a 4th level spell should do 6d10 damage single target, but this spell can potentially do it's damage multiple times as long as the target does not make it's saving throw.
The part of the spell which describes moving the Phantasmal Assassin and attacking with it is mostly flavour, and can mechanically be treated as just doing the damage with your bonus action. However if you are able to keep track of the extra creature and want to try some advanced tactical shenanigans, you can certainly try :D
I would recommend decreasing the damage to 3d10. 4d10 per turn seems high for a 4th level spell. Also, as much as it hurts, I would recommend removing it from the Bard list. Bards have an incredible lack of damaging spells, in favor of control ones. A spiritual weapon style spell is not the kind of spell a Bard should have.
Finally, I would recommend cleaning up the wording. Saying that the illusion “always hits” could confuse people for how the spell works. Instead, I would recommend saying that the target “takes 3d10 psychic damage” whenever you want the damage to tick.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I play an illusion wizard (Timmmi) and wanted a mid level illusion spell I could use as a bread and butter damage spell in combat. The only available option currently is Phantasmal Killer, which I think most people agree is a really bad spell.
I took inspiration from Phantasmal Force and a tiny bit from Spiritual Weapon and came up with this: Timmmi's Phantasmal Assassin.
(https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/892906-timmmis-phantasmal-assassin)
Here are the main differences compared to phantasmal killer
I kept the damage at the same level, even though it no longer applies Frightened. According to the DMG's table for spell damage a 4th level spell should do 6d10 damage single target, but this spell can potentially do it's damage multiple times as long as the target does not make it's saving throw.
The part of the spell which describes moving the Phantasmal Assassin and attacking with it is mostly flavour, and can mechanically be treated as just doing the damage with your bonus action. However if you are able to keep track of the extra creature and want to try some advanced tactical shenanigans, you can certainly try :D
Edit: spelling and formatting
I would recommend decreasing the damage to 3d10. 4d10 per turn seems high for a 4th level spell. Also, as much as it hurts, I would recommend removing it from the Bard list. Bards have an incredible lack of damaging spells, in favor of control ones. A spiritual weapon style spell is not the kind of spell a Bard should have.
Finally, I would recommend cleaning up the wording. Saying that the illusion “always hits” could confuse people for how the spell works. Instead, I would recommend saying that the target “takes 3d10 psychic damage” whenever you want the damage to tick.