When casting a spell that can be cast at a higher spell slot, you can make the decision to boost the spell to a higher level AFTER all saves or to hit rolls have been resolved, but before any legendary resistances have been decided.
So you could for example cast a fireball, see that most of the villains failed their save, and then Boost the spell from 3rd level upto 5th level, doing more damage. But if one of them is a vampire, they could then decide to use a legendary resistance to change their failure to a success.
what makes this incredibly strong is that you can cast all your spells as level 1s, and then the moment you see that it works, you can boost it to level 7 or otherwise. it takes out a lot of the risk of this game, and if you think about it, the prerequisite doesn't matter because a martial class won't be taking this feat anyways and the classes that do have spellcasting benefit an incredible amount. say paladins- technically you can use a spell smite twice in one turn because it is concentration so you can "charge" a searing smite or something the turn prior and then expend it and charge another one for your extra attack. in this case, you can turn you level 1 searing smite into a level 5 searing smite twice and reduce all of the risk of doing something so aggressive and get away with it- not once, but twice.
this is an incredibly hard feat to balance imo, but it's something that is worth heavy balancing- but i find that it doesnt fit as a feat and more as a sort of... sorcerer or wizard subclass ability
well, i bring up paladin not for the fact that smite works the way it does, but the fact that you can technically divine smite + searing (or thunderous etc.) smite, therefore possibly increasing your damage even more and taking the safer route with it. this feat being part of a subclass essentially puts it in the same boat as paladin's divine smite but makes it more reserved to classes and will add flavor and over all more balanced. personally, i think if the ability WAS locked behind a subclass, you would find that perfect amount of drawback (in addition to the long rest) to make it reasonable and viable
I think it's too powerful too. I've personally done something like trying to cast Inflict Wounds at the highest level I could and missed. It sucks but it's a high risk/high reward move. Being able to cast it at first level constantly and then amping it up when you finally connect feels cheap, imo.
I think this would be good as a metamagic option for Sorcerers or if it were limited to once per short rest. That way casters who only regain spell slots after long rests can get a little more flexibility after a short rest since they often don't get anything else other than some HP recovery.
So, shadow sorc, take shadowtouched to get inflict wounds (as you can cast it with spell slots also).
Combine Hound of Ill Omen (disadvantage to saves) with Hold Person/Monster. Then just use Inflict Wounds, with advantage, and if fail, oh well it was just a 1st level. But if you succeed you can bump it as far as 9th level for automatic critical for 22d10 (average: 121) necro damage. Not dead? Try again for the 8th level, 10d10 (average: 110) necro damage. And so on. Got a cleric in the party? They could Bane the target so even harder for them to get out of the Hold spell and also be using Inflict Wounds - probably with this feat too.
This feat is immeasurably broken.
Even if you were to limit to 5th level and once per day, it's still very OP. It vastly overshadows any other official feats and most class features.
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For balancing purposes I would say that you must still spend the first spell slot. I'm not saying this makes it completely balanced, just much less broken.
"When casting a spell, after the saving throw or attack roll has been made, but before any additional effects take place, the caster may choose to sacrifice both the first spell slot used and a second spell slot of a different level in order to treat the spell as if it were cast at the new level."
Maybe limit the amount of boost you could boost your spells by. Like maybe you can only increase the spell by 2 levels at most, and there could be a level 5 prerequisite so that it’s not broken early on. Like for example, you could only boost a 1st level spell to a 3rd.
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Boost Spell:
Prerequisite: Spellcasting,
When casting a spell that can be cast at a higher spell slot, you can make the decision to boost the spell to a higher level AFTER all saves or to hit rolls have been resolved, but before any legendary resistances have been decided.
So you could for example cast a fireball, see that most of the villains failed their save, and then Boost the spell from 3rd level upto 5th level, doing more damage. But if one of them is a vampire, they could then decide to use a legendary resistance to change their failure to a success.
what makes this incredibly strong is that you can cast all your spells as level 1s, and then the moment you see that it works, you can boost it to level 7 or otherwise. it takes out a lot of the risk of this game, and if you think about it, the prerequisite doesn't matter because a martial class won't be taking this feat anyways and the classes that do have spellcasting benefit an incredible amount. say paladins- technically you can use a spell smite twice in one turn because it is concentration so you can "charge" a searing smite or something the turn prior and then expend it and charge another one for your extra attack. in this case, you can turn you level 1 searing smite into a level 5 searing smite twice and reduce all of the risk of doing something so aggressive and get away with it- not once, but twice.
this is an incredibly hard feat to balance imo, but it's something that is worth heavy balancing- but i find that it doesnt fit as a feat and more as a sort of... sorcerer or wizard subclass ability
They are also burning their 5th level spell slots. Combined with the once per long rest version, it would prevent that kind of abuse.
Funny you should mention Paladin, who already decide to smite (via burning slots instead of casting a spell) after the to hit is determined.
well, i bring up paladin not for the fact that smite works the way it does, but the fact that you can technically divine smite + searing (or thunderous etc.) smite, therefore possibly increasing your damage even more and taking the safer route with it. this feat being part of a subclass essentially puts it in the same boat as paladin's divine smite but makes it more reserved to classes and will add flavor and over all more balanced. personally, i think if the ability WAS locked behind a subclass, you would find that perfect amount of drawback (in addition to the long rest) to make it reasonable and viable
I think it's too powerful too. I've personally done something like trying to cast Inflict Wounds at the highest level I could and missed. It sucks but it's a high risk/high reward move. Being able to cast it at first level constantly and then amping it up when you finally connect feels cheap, imo.
I think this would be good as a metamagic option for Sorcerers or if it were limited to once per short rest. That way casters who only regain spell slots after long rests can get a little more flexibility after a short rest since they often don't get anything else other than some HP recovery.
So, shadow sorc, take shadowtouched to get inflict wounds (as you can cast it with spell slots also).
Combine Hound of Ill Omen (disadvantage to saves) with Hold Person/Monster. Then just use Inflict Wounds, with advantage, and if fail, oh well it was just a 1st level. But if you succeed you can bump it as far as 9th level for automatic critical for 22d10 (average: 121) necro damage. Not dead? Try again for the 8th level, 10d10 (average: 110) necro damage. And so on. Got a cleric in the party? They could Bane the target so even harder for them to get out of the Hold spell and also be using Inflict Wounds - probably with this feat too.
This feat is immeasurably broken.
Even if you were to limit to 5th level and once per day, it's still very OP. It vastly overshadows any other official feats and most class features.
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.
For balancing purposes I would say that you must still spend the first spell slot. I'm not saying this makes it completely balanced, just much less broken.
"When casting a spell, after the saving throw or attack roll has been made, but before any additional effects take place, the caster may choose to sacrifice both the first spell slot used and a second spell slot of a different level in order to treat the spell as if it were cast at the new level."
Maybe limit the amount of boost you could boost your spells by. Like maybe you can only increase the spell by 2 levels at most, and there could be a level 5 prerequisite so that it’s not broken early on. Like for example, you could only boost a 1st level spell to a 3rd.