I recently designed a spell and wanted to get some feedback on it.
Hunter's Blade
2nd-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action Components: V, S Range: Special Duration: 1 minute.
A glowing green, razor-sharp blade soaked in venom appears near you, spinning at intensely violent speeds. When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within 60 feet of you for the blade. The blade then flies through the air, spinning violently and following the target. The blade acts at the beginning of your turn and moves with a flying speed of 40 feet per round. It cannot move less than this speed, though. The blade takes the most direct route to its target, chasing it until the spell ends or it hits its target. The blade flies above obstacles and around corners. It moves around creatures that are not the target.
If the blade moves less than 40 feet on its turn, the spell ends. When the blade enters the target's space, the target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d10 slashing damage plus 1d10 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful save. The blade then dissolves into glistening green liquid.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the slashing damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 2nd.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
I would have the blade act on the beginning of your turn. How would the blade ever hit an obstacle if it moves around obstacles? And I believe that the target makes the saving throw not the blade? (Saying "it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw" does not specify which "it" you're referring to.)
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Very often, the target will take half damage on successful save. That could potentially up the power level of the spell a little, because it seems like it might be pretty easy to avoid at higher levels. Also, if the you cast the spell on your turn, but it doesn't move until the start of you next turn, there's a chance that something else could collide with it, voluntarily or otherwise, so I've included wording to handle that scenario.
I've also tried to clean up the text to be more inline with official spells, and to be a little more clear about it's movement and how that works. I really like this spell, I think it's pretty neat. You should look at creating it and releasing it as Homebrew in the Spells section!
Hunter's Blade
2nd-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action Components: V, S Range: 60ft/(5ft) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
A razor-sharp, glowing green blade soaked in venom and spinning at intensely violent speeds appears in an unoccupied space immediately adjacent to you. When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within range. At the beginning of your next turn, the blade spins through the air, flying toward the target. The blade has a movement speed of 40 feet. If the blade uses its entire movement without hitting its target, the spell ends. The blade takes the most direct route to its target, flying above obstacles, around corners and creatures that are not the target. If a creature willingly moves into, or is forced into the space the blade occupies, that creature becomes the blades target.
When the blade hits its target, the target must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 2d8 slashing damage and 1d8 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The blade then dissolves into glistening green liquid.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the slashing damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 2nd.
I notice you added two three new aspects. "If a creature willingly moves into, or is forced into the space the blade occupies, that creature becomes the blades target. " and "Range: 60ft/(5ft)... appears in an unoccupied space immediately adjacent to you. When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within range." as well as "If the blade uses its entire movement without hitting its target, the spell ends."
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Sure! Let me explain my thought process for the changes.
1. From OP, the spell is cast, and the blade is conjured, but doesn't move until the start of the characters next turn. That means that the blade is floating somewhere in space, occupying a square, if you're playing with a grid. I was thinking, what if someone walked right into the blade, or more likely, was shoved into the space that it occupies. It seemed to make sense for that character to be the one damaged by the blade. The line 'becomes the blades target' is there for clarity on who should take the damage, per the start of the next line.
2. The original range was 60 feet, but the wording was ambiguous. OP's post said 'appears near you', which is hard to put into context of the game, so I decided to more specifically say that when you cast it, it appears in a unoccupied square immediately adjacent to you, which is the 5ft part of 60ft/5ft. You could easily extend that out to 10 or 15 feet, but my assumption is that you wouldn't be able to cast it anywhere in the 60ft range, because that kills the flavor of the blade chasing the enemy down. It could be done, but you'd have to change more of the spell.
3. OP's original spell said 'If the blade moves less than 40 feet on its turn, the spell ends.' I interpreted this to mean that the blade can chase a person 40 feet, and if it hasn't connected by then, it runs of 'energy' and the spell ends. For the sake of clarity about when and how the spell ends without hitting someone, I adjusted the wording to give the blade 40 feet of movement, and then wrote my line about 'If the blade uses its entire movement without hitting its target, the spell ends.' My thought is that it would be treated more like a character in that it has a movement speed, and it uses that entire movement speed, and if it doesn't hit anything after it's movement is over, the spell ends.
Does all of that that make sense? I used Flaming Sphere as a basis for kind of how the spell used it's movement, and where it could be cast.
As a 2nd level spell that has no effect if the target makes a successful saving throw, the damage should be higher - like in the 4d8 or 3d12 range.
Even if the spell is changed to do half damage on a successful saving throw, the damage should be around 3d10 rather than 3d8.
That said, I have to ask one question: why is this spell a concentration spell that can fail to have an effect as it chases after a target (which it can take multiple rounds to reach even if it does get to do its thing), instead of being a spell with a 60' range and instantaneous duration that is actually guaranteed to do what the purpose of casting it is?
Concentration is a price paid, and this spell isn't earning anything for paying it.
Concentration is a price paid, and this spell isn't earning anything for paying it.
This is a good point I hadn't considered. I liked the idea of the blade chasing the target, and the target having a chance to get away, but concentration does make the chance that the spell does nothing much higher.
This seems like it would be affected by armour, being a blade with some physical damage, thus a melee spell attack seems more appropriate than a save. Typically speaking (I recall it mentioned by one of the devs) Saves are for spells that armour would offer little protection to, while attacks are those that armour would offer protection for.
3. OP's original spell said 'If the blade moves less than 40 feet on its turn, the spell ends.' I interpreted this to mean that the blade can chase a person 40 feet, and if it hasn't connected by then, it runs of 'energy' and the spell ends. For the sake of clarity about when and how the spell ends without hitting someone, I adjusted the wording to give the blade 40 feet of movement, and then wrote my line about 'If the blade uses its entire movement without hitting its target, the spell ends.' My thought is that it would be treated more like a character in that it has a movement speed, and it uses that entire movement speed, and if it doesn't hit anything after it's movement is over, the spell ends.
Does all of that that make sense? I used Flaming Sphere as a basis for kind of how the spell used it's movement, and where it could be cast.
I beleive you have this part backwards. The idea, from how I read it at least, was that if the blade moved less then the 40 feet it ends.
Sure! Let me explain my thought process for the changes.
1. From OP, the spell is cast, and the blade is conjured, but doesn't move until the start of the characters next turn. That means that the blade is floating somewhere in space, occupying a square, if you're playing with a grid. I was thinking, what if someone walked right into the blade, or more likely, was shoved into the space that it occupies. It seemed to make sense for that character to be the one damaged by the blade. The line 'becomes the blades target' is there for clarity on who should take the damage, per the start of the next line.
Actually, I meant for the blade to chase the target the second you cast the spell.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
As a 2nd level spell that has no effect if the target makes a successful saving throw, the damage should be higher - like in the 4d8 or 3d12 range.
Even if the spell is changed to do half damage on a successful saving throw, the damage should be around 3d10 rather than 3d8.
That said, I have to ask one question: why is this spell a concentration spell that can fail to have an effect as it chases after a target (which it can take multiple rounds to reach even if it does get to do its thing), instead of being a spell with a 60' range and instantaneous duration that is actually guaranteed to do what the purpose of casting it is?
Concentration is a price paid, and this spell isn't earning anything for paying it.
The fact it did no damage on a successful saving throw was merely a typo. Also, a reason I made the spell was because of this image in my head of someone trying to run away from a venomous razor-blade spinning through the air toward them, following them around every obstacle. I will change the damage dice to d10s and remove the concentration, though.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
Ahh okay, I missunderstood! So we should adjust the spell then. One more question, did you intend to have the spell end if it doesn't hit it's target within its 40ft move speed? Could we instead make the spell instantaneous, treating it more like Magic Missile where it flies from you, to the target within range, thus removing the need for concentration?
I just removed the concentration and left the rest of the spell the same. The spell ends if the blade hits the target, or if it moves less then its speed without hitting the target, or (obviously) when the duration expires.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
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High everyone!
I recently designed a spell and wanted to get some feedback on it.
Hunter's Blade
2nd-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Components: V, S
Range: Special
Duration: 1 minute.
A glowing green, razor-sharp blade soaked in venom appears near you, spinning at intensely violent speeds. When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within 60 feet of you for the blade. The blade then flies through the air, spinning violently and following the target. The blade acts at the beginning of your turn and moves with a flying speed of 40 feet per round. It cannot move less than this speed, though. The blade takes the most direct route to its target, chasing it until the spell ends or it hits its target. The blade flies above obstacles and around corners. It moves around creatures that are not the target.
If the blade moves less than 40 feet on its turn, the spell ends. When the blade enters the target's space, the target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw, taking 2d10 slashing damage plus 1d10 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful save. The blade then dissolves into glistening green liquid.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the slashing damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 2nd.
This spell is available to rangers and wizards.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
I would have the blade act on the beginning of your turn. How would the blade ever hit an obstacle if it moves around obstacles? And I believe that the target makes the saving throw not the blade? (Saying "it must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw" does not specify which "it" you're referring to.)
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Fixed.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
Remove "on acting" from "the blade acts on acting at the beginning of your turn".
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Very often, the target will take half damage on successful save. That could potentially up the power level of the spell a little, because it seems like it might be pretty easy to avoid at higher levels. Also, if the you cast the spell on your turn, but it doesn't move until the start of you next turn, there's a chance that something else could collide with it, voluntarily or otherwise, so I've included wording to handle that scenario.
I've also tried to clean up the text to be more inline with official spells, and to be a little more clear about it's movement and how that works. I really like this spell, I think it's pretty neat. You should look at creating it and releasing it as Homebrew in the Spells section!
I notice you added
twothree new aspects. "If a creature willingly moves into, or is forced into the space the blade occupies, that creature becomes the blades target. " and "Range: 60ft/(5ft)... appears in an unoccupied space immediately adjacent to you. When you cast this spell, you select a target you can see within range." as well as "If the blade uses its entire movement without hitting its target, the spell ends."Why did you make these decisions?
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Sure! Let me explain my thought process for the changes.
1. From OP, the spell is cast, and the blade is conjured, but doesn't move until the start of the characters next turn. That means that the blade is floating somewhere in space, occupying a square, if you're playing with a grid. I was thinking, what if someone walked right into the blade, or more likely, was shoved into the space that it occupies. It seemed to make sense for that character to be the one damaged by the blade. The line 'becomes the blades target' is there for clarity on who should take the damage, per the start of the next line.
2. The original range was 60 feet, but the wording was ambiguous. OP's post said 'appears near you', which is hard to put into context of the game, so I decided to more specifically say that when you cast it, it appears in a unoccupied square immediately adjacent to you, which is the 5ft part of 60ft/5ft. You could easily extend that out to 10 or 15 feet, but my assumption is that you wouldn't be able to cast it anywhere in the 60ft range, because that kills the flavor of the blade chasing the enemy down. It could be done, but you'd have to change more of the spell.
3. OP's original spell said 'If the blade moves less than 40 feet on its turn, the spell ends.' I interpreted this to mean that the blade can chase a person 40 feet, and if it hasn't connected by then, it runs of 'energy' and the spell ends. For the sake of clarity about when and how the spell ends without hitting someone, I adjusted the wording to give the blade 40 feet of movement, and then wrote my line about 'If the blade uses its entire movement without hitting its target, the spell ends.' My thought is that it would be treated more like a character in that it has a movement speed, and it uses that entire movement speed, and if it doesn't hit anything after it's movement is over, the spell ends.
Does all of that that make sense? I used Flaming Sphere as a basis for kind of how the spell used it's movement, and where it could be cast.
As a 2nd level spell that has no effect if the target makes a successful saving throw, the damage should be higher - like in the 4d8 or 3d12 range.
Even if the spell is changed to do half damage on a successful saving throw, the damage should be around 3d10 rather than 3d8.
That said, I have to ask one question: why is this spell a concentration spell that can fail to have an effect as it chases after a target (which it can take multiple rounds to reach even if it does get to do its thing), instead of being a spell with a 60' range and instantaneous duration that is actually guaranteed to do what the purpose of casting it is?
Concentration is a price paid, and this spell isn't earning anything for paying it.
This is a good point I hadn't considered. I liked the idea of the blade chasing the target, and the target having a chance to get away, but concentration does make the chance that the spell does nothing much higher.
This seems like it would be affected by armour, being a blade with some physical damage, thus a melee spell attack seems more appropriate than a save. Typically speaking (I recall it mentioned by one of the devs) Saves are for spells that armour would offer little protection to, while attacks are those that armour would offer protection for.
- Loswaith
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
Ahh okay, I missunderstood! So we should adjust the spell then. One more question, did you intend to have the spell end if it doesn't hit it's target within its 40ft move speed? Could we instead make the spell instantaneous, treating it more like Magic Missile where it flies from you, to the target within range, thus removing the need for concentration?
I just removed the concentration and left the rest of the spell the same. The spell ends if the blade hits the target, or if it moves less then its speed without hitting the target, or (obviously) when the duration expires.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.