When you move within 5 feet of a creature or an object that isn’t being worn or carried, it takes 1d6 fire damage from your trail of heat. A creature or object can take this damage only once during a turn.
So if I decide to run a circle around a creature does it take 1d6 fire damage for every 5 feet I move around it in that circle?
If not could I keep running back and forth into and out of range dealing fire damage each time I entered the 5 foot range?
"A creature or object can take this damage only once during a turn."
So, running in a circle or in and out does nothing.
You can, on your turn, run around the battlefield, doing a d6 (just 1) to everyone you end up next to. Then on your next turn, do it again, and do another d6 to everyone. But only one d6 per creature per turn.
In theory, something like a battlemaster using maneuvering attack could let you move a bit when it's not your turn, and you could hit a target again that way during the same round, because it would be on a different turn.
There might be an argument about it triggering when something comes up to you. It says "when you move" so that, to me, would mean that other creatures can approach you freely without taking the damage. But I could see a DM ruling the approaching creature would take the damage on their turn.
I'm taking it as a magical secret on a tiefling bard of mine that I'm bringing back; he's got Flames of Phlegethos which will give the damage a slight boost re-rolling ones. I picture it purely as an escape spell for him though, so he'd be using his action to Dash for maximum speed, doing fire damage to as many enemies as possible while still ending up at a safe distance, then darting in to do a tiny bit extra while casting other things.
I do feel like it really needs a house rule for larger creatures though; we've been considering allowing stacking damage up to half the squares a creature occupies, rounded down (minimum of 1), so Medium or smaller is 1, Large is 2, Huge is 4, and Gargantuan is 8, but the damage is still once per turn per square (so you'd need to circle the gargantuan creature to get the full 8 squares).
However the fact it's a spell and not a feat can make it a lot easier to take.
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Because the spell makes no demands of willing movement, it scales extremely well with being mounted, although the optimal mount is usually a nightmare because of how it will damage both you and your mount. Bear in mind its primary purpose isn't creature damage, it's object damage - in particular, in many contexts it will deal nearly infinite damage, as it scales with the number of objects near you, which is nearly infinite in cases like a gravel road or a field of grass (and the spell will immediately detonate an entire silo of flour). This spell is even more dangerous in a setting with black powder.
Ashardalon's Stride says that:
When you move within 5 feet of a creature or an object that isn’t being worn or carried, it takes 1d6 fire damage from your trail of heat. A creature or object can take this damage only once during a turn.
So if I decide to run a circle around a creature does it take 1d6 fire damage for every 5 feet I move around it in that circle?
If not could I keep running back and forth into and out of range dealing fire damage each time I entered the 5 foot range?
"A creature or object can take this damage only once during a turn."
So, running in a circle or in and out does nothing.
You can, on your turn, run around the battlefield, doing a d6 (just 1) to everyone you end up next to. Then on your next turn, do it again, and do another d6 to everyone. But only one d6 per creature per turn.
In theory, something like a battlemaster using maneuvering attack could let you move a bit when it's not your turn, and you could hit a target again that way during the same round, because it would be on a different turn.
There might be an argument about it triggering when something comes up to you. It says "when you move" so that, to me, would mean that other creatures can approach you freely without taking the damage. But I could see a DM ruling the approaching creature would take the damage on their turn.
Ah, I missed that last sentence. Thanks. Too bad though. That wouldbe really busted.
It's a fun spell though a little weak.
I'm taking it as a magical secret on a tiefling bard of mine that I'm bringing back; he's got Flames of Phlegethos which will give the damage a slight boost re-rolling ones. I picture it purely as an escape spell for him though, so he'd be using his action to Dash for maximum speed, doing fire damage to as many enemies as possible while still ending up at a safe distance, then darting in to do a tiny bit extra while casting other things.
I do feel like it really needs a house rule for larger creatures though; we've been considering allowing stacking damage up to half the squares a creature occupies, rounded down (minimum of 1), so Medium or smaller is 1, Large is 2, Huge is 4, and Gargantuan is 8, but the damage is still once per turn per square (so you'd need to circle the gargantuan creature to get the full 8 squares).
However the fact it's a spell and not a feat can make it a lot easier to take.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Because the spell makes no demands of willing movement, it scales extremely well with being mounted, although the optimal mount is usually a nightmare because of how it will damage both you and your mount. Bear in mind its primary purpose isn't creature damage, it's object damage - in particular, in many contexts it will deal nearly infinite damage, as it scales with the number of objects near you, which is nearly infinite in cases like a gravel road or a field of grass (and the spell will immediately detonate an entire silo of flour). This spell is even more dangerous in a setting with black powder.