while it is a strong spell, you can think of it from the intellgence standpoint of an enemy. for example, a group of zombies would just mindlessley try to tear through but maybe a humanoid bounty hunter wouldnt notice it at first but would get maybe 5ft or 10 ft (maybe even 15 if you want to be nice) into a spike growth before stopping. while it still provides a barrier for creatures without flying speeds (or even climbing or burrowing speeds) creatures with enough intelligence should be able to stop moving without going there full movement, as they are not all just mindless entitys. and if your druid or whatever is using this spell every fight, then try to build a encounter or two around countering ground control from creatures with spells like spiritual gaurdians and spike growth. sorry if i got too wordy, just ask for an explanation if you need context please.  you also do take damage from your own spike growth

yes

Fighting against mildly intelligent baddies that don't used range weapons: if they spend a round or two just sitting still vs taking dmg we like to call that surrendering. 

to people saying this is OP: you only take the damage if you MOVE through the area. Not if you fall, are pushed, etc.

One of the best ranger spells in the game

I think the damage per feet thing I think making rounds spent in it and increasing the speed reduction would make it more defensive.

Just throwing this out here. Dao Genielocks get this, meaning you can hit someone with Repelling Blast + Grasp of Hadar + Crusher (with Elemental Gift) + Spike Growth. Basically, create Spike Growth, hit someone with Eldritch Blast, and push them back 15 feet (10 from Repelling Blast, 5 from Crusher which is activated by Elemental Gift), and pull them 10 feet forward with Grasp of Hadar. If they're entirely within the area, that's 1d10 + 10d4 + proficiency bonus damage. Add your Charisma modifier with Agonizing Blast , and also you still get to make all of your other attacks with Eldritch Blast. It's just really good damage.

are there any bonuses for casting it above its natural level?

Alright, imagine being a moon Druid, shapeshift to quetzal, (has fly 80 ft and is huge) and proceed to drag a huge, or large for each 5ft. Large 4d4 per 5 ft and huge 6d4 per feet due to overall size it is going through Thorn bush each feet. 40 ft drag through spike growth, large equals 8 times 4d4 equal 32d4 then huge is 48d4 through spike growth. Do medium you can drag 80 ft so 2d4 times 16 it be 32d4. Find a feat or multi class to do a dash as a bonus action to double the d4. This spell can be massively abused oof. 

When considering this spell there are a few important points I'd like to mention:

• It can be spotted with a Perception check, and checks are easier to manipulate (both buff and debuff) than saving throws.
• There's no reason to assume an enemy will just continue wading through once they start taking damage. So for enemies that would prefer to go around they may only take 5 (2d4) damage, though it depends whether they know where the area is yet (they might accidentally go into it again while looking for a way around).
• The area is a 20 foot radius sphere, so 40 feet across, but as difficult terrain it takes 80 feet of speed to go through it. This means a creature with 30 feet of movement needs to Dash just to get 30 feet through it, taking 30 (12d4) damage for its trouble, before taking an extra 10 (4d4) for good measure to finally get past it (and that's only if they weren't moved).
• Unless you can force it somehow, enemies don't need to move through the spike growth. Mindless ones might anyway, but any reasonably intelligent enemy should avoid taking more harm, so would take as little as possible before backing off to try and go around. This depends heavily on cover etc. though as going around can be just as dangerous with a well-prepared ranged group firing away the entire time.
• Since the damage never scales, no matter what slot you throw at it, the only benefit is making it harder to counterspell or dispel. It also means the damage gets less important later on when enemies have more hit-points than the players combined.

While a lot of DMs will run it like Merilwens Meatgrinder, like a horizontal cheese grater just grinding guards into nothing, others will run smarter enemies who only take 5 (2d4) damage before trying a different path. Part of the challenge in the spell isn't forcing more movement through it, it's forcing any movement in the first place, as you need enemies to really want to get to the other side, or for avoiding it to be the entire point (so you can keep enemies at range for longer).

I think as long as a DM runs reasonably sensible enemies then the spell is fine; extremely useful, but not overpowered.

If you threw down caltrops within a Spike Growth area of affect, would the damage stack?  Also, can Spike Growth be burned away similar to Web?  Like with aFirebolt?  Or with Burning Hands?

Hehe warlock 40 feet movement from eblast. 16d4 + 4d10 is decent even at higher levels. 40.3 dpr!

I love this spell in combination with fog or darkness. Enemies (or my party haha) have to move in order to lang any meaningful attacks. It slows them down significantly and the opponent has a round or two to cast buffs or area damage you don’t need sight for.

It's a spell so all the damage it deals is magical

How do your characters handle these material components without accidentally stabbing their hand?

Quote from DragonRiderHN >>

How do your characters handle these material components without accidentally stabbing their hand?

Probably the easiest way around that is to use a less pointy spellcasting focus instead of the material components.

Quote from CooperS >>

This spell is overpowering to most enemies. As a second (edited) level Druid spell, our party Druid lays this down for every fight. With no restrictions on terrain placement they can cast it on a dungeon floor made out of solid rock, in a building with a wooden floor, as well as in the forest. If you have monsters reliant on closing the distance with the party, like a bunch of ogres, they could take as much as 16d4 damage if the had to traverse the entire distance between them and the party since it’s a 20ft radius (40ft). Weak undead Like zombies don’t have ranged weapons and this spell makes them ineffective as they close with the party.

My party has basically built their fighting style around this spell which goes to show it’s over powered. All have taken ranged weapons, staying at the outskirts of the spiked growth and shooting their enemies with ease. Ranged opponents stand a bit of a chance, but only flying opponents can completely avoid it.

My suggestion for a fix:

1. Apply 2d4 damage for each round spent moving within the area of effect on a failed dexterity save (half on a save). No other changes.

2. Or, I would recommend there be restrictions that this spell not be allowed to grow out of any terrain type unless it’s dirt or wood in nature and reduce the area of effect to 25ft diameter with no other changes to existing spell.

We will definitely be house ruling this at our table, but you would have thought this would have been taken care of in an FAQ by now. 

 

Some ideas vs nerfing the spell: Use flying enemies. Use a (re-skinned)roper: 50ft range and it reels in PCs 25ft over the spike growth! Have hidden or secret/alternate routes for enemies to come from behind then back the PCS into their spike growth! Give your enemies cover to raise their AC if they can't outgun your PCs at range in a fair fight. Have enemies that outgun your PCs at range to make the PC's have to close the gap. Have enemies with spider climb that can attack on all surfaces as the spike growth can only be on one of them. Use ambush predators such as piercers, cave fishers etc. Use surprise so your enemies get some movement and attacks in first before casting.

We rule that any vertical movement up doesn't cause damage. 

On a grid it is a square not a circle. Your DM is trying to take advantage of the grid. While he ultimately has final say, circles are actually squares in most online tabletops, it's just not intuitive. 

Hi