Level
4th
Casting Time
1 Action
Range/Area
90 ft
Components
V, S
Duration
Concentration
1 Minute
School
Transmutation
Attack/Save
CON Save
Damage/Effect
Acid (...)
Choose one creature you can see within range, and choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be affected by the spell for its duration. The first time each turn the affected target takes damage of the chosen type, the target takes an extra 2d6 damage of that type. Moreover, the target loses any resistance to that damage type until the spell ends.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 4th. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
"The first time each turn the affected target takes damage of the chosen type, the target takes an extra 2d6 damage of that type."
Am I understanding this correctly? During each players turn in the initiative, they can all individually deal this extra 2d6 damage? This is of course assuming they have a source of damage that can do so.
Thanks!
The sentence makes no sense. I am assuming that there are initial damages (missing part of the sentence). For each turn after, the targe takes 2d6 damage.
It could ressemble to Immolation
The target only takes damage from this spell if it takes damage from an outside source first. For example, if I chose fire and someone hit the target with scorching ray then the target would take a total of 4d6 fire damage from the first attack as opposed to the base 2d6. If the target is hit by another scorching ray in the same turn, the extra 2d6 from this spell would not apply, because it only takes effect the first time on a turn that fire damage is dealt. But if next turn the target gets hit by a fireball, the extra 2d6 would apply.
Not sure if it the extra damage would apply each of its turns or each of the player's turns. For example:
Let's say the fighter goes first and hits the target twice with his flame sword. For this, we know for certain the extra damage would only be applied once, for 2d6.
However, directly after the fighter is the wizard who fireballs the target of the spell. The target creature has not gone yet, but it is now a new turn, the wizard's.
Would the hypothetical fireball get the extra damage?
As a DM I've ruled that the fireball would get the extra damage, the "first time each turn" seems to be there to stop a combo with a scorching ray or similar spell, but I'm interested to hear how other people have ruled it.
"Each turn" refers to any turn by anyone in initiative order. Much like the Rogue's sneak attack ability which they can get multiple times in a round on different turns (i.e. once on their initiative and once with an attack of opportunity). Theoretically with a party of 4 (all of whom are able to deal the corresponding damage type on their turns) this spell could add an additional 8d6 of damage every round.
Note that if the effect was only supposed to trigger on the creature's turn or a specific players turn in a round it would be worded to say each round instead of each turn.
" The first time each turn the affected target takes damage of the chosen type, the target takes an extra 2d6 damage of that type. Moreover, the target loses any resistance to that damage type until the spell ends."
Yep, so if the entire team was rocking Firemagic, or Flame Blades etc? Each creature attacks with a fire attack each of its own turn's actions. Everyone would trigger thee extra damage.
But. If one on the enemies turn, it provokes AOO from the two melee ranged folks-say one rocking a flame weapon and hte other warcaster with firebolt. Only one of these two would trigger the extra damage.
Would you consider immunity affected by this spell for the purpose of canceling it out? We have a creature that is immune to fire, would this remove that or do nothing?
"Moreover, the target loses any resistance to that damage type until the spell ends."
That's the wording given. It mentions nothing at all about immunity, so immunities to damage are unaffected.
Resistance is when the creature can only be affected to an extent by certain damage types. Immunity is not being affected at all by certain damage types.
Would the 2d6 double to 4d6 when triggered by an attack roll that crits, or is the damage source still considered this spell rather than the triggering damage?
i wouldn't double it from crits
The wording of the spell is that the creature "takes damage" rather than something "dealing damage." A crit doubles the damage dice for your attack. As the additional damage is not a part of your attack but rather additional damage from an outside source, I would say that no, it doesn't increase from crits.
Your interpretation is correct. It says "each turn" not "each round." It's just like a Rogue's Sneak Attack. Rogues have the ability to land multiple sneak attacks if they have a reliable way to attack out of turn. If your party has multiple sources of the same damage type, it could stack up for some serious firepower (#pun).
This could be really great if one of your melee characters has a flame tongue.
Is the purpose of this spell to inflict the desired damage type and/or remove resistance against certain damage types? Because otherwise it seems like a steep price compared to Hex even for a Warlock which always casts at top spell slot. Hex is guaranteed to land whereas this spell requires a Constitution fail. Hex can be moved after defeating a foe, this spell cannot. Both require additional hits for additional damage. For wizards this spell will do more damage over Hex because, unlike Eldritch Blast, most cantrips increase damage as opposed to increase the number of attacks. However, Warlocks using Eldritch Blast will be shooting two blast and thus also able to get 2D6 of damage out of Hex. On average that will be a little less damage via Hex than by this spell, but the requirement for a Constitution fail means this spell could end up being totally useless as opposed to Hex which will always land.
I am not saying it is a bad spell. However, the 4th level price tag compared to the 1st level Hex price tag seems a little steep.
One thing I've been thinking about is using it with a Genie Warlock, combining it with Genie's Wrath. Hit with an Eldritch Blast, apply the extra elemental damage from Genie's Wrath, which triggers Elemental Bane. As you point out, damage-wise this would be very similar to Hex while requiring a Con save, but it's a fun thematic interaction.
It does have a couple advantages over Hex though. Since Elemental Bane says "The first time each turn the affected target takes damage of the chosen type", your allies have the chance to trigger it on their turns as well. That would take some planning to make sure several of you can deal the same elemental damage type, but if you pulled it off could definitely out-damage Hex. And once you get higher level spell slots you automatically upcast it to target additional creatures. This makes it less likely to completely whiff, and opens up the possibility of triggering the damage on multiple baddies with an AoE spell.
Hex is probably still the better choice in most situations, but there are enough fun uses for this that I'd totally take it on a Genie Warlock.