A silvery beam of pale light shines down in a 5-foot-radius, 40-foot-high Cylinder centered on a point within range. Until the spell ends, Dim Light fills the Cylinder, and you can take a Magic action on later turns to move the Cylinder up to 60 feet.
When the Cylinder appears, each creature in it makes a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d10 Radiant damage, and if the creature is shape-shifted (as a result of the Polymorph spell, for example), it reverts to its true form and can’t shape-shift until it leaves the Cylinder. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage only. A creature also makes this save when the spell’s area moves into its space and when it enters the spell’s area or ends its turn there. A creature makes this save only once per turn.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d10 for each spell slot level above 2.
* - (a moonseed leaf)
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Posted Sep 3, 2024One of my favourite spells (I've played a few druids and Ancients-paladins)! The change in trigger conditions means it's easier to understand and to play, while still deals mostly the same damage per round, even if the nuances are a bit different.
The change in triggers means it's little bit easier to double-dip on damage when first cast/moved: Create (or move) it onto an immobilized creature, and they'll take damage immediately on your turn and potentially again on the end of their turn if they can't move. In the 2014 rules, they'd only take damage once, at the start of their turn. You can't do this double-dip more than once, though, without moving it away and then moving it back, so it's not an enormous change, but it is a noteable boost.
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Posted Sep 5, 2024The use of the word “move” is unclear to me—does it mean I can drag the spell around the battlefield for a total of 60 feet, forcing every creature it comes in contact with to make a save? Or does “move” mean that it disappears and then reappears in another space up to 60ft away?
I would assume the latter, but RAW I don’t see anything that disproves the former interpretation. I get that it’s the same movement language from 2014, but with the new way it deals damage it really begs clarification.
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Posted Sep 5, 2024Yeah, I agree that the language is better than 2014's but is still unfortunately open to interpretation on "does it exist while it moves"? The designers knew that Moonbeam and Spirit Guardians were often misinterpreted spells in 2014, and while they cleaned some of the language up (and outright changed the behaviour), they left that question dangling.
My first instinct is to say that you transport it instantly to another location without hitting anyone in between... but when I consider the overpowered mess that is Spirit Guardians 2024 that actually does let you sweep huge areas of radiant damage across the battlefield on your turn without even using an action, I'm tempted to throw my hands up and go "Sure? 60 feet of destruction each turn? Maybe that's what they want?" (I know it isn't) Upcast to 6th level, it does more damage than Sunbeam and is easier to target, but doesn't blind targets. Big shrug.