This seems to be objectively worse than True Strike, which is itself a pretty poor cantrip. Why wouldn't you just improve the original?

Believe it or not this is an improvement. 

The original grants advantage where this grants an actual bonus.

The original costs an Action to cast, this only costs a Bonus Action.

The original makes you cast it and then maintain concentration for a full round before you can use the Advantage it grants. This one you can gain the benefit on the same turn in which this spell is cast.

Like I said, believe it or not, this is better. But if I make it too good then it would have to be a 1st-level spell instead of a Cantrip.

Ah, I didn't notice the Bonus Action part. That alone is an improvement; but going from advantage to a +1 still seems to nullify the benefit (advantage statistically adds a +5 or so to a roll.) Along with only using a bonus action, a +2 attack bonus would probably bring this inline with other cantrips. I'd personally still almost never use it at only a +1.

I did notice you clarified that sight is required, which is good (the fact that True Strike required you to point should have been pretty self-explanatory, but people still managed to argue about it.)

Quote from RodTheBard >>

Ah, I didn't notice the Bonus Action part. That alone is an improvement; but going from advantage to a +1 still seems to nullify the benefit (advantage statistically adds a +5 or so to a roll.) Along with only using a bonus action, a +2 attack bonus would probably bring this inline with other cantrips. I'd personally still almost never use it at only a +1.

I did notice you clarified that sight is required, which is good (the fact that True Strike required you to point should have been pretty self-explanatory, but people still managed to argue about it.)

 I’m not 100% happy with this either, I only published it so people could see/playtest it. 

Advantage is actually closer to +4 and it really depends on the application, sometimes the benefit under +3 statistically. But a bajillion instances of Advantage can be nullified by a single Disadvantage. A +1 is always +1. And advantage can never let you roll above your maximum of die + Bonus + Modifier, this will always add an additional +1 so it not only raises your average by 1 but also your minimum and maximum by 1. Advantage can’t do that. 

If the cantrip is a bonus action to cast, then I believe advantage on the attack roll is too powerful.  You wind up in a situation where this becomes a nearly required cantrip.  I believe advantage on the first attack you make in conceivably every attack action would be far too high impact.

If you consider this an cantrip level of Tenser's Transformation (which conceptually fills the same role at a much higher level), any of the bonuses provided by that spell are valid for a cantrip with a 1-action cast time (though not always mathematically advantageous).

For a bonus action cast, we'd need something weaker than 1 round of any 1 bonus provided by Tenser's Transformation.

The +1 bonus in a bound accuracy system like 5E has seems a little out of place, however when compared to Guidance (+1d4 to an ability check, 1 action cast) the trade off reducing both the cast time and the bonus to a bonus action and +1 respectively seems appropriate.

All in all, I like it.  Useful, without being too powerful.  I don't see this being a required cantrip for every Eldritch Knight, but my initial impression is that it's strong enough to make the cut.

Thank you Charles_Hunter! I appreciate your input.

I think if you had it grant half your proficiency bonus (rounded Down) to your attack, then it would be perfect. That would grant it a +1 to +3 boost to attack allowing it to scale well at later levels without being completely overpowered.

Or, you could have it be a +1 and at levels 5, 9 and 11 it increases by an additional +1 for a total of +4 to hit, keeping in line with how other cantrips gain power at those levels.

Half PB rounded down might not have been a bad way to do it. If I ever errata this spell I’ll consider that idea.

I've always though that PB and Hit Dice are drastically underused in abilities and spells and was very happy to see PB used more in the newer Tasha subclasses.

Quote from Blueninja33 >>

I've always though that PB and Hit Dice are drastically underused in abilities and spells and was very happy to see PB used more in the newer Tasha subclasses.

 I think PB should never be used for class/subclass features and was horrified to see them use it so much in Tasha’s. As such I have banned every one of those subclasses from my table.

Do you mind me asking why? I think it's a good way to have escalating abilities that grow with you as your character levels up without having to rely on Stats. If you get an ability based on stats then you could get lucky at character creation and have all 5 uses of an ability you'll ever get. And nothing here is an overpowered ability.

• Bladesinger: uses of Bladesong equal to Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest. So 2 to 6 times over the course of levels 2 through 20. Sounds good to me, it's a core feature of the subclass and makes you conserve the uses over the course of the Adventuring Day like how you have to conserve Spellslots.
• Optional Cleric Feature to use a Channel Divinity to restore 1/2 PB rounded down spell slots. At level 20 that would be a Level 3 spell slot. Hardly groundbreaking, but a great use in the meantime for when you need that healing spell.
• Circle of Stars Druid gets PB/Long Rest free uses of Guiding Bolt. OK, yeah, that's pretty powerful, but it's still a level 1 spell and that isn't as overall powerful as Circle of Moon Druids at high levels.
• Phantom Rogue can do 1/2 Sneak Attack to someone else w/in 30 of them PB times per day in Necrotic Damage. Not a bad ability, but farming Sneak Attack Damage to proc as often as possible is the point of a Rogue. I think it works well with this class.
• Phantom Rogues also get a number of Soul Tokens equal to PB that they can have on hand. Also doubles your ability to use Wails from the Grave at the expense of the Token. Nice, but not game breaking. They have a LOT of use outside of combat as well.
• Soul Knives and Psi Warriors get Psionic Dice equal in number to their PB. Makes sense that as you get better, you can use your Psionic powers more.
• CLockwork souls can negate Advantage or Disadvantage w/in 30 feet of them PB times per Long Rest.

None of these seem game breaking or a new mechanic that ruins the feel of 5e. I think that these classes are some of the most flavorful and interesting that have been printed in a while.

Don’t get me started on the Psi Warrior and Soul Knife. Those are hot garbage, the UA version of the Psi Die was waayyy better.

The issue I have with it is that those abilities scale independently of class level. You can take a small dip into a subclass to get an ability that will scale for you based on PB (instead of based in class level) that you never need to invest in (like you do when they are based on an Ability mod you have to invest in with your ASIs), and then completely ignore that other class entirely, but you’re still going to get better in that class you are completely ignoring.

Like the Bladesinger you mentioned, Bladesont was way more powerful before and that new gimmick they gave the subclass is annoying. Besides, a “core feature of the subclass” as you put it should not improve if you completely ignore that subclass for the other 17 levels.

Having things based on PB would have been fantastic for racial traits and feats, but for subclass abilities it should never have been a thing.

If your table doesn’t Multiclass, then you’re right, there is nothing wrong with these. If you consider how these work when multiclassed, it does ruin the feel of D&D. Now, these aren’t so bad, but if they keep making subclasses that use these abilities it will eventually compound until there is a mess.

I think they added a nice layer of protection against the Multiclassing Abuse in that most of the classes (Sorcerer aside) you have to be level 3 in order to use these benefits. Realistically, you will get up to level 10 or 11 with a character. Taking three entire levels for a Multiclass is a serious investment in that class.

Even with the Sorcerer, those abilities are tied into the PCs bloodline. Even if they eschew the practice of Sorcery in favor of Warlock, Bard or Paladin, that bloodline is there no matter what and makes sense for it to increase.

But to each, their own.

I agree that the UA Psionic dice were better, but the shrinking/growing mechanic was a lot to keep track of. I like that they made it like having Maneuver Dice instead, as it is much easier to keep track of and for PCs to remember how to use without having to re-read through the Psionic Dice description.

Quote from Blueninja33 >>

I agree that the UA Psionic dice were better, but the shrinking/growing mechanic was a lot to keep track of. I like that they made it like having Maneuver Dice instead, as it is much easier to keep track of and for PCs to remember how to use without having to re-read through the Psionic Dice description.

 I didn’t find it difficult to track at all. And I absolutely hate that they made it like Maneuver Dice. If I wanted Maneuver Dice I would play a gorram Battle Master. That is one of the things I hate most about Tasha’s Cauldron, and I hate absolutely everything about that book.

thank you for making this, it has provided some inspiration for how to fix true strike at my table (im just getting started as a DM and want to fix some of the more useless spells at my table because i feel like it)

Quote from Blueninja33 >>

I think if you had it grant half your proficiency bonus (rounded Down) to your attack, then it would be perfect. That would grant it a +1 to +3 boost to attack allowing it to scale well at later levels without being completely overpowered.

Or, you could have it be a +1 and at levels 5, 9 and 11 it increases by an additional +1 for a total of +4 to hit, keeping in line with how other cantrips gain power at those levels.

 the second option is perfect and in line with how other cantrips work, I think that may be my method of improving true strike

Quote from Eliza_da_bard >>

Quote from Blueninja33 >>

I think if you had it grant half your proficiency bonus (rounded Down) to your attack, then it would be perfect. That would grant it a +1 to +3 boost to attack allowing it to scale well at later levels without being completely overpowered.

Or, you could have it be a +1 and at levels 5, 9 and 11 it increases by an additional +1 for a total of +4 to hit, keeping in line with how other cantrips gain power at those levels.

 the second option is perfect and in line with how other cantrips work, I think that may be my method of improving true strike

 
I personally believe that would be waa-aay too powerful for a cantrip. Even a legendary magic weapon doesn’t grant a +4 bonus to hit. Not all cantrips scale, nor should they. I feel a flat +1 is about the most balanced it’s gonna get.

When he doesn't see the casting time

Quote from Charles_Hunter >>

If the cantrip is a bonus action to cast, then I believe advantage on the attack roll is too powerful.  You wind up in a situation where this becomes a nearly required cantrip.  I believe advantage on the first attack you make in conceivably every attack action would be far too high impact.

If you consider this an cantrip level of Tenser's Transformation (which conceptually fills the same role at a much higher level), any of the bonuses provided by that spell are valid for a cantrip with a 1-action cast time (though not always mathematically advantageous).

For a bonus action cast, we'd need something weaker than 1 round of any 1 bonus provided by Tenser's Transformation.

The +1 bonus in a bound accuracy system like 5E has seems a little out of place, however when compared to Guidance (+1d4 to an ability check, 1 action cast) the trade off reducing both the cast time and the bonus to a bonus action and +1 respectively seems appropriate.

All in all, I like it.  Useful, without being too powerful.  I don't see this being a required cantrip for every Eldritch Knight, but my initial impression is that it's strong enough to make the cut.

 I feel like even advantage could still work well just as long as it's melee specific, as it would even the playing field for half casters, and those with the magic initiate feat. The main issue would mostly just be with paladins choosing it but that's more of a problem of the power of smite, and free advantage would enable it further, but comparing it to cantrips like green flame blade which becomes a free 1d8 damage + 1d8 + modifier damage to another enemy for eldritch knight, having free advantage on the next turn for melee combat isn't that strong, especially since rogues get that for free on ranged attacks with steady hand.

There are already a bajillion ways to gain advantage on an attack roll, and advantage only raises your average for the roll. A +1 bonus raises your minimum, average, and maximum rolls, and it’s harder to come by.