You call forth spirits to protect you. They flit around you to a distance of 15 feet for the duration. If you are good or neutral, their spectral form appears angelic or fey (your choice). If you are evil, they appear fiendish.
When you cast this spell, you can designate any number of creatures you can see to be unaffected by it. An affected creature's speed is halved in the area, and when the creature enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d8 radiant damage (if you are good or neutral) or 3d8 necrotic damage (if you are evil). On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 3rd.
* - (a holy symbol)
Is the damage for this spell rolled once per cast, or once per activation by NPCs?
Once per activation.
Your DM could house rule that you only roll once per cast but that would make the spell damage really swing-y. If you roll well then great but if you roll 3 1s then you've basically wasted a 3rd lvl spell.
Yes, with an asterisk. They do not take the damage on your turn when you move and put them in the radius. They take the damage when they start their turn in the radius (or if they entered the radius themselves on their turn).
This may sound like a small distinction, but it prevents you from running across the map, maybe even taking the dash action, and painting it with your 30-ft diameter brush each round, expecting everyone you ran past to take damage.
You can't move towards an enemy and make them take damage on your turn from Spirit Guardians. But my interpretation is that if you have the Thorn Whip cantrip (which uses Wisdom so it's great for Clerics), and you attack somebody that is 20ft or 25ft away and pull them to 10ft or 15ft away, that they would take the damage from your Spirit Guardians on top of the damage from Thorn Whip. It's pretty hard to make somebody take damage from Spirit Guardians on your turn, but that's the easiest way that I can see to make it happen.
Hey drake.
All of those spells ARE concentration. Their casting effect is instantanous. But in their own way they must be concentrated on.
Shield of faith for instance only grants the +2 ac if you maintain concentration on it. If it was just a flat +2 to ac then it'd be too strong.
The smites require concentration up until you expend the effect on your next successful weapon attack. then the effect happens and the spell ends.
Divine favour only grants the extra radiant damage if you concentrate on it.
Concentration is there to balance spells so that if you wade into combat you can lose your spell.
It's a balancing factor.
The C in the diamond means concentration
So Imma just gonna leave this little combo for anyone interested
1st step: play a bard. Valour or blades works best as we wanna make a combat bard.
2nd step: play until you get magical secrets and access to 5th level spells (so 9th level earliest)
3rd step: use your magical secrets to snag find greater steed and spirit guardians.
5th step: ride your mount (pegasus and griffon are great options) and cast spirit guardians on yourself (while mounted)
Basically you just made a double spirit guardians aura. As riding a found steed allows you to apply the same effect from a self spell onto your mount while riding it. Spirit guardians is a self spell.
This method also works with other exception spells like Tensers Transformation (this ones brutal oho), investiture of flame (walk through lava unscathed on your rhino), smite spells (great option for paladins, not so amazing for bards however) and stuff like etherealness, alter self, fire shield, enlarge/reduce, etc are great.
Technically even shapechange works. Shapechange yourself into something and shapechange your mount too. As shapechange is a self spell
And shapechange unlike polymorph allows you to maintain concentrations (as it needs to concentrate to maintain the spell itself haha)
Basically, bards with steeds are really amazing
Enjoy this my brothers and sisters. Bring thy music to the world, amidst glorious cosmic power.
Make Jaskier proud
Would this effect creatures that are unconscious but not dead?
If a DM lets players use this through walls that would be up to them but that's a pretty arguable interpretation. Here are a few reasons I wouldn't let that happen in my game:
10 minu duration with concentration, all those spells you listed are concentration spells
Does an affected creature takes damage only once the first time it enters the sphere or starts its turn when its cast if its in the range or do affected creatures take damage every round at the start of there turn while the cleric is concentrating?
Intersting idea, but how does your DM resolve that strategy with the PH p. 205, "Combining Magical Effects": "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however."
Every round, so long as the spell remains active.
None of those spells are instantaneous, and they all require concentration.
All of those spells are concentration... Every single one
"[...]the creature takes 3d8 radiant damage (if you are good or neutral) or 3d8 necrotic damage (if you are evil)"
What happens if you're Neutral Evil? Do you get to choose the type of damage?
This spell needs a major nerf, having these things stack should be like sentinel and only one is effective.
Neutral evil would do necrotic damage. The spell takes into account the scale of Good to Evil, not the scale of Lawful to Chaotic.
Look at the range/area spot on spells. It is a 15 ft radius sphere, not a circle so yes it goes above you to.
None of those are instant
That's for casting time, not duration.