"oh and you just fell 50ft down an ethereal ever-changing portal leading to another portal which leads to 5 plains about to mesh together poison darts cover the top of the portal and little paper messages fall off the roof down into the poison darts"
I cast Find Traps. Yes, there's a trap. Okay. Leave that chest alone. It's probably trapped. However, if there's no trap, then you can try to open the chest. Of course, this is only useful if you're in a party with no rogue.
"Weird" is an archaic use of a word to mean basically the same thing as geas, the problem being that unlike geas, weird has a distinct _modern_ usage that isn't really related and only serves to make it more confusing. Basically, a person's weird (or wyrd) is a specific task he's compelled to do a certain way, much like we would call quirks or compulsive behavior.
Not only that, if we have Magic Stone and Shillelagh as bonus action cantrips, there's nothing to say we couldn't just make it a bonus action cantrip in general.
@@RedActed_Games it's not that a cantrip cant be a bonus action it's that this specific cantrip cant be a bonus. If it was a bonus that would mean on every turn you attack with advantage. Unlike the two you mentioned that let you do damage after a bonus this makes them very different
The problem with that is if True Strike was untouched except to make it a bonus action, EVERY wizard would use it every round because why wouldn't you? Always having advantage to attacks (at least at close range) seems like an unfair class feature. Every rogue (with enough INT) would dip into wizard. When a spell actually would change your world like this, perhaps it's not the best change.
Concentration Yikes,... This would destroy most of the few builds, where it is a "bad" option. Sorcerer mit Quickend Bladeward thx -> no Hast or Greater Invisibility (twinned with this) If you want to buff something/ make it more usable NEVER give it concentration. Bladeward is hard to restrict right becouse -50% Blunt, Pircing, Slashing Damage is way to powerfull for a Cantrip. Bonus Action -> is bad becouse why not every turn on? Action -> i can`t do anything else Concentration -> way to many concentration Spells already and ONLY 1 ! can be activ at a given time. The problem is that caster have Bonus Action way to often free.
@@HerrderGezeiten23 That's literally the point. You have to choose between using a simple cantrip that would eat your reaction for some defense, or using a higher tier spell with more worthwhile concentration effects. As a caster, you have your reaction and concentration free way more often than your action. Not every single spell is concentration, especially at low level or when you're low on slots. This absolutely makes it more usable. If your players have some niche build that actually can use it in its vanilla form, then just don't run the homebrew, but for 90% of situations this is an improvement of something otherwise useless.
Time stamps and spell revisions: Blade Ward 2:00 Friends 3:44 True Strike 5:57 Witch Bolt 8:04 Barkskin 10:05 Find Traps 13:12 Flame Blade 14:25 Ray of Enfeeblement 16:06 Grasping Vine 16:36 Drawmij’s Instant Summons 17:41 Mordenkainen’s Sword 19:45 Weird 21:01 Witch Bolt: Updated that when upcast, the initial and automatic damage both increase by 1d6 per spell slot above 1st. (the initial damage increasing by 2d6 per slot was too strong)
You should be able to leave _true strike_ as a cantrip. Just make it like _shocking grasp_ with the advantage all the time, no reaction loss, and have it deal force damage. It can't deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing because then it easily bypasses nonmagical weapon resistances. That's why _primal savagery_ got changed to deal acid damage.
Esper the Bard for true strike why not have it as another concentration spell? You use an action to activate it, then as a bonus action every turn you can choose to continue its effects for up to 1 minute.
@@jgr7487 Yeah, but then a caster can't use any stronger spells with it, which is what most casters would want to do. _True strike_ and then _chromatic orb_ or _scorching ray._ What if it was like "when you hit your target, your first attack deals an additional 1d12 force damage. It goes to 2d12 at 5th, 3d12 at 11th, and 4d12 at 17th." You pay for advantage and damage with one turn. Seems like a fairer trade to me.
19:00 if you have the lich's phylactery in your hands ... if the lich then casts Drawmij's Instant Summons it will only "learn who the creature possessing the object is and roughly where that creature is located at that moment." Not a great outcome, sure, but you still have the lich's phylactery in your hands.
TBH I'd better use Drwmij's instant summons as a clone combo. You put the sphires in that underground where your clone is, and upon resurrection in it you reclaim your equipment. Clone backlash handled right. Althought that does not really justify the expensive component and high level. But I think it's better used to keep your things that getting other's. (when you resurrect in a clone the battle could still be going on so you can actually reclaim your possessions instead of just getting a ping).
This kinda feels like a long way of saying, "concentration and advantage are concepts that work in 5th ed, but translated okay to extremely poorly in a lot of spells that have existed for many editions beforehand."
I think that there are two characteristics of a spell that, when combined, do not work well with concentration: #1- spells that require you to be on the front line in order to use them. #2- spells that you need for surviving on the front line. When you combine these characteristics, you have a spell that lures a squishy caster to the front line and then abandons them there when concentration is inevitably broken. To use them, you almost need to build your character around features that preserve concentration: warcaster feat, resilience feat, bladesong, a first level in a class with Con save proficiency, etc. They definitely need to determine the necessity of concentration requirements with spells that grant AC, HP, or Temp HP, or that create a melee weapon. You can't afford to lose these things on the front line.
"Find Traps" used to be directional too (10' × 90') .. which is actually more useful. You'd use it to determine which way out was going to kill you. Simply knowing there are traps _somewhere_ within 120' isn't that useful.
One of my favorite ways to homebrew is to make MtG spells into actual spells. Phyrexian Unlife: 6th level Necromancy; Duration 1 hour (Concentration). You do not fall unconscious from being at 0 HP. If you would die while concentrating on this spell, instead your creature type changes to undead, and you do not die until the spell ends (either by the duration ending or losing concentration) Casting at 7th level increases the duration to 1 day, 8th level increases the duration to 1 year, 9th level makes it indefinite, but still requires concentration. It's like the original in that 0 life can't kill you, but damage still can. Edit: fixed a typo in the upcasting.
it combos excellently if you have a tied up winter eladrin buried but alive under the battle feild, about 1000 gold worth of caltrops, and 40 bear traps chained to the tree hanging over at exactly the right angle for mage hand to push them down on your enemies so they can't escape. once you've done that, it's about as effective as a 6th level casting of hunger of hadar
If I were to change Weird, I'd say that if the target automatically becomes frightened and a successful save stops the psychic damage but does not end the condition. It would only end once its duration expires. It's a 9th level spell. It should feel very powerful. If I wanted a psychic combo, I'd run a lore bard, cast Bane, follow up with Synaptic Static and use Cutting Words to penalize any roll an unfortunate target makes into oblivion.
I've a thought about an edit to true strike. Keep it the level it is, keep it doing what it does, but just add this: if you connect with that strike, this spell is cast again on the same target without requiring an action. So basically for a steep initial cost of your action, you can keep chaining it infinitely afterwards. I think that makes it viable. Personally I would also adjust the advantage it gives to make it a bit more unique. I'd say it first cancels any disadvantage, and then adds advantage. Extra utility for any situation you know you're going to have disadvantage in.
I have it so it's a concentration cantrip up to a minute that takes an action to cast. If you hit the enemy regardless of your roll it is concerned a critical hit. Double your damage. The spell is ended if you do one of the following: • Make a non-melee spell attack • loose concentration • choose to end the spell • fall unconscious.
Optionally I have thought about keeping the same but it also allows advantage on all attacks until your next attack. So you tell your party about the weakness that turn. But I haven't tested this idea out yet
Crown of madness is understandable as a pick for this list, with it rarely ever having even close to the desired effect. It often merely isolates a single enemy or has them engage your party quicker than usual. Attacking a creature at the start of the turn can be inconsistent, especially with a smart enemy, though i don't know how to balance it. The action each turn to keep the spell active takes alot from you considering it's also concentration and the target gets to repeat the save every turn. Removing one or more of the ways to end the spell is necessary i think. Eyebite on the other hand only has one downside in my opinion: the spell can't target a creature again if it has succeeded a saving throw against this casting of eyebite. I understand this is to avoid shutting down an opponent for the entire duration, but for a 6th level concentration spell it's disappointing to have to cast it again if you're naturally unlucky enough to have your main target succeed a save. Of course you aren't casting it on only one target, that would be wasteful, but it should be an option. Side note: using the Sickened effect of this spell has the creature repeating the saving throw every turn unlike the other options. The worst effect of the 3 has the worst downside for recovery. A target who is awoken from the Asleep section does NOT succeed a saving throw and is a viable target for the same spell, but a creature who succeeds a saving throw versus Sickened is no longer viable. Eyebite is still an incredible control spell, and even with its niche role i still see its potency.
Its still good in Pathfinder (1e) which is based on D&D 3.5. Also because there's no concentration spells you can really buff yourself, summon minions, throw up some prismatic walls etc.
Twice I've run a high level enemy wizard that used time stop, and twice I was quite disappointed with the lackluster result. I might have to make a part 2 to this video.
Instant Summons does suck, but I think it's cost and high level is to prevent players from scamming people too easily. Imagine if you had Teleport (5th) or Plane Shift (7th). You could easily try to sell off a object worth several thousand gold, leave, than immediately take it back from a safe distance. The DM could always have the potential buyer inspect the item with a 1st level detect magic spell, but Magic Aura (2nd) level would easily take care of that. I doubt the developers put THAT much thought into it, but the point is that it has way too much rip-off potential at lower levels and without a significant down-payment first.
My solution to that would not be to make the spell high level and high cost, but instead to make a low level, zero cost spell that can effectively undo it with harsh consequence to whoever tried it. And thus, typical everyday merchants and anyone with a valuable item to protect would have a scroll or two of that spell lying about just in case.
I always thought that it was one of those spells not meant for players, but for NPCs. It's a quick and easy way to explain how the arch wizard found out it was the specific party rogue or powerful bandit leader that the party will be sent after that stole their staff or something.
@@hunterkoons2008 Which would be an even worse excuse for the spell, as DMs are free to make up any magical effect they want, whereas players for the most part have to choose from the options in the books.
@@taylorcampbell4204 it's a quick and easy excuse if the dm wants the magic to stay consistent or work by the book. If the dms regular wizards can cast spells and use magic that a player, no matter how hard they try, can never use, it might feel cheap to some dms and players. Theres a lot of spells mostly intended for dms to use. Anything above 5th level comes to mind for spells designed for dms. It's probably also why wierd is so weak, it's meant for arch wizards that are fighting lower level parties than ones that can access meteor swarm.
You could also use it to kill high level monsters by removing their body parts from their body. It could be used as sort of those bomb necklaces in the Suicide Squad movie plus other movies.
Loved this. Witch bolt is such a cool spell that was so mistreated. I like the changes; hope my dm will consider them... Also, crown of madness is so bleh that I'm actually really surprised it's not here. Is it just so meh that it's not even worth salvaging?
I initially was going to include crown of madness, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized how powerful it can be. You can make an enemy use up its action to attack its own ally, or you can force an enemy mage to fight in melee with your group's fighter (and suffer an opportunity attack if it tries to run away). It has the potential to seriously ruin the enemy's whole strategy. Yes, it has some major stipulations, but it's only 2nd level. There are multiple ways to break free from it, but once an enemy breaks free, you have already totally wrecked at least one of its turns.
@@esperthebard Yeah, I know why it's so restrictive, I just wish it were less so at a higher level. Haha, it really is such a capable spell. I have actually used it to great effect when I chose to specifically play as a wizard that took less optimal spells to mix things up. I feel like it's on a similar level as earthen grasp, which is very similar to grasping vines but with the actual grasping rather than moving. Earthen grasp is really situational and has a pretty low success rate, but can be so potent if you can grab an enemy and let your front lines just hammer away.
@@esperthebard While all true, I think Crown of Madness doesn't compare favorably to a different spell that does "make the opponent waste actions" better: Hold Person. For the same spell level, the target can't do ANYTHING. No, they won't accidentally hit their allies, but they're basically out of the fight until they save or run out the duration.
@@esperthebard I think you could have fixed Crown of Madness, your suggestions for the other spells were on point. My major problem with CoM is that since the attack has to come before the target's movement or the target gets to act normally, the spell is very situational and easy to nullify. It's only useful on a crowd of melee enemies that the DM isn't roleplaying as intelligent. If the other enemies just step back out of melee range (a reasonable thing to do, since the literal Crown is visible to them) or if the target uses its movement to back away from its allies (another reasonable action), the spell is useless even if the target fails its saves for the whole duration. My change would be that the target attacks its closest ally if it can reach this turn. This trades the caster's control for reasonable effectiveness. After all, if it causes madness why would the caster be in control of the effect? If multiple allies are tied for closest then the caster gets to choose, or maybe the DM. This would also allow you to use it on ranged enemies. With this change, nullifying Crown of Madness without the normal options for overcoming spells (make your save, dispell magic, etc) would be the exception, not the rule.
7:43 Is it me, or would True Strike benefit from being cast as a bonus action without being bumped up to a Lv1 Spell? If you can cast it as a bonus action cantrip, suddenly an Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster Rogue, or melee attacking spellcaster like a Paladin can cast this as a bonus action, then attack with advantage until the end of their turn (and yes, open up the classes that can use it, too). Yes, it's still niche, but it's a clearly defined niche that isn't getting it laughed out of the room anymore...
Weird and time stop exist to give the DM 9th level spells their villains and cast it on it's much lower lvl players, but then the players look in their player's handbook and say "OH SH!t That's a 9th lvl spell, we gotta get out of here!" then the characters leave without fighting the big bad you made.
What sort of cowardly players do you have at your table? Also, why wouldn't the DM trap them there, or create a situation where they have to fight or something bad happens? In any case, the players shouldn't know how powerful the big bad is until they get into the fight and take a few hits.
Blade ward has server me well for legendary casters that are under threat of fighters and barbarians. On their full turn they can cast at that threat while just using one third to halve some incoming damage, then put shield on top of that and the fighters/barbs will have a touch time. All the more reason for the spell casters to keep in the fray when the BBEGs minions target them
I know I'm late to the party, but the fact that friends upsets another creature is such a confusing feature of the spell. I'm casting the spell on myself not influencing someone else with magic.
Blade Ward is for characters with low AC. I actually really like it for my support characters. Your Blade Ward revision, I'd say makes it worse. It halves damage for at most, two attacks, and uses concentration and possibly your reaction? Why? I understand what you were going for with the concentration for a minute thing, but I think that plays the spell against its best uses! Support builds like the bard, mastermind rogue, or thief rogue (using healing kits/potions as a bonus action), can make an expedition exponentially more viable during a dangerous encounter. Dodging imposes disadvantage, which is awesome, but if you're almost guaranteed to be hit by an attack (because you have low AC or because the monster that's attacking you is way too powerful), then Blade Ward can be a LIFE SAVER. Disadvantage vs half damage is a very interesting calculation to consider. As it is now, the effects of Blade Ward last for a full round, no matter how many attacks come at you in that time, and doesn't take concentration. That means with the damage taken from each attack being halved, you're much more likely to be able to maintain you concentration on an important spell when you're getting hit. Blade Ward is a cantrip for support characters. When you know you're going to get hit, you don't want to lose that big spell, or the slot is wasted! Low AC = Learn Blade Ward. Bonus Actions = Learn Blade Ward. Concentrating = Learn Blade Ward.
Your use case sounds very specific. You're saying that the revised blade ward is worse in situations where your D8 hit die character is guaranteed to be taking multiple hits in one round? In most low level campaigns, if the rogue or bard are regularly taking multiple hits in a single round, they probably aren't staying conscious long enough to fulfill their support role. Also the idea of a Mastermind or a Thief potentially spending a feat in order to take blade ward seems unlikely to me. If your Rogue or Bard doesn't have at least a decent (14-15) AC at low levels, there are better ways to remedy that than spending an action to take less damage. Perhaps use that feat to learn mage armor instead and just get hit less often.
@@K9affirmative I have to agree with Jety, putting concentration and tacking an additional action cost on it just made it worse, all this for one attack plus one per round you can keep concentration and are willing to blow the Reaction on it. Heck most of these "fixes" are along the same way, and rather than address the issue they exacerbate it putting penalties and added costs to them. Hell, Friends is worse than as it was written, as now anyone can notice it, and when they do the bonus is now a penalty, and they are likely going to go hostile then and there.
@@Flecchicutlets anyone can already tell that you're casting friends, because it has material and somatic components. In order to cast friends you have to wave a wand around and speak magic words that anyone (including the person you're influencing) will immediately identify as a spell. The revised version at least removes the material component and makes it so that your target MAY become hostile instead of the current spell where they WILL become hostile 100% of the time.
Great video, I have applied your suggested changes to some of those spells, while for the others I've used a mix of your suggestions and ideas found on the Web. I'll see how they work. Thanks a lot ^^.
Bark armor is like natural armor. I would keep the concentration check but give you +2 to all concentration checks while the spell is active to reflect the fact that you're unbothered by the light blows upon your hard skin. I agree that changing it to a +2 to armor makes sense.
The revision you did to barkskin I find still makes it less enticing to use than certain spells. For example: shield of faith is one spell level lower, is cast with a bonus action rather than an action, and has a range of 60ft. It achieves the same thing as barkskin (+2 AC), the only drawback is that it lasts 10 minutes rather than an hour and requires concentration.
Weird as a spell should live up to its namesake i.e. when cast on a group of enemies it causes them to do weird things like dancing with each other or being frightened by hallucinations. It'd make for an entertaining experience if you're a caster. The only enemies I'd have immune to it would either be high level or mindless (i.e. undead minions like zombies or skeletons). Just imagine casting it on an orc raiding party and all them start dancing with each other, big harry scary orcs, dancing the tango. Be the best campaign ever or at least the funniest.
I vote for Tenser’s Transformation, the fact that its 6th level, makes it so you cant cast spells while its active and you get a level of exhaustion when its over, AND it only gives you the proficiency in armor and shields, so what I have to carry around a set of full plate to don in a suprise attack or waddle around weaker armor that im not proficient in? I would at least think it create a magic set of armor out of force that is on you when it is cast would be nice.
Witch bolt was my wizlock’s signature spell for a while (I went for theme, not sense), and our eldritch knight was quite fond of it as well. It SUCKED. I was SO GLAD to learn Lightning Bolt.
Quick changes Bladeward- change casting to bonus action Truestrike- change casting to bonus action Having it as a bonus action, lets you cast a regular spell as an action. Then follow up with this as a bonus action.
@@MadSwedishGamer crawford states: Casting a bonus action spell means no other spells that turn BUT a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. By crawfords ruling. I can bonus action cast a spell(in this case true strike/bladeward) then as my action cast another cantrip that uses an action.
I really like all of the fixes, except for the True Strike one. What we did with True Strike was keeping it both as a cantrip and an action, still concentration until 1 minute. However, it just gives advantage on the next attack roll against the target, no other unnecessary whamys. It may be from you (Spiritual Weapon as a bonus), or it may be from someone else (your Barbarian or something, who you grant this because the enemy is inmune against your fire spells)
Man, I’m so glad I’m not alone in thinking a lot of these spells are just poorly designed. I mean, Eyebite is a 6th level spell that’s objectively worse than a basic Bestow Curse
I am not sure what your smoking here, but Eyebite is much better than Bestow Curse, for example, Bestow Curse is range TOUCH, Eyebite can be used from 60ft away, second, Bestow Curse is one time thing, you cast it, if they make the save nothing happens, spell done, and even if they fail, only applies that one effect on one creature, Eyebite you can use every round to hit same or different target for the entire duration, giving you up to 10 effects with a single casting of the spell.
I just feel like the effects themselves of Eyebite are pretty lame. Sure it may have better range, duration, etc, but I would much rather just homebrew 6th level Bestow Curse to have those mechanics whilst still having its more creative, interesting effects
The only change I'd do on the True Strike cantrip is to make it work like a help action that can be used on yourself or on an ally from range and only works on attack rolls. Even tho True Strike is situational, I think sorcerers can make it work pretty well with quickened spells.
True strike can be good for magic users that use high level spell slots to make magic attack rolls. Prevents you from wasting the spell twice, giving you twice the odds of hitting.
@@lostinthedark7001 I dont think you read OP's comment correctly. It can be good if you use a high level spell slot for a spell that makes an attack roll.
@@palazard95 chromatic orb, witch bolt, acid arrow, scorching ray, ice knife, crown of stars, shadow blade is a possibility? there's probably more but i cant be bothered to search.
Some of my simple solutions: Blade Ward - just give it all of the benefits of the Dodge Action on top of its existing benefits. True Strike - remove concentration and let it give you advantage on all of your attacks against the target until the target dies. Witch Bolt - change it to a Bonus Action to cause the damage, extend the range out to 60ft, and any movement that moves the enemy farther away from you costs them double (okay, this one isn't as simple). Barkskin - remove concentration and change the duration to 8 hours. Find Traps - gives advantage on skill checks to find traps, advantage on saving throws to avoid traps, and resistance to the damage from traps.
This is just my opinion...but honestly the actual "necromancy" spells in the game that result in raising or animating undead can often be underwhelming, frustrating, or kind of tedious to do . I understand some reasons why it's the case for the DMs sake to avoid headaches and unconsciously have to deal with the "hassle" of having it in a "good" party...but to be honest there are other ways to do these things to say the least. I honestly always try to homebrew with my DMs necromancy spells, rituals, and rules to make up for this...and honestly it has a lot of potential to be a fun, if dark path of magic.
I don't have as much of a problem with the dead animation spells as such. I just kind of wish there were more of them, and that they could be used more broadly. For example, a Necromancer can't create undead minions until fifth level. The ability to create smaller undead, like crawling claws or floating heads/skulls, would have been nice. A while back, I came up with the idea of a reflavored Spiritual Weapon, that animates a cloud of ashes (taken from an intelligent creature) for a minute, letting you attack for necrotic damage with a bonus action. (Then again, I think Wizards need more spells that make use of their bonus actions in general, and thought up a different Spiritual Weapon re-flavor that animates an existing weapon, that flies around and attacks people; basically a Flying Sword except in spell form). For existing necromancy spells, I think Animate Dead should be able to animate certain kinds of non-humanoids. Things like dead dogs, horses, or the like. They'd still use the Skeleton or Zombie stat blocks, for simplicity's sake, since a zombie dog isn't going to be that more capable than a zombie human. Separate from the issue of animating corpses, I think Necromancy could use some spells for summoning incorporeal undead. Specters as a base, but up to things like Ghosts, Wraiths, Sword Wraiths, and even more esoteric undead stat blocks you could devise specifically for the spell. Things like "Damned Soul" or "Martyred Soul", that would be useful if you gave these spells to Clerics and Warlocks as well.
Loving the intro to the video. It is such a bummer when something fits the concept, personality, tastes, and or circumstances of your character, but are poorly designed. Like Inquisitive Rogues, for example. The Eye for Detail is only useful rarely, in combat, to make a Perception check to try and spot a target that is hiding as a bonus action to free up your action for something like an attack, but other than that, it is useless. I did that once and that was it. I also used Eye for Detail during the tail end of a combat to get started investigating for clues while the party wrapped combat up, but it just looked silly to the other players, since players can always just wait until after combat to use things like investigation. And then the other thing, Ear for Deceit, is goofy garbage. It only effects Sense Motive, and it only bumps up a roll of less than a 7 on the die to a 7, before modifiers, which means it only applies to one type of skill check, Sense Motive, and only against deception, and even then, it only is applicable to rolls of less than 7, so it is only applicable to 30% of Sense Motive rolls against Deception. But even worse, it only bumps up a less than 7 die roll, to a mere 7, so sometimes, it provides too little a boost to benefit, and then sometimes, because Sense Motive vs Deception is a contested roll, the enemy might roll so low that even rolling less than 7 on your d20 is enough to beat their Deception roll, so you don't need or benefit from this ability. It has such a tiny window of only benefiting you if you roll low enough to just miss beating the opposed roll, but not so low that a small boost to your total doesn't help. And worse, it becomes literally obsolete and unused when your rogue reaches level 11, and get reliable Talent, which completely supercedes this ability, by taking all skill rolls (which includes Sense Motive) of less than 10 (a number greater than 7) and counts your d20 roll as 10 (again, greater than 7) before modifiers. Its as if the designer or designers didn't even look at or think of the base class when designing this joke of a subclass ability. It literally gets rendered pointless at level 11 of the base class. A level 11 rogue of any class, can, and likely will, be just as good as an Inquisitive at Sense Motive to see through Deception. What are worthless subclass. It sounds cool, it's a cool concept, but what a joke. Some people love it, because it seems cool, the abilities have really thematic names and target scopes, but they just don't deliver, or benefit much. When I played a rogue Inquisitive in Andventurers League, the only time I ever got anything out of the subclass, over several sessions, was one time, I used Eye for Detail to spot, and then attack, a hiding enemy. Maybe I marked the target with a spell, I can't remember if I had a level of cleric and guiding bolt then, or just used like Faerie Fire. I swapped for Mastermind before hitting 5th, it rocks. Almost too much. 2 bonus languages (more useful for investigation than pointlessly investigating in the middle of combat), ability to help as a bonus action, with a range of 30 feet, cool support. Sorry for the rant. I started off wanting to just comment and compliment you, but then I thought of an example, and elaborated on it.
True strike, as a cantrip, should be more along the lines of this: As an action, you begin to predict every move your target makes. They have disadvantage to hit you until the end of your next turn, and you gain advantage on any attacks you make. This seems like a huge swing, but it only applies when you are the target. It's great for close casting mages that physically attack, as it gives them a way to stay fighting, plus, if they have a way to, it removes the concentration aspect altogether. Combined with your new blade ward, and an effective close combat mage could be made
A True Strike modification I've considered; it's the same Action to cast and concentration, however instead of Advantage on your next attack, it's automatically a Natural 20.
@@30noir True Strike only works on yourself. While under the Rage effect you can't cast spells. You give up an entire action to gain one Natural 20 (and for fighter types with extra attacks that's giving up a lot). Smart enemies can target you to try and make you lose concentration. You have to pick who your attacking when you cast it, and they may not be in range on your next turn.
Personally I would make instant summons able to bond to an item or group of items up to a limit of 1000 lbs. Additionally any creature can summon the items with the sapphire and command word. When the items are summoned the summoner can have them appear in a specific order or arrangement, such as using the spell to conjure a set of full plate and a greatsword that the character instantly dons, or conjuring a loaded catapult. The limit of 1000 lbs means large siege engines cannot be summoned but any set of armor and weapons can, so the wizard can give this to his fighter friend so if they are ambushed at the party he can conjure his weapon and armor.
You just created a way more interesting version of the spell with such a simple change. The weight cap limits exploiting, but the "specific order or arrangement" gives a lot of options. You would have to specify some limit on how freely the summoner can shape the item(s). Could I summon some clay in a form of complex statue and separating moisture to harden it? Having examples like the intant armor don is a good idea. I'm already theorycrafting a bomb using this spell. it really makes you think of clever ways to use it, unlike the vanilla version.
My players learned to hate True Strike. I had an army of orcs that had a selection of cantrips and their scouts would have True Strike (The PCs would eventually learn the Orc's winter retreat for their animals was a set of magical hot springs that they then drank and bathed in for months, granting small traces of magic). On their flying mounts, they would strafe the party then take a round or 2 to get back into position for another strafe; plenty of time to recast True Strike. This partially made up for taking up to 3 rounds to attack again and the weakness of a flying mount going down that high up; now my orcs hit essentially every time.
There's a problem with your true strike fix, and that is that it becomes ridiculously strong on Arcane Trickster since the rogue will be able to get sneak attack regardless of what they do. Sure they need to spend a bonus action, but so does inquisitive rogue(and the target creature can save against inq rogue with a deception check). Not sure how I would fix it, I'd probably just remove concentration and allow the ignoring of cover to make it a spell that you cast on big hp monsters or bosses for drawn-out fights, so they'd still sacrifice and action.
Friends was always to me about the reaction chart. Rather than advantage it makes the spellcaster less of a threat or danger rather than straight up advantage. Turns hostiles to neutral to allow for an escape.
I had already made a bunch of these changes. My changes to Barkskin and Flame Blade were exactly the same as yours. In general, I think all spells should scale with level, unless there is no way to do it. It's lame to have spells "go obsolete." This is MAGIC.
I was thinking about true strike just a couple days ago, and I believe it is meant to neutralize disadvantage. Because if you do the maths, any attack roll that has less than 50% chance to hit is less likely to hit at least once out of two tries, than with true strike and one try (over 50% it's still better to try twice though). You also probably dont want to try higher level spell attacks twice, because of the spell slots, so that's another use. I realize my point is basically that it's good in certain builds and situations, but still, I think that's something people might not consider when talking about true strike.
I like your list and changes, but I would like to add: I think many of those mediocre concentration spells were intended for a spellcaster to buff an ally that uses melee, while the one concentrating stays back. I could be incorrect, but it would make more sense if that was the intent.
1) Blade Ward: Niche but not bad. You can use it to tank traps that you cant find or have not a familiar to trigger. Also is good to run away from a difficult situation where you would be otherwise dead. Problem is that if you have high AC is better to just use dodge unless its a saving throw spell. 2) Friends: This cantrip is a joke. I loved your version. 3) True Strike: Is a really bad cantrip, but i understand that giving advantage on attacks for free is too strong. The way you make it players will just keep spamming every fight. I would change it to no concentration and that it lasts until you lose sight of the target. 4) Witch Bolt: Not weak at all specially bc most enemies wouldnt know about the range restrictions, but if you are against a mage or inteligent creature its pretty bad. I like that you give it more range. Other option could be that the spell doesnt end unless you lose concentration so if the creature doesnt have ranged options it can only either run away or attack you to make you lose concentration. 5) Bark Skin: I dont know why you couldnt benefit from using a shield. It says you AC cant be less than 16 not that it cant be higher, lets say with plate armor for example. However, i agree that it is a underwhelming spell that in most cases is worst than mage armor. I think it could have more flavor instead of flat out bonuses. Something like turning your blood into poison sap or a Shedding bark skin that protects you from any other effects that require direct contat with your body. 6) Find Traps: Raw it is pretty useless and vague since you cant really tell that what is right in front of you is a trap. Good changes tho. 7) Since ray of enfeeblement does no damage, you can miss and lose a spell slot and the target will get rid of the effect without wasting resouces, i think it deserve another buff. It should give disadvantage to spellcasters maintain concentration on spells. 8) Grasping vine: I cant belive this is a 4th level spell... 9) Instant summon: Make it so you know if the item is on another's person possession by just touching the saphire, so you dont crush it needlesly. Also make the object elegible for divination spells through the gem. 10) Mordekaisens Sword: i have a version of this one. *Only the description of the spell was changed. You create a sword-shaped plane of force that hovers within range, atacking your enemies, mimicking the swordmanship of a long forgotten warrior. It lasts for the duration. When the sword appears, you make a melee spell attack against a target of your choice within 5 feet of the sword. On a hit. the target takes 3d10 force damage. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your next turns to move the sword up to 20 feet to a spot you can see and repeat this attack against the same target or a different one. The creature currently being attacked by this spell, triggers oportunity attacks from Mordenkainen's Sword. Opportunity attacks deal only half the spell damage. Each consecutive time Mordenkainen's Sword make a attack roll against the same target, it expands the crit range by 1. When the target changes, the sword's crit range resets. 11) Weird: I would dramaticaly increase the effect area so you can literally cause mass hysteria and fear on entire cities or armies.
For the Instant Summons spell, the sapphire is not consumed in the casting of the spell. So it's like Identify in that you need it, but not like Raise Dead where it consumes it. So, yeah, it's a 1000 gp item to cast, but you can cast it repeatedly without spending more money. Plus by the time you can cast 6th level spells, a 1000 gp spell focus isn't too bad. Also, Fabricate and the Jewelcrafting skill would probably allow you to reassemble the gem to use again.
I think you miss enthrall. For spells that only needed a little push you could have mentioned how enthrall is just a 2nd level spell slot that amounts to basically talking to someone to distract them. Plus the spell says you say some weird stuff to distract and your using somatic components. Go up to someone and start casting any spell and you have successfully distracted them, and got arrested.
Making Truestrike a lvl 1 spell means that if you're of a class that can prepare spells, you can just pick a different one later. Something to consider because I think at higher levels I'd be spamming this spell alot alongside my magical attacks
Thank you for the video! I am always late to the party... But here is my thoughts on Shillelagh. It is technically attack cantrip that does not scale with level increasing. My simple thoughts: make the weapon magical +1 on level 5, +2 on level 11, +3 on level 17. Also if the weapon had versatile feature it damage become d8 (versatile d10). P.S. Can we, by the way, had more range cantrips for Druid that can hit targets more than 30 feet away? ...Just rumbling a bit...
Blade Ward lasts until the end of your next turn, meaning it works for two turns. So if you are a melee type, or worried about opportunity attacks, or maybe concerned about the fact that the guys with the swords are getting rather close, you have an option to mitigate damage. Technically you could cast this, then while still benefiting from it also take the dodge action next turn. It's not the most powerful, but it is a defensive cantrip, and it always works. I've never understood the issue people have with Find Traps. There are already rules for whether a spell can act through cover or environment. The spell tells you there are traps, and what kind of trap they are (if its a pit trap, its on the floor, wall trap, look at the walls, etc.) the spell doesn't need to say it gives advantage, because those are the perfect circumstances for any DM with half a brain to give people advantage when looking for traps.
Another alternative to true strike might be do 2x damage to the next rounds strike (kinda like being able to pick out where the vital body parts will be) on top of the current effect.
With the revision barkskin is worse than shield of faith in some cases, shield of faith has the same effect, only without a maximum cap, is a first level spell, but requires concentration up to an hour. Barkskin revised is a second level spell with an AC cap. The only one up I see from revised barkskin is no concentration.
Friends is great the way it is. It just needs to be used on enemies that aren't hostile yet, people you won't ever see again, or with disguise self/kit to possibly turn NPCs against each other. The spell is honestly great, it's negative effects have potential to be incredibly useful.
Not for nothing, but you can pop Blade Ward & True Strike while preparing for battles, especially if you know when the battle would be taking place. Going into a 1v1 Type situation, cast either before you enter and you would be set. Yes, they're situational but so are a lot of other spells.
The only way to truly fix "Find Traps" and get the most fun out of the game is to ELIMINATE IT altogether. Great video, I DLed the PDF and will show it to my players. Thanks!
It didn't run the stats on it but it might be because the d4 doesn't add as much value as another d20. Are you more likely to hit with the extra d4 on attack roll, or with advantage. You do have a bigger chance to crit with 2 d20. I'm not against the idea but some tweaks to the appel would have to make it cost less. For example no concentration and at range (guidance is touch). Maybe, if it was like blees in the numbers of people you could affect with it, it would be better. In that case it would become a 1st lvl spell. Casted at higher lvls you could add more people to its effect. Another idea would be to make it a bonus action cast time and put the sleep mechanic we're you have to roll dice + wisdom mod (divine spell) and that's the total of allied hit points you can affect with it. I'd be interested in people joining this conversation :) Cheers and happy gaming
@@DDoom33 Advantage is effectively a +5, but in this case +1d4 is better as there are somany things that give advantage in the game already and it cant stack. by making it a 1d4 you cand aim or hide to get advantage and then use it for a +1d4. You dont want it to be a first level spell which means it cant be a bonus. Id give it a range of 15ft and 1 target.
Barkskin is useful for if you're caught off-guard out of uniform, like night time attacks. Flame Blade is also useful you're doing 2d6 more damage then a regular Scimitar, & if you're caught without your weapons then like Shadow Blade, you've got an Instant WEAPON
9th Level Spells! Wish-Alter Reality in any number of ways. True Resurrection-Nobody's ever really gone. Power Word Heal-Yeah, full restore that pokemon. Power Word Kill-Yeah, cyanide capsule that pokemon. Gate-Go to heaven, but like as a vacation. True Polymorph-So you're just, like, a badger now. Psychic Scream-I think i'm a pretty good singer, he was so impressed he exploded his head. Weird-It's pretty great, ya know, if you combo it.
I'm using Find Traps simply the same way you would use Detect Magic or Grave Clerics Eyes of the Grave. Your vision simply enhances and you see traps highlighted by a some kind of a magical light
Blade Ward = If you have time before a battle takes place, cast it & during the 1st round of combat, you'll have Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing & Slashing damage. Not to mention, since it's a Cantrip, you could cast a Spell that's a Bonus Action like Shadow Blade. Friends = It has a lot of OOC applications, and then in the hands of a Level 14+ Enchanter Wizard, you can cast it without worrying about the one you did it to to become hostile. True Strike = This is also a very situational Cantrip, however, if you going to be going into a situational that you'd be in a position to somewhat dictate the start of the combat, then cast this before combat starts. Hell, since it's only requires somatic component (hand movement), if you're in a conversation or negotiations and it looks like thing's going south, have your hands under the table & cast this spell. Or hell, cast it on the Rogue in your party & they can deal Sneak Attack Damage should their first attack hit Witch Bolt = A somewhat stronger Eldritch Blast, because while you're concentrating you can automatically deal 1d12+ Lightning Damage (x = 1d12 per Slot Level used above 1st, so once the Warlock gets to having 5th Level Slots, that's 6d12 Lightning Damage that can be automatically dealt during the concentration. Barkskin = If you're attacked during Long Rests, which usually happens during the night, you're NOT going to have your Armor on. Unarmored & not a Monk or a Barbarian then your AC is 10+Dex Mod. Which even if you have a 20 Dex, you're AC will be 15. Barkskin makes it so that you're AC no matter what will be 16. Yeah, it's only a 1 AC increase but that can be useful for the Druid who would be out of their armor & before they're able to Wild Shape (if they still have any uses left) & the Ranger who would also be without their armor on. Find Traps = Entering a area that probably is trapped, being able to figure out if it's actually trapped or not is helpful Flame Blade = If you're in a position where you don't have your weapons, a free weapon, which deals 2d6 more damage then a regular Scimitar. Fire Damage can also help. Ray of Enfeeblement = Causing the opponent to deal only 1/2 damage on all Strength based Attacks.... Paladins, Barbarians, Clerics, certain Fighters would be screwed. A lot of creatures also deal Strength based Attacks. Grasping Vine = Watch Critical Role, you'll find uses FOR this spell. Translation = Use thy Imagination. Drawmij’s Instant Summons = If you have good Slight of Hand or roll high enough, you can do an instant theft during a time when no one is really paying attention. Mordenkainen’s Sword = See Flame Blade, also 3d10 Force Damage & can then have it attack using Bonus Actions.... Weird = 4d10 Psychic Damage each time they fail... & depending on the DM, you might be able to convince them that the affected creatures would be too busy dealing with their Nightmares to be able to do much of anything else.
So I guess one could use instant summons in order to retrieve items that he lost due to magical or nonmagical michieves like breaking a bag of holding or having left those items on a sinking ship leaving tham being on the floor of the ocean. They probably didn't want players to just abandon their stuff knowing they could magically get it back later.
If you make the Barkskin, that it just gives you a +2 to AC, there are Level1 spells that does that already in other class lists, like Ceremony and Shield of Faith, and don't forget the Shield spell. I would have changed the spell to be a Ritual instead, with 1-10 min casting, that raises your Natural Armor instead like in the Mage Armor spell. And I would also make it that At higher level slot would increase by 1, L5=17, L7=18 and L9=19 AC. But there wont be anyone who would spend their lvl7 slots and above just for this, but it still gives you a better option for this spell to look for. But Hey, that's my opinion ... Also I agree that the weird spell is too weak to be a L9 spell, I would have dropped it to 8th level instead, because the only way to make a combo with the weird spell is by Sickening Radiance for AoE effects, or with Bestow Curse for a Boss fight. I don't think that there is anyone who is willingly put the weird spell on their spell list. It's just so weak, you could just cast a Phantasmal Killer at a 9th level slot a do so much more. Also I agree for the Blade Ward spell, it should be a Reaction. The Friends cantrip shouldn't let your enemy you cast a spell on them. Or it should at least be more like the Quen sign from the Witcher series. True Strike is THE-WORST-SPELL....EVER! uses your action and your concentration. the only way for True Strike to work somehow, is if it was used by an Arcane Trickster when he is hiding and on surprise rounds ONLY. To make it a Bonus Action spell is a good call. I would like to make some space here to speak about an other spell that I don't see the point to even exist. That is the level 2 spell Continual Flame. This spell is just a flaming torch to light your path. It uses your Action, needs Material components along with a small amount of your money(50gp), and it lasts until dispelled. But it does NOTHING! literally Nothing. You could just cast the Control Flames and Dancing Lights, or even better the Light cantrip, if you want to see in the darkness or dim light, and they cost you nothing, and they also let your hands free, while in the Continual Flame, you mast cast it on an object, so someone must hold to it right?! This spell shouldn't exist at all in my opinion. I would have to disagree though about the Drawmij's Instant Summon spell. If you think about it, the spell can be dispelled only if you cast the Dispel Magic spell ON the Sapphire, but not the Item or object the spell was cast upon. Which means, if you are smart or witty enough you could also summon a Greater Artifact in that way, like If you and your party don't have much time to escape, and your wizard(s), don't have any teleportation spell prepared, or even if you don't possess a Bag of Holding or anything similar for that account, you can just flee, and whenever you feel like it, you can summon that powerful item in your hands. I believe that is the reason why they also put it as a Level6 spell. Although I'm saying that, I just had to notice how much the L4 spell Leomund's Secret Chest and Drawmij's Instant Summon spell, have a great similarity on their usage. Maybe you can analyze this spell some time in the future. Also I would love to see a Radiant based spell on the Level 9 spell list at some point, even though I can always cast Crown of Stars at 9th level, and also Prismatic Wall is the most powerful spell, it can even destroy Antimagic Fields.
I like most of these fixes. Everyone has a different thing they want out of Truestrike, so I dont like this one, but I understand it. Your barkskin fix sounds like Shield of Faith, but without concentration, and a max AC cap.
For witch bolt I would just make it so that when you up cast it you can target a number of creatures equal to the level of the spell used to cast it. Then i think that makes the range, concentration, and action economy worth it if I can deal auto damage to multiple creatures
My changes: Blade Ward: Make it a bonus action. Friends: Eh, yours is good. True Strike: Alternatively, you can make it a flat one minute buff. Witch Bolt: Yours is good. Bark Skin: Exactly what I was thinking. Find Traps: I agree. Flame Blade: That works better Ray of Enfeeblement: Yep. Grasping Vine: Okay. Drawmij's Instant Summons: still not a spell I'd take, but I can't think of how to make it better. Mordenkainen's Sword: What I was thinking too. Weird: I would have made Weird have 1 of 10 random things happen. 1. Strength decreases by 1d4. 2. Dexterity decreases by 1d4. 3. Constitution decreases by 1d4. 4. Intelligence decreases by 1d4. 5. Wisdom decreases by 1d4. 6. Charisma decreases by 1d4. 7. Attacks nearest ally. 8. Paralyzed with fear (dropping all items) for one round. 9. 10 d8 psychic damage. 10. Plane shifted to one of the elemental planes chosen randomly.
People always say that bonus action True Strike will make it OP, but I disagree, it just gives casters something to do with their bonus action every round and it becomes a serious consideration for their cantrips instead of the usual EDIT: Just realized that you could balance the AT exploit by wording it like "when you roll an attack roll, instead roll two dice and pick either total" It's literally advantage without the mechanical term so that they can't sneak attack off it
where this might actually become a problem are arcane tricksters. They already get spellcasting and are arguably the best rogue. With true strike, they can guarantee advantage every round, for just the cost of a bonus action (no cunning action sucks, but still). This is the main advantage of playing an assassin. With this, they are basically completely outclassed
Especially if you keep it as a concentration spell, I agree. Yes, no one will ever lose concentration on the spell because they'll use it before the end of their turn, but it means you can't have another persistent effect up at the same time, or you'd have to replace it with true strike. BA true strike really benefits arcane trickster, but not in a bad way because the rogue has a significant opportunity cost for using BA. Fighters and pallys might go for arcane initiate to get it, but it only benefits the first attack, so it's good, but far from broken in my mind.
@@aldoushuxley5953 true, makes it an auto-take for the Trickster, though it doesn't really change what they do round-to-round with hiding, (but I guess that at least has some possibility of failing) but also the same thing with the UA Cunning Action Aim, which literally just gives them advantage on their next attack this turn (but also movement penalties), but that is UA
as long as it keeps being a concentration spell I don't see much of a problem either. But if you remove the concentration requiriment it's just a free advantage for arcane caster. It could be quite strong on the Arcane Trickster tho.
@Lance Clemings dunno the other guys, but I wasn't talking about Bard's version of True Strike but the OP version. I do prefer tho my version of it, where it's basically a ranged help action.
I always liked imagining how I could rebalance a spell/item from whatever game I'm playing, and the good thing about DnD is that you can just do it like that, while WoW+ will always stay in your head unless you are a coder competent enough to maintain a large private server, which almost everyone is not.
Flame blade looks even worse when you compare it to Shadow Blade, a 2nd level spell that uses a bonus action to conjur a shadow sword that does 2d8 psychic damage and uses only a bonus action to cast, using concentration. If upcast, it becomes a 3d8 sword, which, if paired with an EK build, means a 13th level EK can be doing 9d8+Strength modifier damage per turn, doubled to 18d8 if they action surge.
True Strike: give it range of 300 feet with concentration and castable as bonus action at end of your turn. So the last thing you do on a turn is fixate on your enemy and on your next turn, you have advantage.
@@yargolocus4853 no. You have to maintain concentration from round to round. The limit comes from the fact that you can't cast the spell as a bonus action unless it's the last thing you do on your turn.
"There are so few situations in which True Strike is useful." The very next spell entry "You have to hit with your spell attack or it doesn't work at all." "Unless you combine it with a way to get advantage on that first attack..." I know it doesn't invalidate your point in general, but I did find the juxtaposition funny. Edit: I had it wrong. See Ben's comment below.
@@aceofspace14 Huh. You're right. Good catch. I guess I assumed that concentration only began after the spell already hit, but the spell doesn't specify that. By RAW, it just barely doesn't work. I retract my statement.
My nitpick 1) Blade ward. What triggers the reaction for blade ward ? Esper the Bard says you must choose if you use your reaction on this or something else. But if there is no trigger then there is no problem. Just wait until right before your next tern, if nothing else comes up then you can re-activate blade ward without worrying about using up your reaction. 2) Friends Making someone your enemy can be advantageous in its own right. And a low level charm spell that has negative aftereffects leaves openings for higher level spells or sub-class abilities that don't have those same negatives.
Re: Mordekainen's sword, Bigby's hand is a better spell in every sense, even than your upgraded version. 5th level, uses bonus action, moves 60 feet a turn, 4d8 force punch that scales 2d8/level, and it can grab, push, or block as needed. Amazingly versatile spell and upcasting it to 7th level gives 8d8 force damage on a bonus action.
I always thought Abjuration needed a better Cantrip. One that's both flavorful and useful. So I created one myself. Barrier/Minute Barrier/Minor Barrier: A concentration spell that lasts for 1 minute. Creates a 1 inch thick plane of force up to 5 foot square, in a space you can see within 30 ft. The barrier is transparent, and has an AC of 10 (or 10 + your spellcasting mod, I never decided) and 5 HP. At the normal character level thresholds (5th, 11th, and 17th), the barrier's HP increases by 5. The function, obviously, is to create a small wall that can provide cover and block aggressors. But it's hardly an unbreakable obstruction, because it's a Cantrip. Against a single opponent with a normal weapon - such as when blocking a doorway or raised against a sniper - it could last a turn or two. That few turns (or more, if the attacks fail or do little damage), though, could be the difference between life and death. There should probably also be some clause in the spell description about the barrier taking damage if it's bearing more than a couple hundred pounds of weight, to keep it from being abused _too much_ as an improvised platform.
@Lance Clemings Attacks that carry on to another nearby creature if the damage exceeds the original target's remaining HP is an optional rule in the DMG. So whether or not that would happen with this Cantrip depends on whether the DM uses that rule. Also, thank you for the complement. I tried to make a Cantrip that would be useful enough to employ, without being broken.
Change True Strike to a flat +10 bonus; that's what I do. If that seems too powerful, make it never critical. If it seems too weak change the bonus to 10+1/2 caster level, rounded down.
I think Instant Summons and Weird still need a bit of a buff? Weird especially, with it being a 9th level spell. But not being as universe altering as say, Wish or as devastating as meteor swarm.
I think Witch Bolt could also be fixed a bit by just making the secondary damage into a bonus action to trigger like with moving a Flaming Sphere. Would that be OP?
I'm guessing they under powered true strike to make up for it's +20 to hit in 3.5, which is a crazy bonus for a 1st level spell. Also, weird in 3.5 was a very powerful spell. Sucks that they nerfed it so much. They need to bump the level down.
I also found Mordenkainen's Sword quite a bit underpowered, though I changed it up differently. I kept the concentration, because I have three Wizards in my group of players and they're pretty OP at juggling different concentration spells to do the same thing, taking off concentration is going to really screw with my games. What I did was allowed it to be up-cast, and instead of simply increasing damage of the sword, each higher level gave them another sword, which they could use to target the same or different targets. Also I increased the range.
True Strike: why not leave it as a cantrip and phrase it in a way where it either "requires a weapon attack" (like booming blade) or "can use a bonus action to attack after casting" (like spiritual weapon, but without the prolonged duration) + the attack has advantage? (heavily paraphrased)
another version on of my dm did was make it a 9th lvl spell but do that it does +5 to crit rolls for 1 minute on the dice ,since i was a spellsword... it was kinda effective
What happens if someone has barkskin on them and 18ac then casts shield or has haste cast upon them? can their AC still not exceed 18? Would the spell fail? Would AC calculation not factor the +2?
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Players: Ok I cast Find Traps, where is the traps?
Dm: Yes
the real answer is on /gif lol ;P
"oh and you just fell 50ft down an ethereal ever-changing portal leading to another portal which leads to 5 plains about to mesh together poison darts cover the top of the portal and little paper messages fall off the roof down into the poison darts"
I cast Find Traps. Yes, there's a trap. Okay. Leave that chest alone. It's probably trapped. However, if there's no trap, then you can try to open the chest.
Of course, this is only useful if you're in a party with no rogue.
"Weird" is an archaic use of a word to mean basically the same thing as geas, the problem being that unlike geas, weird has a distinct _modern_ usage that isn't really related and only serves to make it more confusing. Basically, a person's weird (or wyrd) is a specific task he's compelled to do a certain way, much like we would call quirks or compulsive behavior.
This is the kind of comment I love, like a mini etymology and history lesson. Many thanks, Scholar Weasel!
I've read a book comparing it to the word fate
Spelling it "wyrd" would've helped give a hint to the intended archaic meaning, in that case.
@@Torthrodhel Totally agree
@@esperthebard maybe it's to avoid any issues w/ the table top miniature company Wyrd? I dunno...
“Cant make it a bonus action because it’s a cantrip”
Sorcerers: Yes you can! Nothing is impossible! So just do it!
Not only that, if we have Magic Stone and Shillelagh as bonus action cantrips, there's nothing to say we couldn't just make it a bonus action cantrip in general.
@@RedActed_Games it's not that a cantrip cant be a bonus action it's that this specific cantrip cant be a bonus. If it was a bonus that would mean on every turn you attack with advantage. Unlike the two you mentioned that let you do damage after a bonus this makes them very different
The way I handled it was making it a bonus action non concentration spell. When you cast it you roll a d6, and on a 5 or 6 you have advantage.
The problem with that is if True Strike was untouched except to make it a bonus action, EVERY wizard would use it every round because why wouldn't you? Always having advantage to attacks (at least at close range) seems like an unfair class feature. Every rogue (with enough INT) would dip into wizard. When a spell actually would change your world like this, perhaps it's not the best change.
I played a rouge/monk/sorcerer multi class once. True strike became very useful
You glorious bastard, you actually came up with an adjustment to Blade Ward that doesn't suck
Concentration Yikes,...
This would destroy most of the few builds, where it is a "bad" option.
Sorcerer mit Quickend Bladeward thx -> no Hast or Greater Invisibility (twinned with this)
If you want to buff something/ make it more usable NEVER give it concentration.
Bladeward is hard to restrict right becouse -50% Blunt, Pircing, Slashing Damage is way to powerfull for a Cantrip.
Bonus Action -> is bad becouse why not every turn on?
Action -> i can`t do anything else
Concentration -> way to many concentration Spells already and ONLY 1 ! can be activ at a given time.
The problem is that caster have Bonus Action way to often free.
@@HerrderGezeiten23 That's literally the point. You have to choose between using a simple cantrip that would eat your reaction for some defense, or using a higher tier spell with more worthwhile concentration effects. As a caster, you have your reaction and concentration free way more often than your action. Not every single spell is concentration, especially at low level or when you're low on slots.
This absolutely makes it more usable.
If your players have some niche build that actually can use it in its vanilla form, then just don't run the homebrew, but for 90% of situations this is an improvement of something otherwise useless.
Time stamps and spell revisions:
Blade Ward 2:00
Friends 3:44
True Strike 5:57
Witch Bolt 8:04
Barkskin 10:05
Find Traps 13:12
Flame Blade 14:25
Ray of Enfeeblement 16:06
Grasping Vine 16:36
Drawmij’s Instant Summons 17:41
Mordenkainen’s Sword 19:45
Weird 21:01
Witch Bolt: Updated that when upcast, the initial and automatic damage both increase by 1d6 per spell slot above 1st. (the initial damage increasing by 2d6 per slot was too strong)
You should be able to leave _true strike_ as a cantrip. Just make it like _shocking grasp_ with the advantage all the time, no reaction loss, and have it deal force damage. It can't deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing because then it easily bypasses nonmagical weapon resistances. That's why _primal savagery_ got changed to deal acid damage.
Esper the Bard for true strike why not have it as another concentration spell? You use an action to activate it, then as a bonus action every turn you can choose to continue its effects for up to 1 minute.
Magic Stone & Shillelagh are Bonus Action cantrips, thus so could be True Strike
@@jgr7487 Yeah, but then a caster can't use any stronger spells with it, which is what most casters would want to do. _True strike_ and then _chromatic orb_ or _scorching ray._ What if it was like "when you hit your target, your first attack deals an additional 1d12 force damage. It goes to 2d12 at 5th, 3d12 at 11th, and 4d12 at 17th." You pay for advantage and damage with one turn. Seems like a fairer trade to me.
1 other use for blade ward is if you multiclass to rogue and use the bonus action to dodge. That is it.
I would love an Esper style tier list of spells going over lore and flavor plus overall mechanics of every spell!
And preferably in one video, one very long video.
Where is the en spells
I'm more of a sultai kind of guy.
Not a bad idea. Go through them school by school (per class list of course)
19:00 if you have the lich's phylactery in your hands ... if the lich then casts Drawmij's Instant Summons it will only "learn who the creature possessing the object is and roughly where that creature is located at that moment."
Not a great outcome, sure, but you still have the lich's phylactery in your hands.
TBH I'd better use Drwmij's instant summons as a clone combo. You put the sphires in that underground where your clone is, and upon resurrection in it you reclaim your equipment. Clone backlash handled right. Althought that does not really justify the expensive component and high level. But I think it's better used to keep your things that getting other's. (when you resurrect in a clone the battle could still be going on so you can actually reclaim your possessions instead of just getting a ping).
This kinda feels like a long way of saying, "concentration and advantage are concepts that work in 5th ed, but translated okay to extremely poorly in a lot of spells that have existed for many editions beforehand."
I think that there are two characteristics of a spell that, when combined, do not work well with concentration:
#1- spells that require you to be on the front line in order to use them.
#2- spells that you need for surviving on the front line.
When you combine these characteristics, you have a spell that lures a squishy caster to the front line and then abandons them there when concentration is inevitably broken. To use them, you almost need to build your character around features that preserve concentration: warcaster feat, resilience feat, bladesong, a first level in a class with Con save proficiency, etc.
They definitely need to determine the necessity of concentration requirements with spells that grant AC, HP, or Temp HP, or that create a melee weapon. You can't afford to lose these things on the front line.
"Find Traps" used to be directional too (10' × 90') .. which is actually more useful. You'd use it to determine which way out was going to kill you. Simply knowing there are traps _somewhere_ within 120' isn't that useful.
Still funny how a bit of material can hide traps from even that detection.
It would be interesting to have a spell that shows you how to safely walk through an area by showing you where to step and how to move.
*Looks at thumbnail* Ah yes, my favorite D+D spell.
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Phyrexian Unlife
One of my favorite ways to homebrew is to make MtG spells into actual spells.
Phyrexian Unlife: 6th level Necromancy; Duration 1 hour (Concentration). You do not fall unconscious from being at 0 HP. If you would die while concentrating on this spell, instead your creature type changes to undead, and you do not die until the spell ends (either by the duration ending or losing concentration) Casting at 7th level increases the duration to 1 day, 8th level increases the duration to 1 year, 9th level makes it indefinite, but still requires concentration.
It's like the original in that 0 life can't kill you, but damage still can.
Edit: fixed a typo in the upcasting.
@@sagecolvard9644 Oh I completely agree that adding MtG spells into D+D equivalents makes for a fun and flavorful experience. =)
Wait...instead of finding traps, it tells you that there are traps?
That’s my common summary example of what chaotic neutral is like!
I mean fireball does deactivate traps
"Walk with care, there are traps."
"Then we must use chainsaws."
Weird is definitely a good name for the spell, it's weird that its 9th level and sucks so much lol
it combos excellently if you have a tied up winter eladrin buried but alive under the battle feild, about 1000 gold worth of caltrops, and 40 bear traps chained to the tree hanging over at exactly the right angle for mage hand to push them down on your enemies so they can't escape. once you've done that, it's about as effective as a 6th level casting of hunger of hadar
If I were to change Weird, I'd say that if the target automatically becomes frightened and a successful save stops the psychic damage but does not end the condition. It would only end once its duration expires.
It's a 9th level spell. It should feel very powerful. If I wanted a psychic combo, I'd run a lore bard, cast Bane, follow up with Synaptic Static and use Cutting Words to penalize any roll an unfortunate target makes into oblivion.
These are awesome and I'm going to suggest them to all my friends/DMs.
Thanks man, they'll definitely be available in our game and my other campaigns.
I've a thought about an edit to true strike. Keep it the level it is, keep it doing what it does, but just add this: if you connect with that strike, this spell is cast again on the same target without requiring an action. So basically for a steep initial cost of your action, you can keep chaining it infinitely afterwards. I think that makes it viable.
Personally I would also adjust the advantage it gives to make it a bit more unique. I'd say it first cancels any disadvantage, and then adds advantage. Extra utility for any situation you know you're going to have disadvantage in.
i would add a limiter to the advantages you can get, maybe 3 turns in a row or else it might be too strong for a cantrpt
@@pixelg4m3r25 good idea. I guess in a long boss fight or something like that it might end up too strong without that.
I have it so it's a concentration cantrip up to a minute that takes an action to cast.
If you hit the enemy regardless of your roll it is concerned a critical hit. Double your damage.
The spell is ended if you do one of the following:
• Make a non-melee spell attack
• loose concentration
• choose to end the spell
• fall unconscious.
Optionally I have thought about keeping the same but it also allows advantage on all attacks until your next attack.
So you tell your party about the weakness that turn.
But I haven't tested this idea out yet
Crown of madness is understandable as a pick for this list, with it rarely ever having even close to the desired effect. It often merely isolates a single enemy or has them engage your party quicker than usual. Attacking a creature at the start of the turn can be inconsistent, especially with a smart enemy, though i don't know how to balance it. The action each turn to keep the spell active takes alot from you considering it's also concentration and the target gets to repeat the save every turn. Removing one or more of the ways to end the spell is necessary i think.
Eyebite on the other hand only has one downside in my opinion: the spell can't target a creature again if it has succeeded a saving throw against this casting of eyebite. I understand this is to avoid shutting down an opponent for the entire duration, but for a 6th level concentration spell it's disappointing to have to cast it again if you're naturally unlucky enough to have your main target succeed a save. Of course you aren't casting it on only one target, that would be wasteful, but it should be an option.
Side note: using the Sickened effect of this spell has the creature repeating the saving throw every turn unlike the other options. The worst effect of the 3 has the worst downside for recovery. A target who is awoken from the Asleep section does NOT succeed a saving throw and is a viable target for the same spell, but a creature who succeeds a saving throw versus Sickened is no longer viable.
Eyebite is still an incredible control spell, and even with its niche role i still see its potency.
any mind altering spell that let's the target automatically know you did something to them is dumb.
your revision is much better.
My money is on Time Stop being #1... so many restrictions for so little pay out.
Its still good in Pathfinder (1e) which is based on D&D 3.5. Also because there's no concentration spells you can really buff yourself, summon minions, throw up some prismatic walls etc.
@@30noir I mean, that's a completely different game system, so even if it's good there doesn't mean it's good in 5e
@@cyanic3148 That was my point.
Twice I've run a high level enemy wizard that used time stop, and twice I was quite disappointed with the lackluster result. I might have to make a part 2 to this video.
Aye, I was hoping Matt Mercer’s Dunamancy Rules would have like an improved Time-Stop as it’s so lackluster
Instant Summons does suck, but I think it's cost and high level is to prevent players from scamming people too easily. Imagine if you had Teleport (5th) or Plane Shift (7th). You could easily try to sell off a object worth several thousand gold, leave, than immediately take it back from a safe distance.
The DM could always have the potential buyer inspect the item with a 1st level detect magic spell, but Magic Aura (2nd) level would easily take care of that.
I doubt the developers put THAT much thought into it, but the point is that it has way too much rip-off potential at lower levels and without a significant down-payment first.
My solution to that would not be to make the spell high level and high cost, but instead to make a low level, zero cost spell that can effectively undo it with harsh consequence to whoever tried it. And thus, typical everyday merchants and anyone with a valuable item to protect would have a scroll or two of that spell lying about just in case.
I always thought that it was one of those spells not meant for players, but for NPCs. It's a quick and easy way to explain how the arch wizard found out it was the specific party rogue or powerful bandit leader that the party will be sent after that stole their staff or something.
@@hunterkoons2008 Which would be an even worse excuse for the spell, as DMs are free to make up any magical effect they want, whereas players for the most part have to choose from the options in the books.
@@taylorcampbell4204 it's a quick and easy excuse if the dm wants the magic to stay consistent or work by the book. If the dms regular wizards can cast spells and use magic that a player, no matter how hard they try, can never use, it might feel cheap to some dms and players. Theres a lot of spells mostly intended for dms to use. Anything above 5th level comes to mind for spells designed for dms. It's probably also why wierd is so weak, it's meant for arch wizards that are fighting lower level parties than ones that can access meteor swarm.
You could also use it to kill high level monsters by removing their body parts from their body. It could be used as sort of those bomb necklaces in the Suicide Squad movie plus other movies.
Loved this. Witch bolt is such a cool spell that was so mistreated. I like the changes; hope my dm will consider them...
Also, crown of madness is so bleh that I'm actually really surprised it's not here. Is it just so meh that it's not even worth salvaging?
I initially was going to include crown of madness, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized how powerful it can be. You can make an enemy use up its action to attack its own ally, or you can force an enemy mage to fight in melee with your group's fighter (and suffer an opportunity attack if it tries to run away). It has the potential to seriously ruin the enemy's whole strategy. Yes, it has some major stipulations, but it's only 2nd level. There are multiple ways to break free from it, but once an enemy breaks free, you have already totally wrecked at least one of its turns.
@@esperthebard Yeah, I know why it's so restrictive, I just wish it were less so at a higher level. Haha, it really is such a capable spell. I have actually used it to great effect when I chose to specifically play as a wizard that took less optimal spells to mix things up. I feel like it's on a similar level as earthen grasp, which is very similar to grasping vines but with the actual grasping rather than moving. Earthen grasp is really situational and has a pretty low success rate, but can be so potent if you can grab an enemy and let your front lines just hammer away.
@@esperthebard While all true, I think Crown of Madness doesn't compare favorably to a different spell that does "make the opponent waste actions" better: Hold Person. For the same spell level, the target can't do ANYTHING. No, they won't accidentally hit their allies, but they're basically out of the fight until they save or run out the duration.
@@esperthebard I think you could have fixed Crown of Madness, your suggestions for the other spells were on point. My major problem with CoM is that since the attack has to come before the target's movement or the target gets to act normally, the spell is very situational and easy to nullify.
It's only useful on a crowd of melee enemies that the DM isn't roleplaying as intelligent. If the other enemies just step back out of melee range (a reasonable thing to do, since the literal Crown is visible to them) or if the target uses its movement to back away from its allies (another reasonable action), the spell is useless even if the target fails its saves for the whole duration.
My change would be that the target attacks its closest ally if it can reach this turn. This trades the caster's control for reasonable effectiveness. After all, if it causes madness why would the caster be in control of the effect? If multiple allies are tied for closest then the caster gets to choose, or maybe the DM. This would also allow you to use it on ranged enemies. With this change, nullifying Crown of Madness without the normal options for overcoming spells (make your save, dispell magic, etc) would be the exception, not the rule.
7:43 Is it me, or would True Strike benefit from being cast as a bonus action without being bumped up to a Lv1 Spell? If you can cast it as a bonus action cantrip, suddenly an Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster Rogue, or melee attacking spellcaster like a Paladin can cast this as a bonus action, then attack with advantage until the end of their turn (and yes, open up the classes that can use it, too). Yes, it's still niche, but it's a clearly defined niche that isn't getting it laughed out of the room anymore...
The cost is it being concentration and only affecting your next turn.
Weird and time stop exist to give the DM 9th level spells their villains and cast it on it's much lower lvl players, but then the players look in their player's handbook and say "OH SH!t That's a 9th lvl spell, we gotta get out of here!" then the characters leave without fighting the big bad you made.
What sort of cowardly players do you have at your table? Also, why wouldn't the DM trap them there, or create a situation where they have to fight or something bad happens? In any case, the players shouldn't know how powerful the big bad is until they get into the fight and take a few hits.
Then have them be effects from the statblock
There are, in fact, two cantrips with a bonus action cast time. Shillelagh and Magic Stone.
Blade ward has server me well for legendary casters that are under threat of fighters and barbarians. On their full turn they can cast at that threat while just using one third to halve some incoming damage, then put shield on top of that and the fighters/barbs will have a touch time.
All the more reason for the spell casters to keep in the fray when the BBEGs minions target them
I know I'm late to the party, but the fact that friends upsets another creature is such a confusing feature of the spell. I'm casting the spell on myself not influencing someone else with magic.
0:00 - Intro
2:01 - Blade Ward (C)
3:44 - Friends (C)
5:55 - True Strike (C)
8:05 - Witch Bolt (1)
10:05 - Barkskin (2)
13:12 - Find Traps (2)
14:25 - Flame Blade (2)
16:06 - Ray of Enfeeblement (2)
16:36 - Grasping Vine (4)
17:41 - Drawmij's Instant Summons (6)
19:44 - Mordenkainen's Sword (7)
21:01 - Weird (9)
23:38 - Outro
Time stop is my go-to. Whatever you're thinking it could be useful for, it specifically says you can't do that.
Blade Ward is for characters with low AC.
I actually really like it for my support characters.
Your Blade Ward revision, I'd say makes it worse. It halves damage for at most, two attacks, and uses concentration and possibly your reaction? Why? I understand what you were going for with the concentration for a minute thing, but I think that plays the spell against its best uses!
Support builds like the bard, mastermind rogue, or thief rogue (using healing kits/potions as a bonus action), can make an expedition exponentially more viable during a dangerous encounter. Dodging imposes disadvantage, which is awesome, but if you're almost guaranteed to be hit by an attack (because you have low AC or because the monster that's attacking you is way too powerful), then Blade Ward can be a LIFE SAVER.
Disadvantage vs half damage is a very interesting calculation to consider.
As it is now, the effects of Blade Ward last for a full round, no matter how many attacks come at you in that time, and doesn't take concentration. That means with the damage taken from each attack being halved, you're much more likely to be able to maintain you concentration on an important spell when you're getting hit. Blade Ward is a cantrip for support characters. When you know you're going to get hit, you don't want to lose that big spell, or the slot is wasted!
Low AC = Learn Blade Ward.
Bonus Actions = Learn Blade Ward.
Concentrating = Learn Blade Ward.
Your use case sounds very specific. You're saying that the revised blade ward is worse in situations where your D8 hit die character is guaranteed to be taking multiple hits in one round? In most low level campaigns, if the rogue or bard are regularly taking multiple hits in a single round, they probably aren't staying conscious long enough to fulfill their support role. Also the idea of a Mastermind or a Thief potentially spending a feat in order to take blade ward seems unlikely to me. If your Rogue or Bard doesn't have at least a decent (14-15) AC at low levels, there are better ways to remedy that than spending an action to take less damage. Perhaps use that feat to learn mage armor instead and just get hit less often.
@@K9affirmative I have to agree with Jety, putting concentration and tacking an additional action cost on it just made it worse, all this for one attack plus one per round you can keep concentration and are willing to blow the Reaction on it. Heck most of these "fixes" are along the same way, and rather than address the issue they exacerbate it putting penalties and added costs to them. Hell, Friends is worse than as it was written, as now anyone can notice it, and when they do the bonus is now a penalty, and they are likely going to go hostile then and there.
@@Flecchicutlets anyone can already tell that you're casting friends, because it has material and somatic components. In order to cast friends you have to wave a wand around and speak magic words that anyone (including the person you're influencing) will immediately identify as a spell. The revised version at least removes the material component and makes it so that your target MAY become hostile instead of the current spell where they WILL become hostile 100% of the time.
I’d say the revised version is actually really strong and more of a 1st level spell
Great video, I have applied your suggested changes to some of those spells, while for the others I've used a mix of your suggestions and ideas found on the Web. I'll see how they work. Thanks a lot ^^.
Bark armor is like natural armor. I would keep the concentration check but give you +2 to all concentration checks while the spell is active to reflect the fact that you're unbothered by the light blows upon your hard skin. I agree that changing it to a +2 to armor makes sense.
Good idea, but 5e hates floating modifiers. Advantage is the name of the game if it's not pathfinder.
Good Bard, thank you for this new outlook on magic. It was quite informative. May the Blessed Lady bring you feast, fame, and great fortune.
The revision you did to barkskin I find still makes it less enticing to use than certain spells. For example: shield of faith is one spell level lower, is cast with a bonus action rather than an action, and has a range of 60ft. It achieves the same thing as barkskin (+2 AC), the only drawback is that it lasts 10 minutes rather than an hour and requires concentration.
Weird as a spell should live up to its namesake i.e. when cast on a group of enemies it causes them to do weird things like dancing with each other or being frightened by hallucinations. It'd make for an entertaining experience if you're a caster. The only enemies I'd have immune to it would either be high level or mindless (i.e. undead minions like zombies or skeletons). Just imagine casting it on an orc raiding party and all them start dancing with each other, big harry scary orcs, dancing the tango. Be the best campaign ever or at least the funniest.
I vote for Tenser’s Transformation, the fact that its 6th level, makes it so you cant cast spells while its active and you get a level of exhaustion when its over, AND it only gives you the proficiency in armor and shields, so what I have to carry around a set of full plate to don in a suprise attack or waddle around weaker armor that im not proficient in? I would at least think it create a magic set of armor out of force that is on you when it is cast would be nice.
If you wear armor that you are not proficient in, you cannot cast spells that have somatic components. At all.
Witch bolt was my wizlock’s signature spell for a while (I went for theme, not sense), and our eldritch knight was quite fond of it as well. It SUCKED. I was SO GLAD to learn Lightning Bolt.
Quick changes
Bladeward- change casting to bonus action
Truestrike- change casting to bonus action
Having it as a bonus action, lets you cast a regular spell as an action. Then follow up with this as a bonus action.
No, casting a spell as a bonus action prevents you from casting a non-cantrip spell as an action, even if the bonus action spell is a cantrip.
@@MadSwedishGamer crawford states: Casting a bonus action spell means no other spells that turn BUT a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
By crawfords ruling. I can bonus action cast a spell(in this case true strike/bladeward) then as my action cast another cantrip that uses an action.
I really like all of the fixes, except for the True Strike one. What we did with True Strike was keeping it both as a cantrip and an action, still concentration until 1 minute. However, it just gives advantage on the next attack roll against the target, no other unnecessary whamys. It may be from you (Spiritual Weapon as a bonus), or it may be from someone else (your Barbarian or something, who you grant this because the enemy is inmune against your fire spells)
Man, I’m so glad I’m not alone in thinking a lot of these spells are just poorly designed. I mean, Eyebite is a 6th level spell that’s objectively worse than a basic Bestow Curse
I am not sure what your smoking here, but Eyebite is much better than Bestow Curse, for example, Bestow Curse is range TOUCH, Eyebite can be used from 60ft away, second, Bestow Curse is one time thing, you cast it, if they make the save nothing happens, spell done, and even if they fail, only applies that one effect on one creature, Eyebite you can use every round to hit same or different target for the entire duration, giving you up to 10 effects with a single casting of the spell.
I just feel like the effects themselves of Eyebite are pretty lame. Sure it may have better range, duration, etc, but I would much rather just homebrew 6th level Bestow Curse to have those mechanics whilst still having its more creative, interesting effects
The only change I'd do on the True Strike cantrip is to make it work like a help action that can be used on yourself or on an ally from range and only works on attack rolls. Even tho True Strike is situational, I think sorcerers can make it work pretty well with quickened spells.
Ypu know or just use help action
@@lorekeeper685 you can't use a help action from range, you can't quicken it with a sorcerer meta magic
True strike can be good for magic users that use high level spell slots to make magic attack rolls. Prevents you from wasting the spell twice, giving you twice the odds of hitting.
If you're a high level mage, why are you making attack rolls?
@@lostinthedark7001 I dont think you read OP's comment correctly. It can be good if you use a high level spell slot for a spell that makes an attack roll.
Can you provide an example of such a spell?
can you cast it on someone else maybe?
@@palazard95 chromatic orb, witch bolt, acid arrow, scorching ray, ice knife, crown of stars, shadow blade is a possibility? there's probably more but i cant be bothered to search.
Some of my simple solutions:
Blade Ward - just give it all of the benefits of the Dodge Action on top of its existing benefits.
True Strike - remove concentration and let it give you advantage on all of your attacks against the target until the target dies.
Witch Bolt - change it to a Bonus Action to cause the damage, extend the range out to 60ft, and any movement that moves the enemy farther away from you costs them double (okay, this one isn't as simple).
Barkskin - remove concentration and change the duration to 8 hours.
Find Traps - gives advantage on skill checks to find traps, advantage on saving throws to avoid traps, and resistance to the damage from traps.
This is just my opinion...but honestly the actual "necromancy" spells in the game that result in raising or animating undead can often be underwhelming, frustrating, or kind of tedious to do .
I understand some reasons why it's the case for the DMs sake to avoid headaches and unconsciously have to deal with the "hassle" of having it in a "good" party...but to be honest there are other ways to do these things to say the least.
I honestly always try to homebrew with my DMs necromancy spells, rituals, and rules to make up for this...and honestly it has a lot of potential to be a fun, if dark path of magic.
I don't have as much of a problem with the dead animation spells as such. I just kind of wish there were more of them, and that they could be used more broadly. For example, a Necromancer can't create undead minions until fifth level. The ability to create smaller undead, like crawling claws or floating heads/skulls, would have been nice. A while back, I came up with the idea of a reflavored Spiritual Weapon, that animates a cloud of ashes (taken from an intelligent creature) for a minute, letting you attack for necrotic damage with a bonus action. (Then again, I think Wizards need more spells that make use of their bonus actions in general, and thought up a different Spiritual Weapon re-flavor that animates an existing weapon, that flies around and attacks people; basically a Flying Sword except in spell form).
For existing necromancy spells, I think Animate Dead should be able to animate certain kinds of non-humanoids. Things like dead dogs, horses, or the like. They'd still use the Skeleton or Zombie stat blocks, for simplicity's sake, since a zombie dog isn't going to be that more capable than a zombie human.
Separate from the issue of animating corpses, I think Necromancy could use some spells for summoning incorporeal undead. Specters as a base, but up to things like Ghosts, Wraiths, Sword Wraiths, and even more esoteric undead stat blocks you could devise specifically for the spell. Things like "Damned Soul" or "Martyred Soul", that would be useful if you gave these spells to Clerics and Warlocks as well.
Loving the intro to the video. It is such a bummer when something fits the concept, personality, tastes, and or circumstances of your character, but are poorly designed.
Like Inquisitive Rogues, for example. The Eye for Detail is only useful rarely, in combat, to make a Perception check to try and spot a target that is hiding as a bonus action to free up your action for something like an attack, but other than that, it is useless. I did that once and that was it. I also used Eye for Detail during the tail end of a combat to get started investigating for clues while the party wrapped combat up, but it just looked silly to the other players, since players can always just wait until after combat to use things like investigation.
And then the other thing, Ear for Deceit, is goofy garbage. It only effects Sense Motive, and it only bumps up a roll of less than a 7 on the die to a 7, before modifiers, which means it only applies to one type of skill check, Sense Motive, and only against deception, and even then, it only is applicable to rolls of less than 7, so it is only applicable to 30% of Sense Motive rolls against Deception.
But even worse, it only bumps up a less than 7 die roll, to a mere 7, so sometimes, it provides too little a boost to benefit, and then sometimes, because Sense Motive vs Deception is a contested roll, the enemy might roll so low that even rolling less than 7 on your d20 is enough to beat their Deception roll, so you don't need or benefit from this ability. It has such a tiny window of only benefiting you if you roll low enough to just miss beating the opposed roll, but not so low that a small boost to your total doesn't help.
And worse, it becomes literally obsolete and unused when your rogue reaches level 11, and get reliable Talent, which completely supercedes this ability, by taking all skill rolls (which includes Sense Motive) of less than 10 (a number greater than 7) and counts your d20 roll as 10 (again, greater than 7) before modifiers. Its as if the designer or designers didn't even look at or think of the base class when designing this joke of a subclass ability. It literally gets rendered pointless at level 11 of the base class. A level 11 rogue of any class, can, and likely will, be just as good as an Inquisitive at Sense Motive to see through Deception.
What are worthless subclass. It sounds cool, it's a cool concept, but what a joke. Some people love it, because it seems cool, the abilities have really thematic names and target scopes, but they just don't deliver, or benefit much. When I played a rogue Inquisitive in Andventurers League, the only time I ever got anything out of the subclass, over several sessions, was one time, I used Eye for Detail to spot, and then attack, a hiding enemy. Maybe I marked the target with a spell, I can't remember if I had a level of cleric and guiding bolt then, or just used like Faerie Fire. I swapped for Mastermind before hitting 5th, it rocks. Almost too much. 2 bonus languages (more useful for investigation than pointlessly investigating in the middle of combat), ability to help as a bonus action, with a range of 30 feet, cool support.
Sorry for the rant. I started off wanting to just comment and compliment you, but then I thought of an example, and elaborated on it.
True strike, as a cantrip, should be more along the lines of this:
As an action, you begin to predict every move your target makes. They have disadvantage to hit you until the end of your next turn, and you gain advantage on any attacks you make.
This seems like a huge swing, but it only applies when you are the target. It's great for close casting mages that physically attack, as it gives them a way to stay fighting, plus, if they have a way to, it removes the concentration aspect altogether. Combined with your new blade ward, and an effective close combat mage could be made
True Strike just needs some really good high level spells with attack rolls. There just aren't any in the game right now.
A True Strike modification I've considered; it's the same Action to cast and concentration, however instead of Advantage on your next attack, it's automatically a Natural 20.
Now, that would be interesting...
That would be OP.
@@30noir agreed. An automatic hit would be cool, though.
@@kayrupe125 Yeah but if you cast it on your half orc barbarian it could mean an extra 5d12... and its a cantrip.
@@30noir True Strike only works on yourself. While under the Rage effect you can't cast spells. You give up an entire action to gain one Natural 20 (and for fighter types with extra attacks that's giving up a lot). Smart enemies can target you to try and make you lose concentration. You have to pick who your attacking when you cast it, and they may not be in range on your next turn.
Personally I would make instant summons able to bond to an item or group of items up to a limit of 1000 lbs. Additionally any creature can summon the items with the sapphire and command word. When the items are summoned the summoner can have them appear in a specific order or arrangement, such as using the spell to conjure a set of full plate and a greatsword that the character instantly dons, or conjuring a loaded catapult.
The limit of 1000 lbs means large siege engines cannot be summoned but any set of armor and weapons can, so the wizard can give this to his fighter friend so if they are ambushed at the party he can conjure his weapon and armor.
You just created a way more interesting version of the spell with such a simple change.
The weight cap limits exploiting, but the "specific order or arrangement" gives a lot of options. You would have to specify some limit on how freely the summoner can shape the item(s). Could I summon some clay in a form of complex statue and separating moisture to harden it? Having examples like the intant armor don is a good idea.
I'm already theorycrafting a bomb using this spell. it really makes you think of clever ways to use it, unlike the vanilla version.
Good video. You use a lot of Magic the Gathering artwork. I like that I know who they are "Oh that's Jace, That's Liliana" etc.
My players learned to hate True Strike. I had an army of orcs that had a selection of cantrips and their scouts would have True Strike (The PCs would eventually learn the Orc's winter retreat for their animals was a set of magical hot springs that they then drank and bathed in for months, granting small traces of magic). On their flying mounts, they would strafe the party then take a round or 2 to get back into position for another strafe; plenty of time to recast True Strike. This partially made up for taking up to 3 rounds to attack again and the weakness of a flying mount going down that high up; now my orcs hit essentially every time.
There's a problem with your true strike fix, and that is that it becomes ridiculously strong on Arcane Trickster since the rogue will be able to get sneak attack regardless of what they do. Sure they need to spend a bonus action, but so does inquisitive rogue(and the target creature can save against inq rogue with a deception check). Not sure how I would fix it, I'd probably just remove concentration and allow the ignoring of cover to make it a spell that you cast on big hp monsters or bosses for drawn-out fights, so they'd still sacrifice and action.
This version is a 1st level spell, not a cantrip.
Witch Bolt breaks my heart every time I look at it. It's force lightning! But it's rubbish, too.
Dammit!
My biggest peeve with witch bolt was the limited range. Otherwise my warlock seriously made it a scary spell
Friends was always to me about the reaction chart. Rather than advantage it makes the spellcaster less of a threat or danger rather than straight up advantage. Turns hostiles to neutral to allow for an escape.
I had already made a bunch of these changes. My changes to Barkskin and Flame Blade were exactly the same as yours. In general, I think all spells should scale with level, unless there is no way to do it. It's lame to have spells "go obsolete." This is MAGIC.
I was thinking about true strike just a couple days ago, and I believe it is meant to neutralize disadvantage. Because if you do the maths, any attack roll that has less than 50% chance to hit is less likely to hit at least once out of two tries, than with true strike and one try (over 50% it's still better to try twice though). You also probably dont want to try higher level spell attacks twice, because of the spell slots, so that's another use. I realize my point is basically that it's good in certain builds and situations, but still, I think that's something people might not consider when talking about true strike.
I like your list and changes, but I would like to add: I think many of those mediocre concentration spells were intended for a spellcaster to buff an ally that uses melee, while the one concentrating stays back. I could be incorrect, but it would make more sense if that was the intent.
1) Blade Ward: Niche but not bad. You can use it to tank traps that you cant find or have not a familiar to trigger. Also is good to run away from a difficult situation where you would be otherwise dead. Problem is that if you have high AC is better to just use dodge unless its a saving throw spell.
2) Friends: This cantrip is a joke. I loved your version.
3) True Strike: Is a really bad cantrip, but i understand that giving advantage on attacks for free is too strong. The way you make it players will just keep spamming every fight. I would change it to no concentration and that it lasts until you lose sight of the target.
4) Witch Bolt: Not weak at all specially bc most enemies wouldnt know about the range restrictions, but if you are against a mage or inteligent creature its pretty bad. I like that you give it more range. Other option could be that the spell doesnt end unless you lose concentration so if the creature doesnt have ranged options it can only either run away or attack you to make you lose concentration.
5) Bark Skin: I dont know why you couldnt benefit from using a shield. It says you AC cant be less than 16 not that it cant be higher, lets say with plate armor for example. However, i agree that it is a underwhelming spell that in most cases is worst than mage armor. I think it could have more flavor instead of flat out bonuses. Something like turning your blood into poison sap or a Shedding bark skin that protects you from any other effects that require direct contat with your body.
6) Find Traps: Raw it is pretty useless and vague since you cant really tell that what is right in front of you is a trap. Good changes tho.
7) Since ray of enfeeblement does no damage, you can miss and lose a spell slot and the target will get rid of the effect without wasting resouces, i think it deserve another buff. It should give disadvantage to spellcasters maintain concentration on spells.
8) Grasping vine: I cant belive this is a 4th level spell...
9) Instant summon: Make it so you know if the item is on another's person possession by just touching the saphire, so you dont crush it needlesly. Also make the object elegible for divination spells through the gem.
10) Mordekaisens Sword: i have a version of this one.
*Only the description of the spell was changed.
You create a sword-shaped plane of force that hovers within range, atacking your enemies, mimicking the swordmanship of a long forgotten warrior. It lasts for the duration.
When the sword appears, you make a melee spell attack against a target of your choice within 5 feet of the sword. On a hit. the target takes 3d10 force damage. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your next turns to move the sword up to 20 feet to a spot you can see and repeat this attack against the same target or a different one. The creature currently being attacked by this spell, triggers oportunity attacks from Mordenkainen's Sword. Opportunity attacks deal only half the spell damage.
Each consecutive time Mordenkainen's Sword make a attack roll against the same target, it expands the crit range by 1. When the target changes, the sword's crit range resets.
11) Weird: I would dramaticaly increase the effect area so you can literally cause mass hysteria and fear on entire cities or armies.
For the Instant Summons spell, the sapphire is not consumed in the casting of the spell. So it's like Identify in that you need it, but not like Raise Dead where it consumes it. So, yeah, it's a 1000 gp item to cast, but you can cast it repeatedly without spending more money. Plus by the time you can cast 6th level spells, a 1000 gp spell focus isn't too bad. Also, Fabricate and the Jewelcrafting skill would probably allow you to reassemble the gem to use again.
Also, at worst, if the fabricate doesn't work that way, you still have 1000 gp worth of dust.
I think you miss enthrall. For spells that only needed a little push you could have mentioned how enthrall is just a 2nd level spell slot that amounts to basically talking to someone to distract them. Plus the spell says you say some weird stuff to distract and your using somatic components. Go up to someone and start casting any spell and you have successfully distracted them, and got arrested.
Making Truestrike a lvl 1 spell means that if you're of a class that can prepare spells, you can just pick a different one later. Something to consider because I think at higher levels I'd be spamming this spell alot alongside my magical attacks
Thank you for the video!
I am always late to the party...
But here is my thoughts on Shillelagh. It is technically attack cantrip that does not scale with level increasing. My simple thoughts: make the weapon magical +1 on level 5, +2 on level 11, +3 on level 17. Also if the weapon had versatile feature it damage become d8 (versatile d10).
P.S. Can we, by the way, had more range cantrips for Druid that can hit targets more than 30 feet away? ...Just rumbling a bit...
Blade Ward lasts until the end of your next turn, meaning it works for two turns. So if you are a melee type, or worried about opportunity attacks, or maybe concerned about the fact that the guys with the swords are getting rather close, you have an option to mitigate damage. Technically you could cast this, then while still benefiting from it also take the dodge action next turn. It's not the most powerful, but it is a defensive cantrip, and it always works.
I've never understood the issue people have with Find Traps. There are already rules for whether a spell can act through cover or environment. The spell tells you there are traps, and what kind of trap they are (if its a pit trap, its on the floor, wall trap, look at the walls, etc.) the spell doesn't need to say it gives advantage, because those are the perfect circumstances for any DM with half a brain to give people advantage when looking for traps.
Another alternative to true strike might be do 2x damage to the next rounds strike (kinda like being able to pick out where the vital body parts will be) on top of the current effect.
With the revision barkskin is worse than shield of faith in some cases, shield of faith has the same effect, only without a maximum cap, is a first level spell, but requires concentration up to an hour. Barkskin revised is a second level spell with an AC cap. The only one up I see from revised barkskin is no concentration.
Friends is great the way it is. It just needs to be used on enemies that aren't hostile yet, people you won't ever see again, or with disguise self/kit to possibly turn NPCs against each other. The spell is honestly great, it's negative effects have potential to be incredibly useful.
Not for nothing, but you can pop Blade Ward & True Strike while preparing for battles, especially if you know when the battle would be taking place. Going into a 1v1 Type situation, cast either before you enter and you would be set. Yes, they're situational but so are a lot of other spells.
The only way to truly fix "Find Traps" and get the most fun out of the game is to ELIMINATE IT altogether. Great video, I DLed the PDF and will show it to my players. Thanks!
why not make true strike a cantrip that you can cast on other people that ads 1D4 to an attack roll. like gidance for attacks?
It didn't run the stats on it but it might be because the d4 doesn't add as much value as another d20. Are you more likely to hit with the extra d4 on attack roll, or with advantage. You do have a bigger chance to crit with 2 d20.
I'm not against the idea but some tweaks to the appel would have to make it cost less. For example no concentration and at range (guidance is touch). Maybe, if it was like blees in the numbers of people you could affect with it, it would be better. In that case it would become a 1st lvl spell. Casted at higher lvls you could add more people to its effect.
Another idea would be to make it a bonus action cast time and put the sleep mechanic we're you have to roll dice + wisdom mod (divine spell) and that's the total of allied hit points you can affect with it.
I'd be interested in people joining this conversation :)
Cheers and happy gaming
@@DDoom33 Advantage is effectively a +5, but in this case +1d4 is better as there are somany things that give advantage in the game already and it cant stack. by making it a 1d4 you cand aim or hide to get advantage and then use it for a +1d4.
You dont want it to be a first level spell which means it cant be a bonus.
Id give it a range of 15ft and 1 target.
Barkskin is useful for if you're caught off-guard out of uniform, like night time attacks. Flame Blade is also useful you're doing 2d6 more damage then a regular Scimitar, & if you're caught without your weapons then like Shadow Blade, you've got an Instant WEAPON
OK... honestly, Barkskin, Grasping Vine and Mordenkeinen's Sword were the first spells I homebrewed when I started 5e
9th Level Spells!
Wish-Alter Reality in any number of ways.
True Resurrection-Nobody's ever really gone.
Power Word Heal-Yeah, full restore that pokemon.
Power Word Kill-Yeah, cyanide capsule that pokemon.
Gate-Go to heaven, but like as a vacation.
True Polymorph-So you're just, like, a badger now.
Psychic Scream-I think i'm a pretty good singer, he was so impressed he exploded his head.
Weird-It's pretty great, ya know, if you combo it.
here is a simple divination cantrip 1) it predicts where the opponent is going to strike 2) it cost 1 action 3)it raises your armor class by 2
I'm using Find Traps simply the same way you would use Detect Magic or Grave Clerics Eyes of the Grave. Your vision simply enhances and you see traps highlighted by a some kind of a magical light
Blade Ward = If you have time before a battle takes place, cast it & during the 1st round of combat, you'll have Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing & Slashing damage. Not to mention, since it's a Cantrip, you could cast a Spell that's a Bonus Action like Shadow Blade.
Friends = It has a lot of OOC applications, and then in the hands of a Level 14+ Enchanter Wizard, you can cast it without worrying about the one you did it to to become hostile.
True Strike = This is also a very situational Cantrip, however, if you going to be going into a situational that you'd be in a position to somewhat dictate the start of the combat, then cast this before combat starts. Hell, since it's only requires somatic component (hand movement), if you're in a conversation or negotiations and it looks like thing's going south, have your hands under the table & cast this spell. Or hell, cast it on the Rogue in your party & they can deal Sneak Attack Damage should their first attack hit
Witch Bolt = A somewhat stronger Eldritch Blast, because while you're concentrating you can automatically deal 1d12+ Lightning Damage (x = 1d12 per Slot Level used above 1st, so once the Warlock gets to having 5th Level Slots, that's 6d12 Lightning Damage that can be automatically dealt during the concentration.
Barkskin = If you're attacked during Long Rests, which usually happens during the night, you're NOT going to have your Armor on. Unarmored & not a Monk or a Barbarian then your AC is 10+Dex Mod. Which even if you have a 20 Dex, you're AC will be 15. Barkskin makes it so that you're AC no matter what will be 16. Yeah, it's only a 1 AC increase but that can be useful for the Druid who would be out of their armor & before they're able to Wild Shape (if they still have any uses left) & the Ranger who would also be without their armor on.
Find Traps = Entering a area that probably is trapped, being able to figure out if it's actually trapped or not is helpful
Flame Blade = If you're in a position where you don't have your weapons, a free weapon, which deals 2d6 more damage then a regular Scimitar. Fire Damage can also help.
Ray of Enfeeblement = Causing the opponent to deal only 1/2 damage on all Strength based Attacks.... Paladins, Barbarians, Clerics, certain Fighters would be screwed. A lot of creatures also deal Strength based Attacks.
Grasping Vine = Watch Critical Role, you'll find uses FOR this spell. Translation = Use thy Imagination.
Drawmij’s Instant Summons = If you have good Slight of Hand or roll high enough, you can do an instant theft during a time when no one is really paying attention.
Mordenkainen’s Sword = See Flame Blade, also 3d10 Force Damage & can then have it attack using Bonus Actions....
Weird = 4d10 Psychic Damage each time they fail... & depending on the DM, you might be able to convince them that the affected creatures would be too busy dealing with their Nightmares to be able to do much of anything else.
So I guess one could use instant summons in order to retrieve items that he lost due to magical or nonmagical michieves like breaking a bag of holding or having left those items on a sinking ship leaving tham being on the floor of the ocean. They probably didn't want players to just abandon their stuff knowing they could magically get it back later.
If you make the Barkskin, that it just gives you a +2 to AC, there are Level1 spells that does that already in other class lists, like Ceremony and Shield of Faith, and don't forget the Shield spell. I would have changed the spell to be a Ritual instead, with 1-10 min casting, that raises your Natural Armor instead like in the Mage Armor spell. And I would also make it that At higher level slot would increase by 1, L5=17, L7=18 and L9=19 AC. But there wont be anyone who would spend their lvl7 slots and above just for this, but it still gives you a better option for this spell to look for. But Hey, that's my opinion ...
Also I agree that the weird spell is too weak to be a L9 spell, I would have dropped it to 8th level instead, because the only way to make a combo with the weird spell is by Sickening Radiance for AoE effects, or with Bestow Curse for a Boss fight. I don't think that there is anyone who is willingly put the weird spell on their spell list. It's just so weak, you could just cast a Phantasmal Killer at a 9th level slot a do so much more.
Also I agree for the Blade Ward spell, it should be a Reaction.
The Friends cantrip shouldn't let your enemy you cast a spell on them. Or it should at least be more like the Quen sign from the Witcher series.
True Strike is THE-WORST-SPELL....EVER! uses your action and your concentration. the only way for True Strike to work somehow, is if it was used by an Arcane Trickster when he is hiding and on surprise rounds ONLY. To make it a Bonus Action spell is a good call.
I would like to make some space here to speak about an other spell that I don't see the point to even exist.
That is the level 2 spell Continual Flame. This spell is just a flaming torch to light your path. It uses your Action, needs Material components along with a small amount of your money(50gp), and it lasts until dispelled. But it does NOTHING! literally Nothing. You could just cast the Control Flames and Dancing Lights, or even better the Light cantrip, if you want to see in the darkness or dim light, and they cost you nothing, and they also let your hands free, while in the Continual Flame, you mast cast it on an object, so someone must hold to it right?! This spell shouldn't exist at all in my opinion.
I would have to disagree though about the Drawmij's Instant Summon spell. If you think about it, the spell can be dispelled only if you cast the Dispel Magic spell ON the Sapphire, but not the Item or object the spell was cast upon. Which means, if you are smart or witty enough you could also summon a Greater Artifact in that way, like If you and your party don't have much time to escape, and your wizard(s), don't have any teleportation spell prepared, or even if you don't possess a Bag of Holding or anything similar for that account, you can just flee, and whenever you feel like it, you can summon that powerful item in your hands. I believe that is the reason why they also put it as a Level6 spell.
Although I'm saying that, I just had to notice how much the L4 spell Leomund's Secret Chest and Drawmij's Instant Summon spell, have a great similarity on their usage. Maybe you can analyze this spell some time in the future.
Also I would love to see a Radiant based spell on the Level 9 spell list at some point, even though I can always cast Crown of Stars at 9th level, and also Prismatic Wall is the most powerful spell, it can even destroy Antimagic Fields.
I like most of these fixes. Everyone has a different thing they want out of Truestrike, so I dont like this one, but I understand it. Your barkskin fix sounds like Shield of Faith, but without concentration, and a max AC cap.
For witch bolt I would just make it so that when you up cast it you can target a number of creatures equal to the level of the spell used to cast it. Then i think that makes the range, concentration, and action economy worth it if I can deal auto damage to multiple creatures
My changes:
Blade Ward: Make it a bonus action.
Friends: Eh, yours is good.
True Strike: Alternatively, you can make it a flat one minute buff.
Witch Bolt: Yours is good.
Bark Skin: Exactly what I was thinking.
Find Traps: I agree.
Flame Blade: That works better
Ray of Enfeeblement: Yep.
Grasping Vine: Okay.
Drawmij's Instant Summons: still not a spell I'd take, but I can't think of how to make it better.
Mordenkainen's Sword: What I was thinking too.
Weird: I would have made Weird have 1 of 10 random things happen.
1. Strength decreases by 1d4.
2. Dexterity decreases by 1d4.
3. Constitution decreases by 1d4.
4. Intelligence decreases by 1d4.
5. Wisdom decreases by 1d4.
6. Charisma decreases by 1d4.
7. Attacks nearest ally.
8. Paralyzed with fear (dropping all items) for one round.
9. 10 d8 psychic damage.
10. Plane shifted to one of the elemental planes chosen randomly.
Blade ward, true strike and flame blade work pretty well with a level 7 eldritch knight because of the war magic ability.
People always say that bonus action True Strike will make it OP, but I disagree, it just gives casters something to do with their bonus action every round and it becomes a serious consideration for their cantrips instead of the usual
EDIT: Just realized that you could balance the AT exploit by wording it like "when you roll an attack roll, instead roll two dice and pick either total" It's literally advantage without the mechanical term so that they can't sneak attack off it
where this might actually become a problem are arcane tricksters.
They already get spellcasting and are arguably the best rogue.
With true strike, they can guarantee advantage every round, for just the cost of a bonus action (no cunning action sucks, but still).
This is the main advantage of playing an assassin. With this, they are basically completely outclassed
Especially if you keep it as a concentration spell, I agree. Yes, no one will ever lose concentration on the spell because they'll use it before the end of their turn, but it means you can't have another persistent effect up at the same time, or you'd have to replace it with true strike. BA true strike really benefits arcane trickster, but not in a bad way because the rogue has a significant opportunity cost for using BA. Fighters and pallys might go for arcane initiate to get it, but it only benefits the first attack, so it's good, but far from broken in my mind.
@@aldoushuxley5953 true, makes it an auto-take for the Trickster, though it doesn't really change what they do round-to-round with hiding, (but I guess that at least has some possibility of failing)
but also the same thing with the UA Cunning Action Aim, which literally just gives them advantage on their next attack this turn (but also movement penalties), but that is UA
as long as it keeps being a concentration spell I don't see much of a problem either. But if you remove the concentration requiriment it's just a free advantage for arcane caster.
It could be quite strong on the Arcane Trickster tho.
@Lance Clemings dunno the other guys, but I wasn't talking about Bard's version of True Strike but the OP version.
I do prefer tho my version of it, where it's basically a ranged help action.
I always liked imagining how I could rebalance a spell/item from whatever game I'm playing, and the good thing about DnD is that you can just do it like that, while WoW+ will always stay in your head unless you are a coder competent enough to maintain a large private server, which almost everyone is not.
Flame blade looks even worse when you compare it to Shadow Blade, a 2nd level spell that uses a bonus action to conjur a shadow sword that does 2d8 psychic damage and uses only a bonus action to cast, using concentration. If upcast, it becomes a 3d8 sword, which, if paired with an EK build, means a 13th level EK can be doing 9d8+Strength modifier damage per turn, doubled to 18d8 if they action surge.
True Strike: give it range of 300 feet with concentration and castable as bonus action at end of your turn.
So the last thing you do on a turn is fixate on your enemy and on your next turn, you have advantage.
If you don't have other bonus actions, that just becomes a flat advantage on first attack each turn. That's way too much for a cantrip.
@@yargolocus4853 no. You have to maintain concentration from round to round. The limit comes from the fact that you can't cast the spell as a bonus action unless it's the last thing you do on your turn.
"There are so few situations in which True Strike is useful."
The very next spell entry
"You have to hit with your spell attack or it doesn't work at all."
"Unless you combine it with a way to get advantage on that first attack..."
I know it doesn't invalidate your point in general, but I did find the juxtaposition funny.
Edit: I had it wrong. See Ben's comment below.
Lol, yeah.
Though I suppose you could say that's one of those few & is a pretty good use.
You lose concentration on True Strike the moment you start casting Witch Bolt another concentration spell and therefore don't get the advantage.
@@aceofspace14 Huh. You're right. Good catch.
I guess I assumed that concentration only began after the spell already hit, but the spell doesn't specify that. By RAW, it just barely doesn't work.
I retract my statement.
@@nessesaryschoolthing by RAW, it exactly very doesn't work.
@@anthonynorman7545 Thank you, sir
My nitpick
1) Blade ward.
What triggers the reaction for blade ward ?
Esper the Bard says you must choose if you use your reaction on this or something else. But if there is no trigger then there is no problem. Just wait until right before your next tern, if nothing else comes up then you can re-activate blade ward without worrying about using up your reaction.
2) Friends
Making someone your enemy can be advantageous in its own right. And a low level charm spell that has negative aftereffects leaves openings for higher level spells or sub-class abilities that don't have those same negatives.
Re: Mordekainen's sword, Bigby's hand is a better spell in every sense, even than your upgraded version. 5th level, uses bonus action, moves 60 feet a turn, 4d8 force punch that scales 2d8/level, and it can grab, push, or block as needed. Amazingly versatile spell and upcasting it to 7th level gives 8d8 force damage on a bonus action.
I always thought Abjuration needed a better Cantrip. One that's both flavorful and useful. So I created one myself.
Barrier/Minute Barrier/Minor Barrier: A concentration spell that lasts for 1 minute. Creates a 1 inch thick plane of force up to 5 foot square, in a space you can see within 30 ft. The barrier is transparent, and has an AC of 10 (or 10 + your spellcasting mod, I never decided) and 5 HP. At the normal character level thresholds (5th, 11th, and 17th), the barrier's HP increases by 5.
The function, obviously, is to create a small wall that can provide cover and block aggressors. But it's hardly an unbreakable obstruction, because it's a Cantrip. Against a single opponent with a normal weapon - such as when blocking a doorway or raised against a sniper - it could last a turn or two. That few turns (or more, if the attacks fail or do little damage), though, could be the difference between life and death.
There should probably also be some clause in the spell description about the barrier taking damage if it's bearing more than a couple hundred pounds of weight, to keep it from being abused _too much_ as an improvised platform.
@Lance Clemings Attacks that carry on to another nearby creature if the damage exceeds the original target's remaining HP is an optional rule in the DMG. So whether or not that would happen with this Cantrip depends on whether the DM uses that rule.
Also, thank you for the complement. I tried to make a Cantrip that would be useful enough to employ, without being broken.
What do you guys think about false life compared with spells like cure wounds or armor of agathys? I think it deserved to be in this list.
Drawmij’s instant summons
(Laughs in conjuration wizard)
What good is Feign Death? The only reason I've considered it is that it seems to fit the flavor of a grave domain cleric.
Change True Strike to a flat +10 bonus; that's what I do. If that seems too powerful, make it never critical. If it seems too weak change the bonus to 10+1/2 caster level, rounded down.
I think Instant Summons and Weird still need a bit of a buff? Weird especially, with it being a 9th level spell. But not being as universe altering as say, Wish or as devastating as meteor swarm.
I think Witch Bolt could also be fixed a bit by just making the secondary damage into a bonus action to trigger like with moving a Flaming Sphere. Would that be OP?
I'm guessing they under powered true strike to make up for it's +20 to hit in 3.5, which is a crazy bonus for a 1st level spell. Also, weird in 3.5 was a very powerful spell. Sucks that they nerfed it so much. They need to bump the level down.
I also found Mordenkainen's Sword quite a bit underpowered, though I changed it up differently. I kept the concentration, because I have three Wizards in my group of players and they're pretty OP at juggling different concentration spells to do the same thing, taking off concentration is going to really screw with my games. What I did was allowed it to be up-cast, and instead of simply increasing damage of the sword, each higher level gave them another sword, which they could use to target the same or different targets. Also I increased the range.
the one problem with your barkskin is for druids if the creature has a low AC like 11 or 12 then it will only bump it up to 13 or 14 instead of 16
True Strike:
Arcane Trickster,
or
Magic Initiate Rogue,
Cunning Action (Hide), Blade Ward.
Move, Free Advantage Sneak Attack, Cunning Action (Disengage)
True Strike: why not leave it as a cantrip and phrase it in a way where it either "requires a weapon attack" (like booming blade) or "can use a bonus action to attack after casting" (like spiritual weapon, but without the prolonged duration) + the attack has advantage?
(heavily paraphrased)
Make Weird paralyzed with fear on a failed save its a 9th level spell.
another version on of my dm did was make it a 9th lvl spell but do that it does +5 to crit rolls for 1 minute on the dice ,since i was a spellsword... it was kinda effective
What happens if someone has barkskin on them and 18ac then casts shield or has haste cast upon them? can their AC still not exceed 18? Would the spell fail?
Would AC calculation not factor the +2?