One of my most favourite builds of all time is the swashbuckler/bladesinger. Coz these have perfect synergy with each other and BOOMING BLADE. Just 2 levels in wizard gets you booming blade(which stacks with sneak attack) and find familiar which is great for a rogue and bladesong!! Swashbuckler lets you get out of melee without taking an opportunity attack. Bladesinger gets you extra movement speed. So you can get close to an enemy, hit them, and move away forcing them to move towards you to attack It's freagin perfect
I'd rather let the lineage choice do the AoO prevention for me rather than take a 3-level dip out of Wizard. Variant human gets you Mobile, and Goblin gets you bonus action disengage, which you're not usually using with a Wizard, anyway
I guess as long as your DM never reads the Booming Blade description, this can keep up. But this will likely end if the word “willingly” gets noticed by your DM. To quote Jeremy Crawford: “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD”
@@TiasVsEverything Dissonant whispers forces it to use it's reaction to move, it is *willing* movement, even according to sage advice. If you use suggestion or command to make it move, you are magically making it choose to willingly move, you are controlling it's willful action
@@punishedwhispers1218 Was this changed? Jeremy Crawford posted in 2016 that Booming Blade doesn't trigger with Dissonant Whispers because its not considered willing movement. But if it goes to move on its turn after the reaction movement, it will then trigger. Again unless this was updated after 2016.
@@Dave004 He contradicts himself. Dissonant Whispers provokes attack of opportunity because it's considered 'willing movement', so yes, I guess cuckford did
The official ruling in 2015 was that the secondary damage does not trigger "automatically," but rather they can choose to remain where they were instead of ... whatever else they were going to do with their movement. Remember, the opportunity attack happens as they turn their back, but before they move out of your reach. This is assuming they are in control of their movement, as when they use their movement on their turn. If you use dissonant whispers on your turn to get the opportunity attack, then they must continue moving away, but the secondary damage of booming blade would not trigger (the spell specifies willing movement). However, they still experience a dilemma when their turn comes around. They can stand there doing nothing, or move back to the fight, thus triggering the secondary damage. There's also some interesting GM fiat on whether the creature has the intelligence to recognize the booming blade effect, but the spell description indicates a clearly discernible magical barrier that they'd have to move through. It's not much of a stretch to say most creatures can recognize a sheath of booming energy as dangerous.
Dissonant Whispers provokes opportunity attacks, meaning it is not forced movement, and I would say it qualifies as willing movement, as you are causing the target to WANT to flee from you. For that reason, I would rule that Booming Blade would still deal the extra damage.
Willing Movement is Movement that requires an Action, Dissonant Whispers triggers Booming Blades secondary damage because the creature used it's Reaction to move. Forced movement would be a knockback such as Thunderwave. Thunderwave will not cause the secondary damage of Booming Blade to trigger due to being knocked back.
@@T0beyeus There are 3 types of movement: Willing Movement - the creature chooses to move of their own volition Unwilling Movement - a spell or effect compels a creature to move e.g. Compulsion, Confusion, Dissonant Whispers. Forced Movement - a spell or effect moves a creature e.g. Thunderwave, having a bridge collapse under you. BB only triggers on the first for arbitrary game-balance reasons.
Booming Blade + Dissonant Whispers!!! Been using that combo in one of my campaigns for the past 3 years and it's AMAZING!! Since Dissonant Whispers makes the enemy to use their movement vs it being "forced" movement; it triggers Opportunity Attacks (also great if you have your rogue standing next to them when you make them run away!!). Yes....the term "willingly" is one sematic argument that can be made on whether Dissonant Whispers is "willingly moving"; but at our table we agree that the "willing" term is meant to differentiate between forced movement and non-forced movement. Even better if you can set up an old school "paddle line" where the NPC has no option but to get whacked by the entire party as they run down the hallway.
Feel free to factor this JC quote into your semantic argument but “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD” in his 2016 tweet seems to make the rules pretty clear to me.
@@TiasVsEverything yeah JC has an even more specific tweet about dissonant whispers with booming blade in '16. Very clear about how the rules work. OppAttk applies because of it taking a reaction, but not booming blade because it's not willing movement
I’m playing as a swashbuckler- Rouge/gloomstalker-Ranger bugbear and I get bonus points for both initiative for both charisma and wisdom. It’s a great set up and both classes complement each other rather well. I’m currently a level eight, with four levels in each class. My feats are magic initiate Wizard and Warcaster. Using a whip with a bugbear gets fifteen feet of reach with a finesse weapon. In a single first round combat, I can dish out 5d6 from sneak attack and surprise attack, 5d8 between dread ambusher, zephyr strike (bonus action spell) and booming blade 1d8 initially 2d8 when the creature moves and 1d4 whip. If it’s within 15 feet of me and moves out of my reach, I get an opportunity attack from warcaster for another 1d4 1d8 3d6 (swashbuckler sneak attack) and 2d8 as it continues to flee. A total of 2d4, 8d6 and 8d8 (assuming everything falls into place).
Technically, the creature has the option to stop moving because attack of opportunity is one of the reactions that interrupt/happen as the trigger is happening instead of happening after resolution (same reason why sentinel drops speed to 0 keeping target within reach), but thats still a win for around 7/8 melee bard setups.
You didn’t listen carefully enough. While it’s technically true what you said, Colby more than hinted to the fact that this bard would use a spell or spell like ability to frighten their opponent, using this as a cute little workaround to the 'must move out of their own volition' provision of booming blade. The targets of this maneuver don’t want to stop their movement. They need to get away from this bard. That’s the whole point. And that’s the reason he chose bards bc I’d bet there is a specific bard college that provides exactly the required spell like ability needed for this trick…
@@rayvicka9749 Your wording is wrong. Instead of "move into a place that will cause them damage", you should have said "The creature doesn’t move into obviously dangerous ground, such as a fire or a pit.", which is the actual wording of the spell. The ruling on this spell as far as I know states something like: The target perceives the "booming energy" but doesn't automatically know the spell's effects. Since they are not moving onto obviously dangerous ground, I would say this combo works; at least the first time. The tricky part is whether it's compelled movement. Since they have a choice of how they move away from you, that seems fuzzy.
@@rayvicka9749 Dissonant whispers would work really well, if he goes Barderer? Sorard? Well if he takes at least 3 levels of sorcerer bc he needs quickened spell. Bard and sorcerer spell levels stack and dissonant whispers upcasts really well with those as well as booming blade does with character levels. And yes the target will move away, even if that triggers the secondary effect of booming blade and even if that triggers an opportunity attack. The only caveat is the saving throw. I wonder how he’s going to try to circumvent that…
@@Tusitala1967 I agree. It’s a bit of a fuzzy thing but the frightened condition generally is weird in 5e. I think it should work 😂 Im more interested, as i said, in the way Colby works around the saving throw…
Booming Blade is my favorite cantrip. Amazing on Rogues, as you can disengage after it and either force them to stand still and die slowly, or come after you and die faster, lol.
@@joshhobson8279 True, but if they're a melee combatant, they'll have to choose between closing range again or taking the extra damage. I built a Swarmkeeper who uses a similar combo, and it's real good fun.
Hey Colby, I think it's so cool that this has neat interaction with the build I made. It forces the enemy to stay in the daggers or trigger the second boom. Thank you!
Not sure that would work but I could be wrong, as war-caster states cast at creature. (When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.) Booming blade states the range is self, cast on a weapon not the creature. (You brandish the weapon used in the spell’s casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature)
common misconception, but booming blade does not target yourself. It has a range of self (5-foot radius) but that is not the same thing as being the target. The target is still the creature you make the weapon attack against
It's a neat little trick which you can pull with an eldritch knight, not specifically a bard, and it goes amazingly well with the warcaster + sentinel combo, which is way more effective than just the warcaster.
Annoyingly dissonant whispers/command doesn't work with the extra damage, it requires "willing" movement. Had thought about making a character around it too
Interesting concept. I had a polearm wielding fighter who would booming blade foes as they entered his reach. It requires the extra feats (magic initiate, war caster, polearm master, and spell sniper for the range restriction of booming blade) but holy heck he was a great tank. Plus it plays nice with multiple subclasses. Battle master for shoving attack is something and rune knight can make for insane area denial. The main problem is that the build comes on late (lvl8 when you get the last feat if you started variant human and didn't take any stat improvements from ASI) so it's really best reserved for one shots and games that start mid to high lvl. As for dissonant whispers I have ruled that it is forced movement and therefore does not trigger the secondary damage of booming blade the one time it came up.
U could also just go eldritch knight so u don’t have to pick up magic initiate and they can make a bonus action attack when they use a cantrip as well (which would be more then what Polearm master bonus attack does) and instead pick up mobile to be able to go up to an enemy and attack them and move away with no attack of opp (amazing with booming blade). And pair that with rest of things u got and your golden. Arcane cleric is also worth a mention since they can get booming blade and can add their wis mod to it cause of potent spellcasting which applies multiple times since they take dmg from booming blade on the initial hit and when they move (and when u cast it when they enter your threat with all the feats u mentioned). So that’s an additional 20 dmg on a cantrip (if u have 20 in wis and they keep moving and enter your threat that is). Bladesingers are another mention since they can replace one of their attacks with a cantrip (and still have a bonus action open) and not to mention Bladesinger’s are just amazing in general. I love booming blade so much. My fave combat cantrip. Honestly other then the dmg type and the range on it I think it’s better then eldritch blast. I mean u can build it so it does more dmg then EB and that’s even with agonizing blast and hex.
I have a artificer armorer 4 clockwork soul sorcerer X Dhampir character who utilizes this they're built around having heavy armor a shield the defense boosting infusion and the shield spell on top of using a combo of booming blade with the thunder gauntlets and armor of Agathys to lock in opponents into melee combat. They rarely take damage and when they do so doe the enemy it's a fantastic combo.
This also works with polearm master feat with a weapon that has 10 feet of reach and if an enemy is moving to be within 5 feet of you (to attack or just moving past you). You can punish an enemy for just approaching you.
Polearm master Opportunity attack triggers when the creature gets with in 10' of you. You can't wait until it's within 5' to choose to attack or not. You can't booming blade them when they are 10' away since Tasha's rewording of the spell and it no longer working with Spell Sniper or Distant Spell.
I kinda wanna Use booming Blade as a threat. Like Beat someone almost to death but before they die, Tap them with your sword inform them about booming Blade that If they move they die immediatly and thus you have him trapped for however Long the Effekt lasts
You can combo this trick with rogue sneak attacks too: Start with a Booming blade (with sneak attack), then use Cunning Action to hide but stay in the same area. Then the enemy has to walk away as you are no longer a valid target (hidden) and you can follow up with another booming blade sneak attack as a reaction to their movement.
This only works in the optional grid system where the opportunity attack is triggered right before the creature moves the entire 5ft, right? If you use smaller or no increments it would only start counting them at the end of your range so they could get far enough away to not be threatened by you without triggering the extra damage.
The crearure can choose to not move after an opportunity attack against them (unless they are compelled to move ofc). I believe that's been cleared by JC and also the opportunity attack explanation in the PhP says that an OA interrupts the creature's movement right before they leave your reach. So it doesn't work always passively, they need to be conpelled for it to work reliably.
What I used warcaster for on my Sorcadin. It was amazing. You are guaranteed the extra damage AND…AAAAAAND… if or when you crit, you can add a little bit of SPICE with that little bit of NICE you just gave em. Just put a headstone where he falls :P
The monk in my game has a staff that allows the wielder to cast the booming blade spell. He's a monk, so he has the mobile feet. So he runs up, hits with booming blade, then runs away. If the enemy wants to follow, they take even more damage.
You can also combine this with Arcane Trickster and the Sentinel feat. You get to use sneak attack on opportunity attacks and booming blade as well with Warcaster. Any time Sentinel would apply, you'd also qualify for sneak attack so you'd get an opportunity attack with booming blade and sneak attack doing crazy damage. Only downside here is you likely won't get booming blade's additional damage but I think sneak attack more than makes up for this.
I think there's some wording issue where Sentinel doesn't synergize with Warcaster for attacks that aren't provoked by creature moving out of your reach.
Here is a question for Sliding Into DMs… Brace Maneuver+War Caster+Booming Blade. We are using our reaction to get an attack by spending a superiority Die using Brace Maneuver. This SEEMS like the. war caster should let us use Booming Blade. But the wording is confusing and it could come out to a table ruling thing.
War Caster does not work with Brace per RAW. Brace lets you make one attack with a weapon you are wielding using your reaction, but that doesn't equate to Opportunity Attack. It's the same case as for instance Mage Slayer feat. Polearm Master on the other hand does work with War Caster, because the creature provokes specifically an Opportunity Attack by moving into your weapon's range. However, Booming Blade has specific range of Self (5-foot radius), so the only eligible weapon for this whole combo would be Spear or Quarterstaff (edited) - they don't have reach.
@@DnDDeepDive Even if you had a DM who strictly adheres to RAW, there is room for fun. Brace may be out of the picture, but other Maneuvers are still available (if you run Polearm Master yada yada). Maneuvers in general can be used indiscriminately when you make a weapon attack, and such a weapon attack is an integral part of BB. Pushing Attack could be extra nasty in this combo. You get to add Superiority Die to your damage, and while the push itself won't trigger the "movement" part of BB, if the enemy is set on attacking you and closes in again, they WILL have to take the consequences. Heck, even Tripping Attack might work. Getting up from ground does consume movement, so it's not hard to imagine a ruling that it counts as "willing movement" for the purpose of BB.
I used this in our last battle and with my Eldritch knight took out a giant by myself! It helped that I rolled 2 nat 20’s back to back! :) your videos have really helped me build this character,I had never played a fighter bf always a sorceress so I am loving this! Planning to go to Dragoncon in 23’ I really appreciate all your videos! Thanks so much!
War Caster states it has to target the creature, while Booming Blade has a range of Self. Not sure if this was changed with Tasha's, but I don't think the combo works anymore.
Hope it’s not dissonant whispers procking the creature to move away. Cause it learned recently, from Treantmonk, that it doesn’t work RAW since the extra Booming Blade damage only procs on unforced movement.
Well, I believe it stills works. If you interpret that way all movement is forced by circumstance and thus ineligible for BB. Which isn't the case. Forced movement is a push, shove etc. Spells like thunderwave are also forced movement. Your own reaction to events are not forced. At least that's my take on it.
@@4rtifex Doesn't have to be voluntary, just not forced. I get your meaning though. Look at it this way; does the movement come from inside or is it something outside affecting you? If you are compelled to move, you are still doing the moving. If you are blown away by a blast, thunderwave maybe, it is forced upon you. I make this distinction because otherwise I would argue all night how all movement is forced; "if I didn't move, he'd kill me!"
I call this one the "Harvey Wallbanger" Have Warcaster and booming blade. Get an enemy up against a wall and use BB on your turn. Any movement will proc your BB damage but still keep them in your threat range of 5 feet. Once they leave your threat range you get an AoO again that can potentially proc BB thunder damage again if they try to keep moving.
Indeed it is! I'll discuss in the main vid, but it's something we have to live with unfortunately. At our table, willingly simply means "not pushed," but I appreciate that isn't the case at all tables.
@@DnDDeepDive I’ve already got two of my groups debating whether “Willingly” means “Not involuntarily” (i.e. Repelling Blast from a Warlock) or “not due to some physical, external force.”
I love this combo so much, I had an arcane domain do this, if you can somehow get shillelagh, at level 8 you can do, d8+5(shillelagh) + d8+5 (booming blade with cantrip potency from arcana domain at level 8) and if they move they take the 2d8, and if you take warcaster like in this video, bonk them again for the same damage. Edit: Im dumb, you dont need dm leniency
Cool, just note that it doesn't trigger booming blades secondary effect immediately. OA work based on enemy using their own movement, forced or willing. That part works. But Booming blade triggers on enemies WILLING movement only. Dissonant whisper movement is compelled, not willing. The secondary will trigger on the targets turn when they walk back to you. (or waste their turn standing still, which is also a win).
The movement isn't forced. Target feels a need to move. Whether that need is its own or not isn't relevant. It acts on what it believes is its own impulse. There seem to be a point with the different wording used in different spell descriptions and I find the interpretation above perfectly valid and sensible and it doesn't break the game in any way. The trick requires a feat, a spell slot and the right spell, which means the right spell list.
@@Sumoterapi The target of dissonant whispers 'Must' use its reaction to run. That sounds like force to me. You are right though, it's not going to break anything if you allow it. Though as a GM I would use it against you in retaliation 😉
Calling it now, College of Whispers & Undead Warlock multiclass for Form of Dread's fear effect. I'd think Oath of Conquest Paladin too for the aura, but I don't know if it'll fit into 20 levels, and while smites are cool, it does conflict with the Booming Blade strat. Can't wait to see the build in full!
I would rule that the first 5ft they move as they are going out of your reach doesn't trigger the reaction booming blade but if they move any more then its triggering.
Bit late to the party but I built a clockwork soul that's built around this kind of ideas. Even use a glaive to increase my range on it(DM approved the additional reach for the weapon)
Put it with the polearm master feat and they take damage entering your reach and then additional booming blade damage for moving that 5ft into your area for a melee attack Or you know, bugbear with long arms, to push it to 15ft of range for even more damage
Close, but not guaranteed. Booming blade does the secondary damage if the person moves 5 ft. To trigger an opportunity attack, they have to be leaving your reach, and thus they already moved 2 or 3 or so feet. This, when they move into the next square they will have not moved 5 whole feet yet. The damage will occur if they keep running, which they likely will unless they only moved to get out of your reach for a ranged attack or if the damage is not worth taking. If you use something like dissonant whispers, they have to keep running, so in that case it is guaranteed
While you are right from a geometry standpoint, that is not the way movement works in D&D 5e. If using miniatures and a combat map, you move in 5' increments and cannot "move" 2 feet. Moving 2 feet would only be a matter of "flavoring" or storytelling a combat aspect without officially moving. A creature provoking an Opportunity attack is assumed to trigger the attack if moving out of any square directly adjacent to your maximum reach, and the Opportunity Attack occurs before the creature starts its movement. So they could choose to stay in place and not take the extra damage, but the act of them turning to or diverting their attention to start to move is the opening that gives the Opportunity Attack.
@@gunndygaming The language for opportunity attacks does make this fuzzy, but I think it leans more towards what I am talking about. "The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach", meaning that they have already moved some, otherwise you would be attacking because they simply thought about moving. Also, "You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach", thus they are leaving your reach, implying they are still within reach (otherwise it would be too late) but just barely, or else they wouldn't be leaving your reach. On one hand, it doesn't mention numbers, but on the other hand, D&D 5e tries to use natural language to help things flow the way they likely would. Based on assuming most of these words are natural language, I see it as though someone has moved a couple feet, indicating that they are actually going to leave your reach (or else this wouldn't be happening). You hit them with booming blade, and then they finish their move. Since they had already moved half or most of the way into the next square already to "leave your reach", they can enter that square unharmed, but any additional movement finishes the 5 ft. of movement.
@@geoffreyperrin4347 Every table is free to interpret the rules as they see fit. Many people dive down rabbit holes applying real world physics and dynamics into the rules and others just take them at face value and simple numbers. Whatever your table prefers and finds fun is the right way for you. Previous clarifications and discussions on Sentinel and Opportunity attacks seem to favor that the opportunity attack occurs before the opponent moves out of their current square and not while moving into the next. Otherwise opponents hit with Sentinel would be able to move 1 square before movement was stopped. I've always considered opportunity attacks are the result of the opponent loosing focus on defending themselves and presenting an opening. So, the act of turning to move is what triggers the attack and not the actual movement itself. Therefore the attack is landed at 0 feet of movement and anything beyond that counts. Which is also why Sentinel keeps the npc in the square they started in.
But war caster opportunity attack casts a spell "at that creature" and target "only that creature", but the spell itself has range "self (5ft)" and not "5 ft". So the official, RAW target is the caster, not the enemy creature. How does that work?
Fun concept, though I don't really see how people see Dissonant Whispers, a spell which if failed means the target MUST move as not being forced movement. The spell is literally forcing the target of the spell, assuming they fail the save, to use their reaction to move, and while it would still proc an opportunity attack it is in direct opposition of the wording for booming blade which says the target must willingly move to take the damage. The same would apply to using Command to make them move on their turn. If the spell forces the target to move, regardless of whether or not their using their movement to do it, I don't see how that could be considered as anything other than "forced movement".That's just my two cents though.
You can go even further. Take Crusher and PAM as well and use a Quarterstaff. When they enter your range you do an Opportunity Attack with Booming Blade and push them back 5ft so they have to move again to get into range. And if they want to leave your range (after it's been your turn again) you can do the mentioned regular Booming Blade Opportunity Attack as well. Eldritch Knight probably works best for that since you need three feats but as Variant Human you can get this online at level 6 already. :D
interested to see how you take this further than the basic combo. would be fun for example if you combined this with a persistent entry effect like cloud of daggers or with something else that punishes enemies for moving like grasping arrow.
@@Ahvrym wouldn't provoke the secondary BB damage, true, but they still provoke opportunity attacks and that attack can be a Booming Blade attack if you have War Caster. If the movement doesn't trigger the secondary BB damage immediately, it would still trigger on the enemy's turn if they move up to make an attack, for example (assuming a melee enemy).
@@DnDDeepDive Ah, but I did not know that it doesn't interact with The movement from Disonent Whispers. That's was disappointing to learn. I agree with you that I think most tables would allow it. I know I would.
Booming blade doesn’t qualify for warcaster since it has a range of self. Warcaster requires the spell to target on the creature that triggered the AoO.
Unless I’m mistaken (happens daily) this combo doesn’t actually work… booming blade has a target of Self, and War Caster specifies the spell can only target the opponent who triggered it. Am I missing something? :)
The ruling on green flame blade & booming blade don’t make sense, range of self(you are the origin of the spell) makes perfect sense, but as you use the weapon as a material component, and make a melee attack with it, why not just remove the ruling on 5ft radius“ & just leave it at making a melee attack with the weapon” so if it has reach, you get to use your reach, & if you are a bug bear you get to use your extra reach, it just sounds dumb that you can imbue a reach weapon with magic, but you can’t use the weapon for it’s intended purpose of making an attack with reach, why would the magic stop working as soon as part of the weapon goes more than 5ft from you while you are still holding it?
I wonder if this is similar to a build I saw somewhere that I don't remember. It was a bard with some sorcerer levels, that would booming blade, quicken dissonant whispers, booming blade again as an OA. That build was a little sus on the rules though. What counts as "willing movement" is not very well defined imo
the synergy should work fine in regards to "willing movement" as that just means they have to be the one to initiate the move. The secondary damage from booming blade, however, should not be able to trigger twice, since a target can't be affected by more than one effect with the same name simultaneously.
@@TheCorsair444 I believe there are some Crawford tweets that spells that make a creature use its movement don't trigger Booming Blade - e.g. Compulsion, Confusion, Dissonant Whispers. [Honestly, IMO this is just an admission that Booming Blade is just an OP / broken spell]
@@agilemind6241 It looks like you're right, that's my mistake. I find the ruling a bit iffy as I can't really see the effect of booming blade being able to differentiate between someone walking of their own free will as opposed to someone walking because of mind control but that's just flavour vs mechanics.
I'm actually making a character based on this concept currently. Custom lineage battle master fighter with the background feat for polearm master and magic initiate. Get war caster at 4th. Additionally, get the tunnel fighter fighting style. Thus, a creature trying to get into melee takes two booming blades, proking pushing attack, and taking another attack as they try and re-enter your range, knocking them prone or pushing them again! Depending on your DM, dip one level into mystic for +10ft reach and 1d4 damage per attack with giants growth. The only problem is low strength due to the needed feats. Any ideas to get around that? Thank you for reading this far ; ')
Oh, also, if all three attacks hit, that creature would take 3d10+1d8+9! This isn't even your turn! Also, if a creature is knocked prone while leaving your reach, does that stop them from leaving?
Doesn't work that way. BB says "If the target willingly moves 5 feet .." Compelled movement isn't willing. War Caster says you can only cast a spell targeting only that creature, BB is self.
El feat no dice nada sobre eso, solo dice que debe targetear un solo blanco. Booming Blade es self pero se usa para atacar un blanco singular. Es perfectamente compatible.
If I hit a creature with a booming blade on my turn, then they try to run away, does the first booming blade boom them before I can reapply it during my reaction? So they would get hit with the weapon and the boom twice?
Hah! God dammit. I spent all day yesterday building around this. I paired it with Devotion Paladin for +4 to hit / Tunnel Fighter. Can't wait to see what you've come up with.
Unfortunately raw doesn't work cause booming blade is a range self (5ft) spell.... So it technically doesn't target a single creature.... Same reason it can't technically be twin spelled. Also of you have a petty dm the wording on booming blade is "willingly move".... While dissonant whispers will trigger and AoO, cause they use their reaction (AoO requires they use their movement, action, or reaction which dissonant does) a petty dm could rule that out won't trigger booming cause the movement is still unwilling More most DMs probably allow you to booming blade with war caster but super petty RaW DMs might give you troubles
Actually, we've been told that it does, since the range here isn't the same thing as the target. twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/1326596181560942593?lang=en
It might also be fun to look into builds that use Telekenetic or Crusher with Booming Blade to force a creature to reposition itself after being hit since you will no longer be in range of that creature’s attacks
I see a lot of Dissonant Whispers in the comments, but doesn't Booming Blade require willing movement? DW reads a lot like it circumvents will. "[....]must immediately use its reaction, if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from you." and "On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage and doesn’t have to move away." I suppose there could be a debate whether "willing movement" only applies to physical displacement or includes magical compulsion.
To quote Jeremy Crawford, “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD”, which I feel sets the debate to rest.
Sadly, the warcaster feat says "you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature provoking the opportunity attack" ... Booming blade is a self centered spell. As a DM i would be very cautious with this
We discuss further in the full episode, but for what it's worth, Jeremy Crawford has said that they should work together fine. I think the distinction is that even though the *range* is 5 feet (self), the *target* isn't self, but is the one you're attacking.
I don't follow, you can't dual wield heavy crossbows. It's a two handed weapon. And going hand crossbow with feat would give extra attack. Think you might need to elaborate.
Booming blade reads "If the target willingly moves" This movement uses their reaction, but it is not voluntary. The opportunity attack is provoked, but Booming blade damage does not apply.
'willingly move' means 'not being pushed/pulled' Fear? Command? none of those use push or pull effects, the character is using their move action/reaction = booming blade damage Telekentic? Shove? Crusher? forced movement effects = NO booming blade damage
@@Jabberforce Crawford rules otherwise: "Booming blade hurts you if you move away willingly. Dissonant whispers forces you to move-doesn't trigger BL. #DnD" But in my mind this is more an admission that Booming Blade is kind of broken than anything else.
For Dissonant Whispers, this is true, but they still provoke opportunity attacks and that attack can be a Booming Blade attack if you have War Caster (for some additional damage on the initial hit). If the movement doesn't trigger the secondary BB damage immediately, it would still trigger on the enemy's turn if they move up to make an attack, for example (assuming a melee enemy).
Since I'm seriously looking at a Bard, this just might be my next character! Totally excited for this one
One of my most favourite builds of all time is the swashbuckler/bladesinger. Coz these have perfect synergy with each other and BOOMING BLADE.
Just 2 levels in wizard gets you booming blade(which stacks with sneak attack) and find familiar which is great for a rogue and bladesong!!
Swashbuckler lets you get out of melee without taking an opportunity attack. Bladesinger gets you extra movement speed. So you can get close to an enemy, hit them, and move away forcing them to move towards you to attack
It's freagin perfect
I do something similar to this which is swashbuckler half high-elf with cantrip feature.
I'd rather let the lineage choice do the AoO prevention for me rather than take a 3-level dip out of Wizard. Variant human gets you Mobile, and Goblin gets you bonus action disengage, which you're not usually using with a Wizard, anyway
Ive been doing booming blade with dissonant whispers/command for an entire campaign
I guess as long as your DM never reads the Booming Blade description, this can keep up. But this will likely end if the word “willingly” gets noticed by your DM.
To quote Jeremy Crawford: “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD”
@@TiasVsEverything Dissonant whispers forces it to use it's reaction to move, it is *willing* movement, even according to sage advice. If you use suggestion or command to make it move, you are magically making it choose to willingly move, you are controlling it's willful action
@@punishedwhispers1218 Was this changed? Jeremy Crawford posted in 2016 that Booming Blade doesn't trigger with Dissonant Whispers because its not considered willing movement. But if it goes to move on its turn after the reaction movement, it will then trigger. Again unless this was updated after 2016.
@@Dave004 He contradicts himself. Dissonant Whispers provokes attack of opportunity because it's considered 'willing movement', so yes, I guess cuckford did
@@Dave004 Crawford shitting out random rules on Twitter is the equivalent of a homebrew. I take it with a grain of salt.
The official ruling in 2015 was that the secondary damage does not trigger "automatically," but rather they can choose to remain where they were instead of ... whatever else they were going to do with their movement. Remember, the opportunity attack happens as they turn their back, but before they move out of your reach. This is assuming they are in control of their movement, as when they use their movement on their turn.
If you use dissonant whispers on your turn to get the opportunity attack, then they must continue moving away, but the secondary damage of booming blade would not trigger (the spell specifies willing movement). However, they still experience a dilemma when their turn comes around. They can stand there doing nothing, or move back to the fight, thus triggering the secondary damage.
There's also some interesting GM fiat on whether the creature has the intelligence to recognize the booming blade effect, but the spell description indicates a clearly discernible magical barrier that they'd have to move through. It's not much of a stretch to say most creatures can recognize a sheath of booming energy as dangerous.
Dissonant Whispers provokes opportunity attacks, meaning it is not forced movement, and I would say it qualifies as willing movement, as you are causing the target to WANT to flee from you. For that reason, I would rule that Booming Blade would still deal the extra damage.
Willing Movement is Movement that requires an Action, Dissonant Whispers triggers Booming Blades secondary damage because the creature used it's Reaction to move. Forced movement would be a knockback such as Thunderwave. Thunderwave will not cause the secondary damage of Booming Blade to trigger due to being knocked back.
@@T0beyeus There are 3 types of movement:
Willing Movement - the creature chooses to move of their own volition
Unwilling Movement - a spell or effect compels a creature to move e.g. Compulsion, Confusion, Dissonant Whispers.
Forced Movement - a spell or effect moves a creature e.g. Thunderwave, having a bridge collapse under you.
BB only triggers on the first for arbitrary game-balance reasons.
Truth.
Booming Blade + Dissonant Whispers!!! Been using that combo in one of my campaigns for the past 3 years and it's AMAZING!! Since Dissonant Whispers makes the enemy to use their movement vs it being "forced" movement; it triggers Opportunity Attacks (also great if you have your rogue standing next to them when you make them run away!!). Yes....the term "willingly" is one sematic argument that can be made on whether Dissonant Whispers is "willingly moving"; but at our table we agree that the "willing" term is meant to differentiate between forced movement and non-forced movement.
Even better if you can set up an old school "paddle line" where the NPC has no option but to get whacked by the entire party as they run down the hallway.
Feel free to factor this JC quote into your semantic argument but “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD” in his 2016 tweet seems to make the rules pretty clear to me.
@@TiasVsEverything yeah JC has an even more specific tweet about dissonant whispers with booming blade in '16. Very clear about how the rules work. OppAttk applies because of it taking a reaction, but not booming blade because it's not willing movement
Yo this is gross amounts of damage slapped onto a reaction
I’m playing as a swashbuckler- Rouge/gloomstalker-Ranger bugbear and I get bonus points for both initiative for both charisma and wisdom. It’s a great set up and both classes complement each other rather well. I’m currently a level eight, with four levels in each class. My feats are magic initiate Wizard and Warcaster. Using a whip with a bugbear gets fifteen feet of reach with a finesse weapon. In a single first round combat, I can dish out 5d6 from sneak attack and surprise attack, 5d8 between dread ambusher, zephyr strike (bonus action spell) and booming blade 1d8 initially 2d8 when the creature moves and 1d4 whip. If it’s within 15 feet of me and moves out of my reach, I get an opportunity attack from warcaster for another 1d4 1d8 3d6 (swashbuckler sneak attack) and 2d8 as it continues to flee. A total of 2d4, 8d6 and 8d8 (assuming everything falls into place).
Technically, the creature has the option to stop moving because attack of opportunity is one of the reactions that interrupt/happen as the trigger is happening instead of happening after resolution (same reason why sentinel drops speed to 0 keeping target within reach), but thats still a win for around 7/8 melee bard setups.
You didn’t listen carefully enough. While it’s technically true what you said, Colby more than hinted to the fact that this bard would use a spell or spell like ability to frighten their opponent, using this as a cute little workaround to the 'must move out of their own volition' provision of booming blade. The targets of this maneuver don’t want to stop their movement. They need to get away from this bard. That’s the whole point. And that’s the reason he chose bards bc I’d bet there is a specific bard college that provides exactly the required spell like ability needed for this trick…
Yeah well dissident whispers cannot make somebody move into a place that will cause them damage. Basically when hit with bb they can just stop anyways
@@rayvicka9749 Your wording is wrong. Instead of "move into a place that will cause them damage", you should have said "The creature doesn’t move into obviously dangerous ground, such as a fire or a pit.", which is the actual wording of the spell. The ruling on this spell as far as I know states something like: The target perceives the "booming energy" but doesn't automatically know the spell's effects. Since they are not moving onto obviously dangerous ground, I would say this combo works; at least the first time. The tricky part is whether it's compelled movement. Since they have a choice of how they move away from you, that seems fuzzy.
@@rayvicka9749
Dissonant whispers would work really well, if he goes Barderer? Sorard? Well if he takes at least 3 levels of sorcerer bc he needs quickened spell. Bard and sorcerer spell levels stack and dissonant whispers upcasts really well with those as well as booming blade does with character levels. And yes the target will move away, even if that triggers the secondary effect of booming blade and even if that triggers an opportunity attack. The only caveat is the saving throw. I wonder how he’s going to try to circumvent that…
@@Tusitala1967 I agree. It’s a bit of a fuzzy thing but the frightened condition generally is weird in 5e. I think it should work 😂
Im more interested, as i said, in the way Colby works around the saving throw…
Sounds like my Hexblade/Lore Bard. Add in spirit Guardians and spiritual weapon at level 7 to start having some real fun.
Booming Blade is my favorite cantrip. Amazing on Rogues, as you can disengage after it and either force them to stand still and die slowly, or come after you and die faster, lol.
Also good on a bladesinger or anyone else with the mobile feat.
Dissonant whispers + warcaster feat + Booming blade sounds awesome, I can't wait to see what else you bring to the build :)
Plus it’s a bard, meaning it’s possibly a swords bard build
Booming Blade secondary damage does not work with forced movement, like Dissonant Whispers.
@@joshhobson8279 True, but if they're a melee combatant, they'll have to choose between closing range again or taking the extra damage. I built a Swarmkeeper who uses a similar combo, and it's real good fun.
@@AchtungFreud yes, the choice is what we count on with the combo. I did it many times with my Bladesinger.
It’s gonna be a glamour bard. That command thing you get at level 6 is too good to resist
I want to do this with undead warlock just fearing everyone you attack all the time..
Usually we houserule that you can choose to halt your movement if you are hit by booming blade. Thus not taking the extra damage
Hey Colby, I think it's so cool that this has neat interaction with the build I made. It forces the enemy to stay in the daggers or trigger the second boom. Thank you!
As a Kansas City kid, I'm more interested in the Royals shirt than the D&D tip.
Not sure that would work but I could be wrong, as war-caster states cast at creature.
(When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.)
Booming blade states the range is self, cast on a weapon not the creature.
(You brandish the weapon used in the spell’s casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature)
We discuss in greater detail in the vid, but here's a relevant Jeremy Crawford tweet... twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/1326596181560942593?lang=en
@@DnDDeepDive no idea who he is , but will look forward to your vid
Calling it now it’s a hexblade swords bard
Dissonant Whispers is such a good spell. Carried many of my bards through the low levels.
They attempt to leave and the opportunity attack happens. The creature hit can still choose not to leave so as not to take the extra damage.
I did this once with my arcane trickster. It was Glorious 😁
Hmm. Sounds like an Eloquence Bard, that can fight. Or whispers, maybe?
I think he means the Dissonant Whispers spell
If they don't instantly take the damage, they still have to not do what they wanted to do. Win-win.
There is the problem with booming blade targeting yourself and not the other creature though...
Jup TCoE update to the spell is pretty clear on that one.
common misconception, but booming blade does not target yourself. It has a range of self (5-foot radius) but that is not the same thing as being the target. The target is still the creature you make the weapon attack against
Right - Range isn't the same thing as target :).
It's a neat little trick which you can pull with an eldritch knight, not specifically a bard, and it goes amazingly well with the warcaster + sentinel combo, which is way more effective than just the warcaster.
I use this combo on my Hexblade Warlock / Paladin build and pump Divine Smite into it
Annoyingly dissonant whispers/command doesn't work with the extra damage, it requires "willing" movement. Had thought about making a character around it too
Bugbear w glaive w Sentinel feat aswell. Lol
And as a DM now every monster ever needs Thunder resistance. Thanks. Needed this. \o/
Interesting concept. I had a polearm wielding fighter who would booming blade foes as they entered his reach. It requires the extra feats (magic initiate, war caster, polearm master, and spell sniper for the range restriction of booming blade) but holy heck he was a great tank.
Plus it plays nice with multiple subclasses. Battle master for shoving attack is something and rune knight can make for insane area denial.
The main problem is that the build comes on late (lvl8 when you get the last feat if you started variant human and didn't take any stat improvements from ASI) so it's really best reserved for one shots and games that start mid to high lvl.
As for dissonant whispers I have ruled that it is forced movement and therefore does not trigger the secondary damage of booming blade the one time it came up.
U could also just go eldritch knight so u don’t have to pick up magic initiate and they can make a bonus action attack when they use a cantrip as well (which would be more then what Polearm master bonus attack does) and instead pick up mobile to be able to go up to an enemy and attack them and move away with no attack of opp (amazing with booming blade). And pair that with rest of things u got and your golden. Arcane cleric is also worth a mention since they can get booming blade and can add their wis mod to it cause of potent spellcasting which applies multiple times since they take dmg from booming blade on the initial hit and when they move (and when u cast it when they enter your threat with all the feats u mentioned). So that’s an additional 20 dmg on a cantrip (if u have 20 in wis and they keep moving and enter your threat that is). Bladesingers are another mention since they can replace one of their attacks with a cantrip (and still have a bonus action open) and not to mention Bladesinger’s are just amazing in general.
I love booming blade so much. My fave combat cantrip. Honestly other then the dmg type and the range on it I think it’s better then eldritch blast. I mean u can build it so it does more dmg then EB and that’s even with agonizing blast and hex.
I have a artificer armorer 4 clockwork soul sorcerer X Dhampir character who utilizes this they're built around having heavy armor a shield the defense boosting infusion and the shield spell on top of using a combo of booming blade with the thunder gauntlets and armor of Agathys to lock in opponents into melee combat. They rarely take damage and when they do so doe the enemy it's a fantastic combo.
This also works with polearm master feat with a weapon that has 10 feet of reach and if an enemy is moving to be within 5 feet of you (to attack or just moving past you). You can punish an enemy for just approaching you.
You can’t cast BB from 10 feet away, unfortunately.
Polearm master Opportunity attack triggers when the creature gets with in 10' of you. You can't wait until it's within 5' to choose to attack or not. You can't booming blade them when they are 10' away since Tasha's rewording of the spell and it no longer working with Spell Sniper or Distant Spell.
The only eligible weapon for this is Spear. It doesn't have Reach, but qualifies for Polearm Master.
EDIT: Quarterstaff also works, my bad :)
Doesn't work
@@marianpetera8436 Then the movement is finished, so it still doesn't interact with Booming blade in the desired way.
I kinda wanna Use booming Blade as a threat. Like Beat someone almost to death but before they die, Tap them with your sword inform them about booming Blade that If they move they die immediatly and thus you have him trapped for however Long the Effekt lasts
You can combo this trick with rogue sneak attacks too: Start with a Booming blade (with sneak attack), then use Cunning Action to hide but stay in the same area. Then the enemy has to walk away as you are no longer a valid target (hidden) and you can follow up with another booming blade sneak attack as a reaction to their movement.
Spell sniper, war caster, pole arm master.
This only works in the optional grid system where the opportunity attack is triggered right before the creature moves the entire 5ft, right? If you use smaller or no increments it would only start counting them at the end of your range so they could get far enough away to not be threatened by you without triggering the extra damage.
The crearure can choose to not move after an opportunity attack against them (unless they are compelled to move ofc). I believe that's been cleared by JC and also the opportunity attack explanation in the PhP says that an OA interrupts the creature's movement right before they leave your reach. So it doesn't work always passively, they need to be conpelled for it to work reliably.
Dissonant Whispers, then? Yeah, that's a fun trick I've been using on several characters so far.
You have outdone yourself once again. Brilliant
That's an interesting thought. I'll try it out next time I'm playing a caster with that spell.
What I used warcaster for on my Sorcadin. It was amazing. You are guaranteed the extra damage AND…AAAAAAND… if or when you crit, you can add a little bit of SPICE with that little bit of NICE you just gave em. Just put a headstone where he falls :P
I never got to play it, but I have a Eldritch Knight build that heavily relies on this trick. Someday…
The monk in my game has a staff that allows the wielder to cast the booming blade spell. He's a monk, so he has the mobile feet. So he runs up, hits with booming blade, then runs away. If the enemy wants to follow, they take even more damage.
You can also combine this with Arcane Trickster and the Sentinel feat. You get to use sneak attack on opportunity attacks and booming blade as well with Warcaster. Any time Sentinel would apply, you'd also qualify for sneak attack so you'd get an opportunity attack with booming blade and sneak attack doing crazy damage. Only downside here is you likely won't get booming blade's additional damage but I think sneak attack more than makes up for this.
I think there's some wording issue where Sentinel doesn't synergize with Warcaster for attacks that aren't provoked by creature moving out of your reach.
@@agilemind6241 Perhaps but that's pretty obviously a RAW vs RAI issue and I don't think it would be a problem at most tables
Here is a question for Sliding Into DMs…
Brace Maneuver+War Caster+Booming Blade.
We are using our reaction to get an attack by spending a superiority Die using Brace Maneuver. This SEEMS like the. war caster should let us use Booming Blade. But the wording is confusing and it could come out to a table ruling thing.
War Caster does not work with Brace per RAW. Brace lets you make one attack with a weapon you are wielding using your reaction, but that doesn't equate to Opportunity Attack. It's the same case as for instance Mage Slayer feat. Polearm Master on the other hand does work with War Caster, because the creature provokes specifically an Opportunity Attack by moving into your weapon's range. However, Booming Blade has specific range of Self (5-foot radius), so the only eligible weapon for this whole combo would be Spear or Quarterstaff (edited) - they don't have reach.
As Marian said, unfortunately :). I'm sure plenty of DMs would allow it.
@@DnDDeepDive Even if you had a DM who strictly adheres to RAW, there is room for fun. Brace may be out of the picture, but other Maneuvers are still available (if you run Polearm Master yada yada). Maneuvers in general can be used indiscriminately when you make a weapon attack, and such a weapon attack is an integral part of BB.
Pushing Attack could be extra nasty in this combo. You get to add Superiority Die to your damage, and while the push itself won't trigger the "movement" part of BB, if the enemy is set on attacking you and closes in again, they WILL have to take the consequences.
Heck, even Tripping Attack might work. Getting up from ground does consume movement, so it's not hard to imagine a ruling that it counts as "willing movement" for the purpose of BB.
I used this in our last battle and with my Eldritch knight took out a giant by myself! It helped that I rolled 2 nat 20’s back to back! :) your videos have really helped me build this character,I had never played a fighter bf always a sorceress so I am loving this! Planning to go to Dragoncon in 23’ I really appreciate all your videos! Thanks so much!
Woo hoo!
Don’t think dissonant whisper triggers booming blade’s secondary effect - the target has to move ‘willingly’.
Truth!
War Caster states it has to target the creature, while Booming Blade has a range of Self. Not sure if this was changed with Tasha's, but I don't think the combo works anymore.
Hope it’s not dissonant whispers procking the creature to move away. Cause it learned recently, from Treantmonk, that it doesn’t work RAW since the extra Booming Blade damage only procs on unforced movement.
Well, I believe it stills works. If you interpret that way all movement is forced by circumstance and thus ineligible for BB. Which isn't the case.
Forced movement is a push, shove etc.
Spells like thunderwave are also forced movement.
Your own reaction to events are not forced.
At least that's my take on it.
@@Sumoterapi If you literally "must" then it is not voluntary. By definition.
@@4rtifex Doesn't have to be voluntary, just not forced. I get your meaning though.
Look at it this way; does the movement come from inside or is it something outside affecting you?
If you are compelled to move, you are still doing the moving. If you are blown away by a blast, thunderwave maybe, it is forced upon you.
I make this distinction because otherwise I would argue all night how all movement is forced; "if I didn't move, he'd kill me!"
@@Sumoterapi the verbage of booming blade is voulentary, plainly spoken.
There’s also a Jeremy Crawford tweet specifying that it doesn’t count as willing movement.
I call this one the "Harvey Wallbanger"
Have Warcaster and booming blade. Get an enemy up against a wall and use BB on your turn. Any movement will proc your BB damage but still keep them in your threat range of 5 feet. Once they leave your threat range you get an AoO again that can potentially proc BB thunder damage again if they try to keep moving.
The word “Willingly” is such a miserable little qualifier in the Booming Blade text. If you’ve hacked it, my Bardsinger and I are all ears!
Indeed it is! I'll discuss in the main vid, but it's something we have to live with unfortunately. At our table, willingly simply means "not pushed," but I appreciate that isn't the case at all tables.
@@DnDDeepDive I’ve already got two of my groups debating whether “Willingly” means “Not involuntarily” (i.e. Repelling Blast from a Warlock) or “not due to some physical, external force.”
I love this combo so much, I had an arcane domain do this, if you can somehow get shillelagh, at level 8 you can do, d8+5(shillelagh) + d8+5 (booming blade with cantrip potency from arcana domain at level 8) and if they move they take the 2d8, and if you take warcaster like in this video, bonk them again for the same damage.
Edit: Im dumb, you dont need dm leniency
Cool, just note that it doesn't trigger booming blades secondary effect immediately. OA work based on enemy using their own movement, forced or willing. That part works.
But Booming blade triggers on enemies WILLING movement only. Dissonant whisper movement is compelled, not willing.
The secondary will trigger on the targets turn when they walk back to you. (or waste their turn standing still, which is also a win).
The movement isn't forced. Target feels a need to move. Whether that need is its own or not isn't relevant. It acts on what it believes is its own impulse.
There seem to be a point with the different wording used in different spell descriptions and I find the interpretation above perfectly valid and sensible and it doesn't break the game in any way. The trick requires a feat, a spell slot and the right spell, which means the right spell list.
@@Sumoterapi The target of dissonant whispers 'Must' use its reaction to run.
That sounds like force to me. You are right though, it's not going to break anything if you allow it. Though as a GM I would use it against you in retaliation 😉
@@Swahhillie i read the must as in it isn't an option because panic.
You should use it against me. That's when it's gets fun! 😅
Truth!
@@Sumoterapi to quote Jeremy Crawford: “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD”
Calling it now, College of Whispers & Undead Warlock multiclass for Form of Dread's fear effect. I'd think Oath of Conquest Paladin too for the aura, but I don't know if it'll fit into 20 levels, and while smites are cool, it does conflict with the Booming Blade strat. Can't wait to see the build in full!
I would rule that the first 5ft they move as they are going out of your reach doesn't trigger the reaction booming blade but if they move any more then its triggering.
Bit late to the party but I built a clockwork soul that's built around this kind of ideas. Even use a glaive to increase my range on it(DM approved the additional reach for the weapon)
Put it with the polearm master feat and they take damage entering your reach and then additional booming blade damage for moving that 5ft into your area for a melee attack
Or you know, bugbear with long arms, to push it to 15ft of range for even more damage
Its a pseudo-sentinel
Close, but not guaranteed. Booming blade does the secondary damage if the person moves 5 ft. To trigger an opportunity attack, they have to be leaving your reach, and thus they already moved 2 or 3 or so feet. This, when they move into the next square they will have not moved 5 whole feet yet. The damage will occur if they keep running, which they likely will unless they only moved to get out of your reach for a ranged attack or if the damage is not worth taking. If you use something like dissonant whispers, they have to keep running, so in that case it is guaranteed
While you are right from a geometry standpoint, that is not the way movement works in D&D 5e. If using miniatures and a combat map, you move in 5' increments and cannot "move" 2 feet. Moving 2 feet would only be a matter of "flavoring" or storytelling a combat aspect without officially moving. A creature provoking an Opportunity attack is assumed to trigger the attack if moving out of any square directly adjacent to your maximum reach, and the Opportunity Attack occurs before the creature starts its movement. So they could choose to stay in place and not take the extra damage, but the act of them turning to or diverting their attention to start to move is the opening that gives the Opportunity Attack.
@@gunndygaming The language for opportunity attacks does make this fuzzy, but I think it leans more towards what I am talking about. "The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach", meaning that they have already moved some, otherwise you would be attacking because they simply thought about moving. Also, "You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach", thus they are leaving your reach, implying they are still within reach (otherwise it would be too late) but just barely, or else they wouldn't be leaving your reach.
On one hand, it doesn't mention numbers, but on the other hand, D&D 5e tries to use natural language to help things flow the way they likely would. Based on assuming most of these words are natural language, I see it as though someone has moved a couple feet, indicating that they are actually going to leave your reach (or else this wouldn't be happening). You hit them with booming blade, and then they finish their move. Since they had already moved half or most of the way into the next square already to "leave your reach", they can enter that square unharmed, but any additional movement finishes the 5 ft. of movement.
@@geoffreyperrin4347 Every table is free to interpret the rules as they see fit. Many people dive down rabbit holes applying real world physics and dynamics into the rules and others just take them at face value and simple numbers. Whatever your table prefers and finds fun is the right way for you.
Previous clarifications and discussions on Sentinel and Opportunity attacks seem to favor that the opportunity attack occurs before the opponent moves out of their current square and not while moving into the next. Otherwise opponents hit with Sentinel would be able to move 1 square before movement was stopped.
I've always considered opportunity attacks are the result of the opponent loosing focus on defending themselves and presenting an opening. So, the act of turning to move is what triggers the attack and not the actual movement itself. Therefore the attack is landed at 0 feet of movement and anything beyond that counts. Which is also why Sentinel keeps the npc in the square they started in.
But war caster opportunity attack casts a spell "at that creature" and target "only that creature", but the spell itself has range "self (5ft)" and not "5 ft". So the official, RAW target is the caster, not the enemy creature. How does that work?
Fun concept, though I don't really see how people see Dissonant Whispers, a spell which if failed means the target MUST move as not being forced movement. The spell is literally forcing the target of the spell, assuming they fail the save, to use their reaction to move, and while it would still proc an opportunity attack it is in direct opposition of the wording for booming blade which says the target must willingly move to take the damage. The same would apply to using Command to make them move on their turn. If the spell forces the target to move, regardless of whether or not their using their movement to do it, I don't see how that could be considered as anything other than "forced movement".That's just my two cents though.
I definitely knew this already
You can go even further. Take Crusher and PAM as well and use a Quarterstaff. When they enter your range you do an Opportunity Attack with Booming Blade and push them back 5ft so they have to move again to get into range. And if they want to leave your range (after it's been your turn again) you can do the mentioned regular Booming Blade Opportunity Attack as well. Eldritch Knight probably works best for that since you need three feats but as Variant Human you can get this online at level 6 already. :D
when u are forced to flee, does that cause opportunity attacks? thought it was only "when they have a choice to move or not"
interested to see how you take this further than the basic combo. would be fun for example if you combined this with a persistent entry effect like cloud of daggers or with something else that punishes enemies for moving like grasping arrow.
Just made this character for a campaign! Can't wait to see what you do with it!
Just have a care, if you're playing RAW this combo doesn't work because the movement must be willing. Warmage+booming blade still good tho!
@@Ahvrym wouldn't provoke the secondary BB damage, true, but they still provoke opportunity attacks and that attack can be a Booming Blade attack if you have War Caster. If the movement doesn't trigger the secondary BB damage immediately, it would still trigger on the enemy's turn if they move up to make an attack, for example (assuming a melee enemy).
It makes me feel really good when you tell me I know something that other people don't know... and then it turns out I did actually know it. 😊
Ha! Well, yes, naturally *you* know!
@@DnDDeepDive Ah, but I did not know that it doesn't interact with The movement from Disonent Whispers. That's was disappointing to learn. I agree with you that I think most tables would allow it. I know I would.
Didn't Jeremy Crawfish say that dissonant whispers doesn't trigger booming blade?
Sadly it wont work because the creature can still choose not to move after getting hit. as per sage advice
With what he is going to present...the creature doesn't have the option to stop moving (assuming a failed saving throw).
Indeed, as Gunndy says :).
Booming blade doesn’t qualify for warcaster since it has a range of self. Warcaster requires the spell to target on the creature that triggered the AoO.
Love this idea
Unless I’m mistaken (happens daily) this combo doesn’t actually work… booming blade has a target of Self, and War Caster specifies the spell can only target the opponent who triggered it. Am I missing something? :)
Full episode here! ruclips.net/video/tg9pa2r80a0/видео.html
How do you get booming blade as a bard? Are you multi-classing or taking a feat?
Full episode here! ruclips.net/video/tg9pa2r80a0/видео.html
I ran a goblin swords bard who specialized in this but my dm haaaated it and wouldn’t let me do it 😢
Artificer with repulsion shield. Once you hit and they hit you once you push them back. They have too move or give up their other multi-attacks.
The ruling on green flame blade & booming blade don’t make sense, range of self(you are the origin of the spell) makes perfect sense, but as you use the weapon as a material component, and make a melee attack with it, why not just remove the ruling on 5ft radius“ & just leave it at making a melee attack with the weapon” so if it has reach, you get to use your reach, & if you are a bug bear you get to use your extra reach, it just sounds dumb that you can imbue a reach weapon with magic, but you can’t use the weapon for it’s intended purpose of making an attack with reach, why would the magic stop working as soon as part of the weapon goes more than 5ft from you while you are still holding it?
I wonder if this is similar to a build I saw somewhere that I don't remember. It was a bard with some sorcerer levels, that would booming blade, quicken dissonant whispers, booming blade again as an OA. That build was a little sus on the rules though. What counts as "willing movement" is not very well defined imo
the synergy should work fine in regards to "willing movement" as that just means they have to be the one to initiate the move. The secondary damage from booming blade, however, should not be able to trigger twice, since a target can't be affected by more than one effect with the same name simultaneously.
@@TheCorsair444 I believe there are some Crawford tweets that spells that make a creature use its movement don't trigger Booming Blade - e.g. Compulsion, Confusion, Dissonant Whispers. [Honestly, IMO this is just an admission that Booming Blade is just an OP / broken spell]
@@agilemind6241 It looks like you're right, that's my mistake. I find the ruling a bit iffy as I can't really see the effect of booming blade being able to differentiate between someone walking of their own free will as opposed to someone walking because of mind control but that's just flavour vs mechanics.
@@TheCorsair444 Yeah, I really dislike the meta around Booming Blade, I'll never take it on any of my characters for that reason.
Never considered that
I'm actually making a character based on this concept currently. Custom lineage battle master fighter with the background feat for polearm master and magic initiate. Get war caster at 4th. Additionally, get the tunnel fighter fighting style. Thus, a creature trying to get into melee takes two booming blades, proking pushing attack, and taking another attack as they try and re-enter your range, knocking them prone or pushing them again! Depending on your DM, dip one level into mystic for +10ft reach and 1d4 damage per attack with giants growth. The only problem is low strength due to the needed feats. Any ideas to get around that? Thank you for reading this far ; ')
Oh, also, if all three attacks hit, that creature would take 3d10+1d8+9!
This isn't even your turn!
Also, if a creature is knocked prone while leaving your reach, does that stop them from leaving?
Doesn't work that way. BB says "If the target willingly moves 5 feet .." Compelled movement isn't willing. War Caster says you can only cast a spell targeting only that creature, BB is self.
Any forced movement like from dissonant whispers doesn’t cost opportunity attacks
It does. It's technically not forced, because the creature uses its own movement to leave your range
It would, actually! :) twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/704469820901752838?lang=en
@@DnDDeepDive this one just seems to say that it won’t trigger Booming Blade damage.
@@TiasVsEverything Provoke opportunity attacks, yes. Trigger the secondary "on move" damage from Booming Blade, no.
@@DnDDeepDive ok, so, we’re on the same page, then, good.
Hexblade Bard Summoner build? With all your summons getting the opportunity attack
Booming blade es self Range, por lo que no es compatible con warcaster.
El feat no dice nada sobre eso, solo dice que debe targetear un solo blanco. Booming Blade es self pero se usa para atacar un blanco singular. Es perfectamente compatible.
Would this work with causing people to be frightened of you? Specifically I’m thinking of meanacing strike causing frightened
Really hope its a glamour bard
If I hit a creature with a booming blade on my turn, then they try to run away, does the first booming blade boom them before I can reapply it during my reaction? So they would get hit with the weapon and the boom twice?
I think you’d only get it once, as you’re probably my hitting them before they actually move away, but your DM may rule otherwise…
Hah! God dammit. I spent all day yesterday building around this.
I paired it with Devotion Paladin for +4 to hit / Tunnel Fighter.
Can't wait to see what you've come up with.
Unfortunately raw doesn't work cause booming blade is a range self (5ft) spell.... So it technically doesn't target a single creature.... Same reason it can't technically be twin spelled.
Also of you have a petty dm the wording on booming blade is "willingly move".... While dissonant whispers will trigger and AoO, cause they use their reaction (AoO requires they use their movement, action, or reaction which dissonant does) a petty dm could rule that out won't trigger booming cause the movement is still unwilling
More most DMs probably allow you to booming blade with war caster but super petty RaW DMs might give you troubles
Actually, we've been told that it does, since the range here isn't the same thing as the target. twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/1326596181560942593?lang=en
Oo ooo oooo.. I wanna guess, is it the college of whisper bard?
Whispers bard?
It might also be fun to look into builds that use Telekenetic or Crusher with Booming Blade to force a creature to reposition itself after being hit since you will no longer be in range of that creature’s attacks
Does dissonant whispers fright count as willingly leave for booming blade?
According to Jeremy Crawford, no, but it's something you could always ask your DM about. They might think it sounds fun and allow it.
Probably not - JC says no, our table says yes :).
@@DnDDeepDive gotcha
I see a lot of Dissonant Whispers in the comments, but doesn't Booming Blade require willing movement? DW reads a lot like it circumvents will. "[....]must immediately use its reaction, if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from you." and "On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage and doesn’t have to move away." I suppose there could be a debate whether "willing movement" only applies to physical displacement or includes magical compulsion.
We'll get into it in the video tomorrow :)
@@DnDDeepDive Looking forward to it!
To quote Jeremy Crawford, “If a spell forces you to move, as dissonant whispers does, you're not moving of your own volition. #DnD”, which I feel sets the debate to rest.
Sadly, the warcaster feat says "you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature provoking the opportunity attack" ... Booming blade is a self centered spell. As a DM i would be very cautious with this
We discuss further in the full episode, but for what it's worth, Jeremy Crawford has said that they should work together fine. I think the distinction is that even though the *range* is 5 feet (self), the *target* isn't self, but is the one you're attacking.
@@DnDDeepDive Thanks for this answer ! This could be therefore applied to many other spells such as Primal Savagery (XGE p.163) . Good to know ...
This aged like milk 🥲
Wouldn't it count as forced movement, because forced movement doesn't trigger opportunity attacks...😢
Didn't they nerf booming blade so this doesn't work (by making it a targeting self spell)
While the *range* is Self (5 feet), the *target* is still the enemy you're trying to attack. So it's all good :).
there is a neat trick, build a minotaur that carries dual heavy repeating crossbows... is that a gloom stalker echo knight.... thank me later
I don't follow, you can't dual wield heavy crossbows. It's a two handed weapon. And going hand crossbow with feat would give extra attack. Think you might need to elaborate.
Booming blade reads "If the target willingly moves" This movement uses their reaction, but it is not voluntary. The opportunity attack is provoked, but Booming blade damage does not apply.
This may just kill the build from what I hear unless its using fear and its just restricting other options
'willingly move' means 'not being pushed/pulled'
Fear? Command? none of those use push or pull effects, the character is using their move action/reaction = booming blade damage
Telekentic? Shove? Crusher? forced movement effects = NO booming blade damage
@@Jabberforce Crawford rules otherwise:
"Booming blade hurts you if you move away willingly. Dissonant whispers forces you to move-doesn't trigger BL. #DnD"
But in my mind this is more an admission that Booming Blade is kind of broken than anything else.
For Dissonant Whispers, this is true, but they still provoke opportunity attacks and that attack can be a Booming Blade attack if you have War Caster (for some additional damage on the initial hit). If the movement doesn't trigger the secondary BB damage immediately, it would still trigger on the enemy's turn if they move up to make an attack, for example (assuming a melee enemy).
@@agilemind6241 crawford hasnt been consistent or useful since he said sorcerers cant twin dragonbreath.
as an eldritch knight war caster is a good idea for ALOT of reasons. This being one of the best.