It might be interesting to let a pc take "no concentration required on a specific spell" as a feat. I wouldn't let anyone take it twice, though.
As feat starved as most builds are, especially optimized builds, I think this would work at my table. A single spell not requiring concentration is unlikely to break the game, and for the cost of a feat... I like that balance.
So in the 1dnd forum, we are discussing a change idea to the Sorcerous Incarnate spell (one possible new sorc ability).
In quick summary: Its a
bonus action 5th level spell that takes concentration and lasts up to a minute. The idea we are discussing is this:
- Spells you cast while under this effect do not require concentration. When the spell ends, any concentration spell that is active immediately ends.
So in a nutshell:
- 1st round, you cast this spell (its a bonus action spell, so you can lob a cantrip but nothing else)
- rounds 2-10 you have no limits to other concentration effects. you can stack as many of them as you want.
- When the spell ends (either it was dispelled, the minute is up, or you lose concentration on the main spell), all other concentration spells immediately stop.
So in effect, you can create an interesting and short duration nova effect.
So obviously breaking concentration is a big deal....but how big is it? So this thread is to reach out to the powergamers here. Try to break this, what combos of concentration spells could you see that would cause a DM's jaw to drop?
A reminder that its a 5th level spell, so its a 9th level sorc minimum. Also in 1dnd a sorc has access to all wizard spells, so that could be a factor. Feel free to do high level sorcs or 9th level sorc + some other multiclass, whatever you think would break the bank.
5th level spell slots are just to easy to come by for a sorcerer, and at 11th level, a typical sorcerer could cast this 3 times without sacrificing a single spell slot for more sorcery points.
As a 5th level spell, this certainly shouldn't work for spells higher than level 3, and even that is a stretch. If you want powerful effects then upping the spell level is an absolute must. As written, this feels more like a spell that falls into the one-per-day category, and that means
6th level minimum, and probably more like 8th or 9th level.
Speaking of 8th level spells.
I just want to throw out that I value concentration highly enough that I think a 5th level bonus action spell that lets you avoid concentration for 10 minutes is very overpowered. So obviously, I am interested in seeing what people come up with here.
For the record, here's my version of a concentration-breaker from my campaign.
Ultimate Concentration
8th-level abjuration (bard, cleric, druid, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
While this spell persists, you gain a +10 bonus to saving throws and checks made to maintain your concentration. In addition, you can maintain concentration on two spells at once.
At Higher Levels: If you cast this spell using a 9th level slot, you can maintain concentration on three spells at once.
This. This is balanced. I would have zero problem with this spell coming into my game. Its limited to the most powerful sorcerers (15th level+,) is once per day, requires a highly limited resource, and is expensive enough to justify game breaking results,
BUT it lets the caster absolutely destroy one encounter per day. I would reword it to "you can maintain concentration on two
other spells,
or effects, in addition to this one."
I'd consider doing a similar spell at 6th level that had a +5 to Concentration and allowed concentrating on two 1st-3rd level spells, and if upcast to 7th level allow it to affect 4th and 5th level spells. This would make multi-concentration available at 11th level, but at a steep cost, and with limitations that prevent it absolutely dominating the game.
Honestly, you could drop the +X to Concentration saving throws with no real drop in power. Since Sorcerers get proficiency in Con saves anyway, and probably took a feat to boost concentration checks, this is more of a ribbon feature, but it is a nice little boost to make sure you don't lose a spell that you are devoting multiple resources to.
Side note: how would you handle concentration checks for multiple spells? Is it one check to maintain all your concentrations, or is each spell a separate check? The former speeds up the game at the risk of losing all your spells on a single bad roll. The latter could get tedious, but is more likely to result in partial successes, unless you fail on the roll for Sorcerous Incarnate or Ultimate Concentration.