D&D (2024) What spells should be dropped?

[TheSword]

If they can't keep wandering monsters and busywork fights in their pants, yes.

Why don’t you just tell your DM you don’t like your sleep being interrupted and threaten to leave the group if they don’t accede to your wishes. Instead of searching for a player win button… which doesn’t really work anyway (because of course the DM can add dispel magic to the enemies but looks bad doing it breaking verisimilitude)

 

[Vaalingrade]

Instead of searching for a player win button…

Yes. Just getting to rest like the game expects you to is a win button.

which doesn’t really work anyway (because of course the DM can add dispel magic to the enemies but looks bad doing it breaking verisimilitude)

Wandering monsters and crap asperating from thin air just to screw with the players already break verisimilitude, assuming verisimilitude ever mattered to D&D. Tiny Hut is the vaccine against it.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Here is a list of the worst spells in 5e.

They either are too weak or their usefulness is too infrequent.

ALMOST STRICTLY USELESS !

Identify 1 − identification automatically happens during every Short Rest

BAD CANTRIPS
− DELETE OR REDISIGN

True Strike 0 − perhaps combat Action like Dodge or Charge
Blade Ward 0ph − perhaps combat Action like Dodge or Charge

Magic Stone 0xg
Mold Earth 0xg
Thunderclap 0xg

OBSOLETE LEGACY SPELLS
THAT SHOULD NOW BE SKILL CHECKS
IN 5e

Legend Lore 5 − History
Find The Path 6 − Survival
Locate Animals Or Plants 2 − Survival
Detect Poison And Disease 1 − Medicine
Animal Friendship 1 − Animal Handling
Enthrall 2 − Persuasion/Intimidation/Bluff
Find Traps 2 − Perception/Investigation
Jump 1 − an Athletics stunt requiring a check, beyond the reliable Jump distance
Detect Evil And Good 1 − Arcana/Religion

Feign Death 3ph − perhaps Medicine
Glibness 8 − perhaps Deception
Detect Thoughts 2 − perhaps Insight

Charm Person 1 − as written, might instead be an Ability (Persuasion) Check

SPELLS THAT RELY ON DM GIVING A HINT
(MAYBE MAKE INTO SKILL CHECKS OR PURCHASE AS CONSUMABLE MAGIC ITEM)

Contact Other Plane 5
Augury 2
Divination 4
Commune With Nature 5
Commune 5
Speak With Dead 3

NEAR-WORTHLESS SPELLS, TOO SITUATIONAL

Hallucinatory Terrain 4
Mirage Arcane 7
Imprisonment 9
Move Earth 6
Secret Chest 4
Illusory Script 1
Animal Messenger 2
Skywrite 2xg
Instant Summons 6

Sounds like you're not a fan of Divinations and Illusions and Enchantments.

 

[Hayato]

Simulacrum and Wish

 

[CleverNickName]

I've never had a problem with Tiny Hut. I just enforce it as-written (one-minute casting time, ends if you leave its area, 9 creature capacity, Dispel Magic breaks it, etc.) and it works fine IMO. It's pretty handy for protecting the party from the elements when traveling, much better than a tent. Random encounters aren't really an issue. I check for random encounters twice per Long Rest...once at the beginning and once at the end. So if a random encounter occurs on the first roll, the encounter will arrive before Tiny Hut begins (or while the caster is casting it), and if it's on the last roll, the random encounter shows up shortly after Tiny Hut ends.

Same thing for Rope Trick....just enforce it as-written and it's fine. (Check out the parts about "the whole rope hangs perpendicular to the ground," "at the upper end of the rope, an invisible entrance opens," and "anything inside the extradimensional space drops out when the spell ends.") Unless they are carrying a length of rope only a few feet long, they might need to climb as much as 60' (4 rounds) just to get inside...and possibly take 6d6 falling damage trying to get out.

 

[Tonguez]

double post!

 

[Tonguez]

BAD CANTRIPS
− DELETE OR REDISIGN

Magic Stone 0xg
Mold Earth 0xg
Thunderclap 0xg)

I like those three cantrips, I’d be Interested in knowing why you think theyre bad

Really the number of chops being listed in this thread really does suggest that a better spell casting system is needed so that the game doesnt end up with endless list of repetitive and unbalance spell spam

 

[Nadan]

I like those three cantrips, I’d be Interested in knowing why you think theyre bad

I like Mold Earth, you can dig a crude trench within 1 turn with it. Then squat down in that 5*5*5 feet cube hole and fight like in 1914.

 

[Clint_L]

[deleted]

 

[Clint_L]

The spell lists have all just become super bloated. The top spells haven't changed much since 5e launched, so all the bloat is coming at the bottom end, with tons of repetition and niche spells. I agree that I would love to see data from DnDBeyond on how often each spell gets selected, let alone used. I suspect that almost all the ones that I listed would be very, very low on such a list.

As well, the more bloated the spell lists grow, the more difficult it is to balance them.