Should D&D have more spells like Chromatic Orb ?

hejtmane · Mar 22, 2018

One thing that can be frustrating as a player is themed elemental casters (unless you play fire) and one of the cool spells is chromatic orb were you pick your damage type and makes it fun for the caster. Yes I know it can give them a Swiss army knife to over come resistance monsters to certain damage type. Yet at the same time it helps with certain damage types being under represented.

This could work for other damages likes radiant and necrotic as an option

Examples
On the cantrip side maybe FireBolt could be elemental bolt pick damage type like Chromatic Orb

or they could do a variation when you pick the spell you pick the damage type and that spell for you will only do that damage type unless you take the spell a second time and pick a different damage. Green-flame blade would be a good candidate for this option you can pick either fire, acid or lighting (hey they all make sense theme wise).

Just trying to look at both sides of the issue and find ways to expand damage type without adding so many spells that are the same.

Curious what other people stance or view of the subject. Pros and Cons are all good

Satyrn · Mar 22, 2018

hejtmane said:
or they could do a variation when you pick the spell you pick the damage type and that spell for you will only do that damage type unless you take the spell a second time and pick a different damage. Green-flame blade would be a good candidate for this option you can pick either fire, acid or lighting (hey they all make sense theme wise).

I'd be all for this as the solution.

I mean, it already readily exists as a sort of houseruled "hey DM, can I have firebolt, but reflavoured as lightning ~~bolt~~ . . . er . . . stroke" option, but it would be nice to feel like I could just do it without permission.

cbwjm · Mar 22, 2018

Satyrn said:
I'd be all for this as the solution.

I mean, it already readily exists as a sort of houseruled "hey DM, can I have firebolt, but reflavoured as lightning ~~bolt~~ . . . er . . . stroke" option, but it would be nice to feel like I could just do it without permission.

True, I'm all for reflavouring spells which is easy to do in your home game. I'm sure there are more than a few AL players that want to run a themed caster that would like to be able to just pick a damage type when selecting some of their spells. It's not like it would really be unbalancing and maybe the Storm Sorcerer wants to style themselves as Zeus and throw lightning with their cantrips.

Shiroiken · Mar 22, 2018

I think having more spells utilizing the various elements is a better idea. Not only should the different elements feel different from each other, but it can actually mess with some spells which use the commonality of resistance as a determining factor.

Dausuul · Mar 23, 2018

Ideally we would have a larger array of spells, with common themes for each element. Raw damage for fire, slowing effects for cold, ongoing damage for acid, etc. I'd like it if there were a qualitative difference between the elements, rather than a mere reskin of the same effect.

However, if we aren't going to get that, spells like chromatic orb are a tolerable fix.

lowkey13 · Mar 23, 2018

*Deleted by user*

Jacob Lewis · Mar 23, 2018

You mean like Chrimatic Sphere? Chromatic Cube? Chromatic Dodecahedron? Hang on, I need a Thesaurus for the rest...

jgsugden · Mar 23, 2018

Flexibility is an advantage. 5E limits spellcasters, in part, by reducing their flexibility relative to some prior editions. Concentration and fewer spell slots are two examples of their limitations on flexibility. Control over damage types in existing spells is another limitation.

I have no problem with wizards creating new spells that are similar to existing spells but deal a different type of damage (a 7d6 acidball at 3rd level, etc...), but giving them the flexibility to change the type of damage too easily is just problematic.

ccs · Mar 24, 2018

No, the game should not have more such spells.

As Lowkey13 said, what makes CO special is its flexibility.

Other than this fairly unique spell ? If you choose to specialize in some form of damage then you need to accept that the trade off is that you won't be as effective in other areas of damage dealing. Or if you somehow can change damage types, doing so should be an expensive option - feats, min. levels, higher lv spells, $$$ componants, etc .
Just making more CO type spells, or alt type versions (oo, it's just like just like Fireball - but made of cold!), renders the choice to specialize pointless.

And no. Everything does not need to be equally represented in the game. Be it spell or something else.

CubicsRube · Mar 24, 2018

I wish more spells could be manipulated to make a true elemental caster. Im fine with habing ti cast at ahigher level to make a fireball a frostball, or whatever. Or perhaps this could be a sorceror feature to highlight their flexibility.

Me? What i really want is a level 2 fireball. Less damage, less area, but I can use with abandon.