D&D 5E (2014) Why don't Arcane Tricksters get access to Bigby's Hand?

[faria]

It's a bunch of if you ask me. They're the magical hand masters! Bigby oughta bitchslap WotC. /rant

On an unrelated note, apparently "bitchslap" isn't blocked by filters. Heh.

 

[steeldragons]

1. No class except Wizard's have access to "named" spells.
2. Arcane Tricksters have access to Illusion and Enchantment magics. Bigby's spells are neither illusion nor enchantment spells.
3. Because an Arcane Trickster doesn't need access to a giant forceful/crushing/interposing/clobbering/"Hulk Smash" energy hand. Not their style.

I think that's enough reasons to reasonably understand why AT's do not gain access to them.

EDIT to add: #4. As cbjm points out, for those who like ["need"] mechanic/RAW explanations for things, Bigby's is a 5th level spell and ATs only receive up to 4th level slots. So there is, also, the literal reason that they can't learn it, regardless of flavor or spell school.

 

[Oofta]

If there was a Bigby's Backstabbing Bitchslap you might have a point.

Other than that I agree with steeldragons. Might as well ask why they don't get fireball.

 

[MoonSong]

1. No class except Wizard's have access to "named" spells.

Taha's Hideous Laughter and Melf's minute meteors beg to differ. (And bards can have any spell with their spellsecrets)

 

[jaelis]

You could rename their special version of mage hand to Bigby's Tiny Hand.

Huh, there's gotta be a Trump joke in there somewhere...

 

[Li Shenron]

Bigby's Hand spells are blunt combat spells, while Arcane Trickster is supposed to be more about subtlety and (well...) "tricks"

But but but... Arcane Tricksters can learn Bigby's spells! They can learn up to 4 non-Enchantment/non-Illusion spells!

(edit) err... now that I think about it, there is just a small problem with that... Bigby's Hand is a 5th level spell, and Arcane Tricksters cast spells only up to 4th level! So no Bigby's Hand for Arcane Tricksters but the could learn it if it wasn't for the high level

 

[Azurewraith]

I would let a trickster learn it from a scroll etc. Would never get to cast it but still lol

 

[Li Shenron]

I would let a trickster learn it from a scroll etc. Would never get to cast it but still lol

Uhm... maybe with multiclassing?

Combining Arcane Trickster with a few levels of Wizard, you might get to 5th-level spell slots. But you'll need to be very high level, for example Arc 15/Wiz 4, Arc 12/Wiz5 or Arc 9/Wiz 6.

 

[Azurewraith]

Uhm... maybe with multiclassing?

Combining Arcane Trickster with a few levels of Wizard, you might get to 5th-level spell slots. But you'll need to be very high level, for example Arc 15/Wiz 4, Arc 12/Wiz5 or Arc 9/Wiz 6.

There are no words to describe how foolish I now feel for forgetting multiclassing.

 

[Li Shenron]

There are no words to describe how foolish I now feel for forgetting multiclassing.

Well I was not sure myself if it was a good suggestion since it does kind of "cheat" on the original question It's a bit like saying "if you want your Arcane Trickster to be able to do X, you need to enter a different class..."