D&D 5E Magic Initiate - A guide to an underestimated (and cool) feat

[Zardnaar]

Shield is a good pick for Sorcerers (you get to know the spell right?). Pick up that + 2 more cantrips.

 

[The Big BZ]

I played a Magic Initiate Druid. He was unfairly kicked out of Wizard College because they thought he was insane. All he did was tell people about the increasing frequency with which frogs spoke to him in his sleep. He died falling off a cliff in the Underdark only to rise again as the Frog Messiah. He insisted to everyone that he was a Wizard, imortal and attributed his ability to change into a Giant Frog and certain other animals to his divine powers. He travelled around the Underdark and Sword Coast with his loyal and devoted band of 'disciples'. He converted many many people to the worship of the true god, him on his travels. For all we know he is still out there bringing a green froggy light in to people's lives.

(edit: can't remember what cantrips and spells he took)

 

[FrogReaver]

When you can only cast the spell once per day, +5 AC for six seconds is not as good as +3 AC for eight hours! Or even +1 AC for eight hours!

I'm not so sure on this.

With mage armor:
On average you need to take 20 attacks for +1 AC to cause an additional single attack of those 20 to miss you.

With shield:
On average you need to take 4 attacks to cause 1 to miss.

Shield does have a chance to be ineffective. It also depends some on knowing the monsters attack roll or being able to guess it.

All in all I would guesstimate that a single cast of shield for a typical mage is worth about +2 ac (or maybe +3 ac) over the course of a day.

 

[Merudo]

For clerics who do not get potent cantrip, is it worth it to get Magic Initiate over a +2 to wisdom?

Booming Blade add a few d8 of damage to melee attacks, and getting Find Familiar means it is easy to get advantage on a melee roll through the familiar using the aid action.

Meanwhile, +2 wisdom essentially gives +1 to spell DC, +1 to damage with Spirit Weapon, +1 to wisdom skill checks, and +1 to wisdom saving throws.

Seems to me that Magic Initiate is more useful overall.

 

[cbwjm]

Get used to resummoning that familiar. If you're using it to aid you in combat then it is going to die. A lot.

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[vpuigdoller]

I liked the Magic Initiate feat since it was in the playtesting rules. I wish they had kept also the 2nd and 3rd tier feats which created a feat chain to gain higher-level spells without multiclassing.

I know this was posted almost a year ago, but do you remember what exactly was granted by those two other feats?

 

[Li Shenron]

I know this was posted almost a year ago, but do you remember what exactly was granted by those two other feats?

Here they are (note that in the playtest the Magic Initiate feat was split into 3 equivalent feats, each one specific for Wizard/Cleric/Druid spells):

Magic Adept
Prerequisite: Arcane Initiate, Divine Initiate, or Druidic Initiate
Choose one 2nd-level spell from the same spell list you used for the prerequisite feat. You learn that spell and can cast it once per day.

Improved Magic Adept
Prerequisite: Magic Adept
Choose one 3rd-level spell from the same spell list you used for the prerequisite feat. You learn that spell and can cast it once per day.

Superior Magic Adept
Prerequisite: Improved Magic Adept
Choose one 4th-level spell from the same spell list you used for the prerequisite feat. You learn that spell and can cast it once per day.

So apparently they went as far as a "4th tier" feat!

 

[CapnZapp]

To be fair, to get only a single casting and only of one, fixed, spell, makes these feats a hard sell. I see why they were dropped.

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[CapnZapp]

Get used to resummoning that familiar. If you're using it to aid you in combat then it is going to die. A lot.

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Sorry for being blunt, but...

"So?"

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[CapnZapp]

For clerics who do not get potent cantrip, is it worth it to get Magic Initiate over a +2 to wisdom?

Booming Blade add a few d8 of damage to melee attacks, and getting Find Familiar means it is easy to get advantage on a melee roll through the familiar using the aid action.

Meanwhile, +2 wisdom essentially gives +1 to spell DC, +1 to damage with Spirit Weapon, +1 to wisdom skill checks, and +1 to wisdom saving throws.

Seems to me that Magic Initiate is more useful overall.

When in doubt, if your Wisdom is 18 or lower, increase your Wisdom.

Not doing that should be considered the expert play, something you do when you've amassed experience playing the game.

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