D&D 5E As a DM - Your Top 3 Most Hated Spells

[Charlaquin]

Agreed. I don't mind wish, in terms of items (like, one wish) that is really powerful- that's fun, and interesting.

But it shouldn't be a ninth-level spell. Especially when it's just, "Hey, you get to cast an 8th level spell!"

Yeah, Wishes are great as one-off rewards. As a spell you can just take at a high enough level, there’s no way for it to both live up to its name and be remotely balanced.

 

[Oofta]

There's not a great option for the wish spell. Unless of course you follow the old rules which were basically "try to screw over your players if they ever attempt to actually use this spell".

I kind of wish they had come up with a different name; a wish should be truly miraculous and probably not even available in most campaigns.

 

[Inchoroi]

My only real "dislike" spells is identify. Why? Because its so binary. Crazy artifact? "I cast identify!" Cursed item? "Oh, its cursed!"

I changed it so that the spell does not work on legendary or artifact magic items, or cursed items.

@healing spirit: i also cut this spell entirely, as its OP. The only real complaint was from one player who loved having it on a previous character.

@tiny hut: I would be delighted if my players tried using this spell anywhere other than "we're going someplace and want to stay warm on the road." If they used it in a dungeon, I would be thrilled, and they would probably die horribly.

@Wish: I've been fine with wish.

@teleport/teleportation circle: The only changes I made to these is that teleportation circle doesn't automatically grant sigil sequences; you have to go find them and record them.

I am against removing/stealth-nerfing spells during the game. The player who chose to play a wizard expecting to have some choices open to him, spending potentially some resource to learn the spell, and them having the GM deciding that talisman against banishment are the new fad and everyone has them. If I wanted to ban a spell (for balance or story reason), I'd do it openly and before the start of the game. Or plan the campaign to end before they reach the dreaded level. In my view, D&D tries to emulate a progression from farmboy to superman: at the higher end of the level scale, a trip is no longer a threat. It's quite hard to find... worthy challenge.

This. I also will not nerf anything mid-campaign.

 

[Oofta]

Maybe there should be another thread: how many ways can you kill PCs if they cast tiny hut in a dungeon.

 

[Charlaquin]

My only real "dislike" spells is identify. Why? Because its so binary. Crazy artifact? "I cast identify!" Cursed item? "Oh, its cursed!"

Oh wow, I was about to respond that Identify doesn’t reveal properties of curses, but I guess I’ve been unknowingly using a house rule.

 

[Nebulous]

I kind of wish they had come up with a different name; a wish should be truly miraculous and probably not even available in most campaigns.

10th level elven True Wish

 

[ChaosOS]

I'm definitely confused how so many people here are having major issues with Tiny Hut... 8 hours of being a sitting duck sounds like a really bad idea to me, but maybe I'm a bad DM that is willing to smoke my players out by setting fires if they're resting in dumb places.

 

[tetrasodium]

I'm definitely confused how so many people here are having major issues with Tiny Hut... 8 hours of being a sitting duck sounds like a really bad idea to me, but maybe I'm a bad DM that is willing to smoke my players out by setting fires if they're resting in dumb places.

It's mindboggling that so many GMs seem to think "surround it with fire & set a fire while nobody is watching" is A: viable when those inside can see out, leave/other than caster reenter any time, & those outside can not see in unless caster decides to make it transparent. or B: regularly a plausible idea.

Good think Daask burned down their own weapons cache while we were taking that long rest guys, good job! Good thing that Ashbound/Children of Winter cult burned down their own eldritch machine instead of finishing it, great work guys!

If you need a constant doom clock or world of nothing but tuckers kobolds for the spell becomes reasonable... It's absurdly broken. I once had 7 level 6 players think that tiny hut was good protection against a half dragon lich even after they realized that she was >2000 years old.... as written, it is unless she cast dispel magic or I give her the kind of magic Erandis should wield.... This exchange occurred minutes after they decided that a door & a tiny hut would protect them from the dhakaani artifact powered mists of ravenloft that had been getting played up for weeks.

* rather than her wanting to hire them for a "job" making killing them self defeating

 

[Maxperson]

1. Rope Trick
2. Leomund's Tiny Hut
3. Counterspell

I'm not a fan of spells that remove a large portion of the game, and I'm tired of Counterspellfest 2019.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I couldn't possibly limit my list to just 3; it would just be so unfair to the other spells that so richly deserve my scorn. So I'll just make mention of one, quite possibly peculiar to me, that hasn't come up yet: Shadow Blade. I dislike the spell because, IMO, one spell known is much too cheap a price to pay for acquiring credible (if not top-notch) melee capability. In more general terms, I do not like the creep toward making wizards (or any other caster) a 'universal class' that is able to emulate other classes via modest investments in spell selection. I don't have a fundamental problem with building, e.g., a magical tank from a wizard, but the price needs to be much, much steeper than a few spells known. Admittedly, we're not quite there yet, but to me it feels like we are well down the slippery slope.

Yeah, shadow blade was going to be my go-to.

• 2nd level spell, lasts 1 minute, concentration
• Takes a bonus action to cast
• Deals 2d8 psychic damage
• It gives you a magical dagger (finesse, light, and thrown)
• Magically reforms as a bonus action if dropped/thrown
• You add your str or dex modifier (or other ability if you can do that)
• It works with extra attack
• It works with two weapon fighting
• It gives you advantage on attack rolls in dim light or total darkness (aka, dim light with darkvision)
• Adds +1d8 at 3rd/4th, +2d8 at 5th/6th, +3d8 at 7th+

So, if you're a melee spellcaster, you just always take this if it's available.

Compare this to flame blade:

• Also 2nd level, concentration, lasts 10 minutes
• Take a bonus action to cast
• As a melee spell attack, deals 3d6 fire damage
• Adds +1d6 at 4th, +2d6 at 6th, +3d6 at 8th
• Can't be dropped or temporarily dismissed

Or elemental weapon:

• 3rd level, concentration, 1 hour
• Takes an action to cast
• Gives any non-magical weapon +1 to hit, +1d4 damage of a basic elemental type
• Adds +1 to hit/+1d4 damage at 5th, +2 to hit/+2d4 damage at 7th

The only thing shadow blade loses on really is duration, and there's rarely a difference between 1 minute and 10 minutes.