D&D 5E A Few Spell Ideas

[doctorbadwolf]

Hey, I’ve got some spell ideas that my buddy and I have thrown around, and I’d love some feedback.

Spell-Bane Smite
Level 2 Abjuration
Bonus Action
Self
1 Minute, Concentration
Your senses extend around you, waiting for the pulse of a spell being cast. You know when any creature within 15 feet of you casts a spell. If a creature casts a spell within your melee weapon reach, you can choose to make a melee weapon attack against them as a Reaction. If you hit, the target must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw or lose the spell.

Bond Companion
Level 2 Conjuration
10 minutes
Duration: Instantaneous

You create a magical bond with a beast, or a minor Fey. The creature loses its normal statistics, and instead becomes a Fey Beast of one of the following types. Each time you cast the spell, you can choose the form your Companion takes. It can understand you, and can communicate telepathically with you. If you already share a bond with the creature, such as from a class feature or another spell like find familiar, the beast retains those features in its new form.
[list of Beast of The XYZ, which basically are basically the variant beast master critters, but add some minor magical effect]
Basically let’s you take your existing familair or BM pet and upgrade it for a spell slot, or gain a pet with none of the class feature benefits if
you don’t hv e those features.

I’d also add those style of stat blocks to the list of creatures available for familiars and steeds.

Sword Bond
Level Conjuration?
Bonus Action
1
You bind a part of your soul to your weapon, allowing you to perform incredible feats with it. The weapon becomes magical, and gains the thrown property with a range of 30ft and long range of 60 ft, and it immediately returns to your hand when thrown. The weapon gains a bonus to one damage roll per turn equal to your Spellcasting modifier, and this bonus damage is cold, fire, thunder, lightning, or acid, damage, chosen when you cast the spell.

at higher levels. When you cast this spell with a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the bonus damage increases to 1d6+Spellcasting modifier, and increases by 1d6 pet spells level above that.


spell enhancements:

Jump, Longstrider, Spider Climb, and Enhance Ability, Resist Energy, all get higher level upgrades that allow you to target more creatures.

Jump and Longstrider gain 1 target per spell level.
Spider Climb gains 1 target at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th.
Enhance Ability at 5th, 7th, and 9th.
Resist Energy just hits all allies you want at level 9. Because reasons.

 

[aco175]

Spell-Bane Smite
Level 2 Abjuration
Bonus Action
Self
1 Minute, Concentration
Your senses extend around you, waiting for the pulse of a spell being cast. You know when any creature within 15 feet of you casts a spell. If a creature casts a spell within your melee weapon reach, you can choose to make a melee weapon attack against them as a Reaction. If you hit, the target must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw or lose the spell.

I'm not seeing where this would come into play or be useful. It has a self only range with concentration making it hard to use for the benefit of a free attack on someone close to you. Maybe a paladin trying to pin down a caster and gets a reaction to keep him from teleporting.

Some of the spells you want to boost based on caster level are more difficult to quantify. 5e does not seem to do this except with cantrips leveling every 5 levels. The spells boost with adding spell level over caster level. Look as magic missile from older editions where you got +1 missile every other level and not you get +1 per spell level, but start with 3 so that is more powerful at first, but less at higher levels.

I do not know if you change this that it will open a lot of other things. I also think that some things like spider climb needing a spell level to add one more person is a bit much. Not sure if a option at level 6 to make this happen over the regular level 6 caster power or a item to allows this would work.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'm not seeing where this would come into play or be useful. It has a self only range with concentration making it hard to use for the benefit of a free attack on someone close to you. Maybe a paladin trying to pin down a caster and gets a reaction to keep him from teleporting.

Some of the spells you want to boost based on caster level are more difficult to quantify. 5e does not seem to do this except with cantrips leveling every 5 levels.

I was unclear. The later levels portion is the same as other spells. The levels refer to spell levels. Caster level isn’t a thing.

As for the use of Spell-bane Smite, you and I must play in quite different games.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Most Smite options.

Inspiring Smite
Level 1
[all the normal stuff]
You direct the charge with your strikes. The next time you hit with a weapon attack, you deal 1d8 extra radiant damage, and the target becomes a beacon for your allies. Until the end of your next turn, every time an ally deals damage to the target with an attack, hey can choose to either gain 1d6+your Cha THP, or deal or deal 1d6 extra radiant damage with their attack.

at higher levels, increase all the above dice values by 1d6 per spell slot level.

I’d also create smite versions of several spells, similar to how banishing smite and ensnaring strike and lightning arrow mimic various spells as rider effects.

Guiding Bolt - attack, deal extra radiant damage, add advantage on attacks until the end of your next turn

Teleportation spells (3rd level) - Weapon attack, you teleport yourself and the target up to 30ft, and the target saves or takes 1d10 force damage and the next attack against the target has advantage.

Repelling Smite - not sure where this one lives- Melee weapon attack. Target must save or be thrown up to 20ft. If they hit an object, vertical surface, or creature, it and the target take [level appropriate] force damage.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I’d like to design a spell or 5 that enhance beast companions, familiars, and summoned creatures within an aura. Not sure on the best way to go. Probably have it target “all beasts, Fey, elementals, fiends, and celestials, of your choice within range”. Then just give a bonus equal to your Spellcasting ability modifier to their attacks, saves, ac, ability checks, and damage? Make it last 10 minutes, no concentration. I’d want it to benefit summoners, after all.

Start it at a lower level than you’d expect, because it only does anything if characters have spent CharGen and other resources to have pets, and pets are less valuable than PCs, so buffing them isn’t as strong. Also I want rangers to have it before they’re out of the levels that people actually play.

 

[Blue]

First question: What list(s) were you picturing these? I can see them on Wizard and Warlock pretty easy. Maybe Paladin and Sorcerer. Likely not bard because even though they have Valor and Sword bards they don't seem to have many weapon/smite spells.

Spell-Bane Smite
Level 2 Abjuration
Bonus Action
Self
1 Minute, Concentration
Your senses extend around you, waiting for the pulse of a spell being cast. You know when any creature within 15 feet of you casts a spell. If a creature casts a spell within your melee weapon reach, you can choose to make a melee weapon attack against them as a Reaction. If you hit, the target must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw or lose the spell.

Melee range and casting is already a very big limitation. If anything, I'd boost it a bit. But I'd probably want to bring it in line with Counterspell/Dispell magic instead of a straight save. Make it the ability check, but have it auto-work against 2nd level spells or less.

If the spell is 2nd level or lower, it is automatically fails and is lost. If the spell is of 3rd level or higher, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability, DC 10+spell level. On a success, the spell fails and is lost with no effect.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the interrupted spell automatically fails if it is equal or less than the level of the spell slot you used.

As a side note, I wished that the Smite spells could be upcast not for additional damage, but to allow for additional attacks.

Sword Bond
Level Conjuration?
Bonus Action
1
You bind a part of your soul to your weapon, allowing you to perform incredible feats with it. The weapon becomes magical, and gains the thrown property with a range of 30ft and long range of 60 ft, and it immediately returns to your hand when thrown. The weapon gains a bonus to one damage roll per turn equal to your Spellcasting modifier, and this bonus damage is cold, fire, thunder, lightning, or acid, damage, chosen when you cast the spell.

at higher levels. When you cast this spell with a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the bonus damage increases to 1d6+Spellcasting modifier, and increases by 1d6 pet spells level above that.

How long does it last? Is it intentional that you can cast it on someone else's weapon or should it do the bonus only in your hand?

Depending on the level (is that the "1" there?), I'd shillelagh it and allow it to use your spellcasting ability score for attack and damage if you wish. Just to widen the prospective pool of users.

Spider Climb gains 1 target at 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th.

One of my current DMs will tell you that having the entire party with Spider Climb is ridiculously powerful. I may not agree with him on the "ridiculous" part, but there was a custom item throwing spider climbs without concentration and we put it to very good use a couple of times. But using a slot like that I think makes it balanced.