D&D 5E Find the Path. What? Why is this a 6th level spell?

[Waterbizkit]

While the spell is more niche than it may have been in the past, it's not nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

My best friend lives about 44 miles from my house. It takes me just under an hour to get there. I know how to get there without using my GPS (find the path) because I've been there several times (it's familiar to me). I'm even familiar enough with the surrounding areas, because of work, to know how to get there from just about any starting location... as long as it's south and/or east of his home.

However, drop me anywhere in a 44 mile zone north or west of his home and I'm not getting there unaided. If I were in that situation I'd definitely want my GPS (aka, find the path).

What people seem to be forgetting is that just because a party has already been someplace, that doesn't mean they should automatically know how to get there from anywhere else. They could be coming from a different direction for any number of reasons, something as simple as an off target teleport spell for instance, and having to return to a place of importance isn't not unusual at all in many campaigns.

Is the spell a slam dunk? No. It's absolutely more restricted and niche than it used to be. But it's not useless and it no longer destroys the narrative the way it once could.

Just my thoughts.

 

[tetrasodium]

While the spell is more niche than it may have been in the past, it's not nearly as bad as some are making it out to be.

My best friend lives about 44 miles from my house. It takes me just under an hour to get there. I know how to get there without using my GPS (find the path) because I've been there several times (it's familiar to me). I'm even familiar enough with the surrounding areas, because of work, to know how to get there from just about any starting location... as long as it's south and/or east of his home.

However, drop me anywhere in a 44 mile zone north or west of his home and I'm not getting there unaided. If I were in that situation I'd definitely want my GPS (aka, find the path).

What people seem to be forgetting is that just because a party has already been someplace, that doesn't mean they should automatically know how to get there from anywhere else. They could be coming from a different direction for any number of reasons, something as simple as an off target teleport spell for instance, and having to return to a place of importance isn't not unusual at all in many campaigns.

Is the spell a slam dunk? No. It's absolutely more restricted and niche than it used to be. But it's not useless and it no longer destroys the narrative the way it once could.

Just my thoughts.

A that 44 mile thing isn't really how survival works for finding your way somewhere, it's a lot more simplified
B you cant ignore the mechanics surrounding sprllcasters. They only get one 6th level spell slot per long rest and spells known/provided are a precious commodity in tight supply. An overly limited overly niche spell like this fails to accommodate for those things

 

[Reynard]

This goes back to the discussion back in the original Pathfinder playtest that the version of the spell appearing in AD&D 1st/BECMI/AD&D 2nd/Rules Cyclopedia/D&D 3rd/D&D 3.5 (10 minutes/level, any destination) made it impossible for the game world to have any true "lost cities" or the like, which was seen as a worldbuilding issue.

PF1 accordingly nerfed it to only be able to head to "prominent" locations, whatever "prominent" meant. (And people talk about 5e "rulings not rules".)

Now, going back to the 0e version, in the 1975 Supplement I: Greyhawk, the spell worked as follows:

Find the Path: By means of this spell the fastest and safest way out of a trap, maze, or wilderness can be found. It will, for example, allow the user to free himself from a Maze spell in a single turn after employing the spell, and if a subsequent Maze was cast at him it would not have any effect. Duration: 6 turns plus the level of the Cleric, or 1 day outdoors.

The 5e version, as a practical matter, goes back to this first published version, because finding your way to a known location is effectively the way out of wherever you happen to be, with the advantage of solidly defining "out".

This actually makes it much more sensible: it's an escape spell.

 

[Quickleaf]

I actually like the 5e version of Find the Path, but I am fairly liberal in interpreting the "familiar" clause. Unlike Scry or Teleport, Find the Path lacks any sort of definition around what "familiar" means in this context (and there is no general familiarity rule in 5e). So if you study a location extensively, whether through books or other's firsthand testimonials, then you can become "familiar" with it (for purposes of Find the Path), even never having visited or seen it. At least, that's my ruling.

In other words, it's a better designed version of Remove Curse, if you think about it.

Remove Curse goes from 0 to 100, without any intermediary requirements, boom the curse the lifted. And several possible narratives around curses are invalidated (without some very cunning writing).

Whereas 5e's Find the Path goes from 0 to 33 to 66 to 100. It introduces intermediary steps as requirements to finding the Hidden Druid Enclave or the Lair of Smaszgorav or the Treasure Cache of the Shadow Thieves.

First step? You need to study the location, whether through books or testimonials or Scrying or whatever, to learn about it. So building suspense about the location is built right into the spell.

Second step? You need to trade, find, or loot an object that originates from that location. This is basically how Planescape handled planar travel – the DM controlled what portal keys the players would find, and similar to the Plane Shift tuning fork component.

Then you can cast Find the Path.

Basically, there are DM-controllable narrative brakes built into the spell. The DM can use these to buy time to prep the location, to introduce a side quest tied to one of the PCs, to limit what places can be found with Find the Path, and even to give the casting of the spell greater cathartic payoff.

My interpretation might not be commonplace, but I really like the way 5e approached this spell & think Remove Curse could learn from Find the Path.

 

[tetrasodium]

This actually makes it much more sensible: it's an escape spell.

if it's known... and it's prepared... a caster has limited slots for each of those and because wotc changed the spell slot growth rates for 5th & 6th+ spells the caster will only have one 6th level slot between 11-18 when it jumps meteorically to 2 for 19 & 20. Spells are not divorced from the mechanics that limit them

 

[Democratus]

if it's known... and it's prepared... a caster has limited slots for each of those and because wotc changed the spell slot growth rates for 5th & 6th+ spells the caster will only have one 6th level slot between 11-18 when it jumps meteorically to 2 for 19 & 20. Spells are not divorced from the mechanics that limit them

As a cleric spell, it's not too terribly difficult to re-prepare this spell.

But it has suffered under the same heavy handed treatment as many other spells.

 

[tetrasodium]

As a cleric spell, it's not too terribly difficult to re-prepare this spell.

But it has suffered under the same heavy handed treatment as many other spells.

Bit your missing is the word "Tomorrow". It's rare for anything shy of a this looks like a job for aquaman style problem that simply can never be solved through other means to justify such extreme measures just to cast a spell. Even if there is some other reason, the caster has used their one sixth level spell slot and must maintain concentration on it while avoiding the use of other concentration spells.

 

[Stalker0]

Bit your missing is the word "Tomorrow". It's rare for anything shy of a this looks like a job for aquaman style problem that simply can never be solved through other means to justify such extreme measures just to cast a spell. Even if there is some other reason, the caster has used their one sixth level spell slot and must maintain concentration on it while avoiding the use of other concentration spells.

I have to agree. I mean frankly I would rather have something where I cast the spell, it lasts a week, no concentration, and during the week I can reroll survival checks involving navigation 3 times.

Now that ability is not all that strong, but the incredible duration, no concentration, and the fact that I can just "have it up most of the time" could make it a solid spell.

 

[MarkB]

I have to agree. I mean frankly I would rather have something where I cast the spell, it lasts a week, no concentration, and during the week I can reroll survival checks involving navigation 3 times.

Now that ability is not all that strong, but the incredible duration, no concentration, and the fact that I can just "have it up most of the time" could make it a solid spell.

Sure, but at that point the spell level is essentially irrelevant.

 

[Stalker0]

Sure, but at that point the spell level is essentially irrelevant

Its basically like water breathing is for wizards.....effectively all 7th level wizards, once they have water breathing....should just have water breathing on all the time. Its completely free for them, and it lasts so long, so why not. The fact its 4th level simply means that its a 7th level wizard ability, as opposed to a 5th level wizard ability, etc.

So find that path would be that way for a wizard, they spend 300 gp for the scroll and gain a new ability when they hit 11th level, which is basically an expensive uncommon item.

The spell level still effects at what level wizards gain access to such abilities, how much it costs to add it to their spell, how its effected by dispel magic, etc. Yes the level has far less impact than some other spells but does have some impact.