D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook preview: "New Spells"

[Chaosmancer]

Jeez Blade Ward sounds pretty serious - if you can drop on someone enemies will regularly be attacking before combat, that's a big advantage until the Concentration slot becomes too costly. Seems fine because eventually it will stop being valid most of the time, but surprising.

Jallazri seems like an even-meaner version of Hunger of Hadar.

OH! I didn't think of casting it on others. Double Checks Looks unlikely, as every version of Blade Ward in the game to date has been range of self. But good to consider.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

OH! I didn't think of casting it on others. Double Checks Looks unlikely, as every version of Blade Ward in the game to date has been range of self. But good to consider.

Still handy for any melee with access to Cantrips. -1d4 is so good it's almost certainly worth a Feat if you're higher-AC melee who isn't otherwise using Concentration (Fighter, for example), might even be worth a 1-level dip for some builds.

 

[Aldarc]

To be honest, that comparison is, if not outright apples to oranges, at least apples to pineapples.

First, that game cares MUCH more about balance than 5E.

Second, a +1 is more valuable in PF2 than 5E, partly because of how criticals work, partly because of the locked-down nature of that game.

Third, the comparison loses value if the PF2 character simply has access to something else. Meaning that just comparing spells that's named the same has incidental value at best.

Many factors contribute to how a +5 bonus isn't very disruptive in 5E for a cloth wizard, while a +5 bonus is unheard of in PF2, and would throw that game's math totally out of whack.

Just because I didn't go into all the details, doesn't mean that I'm not aware of these things.

 

[SteveC]

The new Blade Ward is really interesting and thinking about it, I can see a situation at low level where I might use it. If I am reduced to Cantrips, I suppose I might use it for protection. The problem is that it would mean I wouldn't have an attack Cantrip for that round. And at low levels, a lot of the time you defeat an opponent with a single hit. So if I knew I would be in a combat taking a long time where I would be attacked, and didn't have any other Concentration spells, I'd consider it. But ... not sure how likely that's going to be.

 

[Staffan]

Those just shouldn't have been a thing. Make it so divine spells can't be wanded, and you're golden.

Cure ______ wounds is an arcane spell in 3e, thanks to Snarf's favorite class.

For comparison: In Pathfinder 2, Shield is a cantrip that provides only a +1 bonus to AC. Once cast, it can't be cast again until 10 minutes later.

That's not entirely how it works. The differences between D&D shield and PF2 shield are based on quite a few other rules differences.

First, in PF2 you have three actions per turn. If you're wielding an actual shield, you need to spend one action to Raise a Shield to get its benefit of +1 or +2 to AC (+1 for light shields or bucklers, +2 for heavy shields) until the start of your next turn. This is something anyone can do. In addition, most martial types will have the Shield Block feat, which lets them use their Reaction to actively block an attack that hits with a Raised shield. This will reduce the damage of the attack by the shield's Hardness (3 for wood, 5 for steel, more for magical shields), and then both you and the shield take the remaining damage (which might break the shield and make it useless for the rest of the fight until you can repair it, which usually takes one or more 10-minute activities). So, that's how regular shields work.

Then we get to the spell shield, which as already mentioned is a cantrip. When you cast it (1 action), you get a +1 bonus to AC, just like Raising a light shield. This is something you can do all day long. If you do get hit, you have the option of blocking with it, reducing the attack's damage by a small amount (generally less than a proper level-appropriate shield would), but if you do you can't cast the spell again for 10 minutes. So basically, the shield spell is the equivalent of having a bad physical shield, except you don't need the Shield Block feat to reduce damage, it doesn't take up a hand or any Bulk (encumbrance), and it does take a cantrip slot.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Cure ______ wounds is an arcane spell in 3e, thanks to Snarf's favorite class.

You may to fiddle with some definitions then. The point is that this is an easy houserule that fixes a big problem.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think Shield is thought of as a spell you just take. And I think that "no brainer" spells like that need a look at.

Yeah, in a game that's drowning in spells and will just be getting more through the life of the edition, it should ideally be a difficult choice to pick spells, every single time.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Also WotC is heavily invested in increasing the fun for DMs by making stat blocks more useful.

Um.. a useful stat block would not still take up half a page and direct you to look up 12 spells spread around the source books.

It would have the relevant information, like, ac/hp/passive perception/bonus for things the enemy is good at/bonus for other things/combat moves/special features as keywords that have been defined in the glossary. You should be able to use it at a glance, rather than muddle through someone clumsily trying to treat every monster like a PC stat block.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

2) Class spells with the class - I mean, it makes sense. It'll make the PHB slightly more awkward and also stress how biased in favour of casters 5E is (which is to say, mildly, but there is a bias).

I'll just note on the 'mildly' part, that warrior fighting styles don't even get their own page, but are just randomly slammed in the middle of feats.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Um.. a useful stat block would not still take up half a page and direct you to look up 12 spells spread around the source books.

It would have the relevant information, like, ac/hp/passive perception/bonus for things the enemy is good at/bonus for other things/combat moves/special features as keywords that have been defined in the glossary. You should be able to use it at a glance, rather than muddle through someone clumsily trying to treat every monster like a PC stat block.

Yeah. Lets see how the new stat blocks of the 2025 book look like. In the videos they hint at those more useful information. Do you have more insight than I have?