D&D 5E (2024) Does Innate Sorcery grant True Strike advantage?

[TigerDude]

I sometimes wonder if this forum just attracts the pedantic.

It is a magic action. It is an attack. It has advantage.

 

[Zardnaar]

I sometimes wonder if this forum just attracts the pedantic.

It is a magic action. It is an attack. It has advantage.

And what woukd give you that impression lol.

s/

 

[Charlaquin]

That quote is from the 5.5e PHB. The distinction is there. Page 247 in the Bigby's Hand spell. And in Chill Touch. And in Chromatic Orb. And...

5.5e does in fact have melee and ranged spell attacks, which is not the case with True Strike.

You said “that quote” and then didn’t quote anything. I believe you it’s there, but what actually is the quote?

 

[Charlaquin]

There are a couple of places "spell attack" appears. One is the scroll rules ("The scroll's spell uses your spell save DC and spell attack bonus."). Another is in the official character sheet. But I agree these are likely editing errors.

Sorry, I was careless with my words. “Spell attack bonus” is defined. It’s what you add to the attack rolls of spells you cast. But the “spell attack/weapon attack” distinction doesn’t seem to exist any more.

 

[Charlaquin]

I sometimes wonder if this forum just attracts the pedantic.

It’s not this forum specifically, it’s online forums as a medium of communication. And it’s less that it attracts pedants, more that it incentivizes pedantry. Which, I guess probably has the side-effect of being repellent to people who dislike pedantry.

 

[Maxperson]

You said “that quote” and then didn’t quote anything. I believe you it’s there, but what actually is the quote?

It was in my prior post, but here it is again, and it appears in 19 different spells in ranged and melee forms.

From Bigby's Clenched Fist.

"Clenched Fist. The hand strikes a target within 5 feet of it. Make a melee spell attack. On a hit, the target takes 5d8 Force damage."

Melee and Ranged Spell Attacks are a thing in 5.5e.

 

[Maxperson]

Sorry, I was careless with my words. “Spell attack bonus” is defined. It’s what you add to the attack rolls of spells you cast. But the “spell attack/weapon attack” distinction doesn’t seem to exist any more.

Spell Attack only appears 49 times in the 5.5e PHB. It has to appear 50 times to exist?

 

[Charlaquin]

It was in my prior post, but here it is again, and it appears in 19 different spells in ranged and melee forms.

From Bigby's Clenched Fist.

"Clenched Fist. The hand strikes a target within 5 feet of it. Make a melee spell attack. On a hit, the target takes 5d8 Force damage."

Melee and Ranged Spell Attacks are a thing in 5.5e.

Ah, thank you. Yeah, I definitely misspoke by saying that phrase doesn’t appear. What I meant to express was that I don’t think the weapon attack/spell attack distinction is a thing any more. Spell attacks still exist as a thing you add your spell attack bonus to, but the idea of there being two categories of attack - weapon and spell - I don’t think is still something the rules care about.

 

[Maxperson]

Ah, thank you. Yeah, I definitely misspoke by saying that phrase doesn’t appear. What I meant to express was that I don’t think the weapon attack/spell attack distinction is a thing any more. Spell attacks still exist as a thing you add your spell attack bonus to, but the idea of there being two categories of attack - weapon and spell - I don’t think is still something the rules care about.

It's still is a thing.

When the PHB talks about melee attacks, it references strength. When it talks about ranged attacks, it references dexterity. When it references melee and ranged spell attacks, it changes to reference the spell attack modifier which is based on the spellcasting stat.

You can make OA's with a melee attack, but not with a melee spell attack, since that would require a spell being cast. There are specific exceptions, but that's the general rule.

It's very clear that they differentiate between melee attacks and melee spell attacks.

 

[Charlaquin]

It's still is a thing.

When the PHB talks about melee attacks, it references strength. When it talks about ranged attacks, it references dexterity. When it references melee and ranged spell attacks, it changes to reference the spell attack modifier which is based on the spellcasting stat.

You can make OA's with a melee attack, but not with a melee spell attack, since that would require a spell being cast. There are specific exceptions, but that's the general rule.

It's very clear that they differentiate between melee attacks and melee spell attacks.

Well, they differentiate between spells and attacks. Some spells have you make one or more attacks as part of their resolution, and those are spell attacks. But, again, “spell attacks” and “weapon attacks” (not “melee attacks,” but “weapon attacks”) used to be distinct categories that the rules referenced and cared about. They aren’t any more. There are attacks you make with weapons, and there are attacks you make as part of casting spells, the latter of which use your spell attack modifier, and either of which can be melee or ranged. But weapon attack and spell attack no longer exist as distinct Rules Objects. They’re just concepts expressed via natural language.