D&D 5E Spell specialization Feat

TaranTheWanderer · Oct 20, 2020

This is another 'Concentrate on mulitple spells' Thread.

One of the players is playing a Divination Wizard and wants to take a home-brew feat:

Version 1: Choose 1 spell. You may cast that one spell without needing to concentrate. You may Switch this spell out for a different spell when you acquire a new level.

Version 1: Choose one School of magic. You may choose a spell from that school. When you cast the chosen spell, you don't need to concentrate on that spell. You may Switch this spell out for a different spell when you acquire a new level as long as it is from the same, chosen school.

Version 3: Same as version 1 or 2 except the spell you choose just lets you concentrate on that spell while concentrating on another...worded something like this:

Choose one School of Magic. You may choose a spell from that school and when you cast the chosen spell, you may concentrate on that spell while simultaneously concentrating on a different spell. You may Switch this spell out for a different spell when you acquire a new level as long as it is from the same, chosen school.

Thoughts? Pretty limited but lets you switch out the spell at each level.

Krachek · Oct 20, 2020

Version 4
Wizard Divination spell don’t require concentration when you cast them.

aco175 · Oct 20, 2020

Some spells are rather powerful and have the concentration mechanic to be able to contain them. I could see being able to concentrate on 2 spells at the same time and even having advantage to checks to maintain both spells. That said, having only one spell that you get to choose makes it better and may not break the bank. I would most likely allow it and hope that I do not have remorse.

tommybahama · Oct 20, 2020

How about a mini quest for a magic item that gives the same power as one of the feats you described? Like a ring with the soul of a wizard trapped inside that holds the concentration for the wearer. If it turns out to be too powerful then have it break and become a regular ring of spell storing or something similar. That might lessen the sting if you decide to take away the ability.

The wizard that is/was trapped in the ring could be an interesting plot hook.

TaranTheWanderer · Oct 20, 2020

tommybahama said:
How about a mini quest for a magic item that gives the same power as one of the feats you described? Like a ring with the soul of a wizard trapped inside that holds the concentration for the wearer. If it turns out to be too powerful then have it break and become a regular ring of spell storing or something similar. That might lessen the sting if you decide to take away the ability.

The wizard that is/was trapped in the ring could be an interesting plot hook.

Interesting idea. I'm not the DM, though. Just posting on behalf of the group. Just checking to get a sense of game balance.

TaranTheWanderer · Oct 20, 2020

Krachek said:
Version 4
Wizard Divination spell don’t require concentration when you cast them.

Yeah, we thought about that too...Despite being a Divination wizard, I think he wants to take illusion spells, though... but I'm not sure.

Dragonsbane · Oct 20, 2020

I often read about concentration spells and never to allow 2 or more, but I don't get it. The DM uses the same rules!

Thus, I suggest this from my homebrew rules:

Concentration

As spellcasters gain in power, they can concentrate on more than one spell at a time, as follows:
Caster Level # of Concentration Spells
1 - 1 spell
9+ - 2 spells
18+ - 3 spells

Readying an action does not count against the limit of concentration spells. You do not hold the spell, bur rather cast it fully when your delayed/readied action occurs.

Concentration checks have an additional +2 to their DC per concentration spell maintained past the first.

This allows the DM to use 2 or 3 concentration spells with high level casters against the PCs. Imagine the combinations! Most people don't even play much high level, so at most the players will have 2 at once, while plenty of NPCs will have 2 or 3 at once, and much earlier. Yes, in my gameworld lore casters are more powerful

As far as Spell Focus feats, we use this:

Spell Focus

Spells you cast of a particular school are more difficult to resist.
Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell

Choose a school of magic. Add an additional +1 bonus to the DC of saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.
You gain advantage on all saves against that school of magic.

UngeheuerLich · Oct 20, 2020

Don't allow 2 concentration spells at once.
Maybe remove concentration from a few select spells.

Ildane · Oct 22, 2020

I like version 1, but with a tweak so that it has minor limitations as to not break game balance:
Focused Spell Concentration
This feat can only be chosen once.
Choose a spell that requires concentration, and is one level or more lower than your highest level spell slot available to you. That spell no longer requires concentration when cast. This spell cannot be interrupted by normal concentration rules, but will end if other spell ending conditions are met (for example: Invisibility) or if the caster initiates a long rest. Another spell with concentration may additionally be cast, but that spell is subject to all normal rules. You may change to a different spell when you acquire a new spell level.

This description ensures that only one spell is added to their list of concentration, the spell won't last longer than 1 day, their highest level spell is never chosen, nor could a 9th level spell ever be in that listing. I feel that's enough restrictions to ensure balance without limiting the choices a character would like to make. DM's, this is a great spell to confound players, so they don't realize a caster may be responsible for more than one concentration spell.

Quartz · Oct 22, 2020

I like the idea of making it a magic item at first. And make it 1/short rest, at least to start with.

I'll steal from @Mike Myler 's write-up of Odin. The item (or feat) works as below:

As a Bonus Action, immediately after casting a spell you may transfer the Concentration of that spell to your familiar as long as the familiar is within 10'. The level of the spell may be no higher than your Proficiency Bonus. Your familiar must stay within 30' or Concentration is automatically lost.