D&D 5E Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade Nerfed in TCoE

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Two feats isn’t a big cost. You can have it at 4th level. Free attack every round and more extra damage than your fellows are getting on a base attack. No thanks. That’s fun for some people, not me.

Two feats, a cantrip, a weapon, and lower damage dice. That's pretty expensive for a pretty bad combo (if you use BB as a reaction, you want the target to have a choice between damage and not moving. Sentinel negates that choice).

 

[TheSword]

Two feats, a cantrip, a weapon, and lower damage dice. That's pretty expensive for a pretty bad combo (if you use BB as a reaction, you want the target to have a choice between damage and not moving. Sentinel negates that choice).

And a partridge in a pear tree. Having a weapon isn’t a cost, it’s a given, and action isn’t a cost when every attack spell uses an action. Not sure where you’re getting lower damage dice, unless you’re assuming your Gish would be using a two handed weapon. So no, very little cost at all. In fact pretty much free damage all the way.

No I want the target to have a choice between taking damage and doing nothing... Missing out it’s attack. In that situation most DMs have them move because what’s the point of a monster if it does nothing voluntarily in a round.

 

[Marandahir]

It's not a nerf, it's a change that supports the fiction and fixes an issue that was never intended.

These work hand in hand with the new Bladesinger changes, as well.

There was never an intention to be able to dual cast Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade as the idea is that your weapon is the item making the attack, and you can't just duplicate the weapon like that.

Jeremy Crawford explains it quite well on Dragon Talk.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

weapon isn’t a cost, it’s a given

Not for Bladesingers, it's not. It's not in their equipment, so they have to buy it.

action isn’t a cost when every attack spell uses an action

. . . I didn't say "action" in my post. If you mean cantrip, I meant that you have to give up one of your cantrip slots for the combo.

Not sure where you’re getting lower damage dice, unless you’re assuming your Gish would be using a two handed weapon.

All reach weapons have a lower damage dice than non-reach weapons. Whips, Pikes, and so on all have lower damage dice than other weapons you could use.

So no, very little cost at all. In fact pretty much free damage all the way.

Free damage that costs a cantrip slot, two feats, and a bit of damage from your weapon being reach. That's not "pretty much free". The fastest it will come into play (for non VHumans) will be level 8.

 

[TheSword]

Not for Bladesingers, it's not. It's not in their equipment, so they have to buy it.

. . . I didn't say "action" in my post. If you mean cantrip, I meant that you have to give up one of your cantrip slots for the combo.

All reach weapons have a lower damage dice than non-reach weapons. Whips, Pikes, and so on all have lower damage dice than other weapons you could use.

Free damage that costs a cantrip slot, two feats, and a bit of damage from your weapon being reach. That's not "pretty much free". The fastest it will come into play (for non VHumans) will be level 8.

Feats at 1st level for Vhumans and Vraces from Tasha is now very much a part of a landscape.

I always find this Uber-optimizations language where every single element is costed and valued to squeeze the greatest utility out of element is troubling. Mainly because most people don’t see it that way.

However, for the record a halberd at d10 is less than half the cost of a great sword and does 1 1/2 point of damage less on average. 1 1/2 points now superseded by the 2d8 you’ve forced them to take, or be left with their arse in their hand.

Hey I have this amazing cantrip you can use. It’s great it does 3d8 at level 5, more damage than other spells and allows you to make an attack with all the bonus damage from your weapon attacks... Yeah but I have to take a cantrip to use that... yes but you get 4 cantrips... yeah but I’d rather take Mage hand and pull levers.

Look I get that you feel burned by the change to the spell. But suggesting the cost of the combo was unreasonable is just not tenable. Particularly when the two biggest costs - Warmage and Polarm master are a given for spell casting fighters and those using halberds respectively even without this combo and come with their other benefits.