D&D 5E Break my concentration redesign!

[FrogReaver]

Sorry for the long post. I wish there was a way to make smaller tables. Oh well.

Anyway, here's the list. A few spells have question marks (?) as I'm still debating but you get the idea. So your job is to find 2-spell combos that could be a problem or broken. Thanks!

Spell Level Type Friends Cantrip A Guidance Cantrip A Resistance Cantrip A Bane 1st E Bless 1st A Compelled Duel 1st E Detect Evil and Good 1st A Detect Magic 1st A Detect Poison and Disease 1st A Divine Favor 1st A Entangle 1st E Expeditious Retreat 1st A Faerie Fire 1st E Fog Cloud 1st E Heroism 1st A Hex 1st E Hunter's Mark 1st A Protection from Evil and Good 1st A Shield of Faith 1st A Silent Image 1st E Tasha's Hideous Laughter 1st E Alter Self 2nd A Beast Sense 2nd A Blur 2nd A Calm Emotions 2nd E Cloud of Daggers 2nd E Crown of Madness 2nd E Darkness 2nd E Detect Thoughts 2nd A Enhance Ability 2nd A Enlarge/Reduce 2nd A/E Flame Blade 2nd E (?) Flaming Sphere 2nd E Gust of Wind 2nd E Heat Metal 2nd E Hold Person 2nd E Invisibility 2nd A Levitate 2nd A/E Locate Object 2nd A Magic Weapon 2nd ? Moonbeam 2nd E Pass without Trace 2nd A Phantasmal Force 2nd E Silence 2nd E Spider Climb 2nd A Spike Growth 2nd E Suggestion 2nd E Web 2nd E Aura of Vitality 3rd A Beacon of Hope 3rd A Bestow Curse 3rd E Clairvoyance 3rd A Conjure Animals 3rd E Crusader's Mantle 3rd A Elemental Weapon 3rd ? Fear 3rd E Fly 3rd A Gaseous Form 3rd A Haste 3rd A Hunger of Hadar 3rd E Hypnotic Pattern 3rd E Major Image 3rd E Protection from Energy 3rd ? Sleet Storm 3rd E Slow 3rd E Spirit Guardians 3rd A Stinking Cloud 3rd E Vampiric Touch 3rd ? Wind Wall 3rd E Arcane Eye 4th A Aura of Life 4th A Aura of Purity 4th A Banishment 4th E Compulsion 4th E Confusion 4th E Conjure Minor Elementals 4th E Conjure Woodland Beings 4th E Control Water 4th E Dominate Beast 4th E Evard's Black Tentacles 4th E Giant Insect 4th E Grasping Vine 4th E Greater Invisibility 4th A Locate Creature 4th A Otiluke's Resilient Sphere 4th E Phantasmal Killer 4th E Polymorph 4th A Stoneskin 4th A Wall of Fire 4th E Animate Objects 5th E Antilife Shell 5th A Bigby's Hand 5th E Circle of Power 5th A Cloudkill 5th E Conjure Elemental 5th E Dispel Evil and Good 5th A Dominate Person 5th E Hold Monster 5th E Insect Plague 5th E Mislead 5th A Modify Memory 5th E Scrying 5th A Swift Quiver 5th A Telekinesis 5th E Tree Stride 5th A Wall of Force 5th E Wall of Stone 5th E Arcane Gate 6th E Blade Barrier 6th E Conjure Fey 6th E Eyebite 6th E Find the Path 6th A Flesh to Stone 6th A Globe of Invulnerability 6th A Move Earth 6th E Otto's Irresistible Dance 6th E Sunbeam 6th E Wall of Ice 6th E Wall of Thorns 6th E Conjure Celestial 7th E Delayed Blast Fireball 7th E Mordenkainen's Sword 7th E Project Image 7th E Reverse Gravity 7th E Animal Shapes 8th A Antimagic Field 8th E Control Weather 8th E Dominate Monster 8th E Earthquake 8th E Holy Aura 8th A Incendiary Cloud 8th E Maze 8th E Tsunami 8th E Gate 9th E Shapechange 9th A Storm of Vengeance 9th E True Polymorph 9th A Weird 9th E

Something like Hypnotic pattern followed by a twinned haste could be really potent and is a combo available at level 5+. There's a number of other similar combos.

A strong early game combo might be something like bless + bane.

 

[GlassJaw]

Something like Hypnotic pattern followed by a twinned haste could be really potent and is a combo available at level 5+. There's a number of other similar combos.

A strong early game combo might be something like bless + bane.

Agreed on both. There are some borderline cases.

That said, both of your examples can occur with the existing concentration rules with two casters. The question is whether it's "broken" for a single caster to be able to pull it off, which would require multiple actions, multiple spell slots, and more difficult concentration DC.

Further, is it worth introducing some potent single-casters combos into the game in order to see a larger variety of spells and rarely used spells in play?

My vote is yes.

 

[ART!]

I have no commentary to offer on the mechanics, but I like this idea a lot.

Like, A LOT.

 

[FrogReaver]

Agreed on both. There are some borderline cases.

That said, both of your examples can occur with the existing concentration rules with two casters. The question is whether it's "broken" for a single caster to be able to pull it off, which would require multiple actions, multiple spell slots, and more difficult concentration DC.

of course it is. That was the entire point of that example. Letting a caster have more lasting effects up at a time is a direct increase in power. Having that option even if never used is a big deal.

Further, is it worth introducing some potent single-casters combos into the game in order to see a larger variety of spells and rarely used spells in play?

My vote is yes.

Buffing the casters ‘bad’ spells increases his versatility by giving him more good options which is an increase in horizontal power and likely an increase in vertical power (they are more likely To have a more effective spell for a given situation).

ultimately what your method does is give them their best enemyaffecting spell and best ally affecting spell up at the same time. Your proposal fails in its goal IMO.

Instead I’d propose an alternative cast method where you forgo concentration on a spell such that its effects will only last 1 round. Possibly allow down casting such spells by a level to obtain the single round effect concentration free.