D&D 5E Casting a spell in a lower-level slot?

[Quartz]

Would you allow casting a spell in a lower-level slot with reduced power? How would you manage it?

For example, suppose you're a wizard who has Fireball memorised, so at least 5th level. Your way is blocked by ordinary vermin (1 HP) and you're in a hurry. Clearing the area with cantrips would take too long, so you cast Fireball as a 1st level spell, clearing them all out. Or, you're an archmage with Meteor Swarm memorised and there's a squad of orcs half a mile away. A full-power Meteor Swarm is overkill, but one cast at 4th or 5th level doing 1/4 or 1/3 damage would take care of them nicely.

What do you think?

 

[KahlessNestor]

Would you allow casting a spell in a lower-level slot with reduced power? How would you manage it?

For example, suppose you're a wizard who has Fireball memorised, so at least 5th level. Your way is blocked by ordinary vermin (1 HP) and you're in a hurry. Clearing the area with cantrips would take too long, so you cast Fireball as a 1st level spell, clearing them all out. Or, you're an archmage with Meteor Swarm memorised and there's a squad of orcs half a mile away. A full-power Meteor Swarm is overkill, but one cast at 4th or 5th level doing 1/4 or 1/3 damage would take care of them nicely.

What do you think?

Maybe reduce the damage dice by the die progession? So if it is a 3rd level spell that does 3d8 +1d8 per level, cast at second level for 2d8, or first for 1d8?

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[green_destiny]

Would you allow casting a spell in a lower-level slot with reduced power? How would you manage it?

For example, suppose you're a wizard who has Fireball memorised, so at least 5th level. Your way is blocked by ordinary vermin (1 HP) and you're in a hurry. Clearing the area with cantrips would take too long, so you cast Fireball as a 1st level spell, clearing them all out. Or, you're an archmage with Meteor Swarm memorised and there's a squad of orcs half a mile away. A full-power Meteor Swarm is overkill, but one cast at 4th or 5th level doing 1/4 or 1/3 damage would take care of them nicely.

What do you think?

In my game, probably not. Isn't casting with finesse or with more controlled effect is harder?

But if my player insists, they may explicitly declare to cast the spell in a more controlled manner but it will still take the same level of spell slot, since having more control on the effect is harder. But I think this will only come up if the player does not want to have an overkill or to just knock-out an opponent.

Also, this may just over complicate the game and open cans of worms, since there are really no guidelines in casting at a lower spell level.

 

[bganon]

I wouldn't do it as you've written them. Part of the whole point of spell levels, for example, is that blasting spells affect at most a 15-ft cone area at 1st level, maybe a 10-ft radius sphere at 2nd level, etc. For a de-leveled fireball I'd absolutely reign in the area of effect.

And a quarter-damage Meteor Swarm is still basically better than any of the 8th-level blaster spells, though this might be more of a criticism of the options at 8th level.

 

[LordEntrails]

I would at least cut the damage in half for every level you reduce the spell. So a 1st level fireball would do 1/4 damage and probably no damage on a save (rather than 1/8th).

The way I look at it, spells just aren't about the amount of power (mana, energy, etc) put into them, there is minimum effort required to produce a given effect. It takes so much energy just to make an explosion. At some point if you reduce the energy amount their is NO explosion, not just a little one.

Also in the fireball example you would have to reduce the radius. So damage and radius should decrease by half for each spell level you reduce it. Yes this is a big "penalty", but see paragraph 2.

 

[LordEntrails]

Oh, and to consider bganon's point, you should compare the de-leveled spell to anything available at the lower lower and it should be weaker and less effective than anything already available at that level.

 

[jaelis]

I wouldn't allow it, myself.

 

[bgbarcus]

I wouldn't allow it as proposed, but there's nothing to stop a character from creating a lower powered (and lower level) version of the same spell. In my mind, any wizard worth his salt wants to build a laboratory and research library so they can create their own spells.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Would you allow casting a spell in a lower-level slot with reduced power?

I wouldn't allow lower level casting too it's just much headaches and the spellcasting system looks fine to me.

 

[Horwath]

I would maybe allow to merge two spell slot of one level lower to cast the higher level spells.

I.E. 2 spell slots of 2nd level to cast a fireball of 3rd level.