D&D 5E Circle of Death?

[Consternation]

Hello there!

I was going through some spells and I came across the infamous circle of death. As 6th circle spell it only deals 8d6 and also allows for a saving throw for half damage. Does it really sound like a Circle of "Death"? On the average 28 damage, can't even, most likely, kill a group of 4th levels. Am I missing something or is this a real joke?

 

[iserith]

"Death" was the nickname of the magic-user who originally created the spell - Death Vader - and doesn't refer to the death-dealing power of the spell itself.

 

[pdegan2814]

Hello there!

I was going through some spells and I came across the infamous circle of death. As 6th circle spell it only deals 8d6 and also allows for a saving throw for half damage. Does it really sound like a Circle of "Death"? On the average 28 damage, can't even, most likely, kill a group of 4th levels. Am I missing something or is this a real joke?

I'm assuming the "Death" refers to the fact that it deals Necrotic damage. And yes the damage isn't as high as other spells at 6th level, but the radius is HUGE. It's got a 60' radius, compared to only 20' for a Fireball. Circle Of Death may not be great for small groups of heavies, but for clearing massive hordes it can be very impressive.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Yeah, circle of death aint what it used to be.... (from AD&D and so on)

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I'm assuming the "Death" refers to the fact that it deals Necrotic damage. And yes the damage isn't as high as other spells at 6th level, but the radius is HUGE. It's got a 60' radius, compared to only 20' for a Fireball. Circle Of Death may not be great for small groups of heavies, but for clearing massive hordes it can be very impressive.

Yeah I don't think this can be understated. A 60' radius spell hits over four hundred 5x5 squares. (Technically, it hits 452 squares, but I'm allowing for all the inefficiencies and "must cover at least 50%" rules which cause a decent amount of loss at the edges.) Compare that to a fireball, which covers an ideal area of 50ish squares. Are there a lot of situations where you need 8x-9x the area of a Fireball spell? Probably not. But I can at least see some benefit for stomping on such a large area.

Circle of Death, really, is a bad guy spell. For commoners and guardsmen, having only 1-3 HD apiece, 28 damage pretty much IS death. So what if it's sub par for most nasties PCs will face? It's GREAT for a cackling madboy wizard delighting in the suffering of innocents.

That said, it also has some uses in dealing with a huge enemy onslaught. Remember that 5e expects you to continue using CR 1, 1/2, or even 1/4 creatures at 12th level and beyond; for many such creatures, while this spell might not be instant death or even a killing blow, it'll hurt like hell and just one more hit will take out a lot of things (and at this point, Fighters are getting a third attack, and most other melee classes hit extra hard with theirs, so they're quite good at this sort of 'cleanup').

 

[IlluminatedSeraph]

Pretty much what Ezekiel said - Circle of Death is a horde-killer, and a vicious one. It's great in its niche, but I do think that the necromancy spell list (especially at higher levels) has a nasty shortage of good spells (especially damage spells) that could use some work.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Pretty much what Ezekiel said - Circle of Death is a horde-killer, and a vicious one. It's great in its niche, but I do think that the necromancy spell list (especially at higher levels) has a nasty shortage of good spells (especially damage spells) that could use some work.

This is a bit of a tangent, but Vampiric Touch V is pretty sweet for a Necromancer, especially with Resilient (Con). 5d6 damage (regain half as HP healing) plus 15 points of HP healing per kill is nice! Plus, unlike a Fiendlock you don't even have to kill "hostile" creatures. You can voodoo-sacrifice 2 cp chickens for 15 HP each if you need the healing.

That'll be 150 HP of healing from a single 5th level spell slot, please.

 

[IlluminatedSeraph]

This is a bit of a tangent, but Vampiric Touch V is pretty sweet for a Necromancer, especially with Resilient (Con). 5d6 damage (regain half as HP healing) plus 15 points of HP healing per kill is nice! Plus, unlike a Fiendlock you don't even have to kill "hostile" creatures. You can voodoo-sacrifice 2 cp chickens for 15 HP each if you need the healing.

That'll be 150 HP of healing from a single 5th level spell slot, please.

My group generally runs on the houserule that you can't take more HP from something than it has to give, so those must be some EPIC chickens.

 

[Azurewraith]

My group generally runs on the houserule that you can't take more HP from something than it has to give, so those must be some EPIC chickens.

Spoken like some who never angered a Zelda chicken

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Spoken like some who never angered a Zelda chicken

Oh God, I remember the doom-chickens of...Oracle of Ages, I think? A GIANT cucco would come on the screen and stomp the crap out of you--and possibly kill you. Don't with those chickens. They will end you.

Also, I should've realized this when I wrote my earlier post: circle of death has a 60' radius, which is three times larger than a 20' radius (like fireball). Thus, its area should be 3^2 = 9x as large! Duh. Even if you account for edge-losses, it should still be close to that figure.