D&D 5E Cleric spell question

[Bennett]

How can green flame blade interact with spiritual weapon? Can I use the spiritual weapon to apply green flame blade and also cast a spell or even take my regular attack and apply green flame blade again?

 

[Leatherhead]

They don't interact. Your Spiritual Weapon cannot benefit from Green Flame Blade, at all.

However, you can cast both on the same turn (using your personal, Non-Spiritual equipped melee weapon for Green Flame Blade). Then you can use your bonus action for Spiritual Weapon's standard attack, and Green Flame Blade for your normal action on subsequent rounds.

 

[jaelis]

I think leatherhead has the right answer, but you could argue nthat the cleric could grab the spectral weapon and use it for a regular attack. IE, cast SW as bonus action and make a melee spell attack, then grab the weapon, cast GFB as a standard action and make a melee weapon attack.

But that would be useful only if you didn't have a regular weapon for some reason.

 

[Harzel]

How can green flame blade interact with spiritual weapon? Can I use the spiritual weapon to apply green flame blade and also cast a spell or even take my regular attack and apply green flame blade again?

Green flame blade is not something you 'apply'. It is a spell that you can cast by taking the 'Cast a Spell' action. Since it's casting time is "1 action", it requires that you use your action (not your bonus action) to cast it. Per the spell description, as part of casting Green Flame Blade you make a melee attack with a weapon on a target within the spell's range (usually 5 ft.). The special Green Flame effect applies only to the attack that you make as part of casting the spell because that is what the spell's description says.

So, on your turn

• As your bonus action you could cast Spiritual Weapon and attack with it, or, if Spiritual Weapon is already up, move and attack with it. Green Flame Blade can't affect either of these because they are not part of casting the Green Flame Blade spell.
• As your action, you could cast Green Flame Blade and attack with a melee weapon and the Green Flame effect would apply to that attack (if you hit). It seems to me that RAW is ambiguous as to whether that melee weapon could be the Spiritual Weapon; it's up to your DM.
  • Personally, if the Spiritual Weapon was in position to be able to attack a target with the range of Green Flame Blade from you, then I would allow the Green Flame Blade melee weapon attack to be made with a Spiritual Weapon because that would be cool. I would probably say that damage for that attack is just 1d8 though (plus the Green Flame effect damage to another creature, if there is one, plus the extra damage at higher levels from Green Flame Blade).
  • If I were feeling really generous, I might let you use your Spiritual Weapon for the Green Flame Blade attack even if the target was within the range of Green Flame Blade from the Spiritual Weapon (even though that might not be in range from you).

 

[Oofta]

The material component of Green Flame Blade is a weapon. Spiritual Weapon creates a floating, spectral weapon. However, you do not make a melee attack with the spiritual weapon, you make a melee spell attack.

So I would rule that could not. A "melee spell attack" is not a "melee attack". In addition, both are bonus actions - it's a bonus action to attack with spiritual weapon and a bonus action to cast green flame blade. You only have 1 bonus action per turn.

 

[jaelis]

GFB is a standard action though.

 

[CapnZapp]

How can green flame blade interact with spiritual weapon? Can I use the spiritual weapon to apply green flame blade and also cast a spell or even take my regular attack and apply green flame blade again?

Nope.

 

[CapnZapp]

It seems to me that RAW is ambiguous as to whether that melee weapon could be the Spiritual Weapon

No, Oofta is right in that Spiritual Weapon is not an actual weapon, but some effects of a spell.

You can't make attacks with it (you can't even hold it), you can only spend your bonus attack to direct it to attack.

So you can't use it with GFB.

That said, I don't see any balance issue if your player were to use his action to cast GFB and his bonus action to direct the spiritual weapon, and to describe that as one and the same attack.

Especially since this would actually be less effective than the RAW routine, since now you're making only one attack instead of two. (But given a Cleric with low enough Strength and Dexterity, and they might be willing to give up a hopeless attack of their own).

So RAW/RAI no but RAF why the ell not

 

[gyor]

Spiritual Weapon is just a bit of force you shape to look like a weapon, then command to hit people with. I think by RAW you could make Spiritual Weapon look like a Spectral Version of Anything.

I was thinking of shaping my Spiritual Weapon into a Tressym shape, instead of a conventional weapon for example.

And before anyone says Tressyms are't weapons, the spell says any weapons, which includes improvised weapons.

 

[jaelis]

No, Oofta is right in that Spiritual Weapon is not an actual weapon, but some effects of a spell.

You can't make attacks with it (you can't even hold it), you can only spend your bonus attack to direct it to attack.

While I would play it that way, I'd call it a ruling, not a rule. The spell itself just says you create a weapon. Albeit a spectral weapon, but interpreting spectral is up to the DM.