D&D 5E Confer Spell Like Ability

[trentonjoe]

I may be getting the vocabulary wrong but in older editions there were spells and abilities that allowed spell casters the ability to give non spellcasters the ability to cast a spell. There was a mechanic that allowed a wizard to cast a spell that allowed the party thief to cast invisibility on herself when the thief wanted to. I think it was a 4th level spell. Is there anything in 5E that mimics that? If there isn't, is there a major balance issues with allowing something like that? I think the old rule was the magic user needed to blow a 4th level spell to allow a schlub to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I don't believe there is a version of Bestow Spell Ability or whatever the spell you're thinking of was called in 5e, but I could very easily be wrong.

Assuming there isn't, no, there's no particular balance concern in 5e. IIRC, the old spell let you give a character you touched the ability to cast a specific spell (spells?) with total levels lower than the spell, itself, and you still gave up those spells, as well. It was quite inefficient, but it could make a spell available when you weren't around, or get around the spell/round limit - neither of those sound like they'd be a major problem for 5e (most sub-classes already cast spells, and it's not like balance is a major issue in 5e, to begin with).

IIRC, it was a Cleric spell, and it might have been limited to certain spells. I'd say that, in addition to the slot used to cast the spell, you'd have to expend the slot needed to cast the spell you're bestowing, if the subject doesn't already have any high enough level slots, himself. But that's just me.

 

[Staffan]

The spell was called imbue with spell ability, and was a 4th level cleric spell in 3e - wizards had nothing similar, and the cleric spell was limited to abjuration, divination, and conjuration (healing) spells. There's nothing along those lines in 5e, though.

The closest you could get would be a very lenient reading of the glyph of warding spell cast on something the intended recipient is carrying. However, glyph of warding is explicitly designed to "harm other creatures", so I would not allow someone to glyph a beneficial spell like invisibility.

 

[trentonjoe]

Right Imbue....thanks guys.

 

[steeldragons]

Yes. It was a cleric spell...goes back to 1e UA, I believe. And it was 4th level. But wizards never had one. And since clerics didn't have invisibility*, I'm not sure how you got the scenario of letting a thief cast invis. on himself...without some magic item.

Had to be 1st or 2nd level spells (no more than 2 1st and 1 2nd) and could only be informative, defensive or a cure light wounds (not any other curative spell). These spells, basically, came out of the cleric's allotment and they could not replace them (refill those slots) until the person they had imbued used the spells they'd been given.

*Granted, this could be some 3e-ism of which I am unaware.

 

[Tanaka Chris]

Only similar mechanic now seems to be the Ring of Spell Storing?
But you gotta:
1) have a nice DM who allows you to have one;
2) Convince the party spellcaster it's better on someone else

 

[CapnZapp]

Concentration.

That's a major balance concern any such ability needs to account for. (If the level 7 cleric can "outsource" even low-level buffs to her friends, who have no other use for their concentration "slots", that would be incredibly useful in many scenarios)

The easy fix would of course have Bestow Ability be concentration itself, but I suspect that would kill off too many use cases for such a spell.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Just make your own 5e version of Imbue Spell or whatever it was. Should be easy enough. Or if that feels too available, make it some kind of feat (with some other bonuses).

 

[tuxgeo]

Mrrb. The 3rd Ed splat book "Complete Arcane" contained a feat named "Innate Spell" that did something similar.

Its prerequisites consisted of already having three Metamagic feats: Quicken, Silent, and Still ("Spell" in each case).
However, the costs were high: You had to select the spell that you would learn innately; and you could use it as a spell-like ability once per round, but only by sacrificing a spell slot eight levels higher than the selected spell. This means that you could only make a 1st-level spell Innate. That's a pretty stiff requirement.

 

[CapnZapp]

Just make your own 5e version of Imbue Spell or whatever it was. Should be easy enough.

Well, easy for you maybe.

I consider myself a rules veteran, but I would say this sort of spell effect isn't easy at all to implement properly, especially across editions.