D&D (2024) December 1st UA Spell changes

[Gadget]

Any thoughts on the spell changes in the new UA?

I think the Guidance and Resistance changes are long overdue, though you could still spam Guidance all day if you wanted to; that may cause some heartburn at many tables. I think Spiritual Weapon and Banishment will be the more controversial spell changes (with maybe Aid thrown in by some).

Personally, I think the Spiritual Weapon one was a bit overdue, as running that along with Spirit Guardians was almost mandatory. Yet one could argue that Spirit Guardians was the one that needed to be reigned in and Spiritual Weapon is now overshadowed by the 1st level Bless, as they are both competing for concentration. Should Bless have been toned down?

Having seen Guidance and Resistance, do we think True Strike and possibly Blade Ward will follow the same pattern?

 

[Stalker0]

Yet one could argue that Spirit Guardians was the one that needed to be reigned in and Spiritual Weapon is now overshadowed by the 1st level Bless, as they are both competing for concentration. Should Bless have been toned down?

This is my perspective. If WOTC had nerfed spirit guardians, spirtual weapon, and bless, but buff a number of other spells....I could dig it. That would shake up the cleric a bit, which would be great.

But this is just a lame change. Spiritual weapon won't see much see in comparison now that it fights for the all important concentration slot. I think it will be bless and SG all the way.

 

[Stalker0]

I also feel the guidance in the last packet was a lot better. It just did the job, removed any arguments at the table, gave a solid benefit, reigned it in to actual cantrip levels.

This version returns to spam but now adds arguments about how close the party is at all times.

Player: "Of course I waiting for the cleric to be nearby before I climbed that wall!"
"Of course the cleric was right near me when I bluffed that guy"
"I'm going to disable this trap, oh cleric buddy, come here!"

Its just silly. the last version was much better.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I think Guidance as a reaction (and one that doesn't even break concentration) makes the spell substantially more powerful and less evocative of the ludonarrative they are trying to tell with it. If it comes after the act it feels like it should be renamed "Mercy" or some such. That said I understand in its existing form it was a huge drain on some tables (only ever a minor annoyance at most at some of mine), and I don't think it's game breakingly powerful as reformulated, so I can see the benefits in that decision.

I do think the 10 foot range is highly unfortunate, as now we get arguments about previously irrelevant positioning during social and exploration encounters as the new locus for Guidance based slow-downs. It should be 60+ ft if they actually want to streamline play, which would be the justification for changing it to a reaction.

I find the "failed" an ability check language unfortunate wording the WotC has become attached to lately. It used to be that the DM did not have to declare explicitly whether there was a failure, success, or some result on a spectrum of failure and success, now I think in trying to get away from the "after you know the roll but before the result" language which I guess was causing trouble at some small minority of tables, they have gone with "after a failure" formulations that if some player wants to rules lawyer them really cramp my own particular DMing style of just sort of saying what happens based on that result and not always being explicit as to whether it was a failure or success. And in the case of Guidance, since it's a cantrip, the "failed" limitation really serves no purpose, as throwing extra d4s on top of successes is not a problem.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I also feel the guidance in the last packet was a lot better. It just did the job, removed any arguments at the table, gave a solid benefit, reigned it in to actual cantrip levels.

This version returns to spam but now adds arguments about how close the party is at all times.

Player: "Of course I waiting for the cleric to be nearby before I climbed that wall!"
"Of course the cleric was right near me when I bluffed that guy"
"I'm going to disable this trap, oh cleric buddy, come here!"

Its just silly. the last version was much better.

it has a verbal and somatic component. good luck with bluffing

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

it has a verbal and somatic component. good luck with bluffing

Constantly muttering prayers while holding a rosary is absolutely not suspect. Having a religious friend besides you isn't either. In both these cases we don't mind in real life. The only thing that might give it is if your religious friend is knotted to you by a 10' rope.

 

[Clint_L]

The new Aid is not great. 5 temp HP for a second level spell slot is pretty weak. Now you could argue that it is really 30 HPs proactive healing, but that is only if you have 6 targets (in my home games, we generally have 4 players) and only if they all take 5 damage or more. Realistically this is probably going to average out to 10-15 HP of meaningful damage reduction per use. That's not much.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Constantly muttering prayers while holding a rosary is absolutely not suspect. Having a religious friend besides you isn't either. In both these cases we don't mind in real life. The only thing that might give it is if your religious friend is knotted to you by a 10' rope.

It might or might not be suspect... i think it is...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I think Guidance as a reaction (and one that doesn't even break concentration) makes the spell substantially more powerful and less evocative of the ludonarrative they are trying to tell with it. If it comes after the act it feels like it should be renamed "Mercy" or some such. That said I understand in its existing form it was a huge drain on some tables (only ever a minor annoyance at most at some of mine), and I don't think it's game breakingly powerful as reformulated, so I can see the benefits in that decision.

I do think the 10 foot range is highly unfortunate, as now we get arguments about previously irrelevant positioning during social and exploration encounters as the new locus for Guidance based slow-downs. It should be 60+ ft if they actually want to streamline play, which would be the justification for changing it to a reaction.

I think the 10ft requirement actually makes that spell rather balanced. So you at least have to have your guidance bot near you when you try to hide...

 

[SakanaSensei]

Constantly muttering prayers while holding a rosary is absolutely not suspect. Having a religious friend besides you isn't either. In both these cases we don't mind in real life. The only thing that might give it is if your religious friend is knotted to you by a 10' rope.

I would be very put off/uncomfortable if I was talking with someone armed to the teeth and their similarly armed to the teeth friend was sitting there chanting to a god I may or may not follow.