D&D 5E Feat to negate disadvantage in casting spells at close range?

[Mouseferatu]

[MENTION=6775031]Saelorn[/MENTION] has it right.

Huh. Wonder what I'm thinking of, then...?

Maybe I conflated that with the Polearm Master opportunity attack clarification.

 

[aramis erak]

Or pick out a melee friendly cantrip, instead of wasting a stat boost/feat gain.
It will also help to get another damage type, in case you encounter resistances or immunities.

Or a save based cantrip - no disadvantage to-hit because no to-hit roll is made...

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Well, as far as feats go I think the name of the Feat should be the deciding factor. When I'm reading Crossbow Expert, I'm reading what it can do from the perspective that it was put in the book so a PC could be, you know, "an expert with crossbows". When I read Polearm Master I get the distinct impression it's got something to do with being good with Polearms.

Reading "Crossbow Expert" and thinking "Hey, that's great! Now I can cast cantrip spells in melee combat and not at disadvantage!" To me that's akin to someone reading the manual to their new blender/juicer and them thinking "Awesome! Now I can type 120 words per minute!". A blender/juicer chops things up really fast...but it doesn't have anything to do with how fast you can type. Shooting a crossbow and bending the fabric of reality with a few words and gestures isn't exactly the same thing in my book.

Any player at our table would be laughed at if he/she came to the game thinking "Crossbow Master" made them better at casting Cantrips. Then, after everyone settled down and realized the player was actually serious, there would be uncomfortable silence and blank stares for a few seconds...before someone would make some other completely illogical jump in order to crack a joke about it (followed by more laughter, of course).

My suggestion: If all else fails, look at the name/title to help. And in this case, "Crossbow" does not equate to "Casting Cantrips" in any way, shape or form.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Riley37]

There's a Sharpshooter feat for ranged attacks, and a Spell Sniper feat for ranged SPELL attacks.

If you want to add a Zapping Expert feat as magical equivalent of the Crossbow Expert, that's fine with me, but the Zapping Expert feat should not also grant the same ability with crossbows (or shortbows or longbows).

 

[Mirtek]

It's crossbow expert, not casting expert.

Doesn't matter. The feat consists of several rule item and the one removing the penalty is in no way restricted to crossbows.

The same that duellist works with Sword+Shield or the part from great weapon master about extra attacks on crits works with any melee weapon, even if it's not a heavy weapon

but the Zapping Expert feat should not also grant the same ability with crossbows (or shortbows or longbows).

BTW, the crossbow master feat also applies to shortbows or longbows. A feat name has almost nothing to do with it's actually mechanics

 

[Riley37]

All we need now is a splatbook with "Carl's Chromatic Crossbow Cantrip."

 

[green_destiny]

Thanks for the numerous replies, they were all insightful.

I edited my first post, I think I got my wording wrong but the good thing is you all got my question on how to negate the disadvantage of casting a range attack spell at close range (melee).

I read the crossbow expert feat and it somehow made sense to apply that to my warlock (got me a bit excited actually). I'll have to check with my DM regarding this. If he agrees, I may have to switch from being a tiefling to a human to immediately get this feat at Lvl 1, else I'll stick with my current character setup.

Some can say I will be wasting a feat by getting this 'minor' combat advantage. The thing is in my group, we are two spell casters, a fighter and a rogue. It's very easy for a bunch of enemies to break our formation and get close to us spellcasters. Having the ability to cast range attack spells at close range then knocking them a few squares away will be worth it for me (Eldritch blast + repelling blast).

 

[Saeviomagy]

there should be a feat that removes the penalty for dropping below 0 hit points

There is no feat for that, but there IS a class ability.

Hiya.
Well, as far as feats go I think the name of the Feat should be the deciding factor. When I'm reading Crossbow Expert, I'm reading what it can do from the perspective that it was put in the book so a PC could be, you know, "an expert with crossbows". When I read Polearm Master I get the distinct impression it's got something to do with being good with Polearms.

So everyone needs to explicitly ignore the use of the word staff repeatedly through the feat?

Reading "Crossbow Expert" and thinking "Hey, that's great! Now I can cast cantrip spells in melee combat and not at disadvantage!" To me that's akin to someone reading the manual to their new blender/juicer and them thinking "Awesome! Now I can type 120 words per minute!". A blender/juicer chops things up really fast...but it doesn't have anything to do with how fast you can type. Shooting a crossbow and bending the fabric of reality with a few words and gestures isn't exactly the same thing in my book.

Closer to someone buying a blender/juicer and deciding that they can use it to make rocket fuel. Not the intended use, but definitely viable.

 

[damnbul]

I agree with the designers. The feat states crossbow clearly in the other 2 abilities of the feat. They left it out of the part that states removing disadvantage. So any ranged attack made within 5 feet is the intended purpose. The same was done in the feat Great Weapon Master. They state heavy weapon in 1 aspect of the feat but not in the other. Showing they intended that part of the feat to work with any melee weapon.
Still remember you can decide on how you want it in your game. It's your game. No rule in 5th edition is concrete if you don't like how it impacts your game of fun. So in the end decide for yourself, but in the end the feat was written how it was written.
In my game it will play as it is written. But never let a rule impede the fun and flow.

As a DM I tend to side on whatever makes the game more fun for the players. There is never a situation I am incapable of overcoming. No matter what level, what ability, what magic, what iem...etc a player/party has I can deal with it. To much material is out there, and game situations for me ever to feel overwhelmed by what a party of players could come up with. The key is feeling more comfortable as a DM with the game you wrote than if you had to be a Player (who has no idea what is out there and what could happen).

 

[Psikerlord#]

I would ask for a custom feat from your dm. Maybe:
Versatile Blaster
1. Ranged cantrips don't suffer disad in melee, and
2. Once per short rest, you can change one spell energy type to another.
Flavorful and useful and not unbalanced ( I don't think.?)