Greenflame Blade Cantrip from SCAG, Courtesy of EXTRA LIFE

Cool. How did you get the link? It's not showing up as live on either the Extra Life page or the D&D website page.


The wording of the cantrip feels a little awkward to me but I think I like the overall effect. If I'm reading it correctly, it essentially works like this:

1st level
1st target: normal attack effects
2nd target: ability mod fire dmg

5th level
1st target: normal attack effects + 1d8 fire dmg
2nd target: 1d8+mod fire dmg

11th level
1st target: normal attack effects + 2d8 fire dmg
2nd target: 2d8+mod fire dmg

17th level
1st target: normal attack effects + 3d8 fire dmg
2nd target: 3d8+mod fire dmg


Is that right?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Assuming it is a wizard cantrip as it most likely is.

Ways to gain green flame.

• Be a high elf
• Be a wizard
• Be a eldritch knight
• Be an arcane trickster
• Bard magical secrets ability
• Magic initiate feat

In all the above ways Int is the casting ability score except for bards magical secrets and then it is charisma.

Who gains the most out of this cantrip, any single attack melee character. So any rogue, cleric, lore bard, maybe land druid (combine this with shillelagh), obviously wizard (abjurers can be front line).

IDK about this spell it just seems like a power boost to many classes.

Don't forget "be a Tomelock." Frankly, Find Familiar ritual (advantage) + Shillelagh cantrip + Greenflame Blade cantrip makes Tomelocks better at melee, early on, than Bladelocks are.

I have mixed feelings about this cantrip, mostly centering on the weird "attack one creature using a different creature's AC" side effect. There could be cases where it's easier to hurt certain things (like a +3 Plate Armor guy with a +3 shield) by bringing along a chicken which you kill right next to it, and that kind of rubs me the wrong way. Also, I'm a bit concerned that this spell might overshadow Shocking Grasp, since you get as much damage to the second target as Shocking Grasp would do to its only target, which means the chicken exploit turns it into "shocking grasp with 100% accuracy, but no reaction-negating side effect."

I think my ruling on this spell would be, "It's allowed, but you have to roll a melee spell attack against creature #2, regardless of whether or not you hit the primary target." Same overall power, less exploit.

Edit: BTW, it's interesting that monks cannot use this spell with unarmed attacks.

 

[Paraxis]

Pact of tome warlock could take greenflame and shillelagh, use a staff attacking with charisma to hit and damage, and greenflame.

So at 5th level with 18 charisma it would be +7 to hit main target for 1d8+4+1d8 fire damage, and the secondary target takes 1d8+4 fire damage.

It is also interesting that there is no attack roll or save for the secondary target they just take the fire damage if primary target is hit.

EDIT: Hemlock beat me to it by a couple minutes.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Great minds think alike!

 

[Jester David]

This pretty much became THE cantrip for any high elf in a melee class.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

why does no one think warlocks will get this just as a cantrip?

 

[Benji]

Wouldn't the sneak damage be dealt to the original creature, while the flame damage would be applied to the second? How does that stack?

 

[Paraxis]

why does no one think warlocks will get this just as a cantrip?

They probably will.

The section from the table of contents is called "Cantrips for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards" so there is a good chance it will be a cantrip for all three classes.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

why does no one think warlocks will get this just as a cantrip?

I think it's more a matter of "everyone assumes this is an Eldritch Knight cantrip", and in the absence of information defaults to assuming that it is a wizard-only cantrip. It could wind up on the warlock list and that would be fine, there's just no way to know either way if it will.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Wouldn't the sneak damage be dealt to the original creature, while the flame damage would be applied to the second? How does that stack?

at 5th level green flame blade effects both targets...

so if an arcane trickster took it, had a 14 and 15 in casting and dex and was fighting in a three way fight (so he can sneak attack because both other guys are fighting too) he hits for:

dagger 1d4+1d8+2+3d6 (average 19) prime target and 1d8+2 to secondary
short sword 1d6+1d8+2+3d6 (average 20) prime target and 1d8+2 to secondary
Rapier 1d8+1d8+2+3d6 (average 21) prime target and 1d8+2 to secondary

that is 1d8 over the normal sneak attack to prime and a free 1d8+2 to the secondary...

 

[Kobold Avenger]

If you think this is too much for sneak attack, you could easily rule it invalid for sneak attack because it's a spell.