D&D 5E Homebrew cantrip help

[WizardOfFrobozz]

I've got a player who's running a Lvl 1 5E wizard with a pretty non-traditional build & backstory. He's looking for a cantrip that will buff his strength stat and/or bonuses. We've gone back and forth iterating on what it might look like to knock a 3.5E-style Bull's Strength spell down to a cantrip power level, but I'm not sure that anything really useful can be shoehorned into an appropriately balanced cantrip. Here's the spell/effects under discussion:

Casting time: 1 action
Range: self only
Duration: 1 min, Concentration
Effect: For the duration of the spell, the caster gains +2 to her Strength ability modifier as long as she is unarmored. (Donning any armor immediately ends the spell.)

Even with the range reduction to SELF and the unarmored restriction, I think this still packs too much punch for a cantrip. I'm also not sure how to squeeze it down further without making it uninteresting. For example, knocking the bonus down to +1 and changing the duration to 1 round might qualify, but who would give up an action this round for a +1 to-hit/damage next round only? Ditto for limiting the bonus to unarmed attacks only - maybe a cool cantrip, but not what he's looking to do.

I'd love to encourage the RP concept of the buff guy who's kind of a wizard under protest, but I'm not sure how to find a good compromise on this one. Any thoughts?

 

[JiffyPopTart]

They want to feel like they are physically strong - buff - according to the OP.

Technically they said they had an already buff character who is hesitantly playing a wizard....not a wizard who is hesitantly having to be buff. All the options put forth just make a character stronger in some way for a short time, not make a strong guy more wizardy for a short time.

Maybe OP should pop back in and give some better direction on what exactly they are hoping to accomplish.

 

[WizardOfFrobozz]

Its effectively a +1 to hit and damage that requires you to maintain concentration and takes full action to cast. Given that Strength bonuses are generally best in melee, which is not the place that a wizard really wants to be, I have no problem with it. I'd probably say no to the equivalent Dexterity boost however.

It is considerably less powerful than a melee cantrip. Burning an action to cast is also a big downside provided the DM does not allow the player to get away with "I'm always casting X every thirty seconds while I'm awake" shenanigans.

Noting the armour restriction, but is it the intent to allow the wizard to make full use of Mage Armour and Shield spells without interfering with the spell?

Right, magical armor would be fine. The requirement for no physical armor is there to try to head off abuse by other spellcaster builds. Given his specific (and very non-optimized) build, I don't see this spell being problematic for him per se. I'm just trying to think a little more broadly and look at balance in general for the game, including multiclass builds.

 

[WizardOfFrobozz]

Why not base the cantrip off of the Friends cantrip? Turn it into a transmutation spell and instead of advantage on Charisma checks, it gives advantage on Strength checks.

Yeah, I've noticed that 5e has cut way back on spells that give a numeric bonus to anything, leveraging the advantage/disadvantage mechanic instead wherever possible. That totally makes sense for streamlining gameplay and preventing stacking creep.

In this case, the player really wants to be more effective in melee when he's out of spells, so attack rolls and damage are really what he's focused on. I think it's 2/3 an RP thing, and 1/3 that the party is 1st level and everyone is trying to do as much as possible without burning spell slots. I'm guessing by the time they're 3rd level he'll either have outgrown this approach, or spec'd into something else more suited for it.

In the meantime, I'm welcoming the exercise to learn a thing or two about homebrewing and balance in general.

 

[NotAYakk]

The "weapon cantrips" also work. Booming blade and Greenflame blade?

 

[WizardOfFrobozz]

That's a lot of really great feedback, thanks everybody. To clarify, "being buff" in this context translates into "useful in melee combat without burning spell slots," even though he definitely recognizes that from a survivability standpoint, melee is really not a great place for him to be.

The comparison to Shillelagh is spot on, thanks to everyone who pointed that out. I think it might be exactly what he wants; he's usually holding a staff anyhow.

 

[Stalker0]

That's a lot of really great feedback, thanks everybody. To clarify, "being buff" in this context translates into "useful in melee combat without burning spell slots," even though he definitely recognizes that from a survivability standpoint, melee is really not a great place for him to be.

The comparison to Shillelagh is spot on, thanks to everyone who pointed that out. I think it might be exactly what he wants; he's usually holding a staff anyhow.

Yes, I think an Int based version of Shillelagh is exactly what you are looking for.

 

[NotAYakk]

Yes, I think an Int based version of Shillelagh is exactly what you are looking for.

I don't know, Int is such an overpowered stat in 5e.

But seriously, it could make a bladesinger too good.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

That's a lot of really great feedback, thanks everybody. To clarify, "being buff" in this context translates into "useful in melee combat without burning spell slots," even though he definitely recognizes that from a survivability standpoint, melee is really not a great place for him to be.

The comparison to Shillelagh is spot on, thanks to everyone who pointed that out. I think it might be exactly what he wants; he's usually holding a staff anyhow.

Its a bit late if they are already set on a character...but creating a wizard who is a Mountain Dwarf that invests their second highest attribute into strength could use axes pretty well, wear medium armor, and not miss out on anything having to do with wizarding. If they took Town Guard as a background they would have a variety of weapons to choose from besides just axes.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Yeah, I've noticed that 5e has cut way back on spells that give a numeric bonus to anything, leveraging the advantage/disadvantage mechanic instead wherever possible. That totally makes sense for streamlining gameplay and preventing stacking creep.

In this case, the player really wants to be more effective in melee when he's out of spells, so attack rolls and damage are really what he's focused on. I think it's 2/3 an RP thing, and 1/3 that the party is 1st level and everyone is trying to do as much as possible without burning spell slots. I'm guessing by the time they're 3rd level he'll either have outgrown this approach, or spec'd into something else more suited for it.

In the meantime, I'm welcoming the exercise to learn a thing or two about homebrewing and balance in general.

Are they aware of the melee cantrips: Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade?
Or even Shocking Grasp.
Those would allow contribution in melee without burning spell slots.
Or is just beating on stuff in a mundane fashion part of the character concept?

 

[Stalker0]

I don't know, Int is such an overpowered stat in 5e.

But seriously, it could make a bladesinger too good.

It’s a personal custom can trip, and it’s easy for the DM to say “for this character only”.

i think people are treating this like dm guild material, it’s just to a help make a single character concept work