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Make SPELLS Balanced
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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 8790481" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p><strong>Make SPELLS Balanced</strong></p><p></p><p>This thread doublechecks the official spells in 5e. The hope is the 2024 edition will calibrate the spells, so every spell in a same slot will be about equal in value.</p><p></p><p>5e does an excellent job at nerfing the spells from earlier editions that were historically broken. This effort is part of why 5e is a remarkably robust gaming engine that can handle character optimization. At the same time, 5e made less effort to upgrade spells that were subpar from earlier editions. There are trap options that are disruptively inferior to other options in the same slot.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>To avoid confusion between "class level" and "spell level", I will refer to spell levels as "slots". For example, a "5th-level spell" is the same thing as a "5th-slot spell", a "5 slot spell", and a "spell that requires 5 slots".</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>DAMAGE SPELLS</strong></p><p></p><p>The classic damage spells, like <em>Fireball</em>, deal instantaneous save-for-half damage. A multi-target spell should deal 7 damage per slot. A single-target spell should deal 9 damage per slot.</p><p></p><p>The 2014 Dungeon Masters Guide (page 284) advises how much damage a spell should do per slot. However, similar to how the Monster Manual ignores the DMG advice for monsters, the Players Handbook ignores the DMG advice for spells. For example, the DMG says a 3rd-slot spell should deal 21 damage (6d6), but no spell like this exists in 5e. 5e spells deal amounts of damage that are wildly inconsistent. Even so, it is possible to identify certain spells as bench marks that other spells can measure against. Whence: multi-target should deal about 7 damage per slot and single-target should deal about 9 damage per slot.</p><p></p><p>The following spells deal an appropriate amount of damage for their slot.</p><p></p><table style='width: 100%'><tr><td><strong>SLOT</strong></td><td><strong>MULTI-TARGET</strong></td><td><strong>SINGLE-TARGET</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>1st-slot </strong></td><td><strong>2d6 damage (7)</strong><br /> Arms of Hadar (7)<br /> Burning Hands (10.5)</td><td><strong>2d8 damage (9)</strong><br /> Ray of Sickness (9)<br /> Dissonant Whispers (10.5)<br /> Hellish Rebuke (11)<br /> Chromatic Orb (13.5)<br /> Inflict Wounds (16.5)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2nd-slot</strong></td><td><strong>4d6 damage (14)</strong><br /> Shatter (13.5)</td><td><strong>4d8 damage (18)</strong><br /> Scorching Ray (21)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>3rd-slot</strong></td><td><strong>6d6 damage (21)</strong><br /> −</td><td><strong>6d8 damage (27)</strong><br /> −</td></tr><tr><td><strong>4th-slot</strong></td><td><strong>8d6 damage (28)</strong><br /> −</td><td><strong>8d8 damage (36)</strong><br /> Blight (36)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>5th-slot</strong></td><td><strong>10d6 damage (35)</strong><br /> Destructive Wave (35)<br /> Cone of Cold (36)<br /> Conjure Volley (36)</td><td><strong>10d8 damage (45)</strong><br /> Harm (49)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>6th-slot</strong></td><td><strong>12d6 damage (42)</strong><br /> Chain Lighting (45)</td><td><strong>12d8 damage (54)</strong><br /> −</td></tr><tr><td><strong>7th-slot</strong></td><td><strong>14d6 damage (49)</strong><br /> −</td><td><strong>14d8 damage (63)</strong><br /> Finger of Death (61.5)</td></tr></table><p></p><p>Notes.</p><p></p><p>To get a sense of the 5e gaming engine, these spells should be 4th-slot spells: <em>Fireball</em>, <em>Flame Strike</em>, <em>Lightning Bolt</em>, and <em>Circle of Death</em>.</p><p></p><p>The 7th- and 8th-slot damage spells are remarkably subpar. Even 7th-slot <em>Finger of Death</em> is slightly subpar. Yet, the 9th-slot has extremely high damage dealing spells. Instead of the scaling multi-target 63 damage, <em>Meteor Swarm</em> deals 140 damage. Instead of the scaling single-target 81 damage, <em>Power Word Kill</em> deals 100 damage.</p><p></p><p>Several damage spells might need to relocate to a lower slot where they can become competitive with the other spells at that lower slot. Otherwise to remain in their current slot, they require a damage boost or possibly additional effects. Examples of subpar damage spells include: <em>Melfs Acid Arrow</em>, <em>Conjure Barrage</em>, <em>Ice Storm</em>, <em>Flame Strike</em>, <em>Circle of Death</em>, <em>Fire Storm</em>, and <em>Sunburst</em>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 8790481, member: 58172"] [B]Make SPELLS Balanced[/B] This thread doublechecks the official spells in 5e. The hope is the 2024 edition will calibrate the spells, so every spell in a same slot will be about equal in value. 5e does an excellent job at nerfing the spells from earlier editions that were historically broken. This effort is part of why 5e is a remarkably robust gaming engine that can handle character optimization. At the same time, 5e made less effort to upgrade spells that were subpar from earlier editions. There are trap options that are disruptively inferior to other options in the same slot. To avoid confusion between "class level" and "spell level", I will refer to spell levels as "slots". For example, a "5th-level spell" is the same thing as a "5th-slot spell", a "5 slot spell", and a "spell that requires 5 slots". [B]DAMAGE SPELLS[/B] The classic damage spells, like [I]Fireball[/I], deal instantaneous save-for-half damage. A multi-target spell should deal 7 damage per slot. A single-target spell should deal 9 damage per slot. The 2014 Dungeon Masters Guide (page 284) advises how much damage a spell should do per slot. However, similar to how the Monster Manual ignores the DMG advice for monsters, the Players Handbook ignores the DMG advice for spells. For example, the DMG says a 3rd-slot spell should deal 21 damage (6d6), but no spell like this exists in 5e. 5e spells deal amounts of damage that are wildly inconsistent. Even so, it is possible to identify certain spells as bench marks that other spells can measure against. Whence: multi-target should deal about 7 damage per slot and single-target should deal about 9 damage per slot. The following spells deal an appropriate amount of damage for their slot. [TABLE] [TR] [TD][B]SLOT[/B][/TD] [TD][B]MULTI-TARGET[/B][/TD] [TD][B]SINGLE-TARGET[/B][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]1st-slot [/B][/TD] [TD][B]2d6 damage (7)[/B] Arms of Hadar (7) Burning Hands (10.5)[/TD] [TD][B]2d8 damage (9)[/B] Ray of Sickness (9) Dissonant Whispers (10.5) Hellish Rebuke (11) Chromatic Orb (13.5) Inflict Wounds (16.5)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]2nd-slot[/B][/TD] [TD][B]4d6 damage (14)[/B] Shatter (13.5)[/TD] [TD][B]4d8 damage (18)[/B] Scorching Ray (21)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]3rd-slot[/B][/TD] [TD][B]6d6 damage (21)[/B] −[/TD] [TD][B]6d8 damage (27)[/B] −[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]4th-slot[/B][/TD] [TD][B]8d6 damage (28)[/B] −[/TD] [TD][B]8d8 damage (36)[/B] Blight (36)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]5th-slot[/B][/TD] [TD][B]10d6 damage (35)[/B] Destructive Wave (35) Cone of Cold (36) Conjure Volley (36)[/TD] [TD][B]10d8 damage (45)[/B] Harm (49)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]6th-slot[/B][/TD] [TD][B]12d6 damage (42)[/B] Chain Lighting (45)[/TD] [TD][B]12d8 damage (54)[/B] −[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][B]7th-slot[/B][/TD] [TD][B]14d6 damage (49)[/B] −[/TD] [TD][B]14d8 damage (63)[/B] Finger of Death (61.5)[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Notes. To get a sense of the 5e gaming engine, these spells should be 4th-slot spells: [I]Fireball[/I], [I]Flame Strike[/I], [I]Lightning Bolt[/I], and [I]Circle of Death[/I]. The 7th- and 8th-slot damage spells are remarkably subpar. Even 7th-slot [I]Finger of Death[/I] is slightly subpar. Yet, the 9th-slot has extremely high damage dealing spells. Instead of the scaling multi-target 63 damage, [I]Meteor Swarm[/I] deals 140 damage. Instead of the scaling single-target 81 damage, [I]Power Word Kill[/I] deals 100 damage. Several damage spells might need to relocate to a lower slot where they can become competitive with the other spells at that lower slot. Otherwise to remain in their current slot, they require a damage boost or possibly additional effects. Examples of subpar damage spells include: [I]Melfs Acid Arrow[/I], [I]Conjure Barrage[/I], [I]Ice Storm[/I], [I]Flame Strike[/I], [I]Circle of Death[/I], [I]Fire Storm[/I], and [I]Sunburst[/I]. [/QUOTE]
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