Tessarael
Adventurer
I have been looking for a wider variety of rare spells for A5E. It would be great if folks in the community could share what they have come with. And as a fun exercise, we could come up with some variants in this thread.
I have some suggestions for rare variants of A5E spells, that don't currently have rare variants. Going through the list of A5E cantrips, some suggestions below and one at the end for the Hex spell.
RARE CANTRIP VARIANTS
Spherical Acid Splash: Per D&D 2024 Acid Splash, this does acid damage in a 5' radius, rather than only to two targets within 5' of each other.
Fiery Altered Strike: Like D&D 2024 True Strike, this does bonus fire damage at character level 5 (1d6), 11 (2d6), and 17 (3d6).
Rapid Arcane Muscles: The casting time is reduced to a Bonus Action.
Persistent Calculate: It lasts for one minute without concentration.
Freezing Chill Touch: Per D&D 2024 Chill Touch, it does d10 cold damage, rather than d8, increasing by d10 at character level 5 (2d10), 11 (3d10), and 17 (4d10).
Shared Circular Breathing: Range changes from Self to Touch, so that you can cast it on others too.
Violent Convenient Retrieval: If the item retrieved is a dual-wielding thrown weapon (e.g., a light hammer, shuriken, or throwing dagger) then you can throw it at a target and retrieve it as part of the same bonus action used to cast this spell.
Striking Dancing Lights: Like D&D 2024 Starry Wisp, as an action, the caster can throw one of the lights as a ranged spell attack against a target within 60', inflicting d8 radiant damage if it hits, increasing by d8 at character level 5 (2d8), 11 (3d8), and 17 (4d8). As you have four dancing lights, you can throw four of them before you need to recast the cantrip.
Superior Direct Minion: If your minion cannot attack without your direction during the round, your order permits it to multi-attack, rather than make a single attack. You can instead direct an ally to spend its reaction to Dash, but cannot command them to attack.
Quenching Druidcraft: You can extinguish fire in a 5' radius, or on a single larger organic object such as a tree or creature.
Acid (Fire) Bolt: This rare variant does acid damage instead of fire.
Silver Tongue (Friends): You gain a d4 expertise bonus on one Charisma check before the start of your next turn, which is not limited to a single target, and the targets do not realize they were influenced by magic.
Quick Glamour: The casting time is reduced to a Bonus Action.
Articulate Grapevine: The message can be in any language that you write or speak, not just Druidic, and you can cause an animal at the location to speak the message once, in addition to or instead of making it writing on a plant or tree.
Subtle Guidance: This variant has only a Seen (Somatic) component, so can be useful in a situation where you need to be stealthy or remain quiet.
Adjustable Light: You can choose the brightness, from 5' radius bright light with 5' dim light beyond that, to 30' radius bright light with 30' dim light beyond, and you can adjust this with a verbal command without spending an action on your subsequent turns. Likewise, you can extinguish it with a verbal command on any of your subsequent turns, without spending an action, but this ends the cantrip.
RARE LEVEL ONE SPELL VARIANTS
Radiant Hex: This variant does 1d6 radiant damage instead of 1d6 necrotic damage when you hit the cursed creature.
I have some suggestions for rare variants of A5E spells, that don't currently have rare variants. Going through the list of A5E cantrips, some suggestions below and one at the end for the Hex spell.
RARE CANTRIP VARIANTS
Spherical Acid Splash: Per D&D 2024 Acid Splash, this does acid damage in a 5' radius, rather than only to two targets within 5' of each other.
Fiery Altered Strike: Like D&D 2024 True Strike, this does bonus fire damage at character level 5 (1d6), 11 (2d6), and 17 (3d6).
Rapid Arcane Muscles: The casting time is reduced to a Bonus Action.
Persistent Calculate: It lasts for one minute without concentration.
Freezing Chill Touch: Per D&D 2024 Chill Touch, it does d10 cold damage, rather than d8, increasing by d10 at character level 5 (2d10), 11 (3d10), and 17 (4d10).
Shared Circular Breathing: Range changes from Self to Touch, so that you can cast it on others too.
Violent Convenient Retrieval: If the item retrieved is a dual-wielding thrown weapon (e.g., a light hammer, shuriken, or throwing dagger) then you can throw it at a target and retrieve it as part of the same bonus action used to cast this spell.
Striking Dancing Lights: Like D&D 2024 Starry Wisp, as an action, the caster can throw one of the lights as a ranged spell attack against a target within 60', inflicting d8 radiant damage if it hits, increasing by d8 at character level 5 (2d8), 11 (3d8), and 17 (4d8). As you have four dancing lights, you can throw four of them before you need to recast the cantrip.
Superior Direct Minion: If your minion cannot attack without your direction during the round, your order permits it to multi-attack, rather than make a single attack. You can instead direct an ally to spend its reaction to Dash, but cannot command them to attack.
Quenching Druidcraft: You can extinguish fire in a 5' radius, or on a single larger organic object such as a tree or creature.
Acid (Fire) Bolt: This rare variant does acid damage instead of fire.
Silver Tongue (Friends): You gain a d4 expertise bonus on one Charisma check before the start of your next turn, which is not limited to a single target, and the targets do not realize they were influenced by magic.
Quick Glamour: The casting time is reduced to a Bonus Action.
Articulate Grapevine: The message can be in any language that you write or speak, not just Druidic, and you can cause an animal at the location to speak the message once, in addition to or instead of making it writing on a plant or tree.
Subtle Guidance: This variant has only a Seen (Somatic) component, so can be useful in a situation where you need to be stealthy or remain quiet.
Adjustable Light: You can choose the brightness, from 5' radius bright light with 5' dim light beyond that, to 30' radius bright light with 30' dim light beyond, and you can adjust this with a verbal command without spending an action on your subsequent turns. Likewise, you can extinguish it with a verbal command on any of your subsequent turns, without spending an action, but this ends the cantrip.
RARE LEVEL ONE SPELL VARIANTS
Radiant Hex: This variant does 1d6 radiant damage instead of 1d6 necrotic damage when you hit the cursed creature.
