D&D 5E Silvery Barbs and Fey Touched

[ECMO3]

Much of the disussion on silvery barbs has centered around the spell being or not being OP. And while I am firmly in the second camp, I do think this makes Fey Touched, which is arguably the best feat in the game even better.

Fey touched was already awesome, hands down the best casting feat with a great 2nd level spell and good 1st level options like Hex, Heroism and Bless. However you can't get shield, Shield of Faith or absorb elements which are probably the spells you want the most if you are a non-caster or don't have them on your spell list.

Silvery Barbs though is an enchantment, and it is available with Fey touched and offers the kind of defensive spell that the original feat is lacking.

I think this is a significant boost to the Fey Touched feat.

 

[Shiroiken]

Of course, Fey Touched also granted Bless, which is another one of the better spells as well. The increase isn't quite as huge, but does grant a great non-concentration option as well.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

For a non caster? No, Silvery Barbs sucks if you can only cast it once per day. You are much better off picking something like Hunter's Mark - at least you can get an hour's use out of it.

Silvery Barbs is an excellent choice to pick up with Fey Touched if it's not on your class list and you have 1st level spell slots to burn.

 

[Stoutstien]

Depends. HM is a damage increase where barb is a catchall reaction that can be universally applied. Even at once per day it's a strong contender for fey touched which also grants mobility and a stat bump.

Changing the school that it's in it's probably the easiest way to bring the spell back in line. Mostly for AM sorcerer.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Even at once per day it's a strong contender for fey touched which also grants mobility and a stat bump.

No it aint. No one disputes Fey Touched would be good even without the 1st level spell, but even if you only have one encounter per day an ability that lets you maybe avoid just one attack is garbage, and if you save it for when an enemy makes a saving throw against a team mate's critical spell you will see lots of days go by when it isn't used at all.

Silvery Barbs is only good if you can spam it, or have suck-or-save spells you want to boost.

It's extra-bad for rogues, when it's competing with Uncanny Dodge for your reaction.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

No it aint. No one disputes Fey Touched would be good even without the 1st level spell, but even if you only have one encounter per day an ability that lets you maybe avoid just one attack is garbage, and if you save it for when an enemy makes a saving throw against a team mate's critical spell you will see lots of days go by when it isn't used at all.

Silvery Barbs is only good if you can spam it, or have suck-or-save spells you want to boost.

It's extra-bad for rogues, when it's competing with Uncanny Dodge for your reaction.

Doesn't it also work for ability checks?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Doesn't it also work for ability checks?

How often does an ability check matter that much? Get Guidance, it's free.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

How often does an ability check matter that much? Get Guidance, it's free.

Doesn't Guidance only give you a boost to the ability checks of you and your allies? You can't use it to potentially scupper a successful Perception, Insight or other ability check that someone else made?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Doesn't Guidance only give you a boost to the ability checks of you and your allies? You can't use it to potentially scupper a successful Perception, Insight or other ability check that someone else made?

You could, but it's hardly earth-shatteringly good, is it? It's bardy-flavoured, and it's a bard spell in the first place.

 

[Stoutstien]

How often does an ability check matter that much? Get Guidance, it's free.

You should only be rolling dice for ability checks when they matter and if we are talking about non casters then guidance isn't free and it cost concentration.