Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: Starter Spells; Plus UA Returning To Monthly & Sage Advice Returning

Chaos Bolt is the first Sorcerer-only spell. Interesting.

What I've read so far looks really good. I like the idea of Ceremony quite a bit, but some of the effects (Investiture!) might be a little overpowered.

 

[Azzy]

the potential for infestation and puppet to provoke OAs is rather excellent, though I think infestation has less than a 50% chance to do that. Still, very nice.

Involuntary movement doesn't cause OAs.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Missed that part, got to be a typo don't you think? Very, very few spells don't allow repeat saves, and none of the effects that already inflict fear do that.

You're overlooking Wrathful Smite. 1st level Paladin spell, bonus action, on next melee hit it inflicts d6 psychic damage, and if you fail a Wisdom save you are frightened, with no repeat saving throw. You can choose to burn your action on making a Wisdom check to end the effect, but you almost might as well not even bother because (1) nobody is proficient at Wisdom checks, and (2) ability checks including this one are made at disadvantage while frightened.

It is a very, very nasty 1st level spell.

The regular Fear spell doesn't allow a repeat saving throw either until you get out of Line of Sight.

 

[Leatherhead]

Missed that part, got to be a typo don't you think? Very, very few spells don't allow repeat saves, and none of the effects that already inflict fear do that.

It could be a typo, or it could be pushing the envelope to see if we would allow a soft shut down that kind of staying power. A lot of these spells seem to be slightly more powerful or useful than their contemporaries.

Still, at-will healing is something to watch out for, perhaps tack on a small gold cost to the spell as well? Though the potential economics of this spell are also troubling.

I think I would want to see them make a necro-healing spell that burns the casters HD to fuel the spell instead.

Thinking more about Ceremony. I think the thing I like most about it is it helps give me an idea for all the vaguely magical rituals clerics can do. Upcast this with a special reagent for X effect or Y effect. It gives me a place to put a lot of vague story element abilities that don't really fit any where else. And since clerics prep spells per day, they never need to worry about if it is too powerful a spell to pass up, because they just grab it when they need it.

Well, in my ideal remake, Ritual Casting itself would come with oodles of minor magical effects that aren't directly tied to spells. Making holy water, for instance, is something that anyone with Ritual Casting (of the religious kind) should be able to do off the cuff.

 

[Lanliss]

Most importantly, it has to last more than 24 hours. It should last as long as the marriage itself.

The buffs I gave don't seem too overpowered to be permanent. Maybe the Immunity to Charmed is a bit much, but it is situational. I would also rule that, if one of the people affected by Marriage are charmed when /out of sight/ of their spouse(s), the charm would continue even if that person came into LOS with one of the other affected parties.

 

[Elon Tusk]

Involuntary movement doesn't cause OAs.

PHB p. 195 "You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach...You also don’t provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction. For example, you don’t provoke an opportunity attack if an explosion hurls you out of a foe’s reach or if gravity causes you to fall past an enemy."


Puppet says: "the target must move up to its speed in a direction you choose."


I don't think it's clear if "move up to its speed" counts as "something moves you without using your movement."

 

[FitzTheRuke]

PHB p. 195 "You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach...You also don’t provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction. For example, you don’t provoke an opportunity attack if an explosion hurls you out of a foe’s reach or if gravity causes you to fall past an enemy."


Puppet says: "the target must move up to its speed in a direction you choose."


I don't think it's clear if "move up to its speed" counts as "something moves you without using your movement."

I think it's pretty clear that it doesn't use your movement. It's just limited by your speed. But YMMV so it ought to be clarified.

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[raleel]

I think it's pretty clear that it doesn't use your movement. It's just limited by your speed. But YMMV so it ought to be clarified.

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I agreed. it should be clarified.

I feel like if it doesn't, it's very.. mechanical? artificial? if it does, it's quite strong.

 

[User_Undefined]

Chatting with my DM about Chaos Bolt. It seems odd that higher level casting only adds a d6 instead of a d8 like the base damage. I think it's so that the odds of you getting the damage type you want and the spell jumping to another target stay the same regardless of spell level. I'm curious what people's thoughts are if this change happened.

Higher level casting added 1d8 per spell level above 1st.
Only two dice had to match in order to cause the jump.
Maybe multiple pairs allowed jumps to multiple targets? (so at 3rd level, a 2,2,4,4 damage roll would allow two targets to be picked instead of one.)

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I agreed. it should be clarified.

I feel like if it doesn't, it's very.. mechanical? artificial? if it does, it's quite strong.

Yeah, it's a bit much if you can dance a guy around the party while they play pinata with him.

How about that Virtue, though?

What a waste of an action! For an action you can - maybe - save a PC from a d4 plus mod damage, assuming they get hit THAT round, and as long as they don't already have temps! If if if...

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[Saeviomagy]

Investiture is really good for:
1. Getting familiars (don't do a cleric with magic initiate, do a wizard with ritual(cleric))
2. Activating and concentrating on spells (bless is probably the best one - now the paladin can hand it off to someone else before wading in)
3. Investiture comprehend languages to someone so they can understand you
4. Investiture disguise self to other people so the whole party can go in disguise
5. Investituring healing word to other people so you spread healing around is pretty sweet
6. Ensnaring strike, Wrathful smite, and hunters mark both make pretty nice combat buffs
7. Mage armor!

What happens if you investiture investiture?