Level Up (A5E) What should the first Adept/Druid synergy feat give?

[lichmaster]

As the spell is written, I assume it is a single melee spell attack roll, so you run the risk of missing all the targets if you roll low.

I don't think that's how it's supposed to work, although rolling once and comparing the result against multiple ACs is a possible way to speed up the game.
Personally, I'd hate to waste a level 3 spell slot and an action with a nat 1 on the only roll I'd make.

 

[lichmaster]

The damage of Whirlwind Kick is less than that of Call Lightning, 3d10 (16.5) with Dexterity save for half; significantly worse when we consider that Whirlwind Kick only inflicts damage on the round that you cast it. Call Lightning lasts 10 minutes with concentration, but is only 5' radius on each lightning strike as an action. Situationally, you should be able to line up 2 opponents to Whirlwind Kick them, and may hit a similar number of opponents with Call Lightning. Whirlwind Kick is range self, so in A5E it can be cast in wild shape, and it does have the benefit of battlefield control moving opponents around. Call Lightning also has the limitation of not being usable without a 100' space above you. Edit: Whirlwind Kick is a 15' wide area (not 5' as I had initially assumed), so can hopefully hit 3+ foes.

Whirlwind kick is better for damaging many foes in a larger area in a single round: with call lightning you can only target a 5ft radius per round (so up to 4 medium creatures), while whirlwind kick has a much wider area (60x15 ft). You may hit a good dozen of enemies if they're lined up.
Damage isn't much, but there's no dex save to halve, and there's crit potential. Plus you get some movement and forced movement for enemies.
Overall this isn't a straight up damage spell, mostly a battlefield control spell with some damage on top.

 

[Tessarael]

I don't think that's how it's supposed to work, although rolling once and comparing the result against multiple ACs is a possible way to speed up the game. Personally, I'd hate to waste a level 3 spell slot and an action with a nat 1 on the only roll I'd make.

Yes. That was the unpleasant situation that I envisaged.

We use Fantasy Grounds as a virtual table top for automation et al. I will need to double-check how Fantasy Grounds handles it, but I assume it would be a separate attack roll against each selected target.

 

[Anonymous3]

Whirlwind kick is better for damaging many foes in a larger area in a single round: with call lightning you can only target a 5ft radius per round (so up to 4 medium creatures), while whirlwind kick has a much wider area (60x15 ft). You may hit a good dozen of enemies if they're lined up.
Damage isn't much, but there's no dex save to halve, and there's crit potential. Plus you get some movement and forced movement for enemies.
Overall this isn't a straight up damage spell, mostly a battlefield control spell with some damage on top.

As written, Whirlwind Kick can also be used to attack flying foes and "teleport" to a new destination. If you're a flying bear you basically have a spell that provides omnidirectional teleports. This spell gets better and better.

 

[Tessarael]

Yes. I attempted to use Whirlwind Kick to attack a demonic foe flying 60' above us last session. That was after discussion at the start of the session with the DM, who kindly permitted wild shape natural weapon attack counted as unarmed strike for purposes of the spell unarmed strike damage + 2d6 thunder.

I rolled a 1 on the attack roll. Bear go up, bear go down, splat with moderate damage. It was amusing. The demon teleported out thereafter with 5 HP remaining. I had about a 75% chance of hitting, if I had used my inspiration, and not rolled a 1 on the melee spell attack roll.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sure. In my mind the mechanics are only there to serve a flavour, not vice versa. But we all play differently!

Agreed. All my own design starts with the fictional concept and then tries to find a way to make that work mechanically, with a closer eye on simulation than PC balance.