house rules

Spell-by-spell: Conjure Animals

(All links take you to DnD Beyond unless otherwise noted.)

Overview

“You conjure nature spirits that appear as a Large pack of spectral, intangible animals in an unoccupied space you can see within range. The pack lasts for the duration, and you choose the spirits’ animal form, such as wolves, serpents, or birds.

“You have Advantage on Strength saving throws while you’re within 5 feet of the pack, and when you move on your turn, you can also move the pack up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.

“Whenever the pack moves within 10 feet of a creature you can see and whenever a creature you can see enters a space within 10 feet of the pack or ends its turn there, you can force that creature to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d10 Slashing damage. A creature makes this save only once per turn.

“Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d10 for each spell slot level above 3.” (Dnd Beyond Link)

First things first, the spell doesn’t actually conjure animals. It conjures nature spirits. Actually no, it doesn’t even do that. It basically summons a 30’ wide rolling ball of immaterial but deadly whirling blades. 

At a glance, the spell has no benefit outside of combat, but it has a duration of ten minutes, so I guess you could park it in a doorway while you searched a room. 

Damage-wise, the spell can be brutal because it can let you damage enemies twice with the same attack and doesn’t dip into your action economy to move around. Against mooks and minions it can quickly clear a fight, and even against boss-level foes, it does enough round-to-round damage to wear them down or keep them at bay. 

Conjure animals in past editions

In AD&D, good ol’ beautifully-named Animal Summoning I let you summon up to eight normal or giant animals, but you had to guess what type was available in your area (you did get three guesses, though). The animals would aid the caster in whatever way they could, sticking around for a fight or until the caster was safe, the mission accomplished, they were dead or dismissed.

In 2nd edition, conjure animals was a 6th-level priest or wizard spell that summoned up to twice your level in hit dice worth of mammals (and only mammals. Dolphins, fine, but no emus.) If you wanted to specify the animal mammal summoned, you only got half as much HD. The animals fur-babies stuck around for twice your level in rounds, so they were clearly in it to win it. The conjured animals only wanted to fight, and if you asked them to do anything else, they might turn against you. They disappeared when slain like enemies in a side-scroller from the 90s. 

3rd edition summoned 1-8 fey spirits that took the shape of animals. This had some weird corner-case interactions with the rules (protection from evil and good would protect you from the summoned spirits for example), but otherwise didn’t really matter. Because they stuck around for an hour, you could the spirits for all sorts of things: scouting, guarding, hunting, fighting, travel, or spying.

In 4th edition, Summon Beasts is the closest I could find. You called forth a number of animals suitable to the area equal to your Charisma modifier. They were your minions until they were hit, at which point they would run away. This is just pure awesome-sauce—actual animals, acting like animals. 

5.0 went back to spirits, but at least it still conjured something animal-ish. 

How good is conjure animals?

There are lots of good 3rd-level spells (maybe the sweet spot for spells in the game). But conjure animals is clearly one of the better damage spells at that level for rangers and druids, if not the best. From a game design point of view, it feels overpowered, overly combat-focused, and the gains on action economy are lost by the sheer volume of saving throws. And it doesn’t do what it says it does. Definitely a C-tier effort by the design team. 

House rules and other thoughts

I think DnD Beyond commenter Pyrobolser hit the nail on the head with this comment from September 4th of last year.

“That’s just a flaming sphere with fangs and claws.

“I know that some DM complained about invocation spells being a hassle to run in combat, but at least they were thematically correct.
“Sure, it will slow down the battle, but seeing the druid in my group having fun choosing what animals she’s going to bring to the battle was well worth the time.

“I feel there was a lot of solution to remake this spell without completely removing it’s original purpose and aesthetics. Reduce the number of summons to a max of 4, give a list of summons to pick from in the spell description, or even give a generic stat bloc for a “summoned beast”.

“Just anything but this generic “dex save or damage” spell.”

How do we fix this and not over-complicate DnD’s already brutal action economy?

  • Get back to animals.
  • Get back to animals appropriate to their environment (or brought along with the caster).
  • Give the spell utility outside of combat.
  • Require changing the animals’ target or action require a bonus action.
  • Leverage the rules for mobs from the DMG.

Conjure Animals (Far Reach revision)

3rd-level conjuration (Druids, Rangers)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120’
Components: V, S 
Duration: Concentration (up to one hour)
Attack/Save: Special (see below)

You point at an area within range and make a bestial cry. A number of natural beasts, giant beasts, or swarms native to the terrain emerge from the area and move their speed toward you. If there are animals visible in the area, such as a herd of elk, or a flock of birds, the animals will come from these groups first, even bursting their fetters or disregarding their riders to join you (if feasible). The number of animals that heed the summons is equal to your proficiency bonus in HD and don’t have to be the same species. The summoned animals get their own intiative roll and will follow your spoken commands to the best of their ability (they are still animals after all), but they will flee if hit or damaged, pausing only to attack any creatures that attempt to hinder them. Giving the animals a new command or having them attack a different target takes a bonus action. If a creature that you summoned is killed, you take psychic damage equal to its hit dice. When the spell ends, the animals slink back from whence they came. 

GM Tip. Use the Mobs rules in the DMG to handle large groups of summoned beasts.

Casting against mounts. You can cast this against beasts that are being used as mounts. In this case, the mounts get a Wisdom saving throw against your spell DC. If they fail, they have the Charmed condition for the duration of the spell and attempt to come to you and obey your commands. As an action, a rider can attempt a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check against your spell save DC to free the mount from your influence.

At higher-levels. For each spell-slot above three, the spell summons an additonal level-equivalent HD of monsters equal. A 9th-level caster using a 5th-level spell slot to cast the spell could summon 12 HD worth of beasts. A 20th-level cast using a 9th-level spell slot could summmon 

Addendum: Monster Manual beasts by terrain and HD

Note: I left off the dinosaurs (a little too J-Park for my usual fantasy tastes), and Blood Hawks (clearly a monstrosity). If you feel strongly otherwise, by all means include them at your table.

Arctic

Coastal

Desert

Forest

Grassland

Hill

Mountain

Swamp

Underdark

Underwater

Urban

About Spell-by-Spell

Spell-by-spell is a series of articles where we discuss the spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e. We start with the spell as-written, and we’ll provide our take on how “good” the spell is (S-Tier to F-Tier), and thoughts for using the spell as a player or DM. We offer up suggestions for adding color or flavor to the spell, out-of-the-box ideas for non-combat applications, and occasionally stories from the game-table. We might look the history of a spell and the different versions across editions or even different games.  Finally, we weigh in on how well the spell does what it says it does; how well it plays in-game (does it slow the game down, does it steal the thunder of other classes, is it fun); whether it should be banned, nerfed, or boosted; and revisions we’d like to see in theoretical future editions or that we plan to make (or have made) in our own D&D games.

Spell-by-Spell Tier Rankings:

F-Tier: Spells that are so bad, they shouldn’t be in the game. This includes useless and trap spells, as well as always-spam spells that seem to have been created to cause friction between players and GMs.

S-Tier: Spells that are so cool or so useful that you want to be able to cast them as many times as possible.

A-Tier: Spells that you always want to have in your spellbook or spell list. There may be situations where you would choose to not memorize or prepare them, but those cases are rare.

B-Tier: Good, solid spells. Spells you are often happy you have in your spellbook or spell list, but maybe don’t memorize or prepare every day.

C-Tier: Spells that are only situationally useful, that do too little damage, or that have some other strange or confusing unexpected flaw. Also poorly-named spells that don’t do what you would think they do.

D-Tier: Spells that are poorly designed, overshadow the schtick of other classes, or interact with other effects or abilities in ways detrimental to the player or game.

Spell-by-spell: Wall of Fire

(All links take you to DnD Beyond unless otherwise noted.)

Overview

“You create a wall of fire on a solid surface within range. You can make the wall up to 60 feet long, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick, or a ringed wall up to 20 feet in diameter, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick. The wall is opaque and lasts for the duration.

“When the wall appears, each creature in its area makes a Dexterity saving throw, taking 5d8 Fire damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.

“One side of the wall, selected by you when you cast this spell, deals 5d8 Fire damage to each creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of that side or inside the wall. A creature takes the same damage when it enters the wall for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there. The other side of the wall deals no damage.

“Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d8 for each spell slot level above 4.”(Dnd Beyond Link)

Our sorceror loves wall of fire. It’s so flexible. It can be used for offense or defense. It blocks line-of-sight. And while they’re figuring out exactly how to place it for maximum effect, the rest of us have twenty minutes to stretch, grab a beverage, or catch up on sleep.

5d8 damage to everything in a 60’ line is fine damage for a 4th-level spell—maybe too much damage if we ever want to see anything leap through the flames. The whole “only one side of the wall does damage” thing is just fiddly and overly-complicated. And like way too many spells, the list of casters is long: druids, sorcerers, wizards, light clerics and forge clerics, and warlocks of both heavenly and diabolical patrons.  

Wall of fire in past editions

In OD&D, the wall did 1d6 damage to any passing through (2d6 damage to undead), and creatures under 4HD couldn’t cross it at all. In AD&D, wall of fire was a druid spell. It could be a wall or a ring, and it did 4d4 damage (+1 point/level) to any creature touching it. AD&D started the damage from the heat radiating off the wall. Idisosyncratically, the spell decription specified that the flames were amber in color. In second edition, the flames became violet or reddish-blue (aka purple?) if you were a wizard, but yellow-green or amber for priests. The heat only radiated from one side, and depending on your level, the wall could be huge (20 20’ squares at 20th level). 

In 3rd edition, they settled back on violet for all walls. The wall could be made permanent with our old friend permanency. In 4th edition, the wall only granted partial concealment. 

How good is wall of fire?

The spell is fine, but every time it gets cast, I sigh. It takes the caster forever to place it exactly just so, and we always forget which side of the fire is the hot side and who needs to flee the heat. As written, it’s a C-tier spell.

House rules and other thoughts

Reddish-blue Purple fire is cool. Walls of fire are cool. We want people jumping through them because it’s dramatic. I’m not sure why they can’t be floating in air, and you should have a means as a player to create a permanent one. Concentration spells don’t need additional time limits.

Wall of Fire (Far Reach revision)

4th-level evocation (Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30’
Components: V,S,M (a small piece of phosphorous)
Duration: Concentration
Attack/Save: Dex Save
Damage/Effect: Fire

An immobile, blazing curtain of shimmering purple fire springs into existence 30’ before you. The wall is 60’ long and 20’ high. Any creature caught in the wall when it appears or ending its turn in contact with the wall takes 4d8 points of damage (Dex save for half). Creatures on the opposite side of the wall are lightly obscured.

The spell can also be cast to create a ring of fire around you. The ring is centered on you and has a diameter of 20’. Either way, the wall is 20’ high.

A wall of fire can be made permanent by casting the spell in the same location every day for a year. 

At higher levels: Each spell slot above level 4 adds 30’ (10’ diameter) to the length of the wall. Casting wall of fire using an 8th-level spell slot would result in a wall 180’ long or a ring with a diameter of 60’.

About Spell-by-Spell

Spell-by-spell is a series of articles where we discuss the spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e. We start with the spell as-written, and we’ll provide our take on how “good” the spell is (S-Tier to F-Tier), and thoughts for using the spell as a player or DM. We offer up suggestions for adding color or flavor to the spell, out-of-the-box ideas for non-combat applications, and occasionally stories from the game-table. We might look the history of a spell and the different versions across editions or even different games.  Finally, we weigh in on how well the spell does what it says it does; how well it plays in-game (does it slow the game down, does it steal the thunder of other classes, is it fun); whether it should be banned, nerfed, or boosted; and revisions we’d like to see in theoretical future editions or that we plan to make (or have made) in our own D&D games.

Spell-by-Spell Tier Rankings
  • S-Tier: Spells that are so cool or so useful that you want to be able to cast them as many times as possible.
  • A-Tier: Spells that you always want to have in your spellbook or spell list. There may be situations where you would choose to not memorize or prepare them, but those cases are rare.
  • B-Tier: Good, solid spells. Spells you are often happy you have in your spellbook or spell list, but maybe don’t memorize or prepare every day.
  • C-Tier: Spells that are only situationally useful, that do too little damage, or that have some other strange or confusing unexpected flaw. Also poorly-named spells that don’t do what you would think they do.
  • D-Tier: Spells that are poorly designed, overshadow the schtick of other classes, or interact with other effects or abilities in ways detrimental to the player or game.
  • F-Tier: Spells that are so bad, they shouldn’t be in the game. This includes useless and trap spells, as well as always-spam spells that seem to have been created to cause friction between players and GMs.

The New Druid Spell List

(All links go to DnD Beyond)

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had created a custom druid spell list for my upcoming Drakkenheim campaign. Due to audience demand, I present it here without preamble (well, okay, with little preamble). My goals were to eliminate the “elementalist” vibe, put the focus back on Nature with a capital “N,” and quietly remove spells I hate (Guidance, Goodberry).

For comparison’s sake, here’s the current 5.5e Druid Spell list: Druid Spell List.

Cantrips:

Level 1:

Level 2: 

Level 3: 

Level 4: 

Level 5: 

Level 6: 

Level 7:

Level 8:

Level 9:

Spell-by-Spell: Fire Storm

(All links take you to DnD Beyond unless otherwise noted.)

Overview

“A storm of fire appears within range. The area of the storm consists of up to ten 10-foot Cubes, which you arrange as you like. Each Cube must be contiguous with at least one other Cube. Each creature in the area makes a Dexterity saving throw, taking 7d10 Fire damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.

“Flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried start burning.” (Dnd Beyond Link)

It’s a more fiddly and less fun delayed blast fireball. It’s got a larger area, but one that players spend long agonizing minutes optimizing each time they cast it. And other than that, it does slightly less damage and lacks the lit-fuse fun of dbf.

Damage-wise, it’s on-par with other 7th-level spells. An evocation spell with no material components, it’s a simple and direct damage-dealer. It’s available to clerics and druids, giving them a bit of offensive firepower they debatably lack (sorcerers already have enough offensive firepower). I’m not sure why it’s not a wizard spell. Maybe wizards would never bother with it?

Fire storm in past editions

Fire storm has been around for a long time. In OD&D it was a 7th-level druid spell that did 1d6 damage to each creature in the area, or 2d6 damage to undead, and ignited all combustible materials across a huge area: 240-600 sq. ft.. depending on your level. The spell could also be reversed to extinguish normal fires and even potentially magical ones (5% chance per caster level). In AD&D, fire storm covered a slightly smaller area (160-400sq. ft.), but did more damage: 2d8, +1 point per caster level. Creatures within ten feet would also take that damage, which begs the question, why didn’t they just increase the area of effect? AD&D added a Dex save for half damage and called out that flametongue swords could be permanently extinguished if caught in the reverse of the spell. Ad&D also made the casting time almost an entire round.

3rd Edition pulled out all the stops, except for keeping the long casting time (1 full round to cast) and the saving throw (Reflex save for half). Fire storm could be cast 230-300’ away, covered an area of 200 cu. ft./level and inflicted 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level. In addition, you could choose whether or not any plants in the area were harmed when you cast it. However, reversing the spell was no longer an option. In 4th edition, the spell became a cleric-only power usable once a day. Its range was reduced (100’) but its area remained substantial (490’ sq. ft.) It’s damage was reduced to 3d10+Wis Modifier damage, but the area remained on fire, doing 1d10+Wis Modifier damage to any who entered the space if sustained.

The 2014 verison of fire storm kept the option to leave plants unharmed when casting the spell, but that option was left out of the 2024 PHB.

How good is fire storm?

It’s fine, but it’s not particularly inspiring. The fiddliness of having a customizable area of contiguous cubes means that every time it gets cast, the caster is going to spend a lot of time figuring out exactly what shape will have the best effect, slowing the game to a crawl while they optimize their casting. The optional “plants immune” bit was always a wierd legacy piece the spell is better off without. Despite putting fire across a large area, it doesn’t feel like unleashing a storm. It feels like carefully placing sixteen bonfires. It’s C-tier for me.

House rules and other thoughts

Take it off the cleric list (except for fire domain clerics). Give it to the wizards.

Spells should have a really clear design goal. For this one, it should be setting the world on fire. And it should feel like that. Make it an emanation with a crazy radius. The kind of thing that wipes out all the minions around you, reduces a tavern to cinders, or razes a village to the ground. You know, like a storm of fire.

Fire Storm (Far Reach revision)

7th-level evocation (Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (120’ Emanation)
Components: V, S 
Duration: Instantaneous
Attack/Save: Dexterity save

You unleash your magic in a storm of fire. Each creature in the area makes a Dexterity saving throw, taking 7d10 Fire damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. Flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried start burning.

About Spell-by-Spell

Spell-by-spell is a series of articles where we discuss the spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e. We start with the spell as-written, and we’ll provide our take on how “good” the spell is (S-Tier to F-Tier), and thoughts for using the spell as a player or DM. We offer up suggestions for adding color or flavor to the spell, out-of-the-box ideas for non-combat applications, and occasionally stories from the game-table. We might look the history of a spell and the different versions across editions or even different games.  Finally, we weigh in on how well the spell does what it says it does; how well it plays in-game (does it slow the game down, does it steal the thunder of other classes, is it fun); whether it should be banned, nerfed, or boosted; and revisions we’d like to see in theoretical future editions or that we plan to make (or have made) in our own D&D games.

Spell-by-Spell Tier Rankings
  • S-Tier: Spells that are so cool or so useful that you want to be able to cast them as many times as possible.
  • A-Tier: Spells that you always want to have in your spellbook or spell list. There may be situations where you would choose to not memorize or prepare them, but those cases are rare.
  • B-Tier: Good, solid spells. Spells you are often happy you have in your spellbook or spell list, but maybe don’t memorize or prepare every day.
  • C-Tier: Spells that are only situationally useful, that do too little damage, or that have some other strange or confusing unexpected flaw. Also poorly-named spells that don’t do what you would think they do.
  • D-Tier: Spells that are poorly designed, overshadow the schtick of other classes, or interact with other effects or abilities in ways detrimental to the player or game.
  • F-Tier: Spells that are so bad, they shouldn’t be in the game. This includes useless and trap spells, as well as always-spam spells that seem to have been created to cause friction between players and GMs.

Spell-by-Spell: Ensnaring Strike

(All links take you to DnD Beyond unless otherwise noted.)

Overview

“As you hit the target, grasping vines appear on it, and it makes a Strength saving throw. A Large or larger creature has Advantage on this save. On a failed save, the target has the Restrained condition until the spell ends. On a successful save, the vines shrivel away, and the spell ends.

“While Restrained, the target takes 1d6 Piercing damage at the start of each of its turns. The target or a creature within reach of it can take an action to make a Strength (Athletics) check against your spell save DC. On a success, the spell ends.” (DnD Beyond Link)

I so want this spell to be a good spell. The image of vines or webs erupting from a spear or arrow to ensnare and tangle an enemy, squeezing them until they perish or surrender, is visually enticing and cinematic. And yet, it’s got so many funky design choices that prevent it from being an automatic go-to option for your quiver. 

As written, ensnaring strike is only available to rangers and Oath of the Ancients paladins, despite being perfect for druids, or a good ammunition add-on for artificers. It feels like a good fit for rangers—especially those that like to attack from range, but unless you’re all-in on your elven, longbow-wielding, elk-riding, defender-of-nature-at-all-costs, it feels like a spell most paladins would consider cheating. 

A Local-Hero tier spell, it does damage on par with other 1st-level spells that also inflict a condition, though the chances of inflicting that condition drop preciptiously once you’re fighting ogres and giants. Against small or medium flying creatures, ensnaring strike can be extrememly bad-ass, as the restrained condition brings their flying to a crashing halt. I’ve never had a ranger player choose it over absorb elements, alarm, cure wounds, entangle, the despised goodberry, or zephyr strike, but I can see it being a nice addition for jungle- or vine-themed characters or archers.

Ensnaring strike, like the various smite spells, only uses up a bonus action, and you don’t have to decide to cast it until after you see if you hit, and you can use it in-between any other attacks you might have. Because being restrained gives attacks against you advantage, you’ll usually want to use it the first time you hit someone. Unlike the smite spells, ensnaring strike doesn’t work with Unarmed Strikes. As written, that seems like more of an oversight than a balancing act. 

The range of this spell is confusing—in that you are casting it on yourself, even though it’s clearly delivered through your weapon. “Touch” would seem to make more sense, but I get that that muddies the ranged attack waters. Because you can cast it after you hit with a ranged weapon, this is a space where ensnaring strike out-performs hunter’s mark: with a longbow, ensnaring strike has an effective range of 150/600 feet.

The spell only lists a verbal component (“Ha!?” “Take that?”), but clearly requires you to have a weapon as well. 

You have to assume that any large or larger creature is going to successfully save against this spell. They tend to be strong anyway, and them getting Advantage pretty much guarantees it. There’s a saving grace to ensnaring strike though, in that if your oppenent does successfully save against it, you don’t have to worry about maintaining concentration. If you do need to maintain concentration, at least you’ve taken a baddy out of the fight and can hit it with advantage while it’s restrained. 

The damage of ensnaring strike increases by 1d6 for each spell slot above 1, but unless it’s the last fight of the day against a medium-sized solo baddy and you aren’t worried about using up your spell slots, I don’t know why you’d ever choose to upcast it. 

Ensnaring strike in past editions

As far as I can tell, the spell was new in 5th edition. In the 2014 PHB, ensnaring strike clarifies that the vines appear at the point of impact, but the spell is otherwise the same. 

How good is ensnaring strike?

I think it might be a B-tier spell for certain ranged attackers, but overall, it’s C-Tier for me. Ensnaring strike is a good spell, but not good enough to be chosen over other spells unless you are really leaning into a theme. The vines created “just appear,” which to me, seems like the designers didn’t want to get caught up in the metaphysics and consequences of where the vines actually come from. Like many D&D spells, it feels like it was invented in a vacuum, instead of having a specific niche that was trying to be filled or otherwise finding a home in an ecosystem of other spells. 

House rules and other thoughts

Ensnaring strike could be a cooler spell. Give it to druids, have the vines emerge from the ground, or better yet, grow from the weapon or ammunition itself, creating opportunities for moving the restrained character in melee. Give it a chance to affect large or bigger creatures at higher levels. And why Athletics to break free? Is this a sport I haven’t heard of? (Yes, I know it’s because that’s how the grappling rules are written–that’s a conversation for another day).

Ensnaring Strike (Far Reach revision)

1st-level conjuration (Druid, Ranger, Paladin – Oath of the Ancients)
Casting Time: 1 bonus action (which you take immediately after hitting a target with a weapon)
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (the somatic component is that you must hit a target with a weapon or piece of ammunition; the material component is the weapon or piece of ammunition used during the attack)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Attack/Save: Strength save

As you hit the target, grasping vines erupt from your weapon or piece of ammunition, and the creature must make a Strength saving throw. A Large or larger creature has Advantage on this save. On a failed save, the target is Restrained until the spell ends. On a successful save, or if you lose concentration, the vines shrivel away, and the spell ends.
While Restrained, the target takes 1d6 Piercing damage at the start of each of its turns. The target or a creature within reach of it can take an action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC. On a success, the spell ends.
If you are holding on to the weapon in question, such as when wielding a melee weapon, and successfully ensnared your opponent, the creature is considered Grappled as well as Restrained, and you can drag or carry them, but every foot of movement costs 1 extra foot unless you are two or more size categories larger. 

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can use each spell level above 1st to either inflict an additional 1d6 points of piercing damage to the target each round, or to increase the size category the creature must possess in order to get advantage on the save.
For example, if you cast ensnaring strike as a 5th-level spell, you could inflict 3d6 damage every round on a Huge creature and it wouldn’t get advantage on its Strength save to resist the spell. 

About Spell-by-Spell

Spell-by-spell is a series of articles where we discuss the spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e. We start with the spell as-written, and we’ll provide our take on how “good” the spell is (S-Tier to F-Tier), and thoughts for using the spell as a player or DM. We offer up suggestions for adding color or flavor to the spell, out-of-the-box ideas for non-combat applications, and occasionally stories from the game-table. We might look the history of a spell and the different versions across editions or even different games.  Finally, we weigh in on how well the spell does what it says it does; how well it plays in-game (does it slow the game down, does it steal the thunder of other classes, is it fun); whether it should be banned, nerfed, or boosted; and revisions we’d like to see in theoretical future editions or that we plan to make (or have made) in our own D&D games.

Spell-by-Spell Tier Rankings
  • S-Tier: Spells that are so cool or so useful that you want to be able to cast them as many times as possible.
  • A-Tier: Spells that you always want to have in your spellbook or spell list. There may be situations where you would choose to not memorize or prepare them, but those cases are rare.
  • B-Tier: Good, solid spells. Spells you are often happy you have in your spellbook or spell list, but maybe don’t memorize or prepare every day.
  • C-Tier: Spells that are only situationally useful, that do too little damage, or that have some other strange or confusing unexpected flaw. Also poorly-named spells that don’t do what you would think they do.
  • D-Tier: Spells that are poorly designed, overshadow the schtick of other classes, or interact with other effects or abilities in ways detrimental to the player or game.
  • F-Tier: Spells that are so bad, they shouldn’t be in the game. This includes useless and trap spells, as well as always-spam spells that seem to have been created to cause friction between players and GMs.

Three Ways to Make Magic More Magical in your D&D Campaign

I have myriad complaints about spells and magic in the current edition of Dungeons & Dragons (as well as myriad complaints about how they implement classes, species, backgrounds, feats, weapons, etc.). I don’t like that all the classes use the same spell lists, or that artificers don’t feel like inventors, or the meta that if the DM takes away your warlock’s or paladin’s powers for roleplaying or story reasons then they are being needlessly cruel. 

But this post isn’t a diatribe against the magic system of Dungeons & Dragons, this is simply a brainstorm of ideas that might bring a little more spark or fun or, erm, magic to your table/game/campaign. And they may not—as always, your mileage may vary.

1. One school of magic for each class

There are eight classes that wield magic at first level in the PHB, and there are conveniently eight schools of magic. Replace the spell list for each class with one of the schools of magic. I plan on using a variation of this for my upcoming Drakkenheim campaign:

ClassSchools of Magic
Artificer*Transmutation*
BardEnchantment
ClericAbjuration
DruidNature (Custom List)**
PaladinEvocation (Fire-Based Spells and Smites Only)***
RangerDivination
SorcererEvocation
WarlockNecromancy
WizardConjuration

*I’m really pushing for a steampunk/Arcane vibe, so I included Artificers. If I was doing this for a different campaign, I would have given Transmutation to the shape-shifty druids.
**I created a custom plant and animal nature-oriented list for Druids (which also let me ditch the resource-management hating Goodberry). Of course, after all that work, watch none of my players want to play a druid. There’s a lesson in there somewhere. 
*** Followers of the Sacred Flame should be pyros, and I liked restricting most of the healing to clerics. If I was running a home-brew, I’d give Paladins illusions, and make them shadow warriors.

Assigning schools to each class has a number of immediate effects: 

  • Instant worldbuilding. Suddenly paladins are flame warriors, wielding fire to deadly effect. A warlock is someone who dares to cross the boundaries between life and death. Only divine magic can heal. Rangers are relevant again.
  • The classes are imbalanced. Wizards and warlocks get nerfed. Sorcerers are battle masters. Bards are the undisputed masters of social interactions.
  • A big reason to pick your class is access to spells. If you ever want to teleport or summon creatures, you’ll need to be a wizard.

Many classes and subclasses have spells and abilities that break this one-school for each class division, and that’s okay. Paladins can have burning hands and smite and summon steed. Clerics can have some domain spells in addition to all their healing. Players will take the Magic Initiate feat for access to spells from other lists, just as they do now.

Why I like it: Restricting each class to a smaller and more-or-less unshared spell list creates more distinction between classes, and I find it results in more meaningful and flavorful choices for the players.

2. Blood magic

Keep the math simple: each spell level cast does a hit point of damage to the caster. This makes casting a spell more dangerous at low-levels, and Constitution becomes a critical stat. Fragile mages won’t last long. 

Another option: Get rid of spell slots altogether. Let characters up-cast from first level—if they dare.

Yet another option: Magic requires sacrifice. Ritual casters can use someone else’s blood. 

Why I like it: Yeah, it’s not an original idea, but a blood price for magic is so cool, and it nerfs casters just a bit, which is good for martials. 

3. All magic is Wild Magic 

Roll on the WIld Magic results table any time anyone casts a spell. This works best in campaigns where no one plays a Wild Magic sorcerer.

Another option: Only Arcane magic is Wild Magic. Primal and DIvine magic is unaffected. (Or mix and match as desired.)

Why I like it: Magic should be unpredictable. This drives it home.

What do you think? What have you done to make magic sparkle in your campaign or at your table? Let me know in the comments!

Spell-by-Spell: Invisibility

Editor’s Note: This post is part of a new series of articles we’re kicking off at the Far Reach in which we discuss, dissect, and deliberate the spells of 5.5e.

Overview

“A creature you touch has the Invisible condition until the spell ends. The spell ends early immediately after the target makes an attack roll, deals damage, or casts a spell.” (DnD Beyond Link)

Invisibility is a spell designed for sneaking around guards, eavesdropping, or setting up an ambush. Being invisible grants you advantage on initiative and your first attack roll against a creature that can’t see you, inflicts disadvantage on attacks from opponents that can’t see you, and you are immune to effects that require their target to be seen. This means you can’t be affected by certain mundane items such as alchemist’s fire, holy water, or nets; some magical items such as ropes of entanglement, energy bows, or wands of paralysis; and many spells including charm person, heal, or magic missile even if the user or caster can hear or smell you. Detect magic won’t detect you either, as you have to be visible for the caster to see the aura of the spell affecting you.

As a second-level spell, it’s a Local-Hero Tier ability, soon (and properly) outshined by the bigger and flashier third-level spells. Because invisibility is on the spell list of almost every spell caster (artificers, bards, sorcerers, warlocks, wizards, even some clerics), one has to assume that its use is widespread.

With a casting time of one action, this is a before-combat or out-of-combat buff. Assuming the combat takes three rounds, the advantages gained are likely not better than inflicting damage or battlefield control.

Invisibility has a verbal component. Turning invisible creates noise. You definitely want to become invisible before you start sneaking around, not while you’re sneaking around. It also has a material component, but one that’s not consumed during the casting of the spell, which means you can use your arcane focus to cast it instead. I can picture touching someone with a wand or a staff and them becoming individual, or holding up my orb or crystal to make myself disappear, but what exactly is one doing with artificer’s tools?

Invisibility has a one hour duration, and requires concentration. Again, turn invisible, then go into action. If you take damage, you might become visible, so beware area affects such as fire or gas.

By the rules, invisibility is an illusion. Semantically, this is interesting, as it suggests that you’re not really invisible, you’ve just convinced the people around you that they can’t see you. One could argue you’d show up on cameras and video (if those exist in your setting). Invisibility shouldn’t work against automata, oozes, and other non-thinking entities.

Upcasting the spell lets you turn one other person invisible for each spell slot above 2. That’s a maximum of 8 people with a 9th-level spell. I don’t know of anyone who has ever used a 9th-level spell on invisibility, but I’m sure there’s a time and place for everything. You might use a 5th-level spell slot on a party of four, but generally there are better spells to cast at 4th-level and above. Also, I’m not sure how upcasting works story-wise. Normally, I can only touch one person and make them invisible. Now, in the same amount of time, I can touch everyone I’m adjacent to. That’s like seven extra free actions. Or some really fast high-fives.

Invisibility in past editions

The Dungeons & Dragons Fandom Wiki has a nice breakdown of the OSR versions of the spell. In Orginal D&D the spell lasted until you ended the spell or attacked someone, and it could be cast on a creature or an object. In AD&D in addtion to the material component, they added a chance for highly intelligent creatures to automatically detect invisible creatures, as well as a penalty for attacking a creature that you can detect but not see. In 2nd edition the spell lasts for 24 hours unless made permanent, in which case you become invisible on the next turn where you don’t attack.

3rd edition shortened the duration to one minute a level, limited the object touched to 100lb./level, and restricted making invisibility permanent to objects only. 3rd edition also clarified that items put down become visible, items picked up become invisible, and light never becomes invisible, but its source might. Pathfinder 1.0, based on the 3rd-edition rules, adds that if a stealth check is needed, the invisible creature adds +40 to their roll if stationary, or +20 if moving.

In 4th edition, invisibility is a 6th-level wizard power with a range of 25 feet, and can be sustained for up to five minutes (using a standard action each round). 4th edition also specifies that unseen creatures don’t provoke opportunity attacks. Finally 5th edition limits invisibility to creatures, sets the duration to an hour (with concentration), and mentions that casting a spell also ends the spell.

What is “gum arabic” anyway?

According to our good friend, Wikipedia, gum arabic is a gum exuded from some species of acacia tree that has been used in the Middle East since the 9th century. Because of its viscosity, it’s used in printing and litography, paint, glues, and cosmetics. Imagine carrying a piece of resin with you and mushing an eyelash into it before you wave your hand and mutter the magic words and disappear. Gum arabic might also be handy for creating copies of seals, signet rings, or weirdly shaped keyholes.

How good is invisibility?

I think it’s a solid B-tier spell. Somehow it does a decent job of not stepping on the toes of the sneaky rangers and rogues, mainly because it’s so easy to get advantage in other ways, and because those Stealth checks will still be useful in keeping silent. Being able to cast it on an object would open up all sorts of additional utility and make it an A-tier spell. Even then, it’s not an always-prepare spell (and not quite an always-take spell).

House rules and other thoughts

So many thoughts around invisibility. Can you see yourself? Could you secretly make someone invisible without their knowing with some sleight-of-hand and Silent Spell? What does turning invisible look like? Do you fade out from the edges? Top to bottom? Do you vanish at the snap of your fingers? Do you erase yourself with your hand? Or is it a ritual of shaking rattles that leaves you trapped in the spirit world?

The ability to turn an object invisible opens up so much utility that I want to include it or create another spell to cover the use case. If you can open doors, pick locks, or climb the rigging while invisible, you should be able to cast spells. And I like the idea of turning someone else invisible and persuading them that they’ve died. I’d update the spell like this:

Invisibility [Far Reach revision]

2nd-level illusion (Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, Illrigger, Cleric – Trickery Domain)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an eyelash encased in gum arabic)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Attack/Save: Wisdom (usually harmless)

Description: A medium or smaller creature or object (up to 100lbs.) that you touch becomes invisible to all sentient creatures until the spell ends. Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target’s person. The spell ends for a target that makes an attack. If cast on an unwilling creature, that creature is entitled to a Wisdom saving throw. Because invisible creatures are not invisible to themselves (though they are to other invisible creatures), it’s possible for a creature to not realize that it’s invisible.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd-level or higher, you can target one additional creature or one additional size category for each slot level above 2nd. Alternatively, you can turn an object invisible that weighs an additional 100 lbs. for each slot level above 2nd.
You can touch (and affect) two creatures or objects as part of the Magic action. You must use a free or bonus action for each other creature you want to turn invisible. If you want to make more than four creatures or objects invisible, the casting time extends into the next round, and requires an addtional free, bonus, or standard action as above for the additional characters or objects affected.

For example, if you cast invisibility as a 5th-level spell, you could make four medium-size creatures invisible, or two large creatures, or one giant creature, or an object weighing 400lbs., or four objects that each weighed 100lbs.

About Spell-by-Spell

Spell-by-Spell is a series of articles where we discuss the spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e. We start with the spell as-written, and we’ll provide our take on how “good” the spell is (S-Tier to F-Tier), and thoughts for using the spell as a player or DM. We offer up suggestions for adding color or flavor to the spell, out-of-the-box ideas for non-combat applications, and occasionally stories from the game-table. We might look the history of a spell and the different versions across editions or even different games. Finally, we weigh in on how well the spell does what it says it does; how well it plays in-game (does it slow the game down, does it steal the thunder of other classes, is it fun); whether it should be banned, nerfed, or boosted; and revisions we’d like to see in theoretical future editions or that we plan to make (or have made) in our own D&D games.

Spell-by-Spell Tier Rankings
  • S-Tier: Spells that are so cool or so useful that you want to be able to cast them as many times as possible. Also spells that are so elegant, that they should be help up as examples of game design.
  • A-Tier: Spells that you always want to have in your spellbook or spell list. There may be situations where you would choose to not memorize or prepare them, but those cases are rare.
  • B-Tier: Good, solid spells. Spells you are often happy you have in your spellbook or spell list, but maybe don’t memorize or prepare every day.
  • C-Tier: Spells that are only situationally useful, that do too little damage, or that have some other strange or confusing unexpected flaw. Also poorly-named spells that don’t do what you would think they do.
  • D-Tier: Spells that are poorly designed, overshadow the schtick of other classes, or interact with other effects or abilities in ways detrimental to the player or game.
  • F-Tier: Spells that are so bad, they shouldn’t be in the game. This includes useless and trap spells, as well as always-spam spells that seem to have been created to cause friction between players and GMs.

What happens when you miss?

As a player and a GM, there’s nothing more boring than a miss. So here’s a house rule that I’m wanting to try:

On a missed attack roll, the target’s AC is reduced by 1 until the start of their next turn. 

This represents being hemmed in by multiple attacks, being feinted into lowering your guard, or having your shield knocked out of position.

Benefits:

  • Makes battles against multiple foes more dangerous.
  • Makes battles faster (should result in more hits).
  • Fewer “wasted” actions.
  • Provides more information with which to interpret and describe the results of a miss or hit.

Drawbacks:

  • A little more record keeping.

Thoughts? Improvements? Let me know if you get a chance to test this in the wild!