To cast a balancing spell for beginners, first cleanse your crystal by washing it with cold water or leaving it in saltwater overnight. Next, set your intention and perform the Balancing Ritual. There are over 450 spells already created in Wizard101 Balance, and the PHB should be used as the core backbone of spell designs work.
The first step to designing any spell is to come up with a concept for what the spell should do. This concept can be something you read about in a book or saw in an anime, or it could be an idea from Arthur Wethersfield and Alhazred. The goal is to make sure the spell fits with the identity of the class, such as wizards and sorcerers not typically having access to healing spells.
In the latest Novus update, craftable/learnable balance spells are being added to the game. To create a new spell, hide a bookshelf and its contents on the Ethereal Plane, and touch the bookshelf and the miniature replica that serves as a material component for the spell. There is no good formula for creating balanced spells, but some guidelines include figuring out what you want your spell to do, finding a spell that does something similar, and selecting the level that you want the new spell to be.
Homebrewing spells in D and D involves adjusting spell budgeting to make fights harder or easier. Balancing spells are a niche that the current spells do not fill, and the author has some ideas for how to balance them, but they need much assistance if anyone is willing.
In summary, creating balanced spells in Wizard101 involves cleansing your crystal, setting your intention, performing the Balancing Ritual, and considering factors like upcasting and budgeting. By following these steps, players can create and customize their spells to fit their specific needs and preferences.
📹 How to Create Your Own Homebrew Spells in D&D 5e
My Homebrew Spell System for Dungeons and Dragons lets you Create BALANCED Homebrew Spells that are FUN and don’t …
Can you homebrew spells?
The use of homebrewed spells has the potential to enhance the flavor and uniqueness of spellcasters in Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. Such effects may be created, including, for example, lightning damage or a gothic horror setting. It should be noted, however, that JavaScript may be disabled or blocked by extensions or browsers that do not support cookies.
Can you cantrip and spell?
It is only possible to cast another spell during the same turn if it is a cantrip with a casting time of one action. Should a spell be cast as a bonus action, only those cantrips with a casting time of one action may be cast with the aforementioned action during the same turn. The browser in use does not support cookies.
Do spells crit in D&D?
In DND 5e, spells that require an attack roll, such as the Firebolt cantrip, can critically hit. However, spells relying on a saving throw, like Sacred Flame, cannot crit. To guarantee a critical hit, exploit conditions like Paralysed and Unconscious, which automatically make attacks into critical hits. Gaining an advantage on attack rolls can also increase the chance of getting a critical hit, such as flanking, using the Greater Invisibility spell, or using class-specific abilities like Reckless Attack.
Does Minecraft have magic?
To use magical spells, you need a magical script. Create a script by placing a piece of paper in an enchanting table. You can get any of three rando m spells on the paper. However, you cannot combine scripts in an anvil to get multiple spells or combine two scripts with the same spell. Bookshelves can be used to obtain higher level spells. Hold the script in one hand and click with the other hand to access special powers. Each spell uses a certain level of XP, with a specific level reducing the cooldown by 1 second.
Who invented Avada Kedavra?
The Killing Curse, created in the early Middle Ages by Dark witches and wizards, was used to quickly slay opponents during duels. In 1707, the Wizards’ Council was restructured into the Ministry of Magic, allowing for stricter restrictions on certain types of magic. The three Unforgivable Curses were classified as Unforgivable in 1717, with a life sentence in Azkaban. From then until the First Wizarding War, only the darkest wizards used the Unforgivable Curses.
During the First Wizarding War, Bartemius Crouch Senior legalized the use of the Curses against those suspected of being Death Eaters. The most infamous event surrounding the Killing Curse occurred on 31 October 1981, when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named vanished after murdering Lily and James Potter and attempting to use the Curse on Harry Potter in Godric’s Hollow.
Can a wizard make their own spells?
Witches and wizards with great understanding and skill in magic were known to invent spells. The exact process for creating spells beyond crafting the wand movement and incantation is unknown, but it is known to be a difficult and dangerous process. The art of creating new spells is highly dangerous and complex, with potential fatal consequences if something goes wrong. An example of this is Pandora Lovegood’s experimentation, which resulted in many vile curses, including a likely Horcrux-making spell.
Can sorcerer replace spells?
As you advance in this class, you can choose and replace a known sorcerer spell with another spell from the list, provided you have spell slots. Your Charisma is your spellcasting ability, allowing you to project your will into the world. It is used when a spell refers to your spellcasting ability and when setting the saving throw DC for a sorcerer spell or making an attack roll. The spell save DC and attack modifier are calculated based on your proficiency bonus and Charisma modifier.
What spell beat Voldemort?
Expelliarmus, or the Disarming Charm, is a spell that drives out a weapon, often a wand, and is often seen in duels. Harry, a skilled combatant, was deeply enamored with the spell and used it to defeat Lord Voldemort. Professor Snape, a former follower of Voldemort, taught Harry the spell during Professor Lockhart’s Duelling Club. Despite initially struggling with the Summoning Charm, Harry quickly developed an aptitude for Expelliarmus, which allowed him to use it in challenging situations.
Within months of learning it, Harry used it to retrieve Riddle’s diary from Malfoy and disarm Lockhart. He spent the final hours of the second year practicing Expelliarmus, becoming very good in the process. This relationship between Harry and Expelliarmus has both positive and negative aspects.
How to make spells in Minecraft?
To cast a spell, you need a lectern and a spell staff. Power a spell staff by right-clicking on a lectern and opening the spelling interface. Place a spell staff in the left slot and a spell ingredient in the middle slot. Remove the powered spell staff from the right slot. To cast a spell, right-click on a block while holding a powered spell staff. Blocks can emit particles to indicate they are under a spell. Spell staffs can only be used once.
There are two types of spells: block spells, which affect blocks, and regional spells, which affect a region. Block spells continue to affect the same blocks regardless of their location. Some blocks are immune to certain spells, like Redstone blocks, which are immune to gravity spells.
What is the secret writing spell in D&D?
A spell involves writing on a material and imbuing it with a powerful illusion that lasts for a duration. The spell enables the spell to appear normal to the spell-caster and any creatures it is cast on, while others see it as an unknown or magical script. The spell can also cause the writing to appear different, written in a known language. If the spell is dispelled, the original script and illusion disappear.
Can you make custom spells in D&D?
The spell creator permits users to devise bespoke spells with actions that can be rolled with a single click. The actions associated with a spell may be modified based on the level of the caster or the position in which the spell is cast. The rolls are automatically scaled when the character or spell slot is of a higher level. Additionally, users have the option of combining custom spells with existing monsters to create formidable spellcasters.
📹 5 Must Have Spell Tips to Homebrew New D&D Spells
These 5 DM Tips will help you Homebrew Spells in D&D 5e. PLUS The First step to homebrewing spells in Dungeons and …
One of issue with saving throw spells is of course “save or suck”, it was almost awesome but I rolled a 17. Sorry. Would it be more fun if we added ailments and damage overtime to some of those spells and had two saving throws potentially targeting two different characteristics? Winter wolf casts cone of cold so you roll dex acrobatics and constitution. If you pass the dex you get the damage mitigation, but if you fail the con you take the slow debuff. Or perhaps, if you take enough consecutive damage the cumulative total of which meets or surpasses your attribute score that triggers the associated DOT, this counter is reduced by you attribute bonus every round.
As my two cence with the ‘friendly fire’ bit of spells, area really does matter. Just to use the example of psychic scream, a 90ft area that affects friendlies is now bascially unusable, because there’s no reasonable to actually get your allies out of the area. How easy it is to avoid allies matters for friendly fire spells, so that’s another thing to consider
Great article– definitely one of my favorites you’ve made! It inspired me to create this Bard-only spell. It was a little bit complicated to get the wording right but I hope you like it: Creative Liberty Level 2 Enchantment Casting Time: 1 Action Range: Line of sight Components: V S M Duration: Concentration, up to 10 min You begin to improvise a new ballad telling the tale of two foes locked in a heated contest. When you cast the spell choose two targets around whom the tale revolves. You must be able to see both targets when you initially cast the spell. All targets make a wisdom saving throw. On a success, any damage or temporary health received from this spell is halved. For the duration of the spell, you may elaborate on the tale in favor of one target and to the detriment of the other. As a bonus action, roll a D6 and deal that much psychic damage to one of the chosen targets while granting that many temporary health points to the other target. Each target must be able to hear you in order to receive either effect. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 5th level spell slot, you may target 2 additional targets and may roll up to 2d6 (Half of the targets must take damage, half of them must gain temp hp). At 7th level you may select up to 6 targets and roll up to 3d6 (Half of the targets must take damage, half of them must gain temp hp). At 9th level you may target up to 10 targets, roll up to 3d10 (At least one target must be dealt damage, and at least one target must receive the temp hp).
I was surprised but happy you saw and chose my idea! Your quick take on it’s pretty interesting, a lot more prone to failure like the anime, which I love. I also got the Ki Master some time ago. Here’s actually my original take on Vegeta’s volley, which is a reflavored and slightly altered spell from a Mage Hand Press Gunslinger spell, with a removed limiter. Vegeta’s Volley 1st-level evocation Casting Time: 1 action Range: 60 feet Components: V, S Duration: Instantaneous You charge ki into your open hands and start launching it at your enemies. Make 6 ranged spell attack rolls with disadvantage against targets you can see within range. These attacks always have disadvantage, regardless of circumstance. On a hit, a target takes 1d8 force damage. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can make two additional attacks with disadvantage for each slot level above 1st. I also have another spell that I made as something for half martials/half casters that like to punch. Chromatic Strike 1st-level evocation Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self (5-foot radius) Components: V, S Duration: Instantaneous Choose acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder. You focus energy around your fists or feet, a faint glowing outline appears around it. Make an unarmed melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the attack’s normal damage and effects and an additional 2d8 damage of the damage type you chose.
Hey, I was wondering if you could do a article on how to make subclasses. I was wanting to put some together for your Ki master class and I love the class but I was hoping to extend the subclass options in the pursuit of making either an angel focused transforming person or even a demonic transforming person, but I’m having trouble figuring out how to put things together and when to implement certain features, Absolutely love your articles thanks so much for doing what you do!
Thinking of your 4th level psychic stun… I’d actually argue it’s a spell that has to much of a chance to cause everyone friend & foe to be stunned. Leaving a dead combat round. For that reason I wouldn’t have it effect the caster. I think the area was pretty good as Self, 15 foot radius (30 feet around yourself). I would probably also give it slightly higher damage… Like 2d6 psychic, save for half. Still not much for a 4th level spell. Another way to tweak it would be to be a concentration spell and it does no real damage (1d4/1d6 on a failed save), but can stun each round with a save. I’ve been working on a bunch of new spell options. Including areas such as targeted explosions, so a line til it strikes and then a cone, burst, or other area. Semicircles, Spirals, Vortex (burst with a hole in it), Wave (series of lines), Paths (guided line), & starburst (spikey burst).
Coach, pausing during your save rant (because I feel you). Haven’t started tweaking much yet, but this would be a good start. Feedback on my initial thoughts: Based on that constitution being if your body is strong enough to resist the damage. Then wisdom would be if your mind is strong enough to resist. Intelligence would be if you’re intelligent enough to understand and see through it. And charisma would be if your sense of self and soul is strong enough to withstand the effect – would that be good phrasing do you think?
I’m working on a combination spell of two players. They were put in a situation we’re they tried to close off section of a cave to stop a horde of kobolds while they took care of an isolated group of kobolds. The cleric used gust of wind down the hallway but was not extremely effective, so the warlock rp’ed a desperate plea of help so a mist combined with the wind to wall of the section were the horde was for whatever time was convenient at the time ^^ Have a few ideas out for a combination spell that can be done maybe once a day or something, any thoughts from the smart audience or the coach would be great 😀 Thinking of a barrier spell that might last for a d4 or d6 turns or evolve the gust of wind spell into something else🤷♂️
Ok so a spell I’ve been cooking up in my head for a long time but could never really figure out how powerful it actually is. Acid rain 20-foot radius centered on a point of your choice within 150 feet you credit an acidic rain that lowers the AC of anyone who enters or starts there turn in the rain by 1 semi permentantly the only way to remove the effect is to repair your armor and heal the holes in your thick hide. Does no damage other then the AC reduction.
I am curious about some things like rider effects and debuffs and how much they should be valued when determining spell lv. Here’s an example of an idea I’ve been throwing around. Paranoia Lv: ? School: Enchantment Range 60ft. Concentration. Duration: 1 minute Radius:15ft Select a creature within range, that creature must make a charisma saving throw. On a successful save nothing happens. On a failed save the target becomes charmed and frightened of all creatures within 15ft of it that it can see, hear, smell, or touch. At the end of each of the creatures turns it can repeat it’s saving throw, the target can take a action while no other creatures are in the spells aoe they can spend a action to snap out of their paranoia, ending the spells effects. Up casting this spell at ?lv. or higher increase the (currently debating radius by 5ft. or target count by 1) I have other looser weird ideas. Consuming Decay Lv: 5th School: Conjeration. Range: 60ft Concentration Duration: 10 minutes Radius: 0ft. Select a creature or a 5ft+ area of inert organic matter that isn’t being carried, worn, or weilded, organic material targeted in this way always fails. Any creature immune to disease automatically saves the throw. On a success the target takes half damage. On a failure the target takes 5d4 necrotic damage, can’t heal while under the spells effects, and a 15ft. sphere of spores is created on the target and follows where they move. Every creature that enters the clouds radius or starts it’s turn there must make a roll against your or suffer the effects of this spell as if it were cast on them.
I like this one, Made it with my DM for my hexblade-bard. Tormenting Wound Enchantment Cantrip Casting Time: 1 action Range: equivalent to weapon used for material component Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp) Duration: 1 round You brandish the weapon used in the spell’s casting and make a melee attack with it. On a hit the target suffers the weapon attack’s normal effects. Additionally the first time it attacks a creature other than you before the spell ends, Its mind is assulted and it takes psychic damage equal to your spellcasting ability modifier. At Higher Levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 psychic damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes if it attacks a creature other than you increases to 1d8 + your spellcasting modifier. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 2d8 + spellcasting modifier) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 3d8 + spellcasting modifier) Spell List: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
How would you homebrew Utility spells? For example a wizard in my games wants to make a spell that can organize a massive ancient library they found. It takes an extremely long time to read/ translate the books so she is thinking that writing a spell that could do the work would be better. Also me and her have worked out that if she keeps following this line of thinking she will end up accidentally creating the magic version of a computer. What level do you put on a spell that deals no damage and causes no conditions?
You always get me excited to do things like this. Blood Sacrifice: Cantrip Action to cast Instantaneous Range: Touch Damage: Magical ? Components: Verbal and somatic Touch an ally and drain your life force dealing 2d10 damage to yourself and heal ally equal to damage done. More then two uses gives 1 level of exhaustion plus one level of exhaustion for each use afterward. Fully heal outside of combat or a long rest resets uses before gaining exhaustion. At higher levels. This spell adds an extra 1d10 damage and heal for 1d10 more at 5th level. At 11th level, take 8 less damage. At 17th level can damage enemies for 3d10 without the benefit of healing and levels of exhaustion don’t apply.
First things first: Congratulations on the amazing work, i think this kind of content is what I´ve been missing my hole life as a DM. Please, i allways wanted to see a summoning sistem like in Final Fantasy, please, make it happen !!! i tried to create something but i lack the knowledge to create something that wont break the game. I created a base sistem where the players will defeat a great spirit and it would grant them their favor. It has 3 stages, i posted it on dnd beyond. first stage the player can call for help and the spirit will grant some habilities spirit flavor, for example take Ifrit from FF, he would have a fire aura or something. second stage he incorporates the spirit, changing his actual body and lossing control, and the afinitty with this spirit is the “profficiency” to see if the spirit obbeys the 3rd and last stage is a final fantasy summon properly, the player call the spirit which deals a huge special atack. please, help this humble DM wannabe to achieve this dream !!! Sorry for broken English, Love From Brazil !!!
I have been perusal your content for a while now and generally love the things you create. The only thing I do not agree with you here is about the schools of magic. For the majority of casters in the game it has no real relevance, with the biggest exception being wizards. The school of magic is extremely important for a few wizard subclasses (most notably Abjuration, Evocation, Conjuration, and Illusion) so I don’t think it is good advice to simply say “don’t worry about it”. Otherwise great system that a lot of people could really benefit from using. Thanks!
For me if you cast Slow Spell then all players should roll Dexterity Save to speed up their move before being slow down. For example if you walk then you start to run just to walk again after successfull roll. If you fail then you slow down like all the rest. Just like you, Coach, say about Stun Spell. And as cherry on the cake: 30 feet DC 20, 60 feet DC 15 and 90 feet DC 10 of save roll.
That dragon ball z spell is interesting, especially with the ignore low damage rolls aspect (average of a d8 ignoring 1-4 is 5+6+7+8=26/8=3.25, bringing our new average to 19.5). Personally, I feel like rolling low on damage is already punishing enough and it would really suck to have your spell do almost nothing with some bad rolls though. I think a better way to simulate a lot of randomness with how many hit would just be to have the spell make 6 attacks, each doing 1d8. Though perhaps that would make it stack with spells like Hex too strongly. Changing it to 4 attacks doing d12s might work? About the same average and is super swingy since you might hit all 4 or none, roll high damage or low, all while also getting to add on hit effects like Hex as well. I don’t know how well this matches with the show though and if 4 attacks matches that fantasy.
Your commentary on the Dragonball Z spell made me think you could reverse engineer the Mirror Image spell, which uses this mechanic for defence. I’m gonna spitball something real quick “Each time a creature targets you with an attack during the spell’s duration, roll a d20 to determine whether the attack instead targets one of your duplicates. If you have three duplicates, you must roll a 6 or higher to change the attack’s target to a duplicate. With two duplicates, you must roll an 8 or higher. With one duplicate, you must roll an 11 or higher.” So for the attack spell you could step up the damage on something like magic missile. Magic Volley 2nd Level Evocation 30ft range You create six darts of magical force that streak towards one target within range. Each dart deals 1d6 force damage on hit. Roll a d20 for each dart to determine whether the attack hits the target. With a roll of 6 or higher the first dart successfully lands, and each successive dart increases the required roll by 2 up to a maximum of 16. Casting this spell at higher levels reduces the original and subsequent requirements to hit by 1 and increases the damage dealt by each bolt by 1.
IMO the game needs a modifier on disadvantage and advantage to deal with the small gradients. I like using ” disadvantage +, high die max”, and “advantage -, low die minimum. For small disadvantage two die are rolled as normal, and the + (1 or 2) is added to the low die. Small advantage rolls two die, and the modifier is deducted from the high die. The max/min limits are to deal with double rolls. The principle also works well expanded for very advantageous or very disadvantageous circumstances.
Dice math is easy, the average value is half plus point five. So a d4 is (4/2) + 0.5 = 2.5, a d6 is 3.5, a d8 is 4.5, a d12 is 6.5, and a d20 is 10.5. Then you just add the average values together, so 2d6 is 3.5 + 3.5 = 7, 8d6 is 28, 7d10 is 38.5, etc. You’re doing 2d6 and 1d4 damage, that’s 3.5 + 3.5 + 2.5 = 9.5 average damage. To go from an average damage back down to dice you would pick a die size and divide the final damage by the average. So if I want a 5th level single target spell that should deal 50 damage per the table and I want to use d12s, that would be 50/6.5 = 7.7, let’s round it up to 8d12 which is 8 x 6.5 = 52 which is close enough.
This reminds me of an ability creation system I whipped up for something unrelated to 5e. I did start with ability level that influenced the number of “creation points” available to customize the ability similar to your Spell Level. So a tier 0 would grant 4 points, then increment by +2 for each level in a simple progression (4,6,8,10, ..). The amount of creation points could be changed if you wanted a different magic system that escalates in power (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, … Fibonacci). It was assumed the ability always had at least 1 line to describe what it did. Next important category I simply called “Lines.” Which was for writing purposes, and is something I dislike about 5e where some spells are bloated text dumps that slowed things down in play to a crawl. Utility abilities often used more of their creation points on this category. This helps to limit the scope of the ability in writing and its effects. Then after that you had the categories similar to what you describe for damage, aoe damage, range (though a stat also influenced spell range in my case), duration, etc. You also had the Banes/Boons that could be applied and costed creation points. Lastly there were conditional statements that could increase the amount of creation points (similar idea of risky options/specialized options for higher reward based on the condition).
I have to disagree on “slow.” If only because you gave two examples just prior that also work this way. “Magic missile” and “scorching ray.” Both of those target a limited number of enemies in a specific range and let you avoid hitting your allies. It just kinda seems nitpicky to complain about “slow” in this way.
In terms of damage spells, I actually think homebrew spells that just do damage and nothing else can get away with doing more damage than most existing damage spells, just because single action instantaneous damage spells aside from fireball and meteor swarm just aren’t very good when you look at the math. Spellcasters shouldn’t be as good at damage as weapon users, but limited use spell slots already make them worse at damage, so their spells could be allowed to do more damage. Chromatic orb is really just… about the same damage as one beefy guy swinging a big sword once, maybe like 3 more points, and it costs a spell slot and your action and if it misses it does nothing and you just wasted both of those and feel sad, and even on a hit it’s usually not very meaningful. I think if you had a homebrew 1st level attack roll spell that did like 4d8, it would be fine: yeah it overshadows chromatic orb but chromatic orb sucks so if none of the players took it before you added the 4d8 spell, who cares. And same for spells like Shatter or Scorching Ray, or Circle of Death and Horrid Wilting… Some spells like fireball and meteor swarm are really good though, we probably don’t need better versions of those
One of the things that bothers me is picking a point for area of effect. you’re able to just perfectly land a fireball to not hit allies 5ft from the monster. I get it’s to make it more usable and changing that would be hard it’s just weird to me the wizard has a article game like control of his spells.
As far as “Saves Every round” I ususally use the phrase “On a success they are immune to the effects of this spell for 24 hours. On a fail (Insert Spell effect here). They may attempt to roll another save at the end of each of their turns, if they fail 3 times the effects last until the duration ends.”
Reaction spell could be like push back on a melee attack against caster the caster can as a reaction use a 1st lvl or cantrip (mostly cantript maybe 1st lvl does damage added to it) and push back the attacker 5 ft. That way it doesnt completely stop the caster from being attacked but slowes the attacker
Note that when I reference “physical” damage I am not referring to non-magical, I’m referring to damage that is more physically structural as in something at would take up geometric space rather than abstract. Psychic damage I’d consider abstract abstract whereas fire is physical. Personally I disagree with the idea that no spell should naturally allow the caster to choose targets to be affected or immune to the effects just because it’s an AoE, but generally I don’t think is as much of an issue as you make it out to be. Most of the AoE spells with “physical” hazards such as fireball, conjure volley or cone of frost already affect “each creature” in the AoE which makes sense because it is now a physical damaging hazard that creatures would have to dodge to avoid. Psychic Scream however is not only a non-physical damage spell, it’s also not an AoE. Psychic Scream is quite simply a ranged spell with a range of 90ft and a save rather than an attack roll. This is again probably simply due to the fact that it is not a projectile. Even if it was an AoE, it’s no longer a physical blast of fire filling the space of a dozen creature, it’s a caster reaching directly into the minds of their enemies to attack them psychically. That I can understand being a spell that allows targeting exclusively hostiles to be hit or friendlies to be protected. If it were a true AoE I wouldn’t expect it to limit the number of creature you can target to 10 it would just affect all hostile creatures in the area of effect.
I kinda had a more interesting thought process with that 30 foot stun spell you came up with it. Very few spells actually do this but maybe have it so you can still have the proper AOE damage and the stun effect but only one can happen at a time. If you pass the save, 4d10 psychic damage. If you fail, you’re stunned. That way. there’s always some sort of risk to it. You’re hoping for it to turn the tables in combat but it’s still an okay damage option that still puts you at risk by taking it too. Random thoughts.
I like the idea of lightning spells having a constitution save and maybe having a slow or stun effect. Maybe lower level spells would be a slow and higher would be a stun. It’s never made sense to me how someone could try to dodge lightning. Unless somehow the character know it’s coming but then why wouldn’t they be able to do that for all spells? In fact, that brings up another interesting idea. What if there is a character class or some feats that are educated about spellcasters and know how to react to certain spells. Maybe a certain number of times per day they could add their dex modifier to a spell they wouldn’t normally be able to. Or maybe if they pass an intelligence check to recognize the spell they could add their dex. I like abilities that bring in different ability scores but that could get complicated trying to roll an intelligence check for every spell the entire game.
To rationalize why the Slow spell behaves the way it does, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that it uses a Wisdom saving throw to affect its targets. With that in mind, we can observe a similar effect with an upcasted Hold Person; the spell affects the creatures that are targeted by it by attacking their minds. Targets need to be close to each other in order to all be targeted at once. That being said, the area being described as a “cube” definitely makes it easier to draw the conclusion you made in the article, so I understand where you’re coming from.
The last vid on homebrew was my first vid of yours and thought it was really fun and was waiting for this vid which also very fun and informative. Though the 4th level spell that can stun you and your allies is kinda bad, the risk isn’t enough for the reward imo. If you give that spell to a squish caster like a wizard being stunned and having all attack have advantage against them is gonna destroy them, all it take is one enemy caster or ranged attacker or one person to make the save to go up and unload their attacks on you. Then if you give the spell to a tanky caster like a paladin, their typically gonna be in melee range with the rest of the martial party memebers making this spell do more harm than good typically. The idea of stunning yourself in return for mass stun is interesting but maybe having it affect fewer creature in return for allowing you select targets, I could see that as a cool last ditch thing you could even make it a reaction. A sort of panic button like sacrificing your turn to stop their turns, very interesting idea. I do like the idea of a spell not being able to exclude people but I think that should considered another balancing factor like how concentration or component are viewed, making a spell more powerful in return for a lack of control ( I also think when you have a lot of spell that can hurt the party can lead to a lot of frustration) Lastly the idea of stunning yourself after casting a spell is very interesting I see it as kinda using two turn to cast the spell which I think could be really cool to balance very impactful and strong spells.
comment streak: 6 campaign update: lost a player this week. he ships out for army basic training in the 18th of April and had to move his stuff before then. Gave him a proper send off where he went toe to toe with one of the BBEGs right hand men, giving the party just enough time to seal both of them away in a dimensional prison.
Spell Concept: Lightning Tether: deals minor lightning damage and leashes caster to the target, preventing both of them from moving farther than the spell’s range from each other. Concentration, target can make a Strength check each turn as a bonus action to break the tether. No idea what level it would be, but was a thought I had.
A lv 1 teleport spell I made is called Miss Step Cating time: Reaction Duration: instantaneous Components: V Range: 10 ft, range increases 10 ft for each level above 1st used to cast. You roll a D8 and instantaneous teleport you, everything you are wearing & holding a random direction depending on which way you are facing to a unoccupied space. 1. 2 squares forward 2. 2 squares forward & 2 right. 3. 2 squares to the Right 4. 2 Right & 2 Back 5. 2 squares Back 6. 2 left & 2 Back 7. 2 Left 8. 2 forward & 2 Left. Additional notes: This goes of the house rule that diagonal squares still count as 5 ft per square and doesn’t do the 5,15,20,30 thing. Very usefull in a pinch and allows you to potentially get out of danger without provoking a opportunity attack. 1 thing you can add of course is you can’t teleport through say magical barriers, 1 ft of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 ft of wood or dirt. And if you teleport to a occupied space you move instead to the nearest unoccupied space.
Storm Ward: second level Action to cast. Concentration 1 minute Range: self. Damage type lightning. Components: Verbal and somatic Creates a 15ft sphere of clouds and intense wind making the area difficult terrain for all creatures other than the caster, and enemy ranged attacks are made at disadvantage if it goes through the area. As a bonus action until the spell ends you can send out a 15ft line of lightning dealing 1D6 lightning damage on a failed dex save against your spell save DC. If casted at higher levels the damage increases by 1D6 Wizards, druids, and clerics. The first of the spells that I made for a tempest cleric. I’ll be back with more after I’m done working.
I’ve always loved the spells like Awaken and Animate Objects, because they give otherwise ordinary beasts, plants, and objects a greater roll story and/or combat wise than they already had. I’d be interested to see a homebrew spell that takes the application of permanent sentience and (in some cases) mobility found in Awaken and apply them to objects, essentially creating permanent constructs. These constructs would have to be similar stat wise to Animate Objects (because iron golems would otherwise be getting nerfed), and the spell would likely have an expensive component that justifies not only only applying sentience to an item, but also permanently bestowing life itself to an inanimate object. I imagine it would also have to be a 7 or 8th level spell as both of those spells are 5th level, but are extremely useful in the right hands.
I actually did homebrew a healing cantrip, turned out to be like this: Cleric, Paladin, Bard, Druid, Alchemist gains access to the homebrew spell “Healing Surge” “Healing Surge” – Action to cast, Touch, a character can choose to spend an number of its Hit Dice equal to its proficiency bonus . For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and regains hit points equal to the half the total, rounded down and minimum 1. If this causes the target to use its last available hit dice its body reacts to the strain and is as if suffering from three levels of exhaustion. This effect is removed after a long rest.
video streak: 5, spell suggestion: 5th level version of ravenous void. Campaign update: Piggybacking off of last week’s comment of making players realize their actions have consequences, I had a player decide they would trap a boss inside of an item trying to create a new magic item. They succeeded in the trapping of the boss creature but didn’t understand the possibility that the dragons personality would stay inside of the item. player becomes possessed by an ancient white dragon spirit that they manufactured. players are now trying to get their friend back from this spirit and are hoping not to kill them.
I’d love to see a spell that overcame immunity to fear or charm in some way. Maybe just as a simple as ‘failing a save to the spell means immunity to charm/fear is treated as rolling against the condition with advantage’. It’s really a shame charm/fear focused builds fall off late game due to the prevalence of immunity
Razor Breeze, a single target spell attack Cantrip with 120 foot range that deals 1d6 magical slashing damage as you slice with razor sharp winds. it still uses a spell attack to hit and is of the evocation school. but it gives the Target a -2 penalty to thier Armor Class for until the end of your next turn.
I homebrewed a spell for my players on the whim (I asked them to please not attempt to abuse it as I am new to homebrewing spells). The spell was called something like Enter Mind which allowed the caster to send a number of willing targets into another targets mind. No spells or attacks or anything can be done while in the mind
How about this one? Malevolent Ambition 1st level Necromancy 1 Action Components: S 30 ft Range 1 Round Duration You harness unstable energies within yourself and attempt to direct the overflow at other creatures before the energy overwhelms you. One creature you can see within range must make a Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed until the end of your next turn. If this creature fails the saving throw, you can continue targeting creatures with this effect until one succeeds. Then at the end of this turn, the energy overwhelms you and you become paralyzed until the end of your next turn.
Healing cantrip idea: Gift of Life V,S Touch range 1 action You touch a creature within range. Restore its health by 1 point. Deal 1 force damage to yourself. This damage cannot be reduced or ignored. The reason cantrips can’t heal is because it’s an infinite amount. With this, it’s cantrip healing, so it can get someone up, but it uses a resource pool still, instead of being infinite healing. In addition, it’s just 1 point. You aren’t doing a ton of healing. However, your friend just rolled a nat 1 on his first death save, and has no successes. Giving him one of your hit points is absolutely worth taking as a cantrip, especially since it gets him up immediately. Just my thoughts.
Might I suggest a couple things. 1. Be familiar with the spells and rules before you homebrew. 2. Consult chapter 9 of the DMG there’s a whole guideline in there that will help you as a baseline. 3. Check out older editions to see if there are other concepts you can port into 5e while using chapter 9 of the DMG. 4. Be aware of how power scaling for upcasting functions with similar spells before you homebrew. 5. Make sure the spells potency is using the proper section of the game. Actions are more powerful than bonus actions, which makes quicken spell super useful for a sorcerer, bonus action in teleport should be about positioning, and reactions are the GTFO options.
Your first homebrew spell, if you want something with a ton of reference – a Smite. Existing examples from 1st to 5th level that give you: damage reference, first half of the spell description, casting time (always a bonus), the school probably (almost all evocation), the range (all Self), the components (all V), the duration (all Concentration, up to a minute), and which classes get it (majority are Paladin exclusive).
First draft idea. There is a built in drawback in the sense that a squishy caster is tethering a target to itself. I can’t figure out a good level. I would like it sooner rather than later but might need to tone it down. Drenic’s abyssal tendril. Concentration 1 minute. Verbal, Symantec, material (dried cephalopod tentacle) 30ft A tendril of oily, smoky shadow explodes out of the caster’s sleeve and lashes the target, wrapping them in its cold grip. Make a spell attack against target creature. On a hit they take 1d8+bonus cold damage. They then make a strength saving role. On a failure they can’t move away from you. On a failure of 5 or more they are restrained and take 1d8 cold damage at the beginning of their turn until the spell ends or they make their save. They can repeat the saving throw at the end of their turn.
TL;TR: Ever since reading the Inheritance series (Eragon) I’ve always wanted to cast a spell that would split the wind and keep me warm and ward off insects etc. The rules on weather conditions are really patchy so hopefully your DM will work with you Emissary of Ehlonna 2nd level spell available to Druids, Rangers, and Nature Clerics. Range: Self Time: 1 Action Ritual: YES Components: V,S,M (a pinch of earth, snow, or a plant clipping) Duration: 8 hours When you cast this spell, a veil of comfort surrounds you, occupying your space and moving with you. For the duration, you gain the following benefits: •Moderate Wind is reduced to a light breeze, and a Windstorm is reduced to Severe Wind etc •Light rain or snow is blocked entirely keeping you dry, and severe precipitation is reduced to moderate. •Extreme temperatures are reduced to moderate, and moderate are made comfortable. •Insects challenge rating 0 or lower are repelled from the area At higher levels: when you cast this spell using a 3rd level slot the range of the spell becomes self(5 foot radius), increasing the radius by 5ft per spell level beyond 3rd.
Have a party of two players that infiltrated a kobold nest. The kobolds was in the food area and the party tried to collapse the entrance to get rid of the majority of kobolds in the nest. They didn’t succeed entirely so the cleric used gust of wind to force them back when they tried to get through and when it looked bad the warlock player broke down into a plea of help from her patreon and I turned the gust of wind into a mist/wind barrier that lasted for the time they needed to come up with a backup plan. I’m not sure if I’m gonna turn that into a spell for the warlock or a combine spell for those players (its a two man group) Any thoughts on party combined spells?
Silly idea: a spell called Water Winkie. No idea what it’d do but the name makes my dumb lizard brain smile Serious idea: I don’t have a name for it but, as an action you flip a coin to determine which sense you rob from a target. Heads impose blindness, tails impose deafness. At the start of the target’s turn they must flip a coin. If the target’s coin lands on the effect that you imposed on them, the loss of the sense transfers to you until the start of your next turn. Upon other result the target is robbed of that sense til the start of their next turn. At higher levels the amount of turns robbed of this sense goes up 1 for every spell slot
Here’s an idea for a healing cantrip based on in-combat emergency, resource using, and it’s not going to step too bad on spare the dying. Adrenalize. Evocation (healing the living tends to be evocation like cure wounds, this isn’t necromancy) Cantrip 1 bonus action Touch You touch a creature with 0 hit points that is stable, expending one of your hit dice, one of the targets hit dice, and the target regains hit points equal to their Constitution modifier plus your spellcasting ability modifier. A creature cannot regain hit points from this spell again until they finish a long rest. tier 2, they can regain hit points from it again if they complete a short or long rest. tier 3, 10 minutes. tier 4, this time limit is removed. They need to be stable. But, it’s only a bonus action. What would the balance be like on action / doesn’t need stable, or maybe they must be unstable?
Lightning Arc: 3rd level evocation spell Casting time: 1 Action Range: 60ft Duration: Instantaneous Components: VS You create a bolt of lightning that arcs toward a target of your choice that you can see within range. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 7d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. Two bolts of lightning then leap from that target to two others of your choice within 30ft of the original target. The targets must also make Dexterity saving throws, taking 7d6 lightning damage on a fail, and half on a success. Targets who fail their saving throws cannot take Reactions until the end of your next turn. At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6, and one additional arc leaps to another target, for each slot level above 3rd level.
FYI, RAW you can’t cast a bonus action spell (even a cantrip) if you have casted a spell as an action. The rule is “A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. You can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.” (PHB p202) So the only way to cast a bonus action cantrip would be if you cast a cantrip as your action, or use your action on something else that isn’t a spell. Otherwise great article 😀
I made a lightning based sorcerer, and, though it was very inefficient, I basically just took all lightning based spells, which I realized, there are no lightning based level 2 spells (dragon breath can be, but I’m talking just straight lightning), so I designed my own. Basically I’m just reinforcing the above point, when homebrewing, try to find a void to fill, otherwise just use what you have re-flavored(paraphrased). In case anyone is actually interested in my random crap, this is the spell (I also haven’t played much with it, so possibly not balanced out as well as it could be). Strom Orb. 2nd level, 1 action, 10/120 range, VS, 10 minute concentration, conjuration, ranged spell attack, lightning damage You create 2 orbs of lightning that orbit around you. When a creature of your choice is within 10ft of you for the first time on a turn, you may make a reaction to fire one orb at the target. Make a ranged spell attack for each orb. On a hit, the target takes 2d10 lightning damage. This reaction may be repeated in the same turn, a number of times equal to the number of orbs you have remaining. As an action, you may fire any remaining orbs at one, or several targets within 120ft of you. At higher level, create one additional orb for each spell level above the second.
Great article the only issue I have is that like the majority of the community you ignore the concept of stepping on other people’s toes. so many times I see people “Homebrew” with no consideration for other class features and effects for example an uncommon fix for Counterspell is straight up deletion or a complete remake. at no point do they consider the effect on the Abjuration wizard who loses half of their 10th level Feature from such changes. please Homebrew smart and consider whose toes you are stepping on.
I’ve got a list of homebrew spells that I have made / would like to make. All under the “Harmonic Hewell” moniker (eg Tasha’s Hideous Laughter) The ones I’ve made so far are: 1) Harmonic Hewell’s Toad Warriors (4th) (lets you summon two toad warriors, if one dies, the other becomes enraged and gets some cool abilities) 2) Harmonic Hewell’s Pseudodragon swarm (7th) (Summons some pseudodragon swarms with breath weapons and cool stuff) 3) Harmonic Hewell’s Hexagonal Protection (6th) (Gives you the tarrasque’s repelling carapace sort of ability) 4) Harmonic Hewell’s Beard of Power (5th)(Allows you roll on a table and get different abilities based on your roll that manifest and a beautiful beard)
Had a game a few years ago where I pulled off casting Teleportation Circle while the party under attack. Party was out of resources and under attack by a creature we couldn’t fight so while the party used actions, and spells like Mold Earth to prevent the opposition from getting to us I took the 10 rounds to get us out of there.
1st level teleport: As you use this spell you move upto your speed flinkering quickly to that point. Any opportunity attacks are subtracted by your spell attack modifier. If hit, the flickering movement ceases. Is a Bonus action. Per level upcasted, add half movement speed (Rounded up to nearest 5ft).
A druid PC at my table expressed interest in necromancy spells. I altered the spell Dance of the Macabre (can’t remember where it’s from) into a 1 hour ritual spell, in which the PC gains 1 level of exhaustion upon completion from actually dancing to raise the dead. As yet, the character hasn’t discovered this spellbook…
Loved the article. Exactly what I’ve been looking into for my own game. Personally I’ve always ran the game with the spell list being a sample list essentially. I dislike the idea of everyone having access to the same spells as magic is the highest form of individuality in my world. So the first thing when one of my players wants to be a spell caster is establishing theme then reskin and change elemental types. I’ve even added a few elemental typings as well like water, void, dream, wind etc. Like oh, one of my players wants to be a necromancer, instead of fireball they developed a spell called bone breaker which is essentially fireball bu reskinned as bones erupting from the impact dealing necromatic damage. Or a bard can play their flute and their cutting words literally becomes either blades or a blast of wind that deals wind damage Going back to what you said about spell progression, it gave me the idea of evolutionary spells. Imagine a mechanic where the only spells you can take are cantrips or level 1s and you have to use your downtime to level it(to a max of your spell level) this could be really cool to mix with your rewards system, like a reward would give them a new cantrip or spell level. Who knows, maybe this concept could even apply to martial classes potentially, it’ll just take way longer for them to level the spell up.
The only homebrew spells I’ve done was nerfing spells in order to make scrolls faster. Basically creating single person plane shift scrolls to a specific Demiplane. Justified it saying “Lowering people affected and possible destinations should greatly lower spell level, also making it take a minute to cast.”
My 5 homebrew rules for everything: 1: If you can, reflavour an existing option. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. 2: Stick to official precedents or patterns if you can. Copy paste stuff like how fireball or chain lightning do their ‘save for half’ damage. 3: Balance against official content. If it’s so good you’d never pick the other option, nerf it. If it’s so trash or hyper niche you’d never reasonably pick it normally or in a whiteroom, buff it or expand versatility. 4: Make it fun. Don’t drag on, book-keeping is a hassle, we don’t need decks of cards for your subclass or counters for your devil may cry combo on each enemy which apply special conditions based on the counters on them. (for a combo, just have a personal combo. take from Swords bard flourishes as (bardic, heh) inspiration?) 5: Bag of rats. Imagine a character has your spell, or magic item, or feat, or subclass, whatever. And they have a bag of rats. If they can do something like collect 30 souls and become god, bag of rats breaks this thing wide open.
I made an actual healing cantrip that dors not require any resource spent. Sear Wound Cantrip Target: a creature that has taken bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage within 1 minute You touch a target’s wounds and sear it. The target heals 1d6 hit points. This healing cannot exceed the physical damage taken within 1 minute. This heali ng scales as you level up (2d6@5th, 3d6@11th, 4d6@17th)
Two thoughts 1) why shouldn’t warlocks use cleric spells? I understand that clerics get there power from there diety. The approved Warlock. 2) Healing spells should not revive dead players. At 0, players should be allowed to roll death saving throws from 1-10 is a fail and 11- 20 a success. Once a player becomes stablized they no longer need to roll death saving throws as long as they do not take additional damage.
12:28 Wrong! A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. You can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. If you cast a BA spell of levels 1 through 9, you can’t cast any other spell that isn’t a 1 Action Cantrip. This only goes until the end of that turn. If you cast Misty Step on your turn, you’ll still be able to Counterspell Shaman Mirigathiork of the Deep casting Chain Lightning on their turn. Misty Step? No fireball or counterspell for the rest of this turn! Fireball, counterspell (counterspelling a counterspell against your fireball, this is all allowed), action surge because you’re an eldritch knight or multiclassed fighter 2, fireball a second time? Go right ahead! It’s not leveled spells, it’s any bonus action spell, which locks you out of anything not 1 action cantrip, like fire bolt. And similarly, if you cast a spell that isn’t a 1 action cantrip on your turn, you won’t be able to cast a bonus action spell, as that’d violate it. Bonus + 1act cantrip is the hand-in-hand rule, the only way you get to bonus cast.
The power of Far Step is not necessarily in its explicit components (ex: range of the teleport). The power really lies in action economy manipulation and reducing response costs in combat. For a much cheaper resource cost, a 2nd level, instantaneous misty step lets you move a good amount (effectively serving as a hybridized cunning action allowing you to both dash and disengage) and avoid possible environmental obstacles/hazards. However, by using Misty step, you have now locked yourself out of being able to cast a spell as an action. Far Step, on the other hand, keeps your action free to continue casting spells and gives you continued access to a bonus action. For something like a wizard – which has very few bonus actions available to them outside of leveled spells – this one spell has effectively tripled their base mobility, quadrupled their vertical mobility (no more climbing costs!), removed a swath of potential reactions from hostile creatures (attacks of opportunity, counterspell, etc.) and environmental obstacles/hazards, and has freed up their action economy greatly. You can’t always look at the raw numbers of a spell or feature and accurately estimate its power balance. You have to think about that particular effect’s interaction with the other mechanics of the game.
If you cast ANY spell as a bonus action, you can only cast a 1 action Cantrip for your action. So if you use a bonus action to cast say Magic Stone or Shileleigh, the only other spell you cast can be an action. As a general rule, keep bonus action spells for things like power ups (concentration spells like Tenser’s Transfomation, Hex, Far Step). If you are home brewing ritual spells, you have to be OK with infinite casts. Most of them will have some limiting factor that prevents abuse from casting it over and over again
I don’t think RAW you’d be able to cast a bonus action cantrip and a leveled spell in the same turn just because the former was a cantrip. The bonus action spellcasting rules are extremely narrow: if you cast a bonus action spell (period) you can only cast another spell that turn if it’s a 1 action cantrip. EDIT: I still agree a damaging bonus action cantrip would break the game
Sorry for posting a lot but I just had some ideas for reaction spells. Fade Away: 2nd level? As a reaction to being hit with a weapon attack you can spend a 2nd level spot to teleport in a 10ft radius and take half damage. Or I thought about the caster contesting the attack by making an Arcana roll using their spellcasting ability. If they beat the attack then they teleport in a 10ft. radius and take no damage. I was also thinking they could cast use this spell in a similar manner to counter spell. Where if they use a lower level spell slot than they can’t teleport out of the way of a spell attack. But if they manage to meet or use a higher spell slot then they can make the roll. Chaotic Upbringing Don’t know what level this would be. As a reaction you make a saving throw of your spellcasting ability, (Int. Wis., or Cha. Saving throws) against the caster spell save DC. If you beat it then you can change the damage type of a spell attack you see to a different damage type. Friend casted Scorching ray on a fire genasi, change one to cold damage. Your Goliath ally was targeted by shadow blade change it to cold. Also if they used a spell slot that was under the level of the casted spell you add the difference to the Spell Save DC. However if they used a spell level that was higher than the level used for the attack than subtract the difference. Hehe, what about a spell that forces a caster to roll on the Wild Magic surge table if they fail a save
9:00 Poison spells are almost never balanced well though, yeah they give poison but being immune to the poisoned condition is the only thing more common than immunity to poison damage. I would add a metric called “The Dose makes the poison” making every creature that is already poisoned vulnerable to poison damage.
One spell I’m working on is called Merging. One of my players was interested in mending two completely different objects together or maybe even doing thst to a person, body horror style. So, I figure I’d make a spell for that. Maybe two? Not sure yet. I’m thinking it would be a 1st level ritual that would scale in the amount of material it could affect at different levels and then eventually be able to affect living/sentient beings in the high levels.
Spell concept: more spells for elements other than fire, I feel like other elemental damages do not get as much love as fire spells and I would like more elemental variety to spells (currently I am looking for more ice spells for lvls that don’t have them since the element of ice is going to play a huge part of an upcoming campaign I am making)
The rule on bonus action spells states that “if you cast a spell that takes a bonus action to cast, you then cannot cast a spell as an action, unless that spell is a cantrip with a casting time of one action.” So if you cast a cantrip as a bonus action, you are then limited to other cantrips only for the rest of that turn. This rule often messes druids up, considering they have two BA cantrips that I’m aware of (Shillelagh, Magic Stone).
As much as I enjoy home-brewing, spells is one of those areas I’m reluctant to make more than minor tweaks. It’s easy to come up with a neat idea and under-value the spell. Also, am I the only one who thinks cantrips should scale based on caster level as opposed to character level level? So if you have sorcerer and warlock levels, they would add together, but fighter or rogue levels wouldn’t contribute to your effective level for cantrips.
I would love to have different Element effects of damage spells – and depending on the element type it does a variation of damage and effects (scorching ray to “freeze ray”). In 5e Element damage is almost meaningless. Rarely does resistance and weakness matter or come up. More Utility please!! More strategy, rather than just “cast highest damage spell”