To create a successful sorcerer, prioritize Charisma as your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Choose the hermit background and choose light, prestidigitation, ray of frost, and shocking grasp cantrips, along with the 1st-level spells shield and magic missile.
Child Touch is a cantrip that deals 1d8 necrotic damage when it hits a target. Silvery Barbs is the best First-Level spell for any class, and Absorb Elements (EEPC/XGtE) is a fantastic defensive option at any level. Chaos Bolt is a fun damage spell exclusive to Sorcerers in 5e.
Choosing the right spells for your sorcerer is crucial for keeping your spell list balanced between utility, defense, and offensive. If your campaign starts at 1st level, you are a spellcaster if you play a bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, or wizard. Divine Favor is a first-level spell for paladins, D and D 5e’s most holy class.
The best first-level spells for a sorcerer include Shape Water Mind, Sliver, Fire Bolt, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Dancing Lights, and Dark Magic from Half Elf. Mage Armour, Ray of Sickness, Shield, Chaos Bolt, and Silvery Barbs are the top five best level 1 spells for a sorcerer.
Child Touch, Frostbite, Fire Bolt, Shield, Witch Bolt, Prestidigitation/Minor Illusion, and Chaos Bolt are the attack spells that should be chosen based on other build factors. Shield is the first spell to be learned from the sorcerer spell list. Most sorcerers only get three 1st-level spells by the time they unlock 2nd-level spells, so most will not have more than four or five ninth-level spells.
📹 (D&D 5e) A Guide to Sorcerer Level 1 Spells
We continue our sorcerer guide with a deep dive into all level 2 Spells on the sorcerer spell list. Contents: 1:02 Intro and a word on …
What spells does a level 1 sorcerer know?
The Sorcerer table indicates the number of spell slots that may be utilized for the casting of spells at or above the 1st-level threshold. In order to cast a spell, it is necessary to expend a spell slot of a level equal to or greater than that of the spell in question. All expended spell slots are restored following a period of rest. To illustrate, if a player has selected two 1st-level spells from the sorcerer spell list, they may cast Burning Hands using either of the two available slots.
What is the best level 1 Cantrip for sorcerers?
Frostbite is a powerful sorcerer cantrip, dealing modest damage at 1d6 for level 1 sorcerers. Its damage is useful against many foes and can be disadvantageous if the target fails a CON saving throw. Frostbite can rob a monster of its entire turn if it misses, unlike Chill Touch. However, it is best used against fragile enemies with high attack power. Fire Bolt is a reliable ranged cantrip for sorcerers dealing ranged damage, while melee characters focus on hand-to-hand combat.
What proficiencies should a sorcerer have?
The character is devoid of armor, utilizes an assortment of weapons, and is bereft of any tools. The character possesses Constitution and Charisma as saving throws. The character possesses a variety of skills, including Arcana, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Religion.
Do sorcerers need to prepare spells?
Sorcerers and bards are skilled magicians who cast arcane spells without the need for spellbooks or preparation. Their class level limits their spell casting abilities, with high Charisma scores allowing them to cast extra spells. To cast a spell, they must have a Charisma score of at least 10 and the spell’s level. They must focus their minds on casting their spells daily, taking 8 hours of rest and 15 minutes of concentration. This refreshment helps them regain spell slots from the previous day. Any spells cast within the last 8 hours count against their daily limit, similar to wizards.
What is the most important stat for a sorcerer?
Sorcerer ability scores are crucial for spellcasting, as they are based on charisma, which is the highest priority stat. A full 20 is needed to ensure the sorcerer is at their best. Dexterity is another important stat for sorcerers, as it affects saving throws, armor class, initiative, and other skills. Constitution is also moderately important for sorcerers, as it helps them get more hit points and make concentration saves.
Wisdom and intelligence rank lower in importance than dexterity and constitution, but they offer useful perks if they don’t become a dump stat. A decent wisdom score can pay off for wisdom saving throws, while a good intelligence score can be useful for the Arcana skill, which some players might want.
In conclusion, sorcerer ability scores are based on charisma, dexterity, constitution, wisdom, and intelligence. Players should prioritize each stat based on their desired character type and the benefits they want. A high score in these stats can lead to better spellcasting abilities and a more enjoyable roleplay experience.
What is the most damaging cantrip?
Fire Bolt is a powerful Cantrip for spellcasters, outperforming Toll the Dead in range. However, it loses its effectiveness beyond 5th Level, as a 14 Dexterity character with a Light Crossbow can do more damage. Light (Evocation) is a simple spell that imbues an object with magical light for an hour, releasing 20ft bright, 20ft dim. If the object is a hostile creature, a Dexterity Save is required to avoid the Spell. Light is one of 5e’s best Cantrips due to its instant lighting option, making it a versatile replacement for torches in situations where combat isn’t expected.
Do cantrips count as 1st level spells?
A spell is a discrete magical effect that shapes the energies that suffuse the multiverse into a specific, limited expression. Each spell has a level from 0 to 9, indicating its power. Levels range from lowly magic missiles to earth-shaking wishes, with cantrips being level 0. Spellcasting is a crucial skill in fantasy gaming, and different character classes have unique ways of learning and preparing their spells.
A spell is a single shaping of the magical energies, which a character carefully plucks at the invisible strands of raw magic, pins them in place, sets them vibrating, and releases them to unleash the desired effect, usually within seconds.
How many 1st level spells can a wizard have?
At 1st level, you have a spellbook with six 1st-level wizard spells of your choice. The Wizard table shows the number of spell slots you have for casting 1st level and higher spells. To cast a spell, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots after a long rest. To prepare a list of available spells, choose a number equal to your Intelligence modifier and wizard level, with a minimum of one spell.
What is the best wizard level 1 spell?
The list of spells in Dungeons and Dragons 5e has been updated to include more powerful ones for different classes, such as Clerics, Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Wizards. These classes all start out using 1st-level spells, and the goal of every spellcaster is to grow more powerful and eventually gain a 9th-level spell slot. The updated list includes 8 Healing Word, 7 Inflict Wounds, 6 Thunderwave, 5 Burning Hands, 4 Chromatic Orb, 3 Detect Magic, 2 Magic Missile, 1 Jim’s Magic Missile, and Magic Missile via Wizards of the Coast.
The goal of every spellcaster is to grow more powerful and eventually gain a 9th-level spell slot, but even the greatest caster has to start somewhere. The updated list includes new additions and highlights the importance of choosing the best spells for each class.
How to choose spells for sorcerer?
It is recommended that sorcerer spell selection include a damage cantrip and Magic Missile, with the top two tiers focused on damage and the lower tiers on utility. It is recommended that damage spells and spells that deal instant damage be utilized, and templates for fireball can be employed for other elements.
What makes a good sorcerer?
The primary defining characteristic of a sorcerer is a high charisma score; however, they also benefit from solid dexterity and constitution scores.
📹 Top 5 Underrated But AMAZING 1st Level Spells
There are loads of awesome 1st level spells in Dungeons and Dragons, but some of them don’t get the love they deserve!
My favorite underrated spell is Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. I know people in the D&D optimization crowd know about it’s power, but I don’t see it used much at tables in the real world. Might be the only 1st level spell that causes the incapacitated condition (and prone!) and there aren’t ANY monsters that are immune to being incapacitated. Works just as good at 1st level as it does at 20th level. Great pick for Fey Touched.
I remember me and my party was up against a nothic, a really damn scary monster at level 2 which we were. It was my wizard’s turn, and he had a grenade because it was a slightly modern campaign. He cast catapult on the grenade, hit the target directly, and it exploded. The nothic failed both saves, taking 3d8+5d6 damage. He got one shot on the first turn of combat and immediately exploded. One of my proudest moments
You forgot another great feature of catapult: multiple chances to hit! It moves the object in a 90 foot line or until it hits something. If a creature passes a Dex save against it, the object isn’t stopped and keeps going, potentially hitting another creature behind it. Cast it toward multiple creatures lined up and it’ll probably hit one of them.
Since catapult is only somatic components and the range of the spell includes the objects original placement (you can use it on an item 60 ft away), you can use it in some crazy scenarios. I was playing in a level 13 adventure as a wizard and we start a fight with another wizard in his giant office. He immediately puts a metal cage between us and casts silence where we are trapped. a wizards nightmare. Luckily I spent time looking at the specifics for catapult, and his area was just in 60ft. So from the disadvantageous position of completely falling for his trap, I get him near death just by throwing big dictionaries at him from across the room. He eventually stepped into his Relic Mech Suit and the fight changed up, but i almost ended a really big fight with catapult alone.
Just remember that with Command they need to be able to understand your language and not be undead (Vecna is undead btw). Also check with your DM how spells work in your world as in how they manifest. Command is one round so the round after they might remember you casting a spell on them after Discount.
I was playing Yzzak, Paladin of the Oath of Glory (I made The Old Spice Guy), and wound up with an Owlbear companion (Owlbear Whisperer secret, several lucky rolls and the Awaken spell from an NPC Druid), and actually used Ceremony to give their mate a funeral service. It may be the best thing I’ve ever role-played, and I still remember that character and interaction to this day. “Ha-HA! Glorious!”
Bonus Tip: If you use the command “Approach” on a humanoid and you have one of those Polearm Sentinel Fighters in your party, you can have the person walk right into reach. Giving your fighter some free damage on an enemy, you stay safely behind your front line fighter and now that enemy is closer without the fighter having to move themselves.
Or if you want to really get meta with Ceremony, you can have a Path of the Zealot barbarian in your party. Every week, everyone marries the barbarian. At the end of the week, they make sure to unalive (widowing everyone) and get revived at no material component cost. (No paying 300gp of diamonds!) This is just 25gp per person per week for +2 AC. An average week of adventuring yields upward of 50 combat encounters for those following the DM’s Guide suggestion, or at least 15-30 for even combat-light groups focusing on role play and exploration. This puts it at a couple silver per combat per AC per person. The difference between chain mail and half plate is 700gp. That would take 28 weeks or 7 full months of nonstop adventuring to make that half plate equal the cost of Ceremony for your character. Not to mention all the extra gold saved on healing potions when most attacks miss your party’s casual 20-24 AC. Of course, the barbarian death wedding tactic is not very immersive so please, don’t attempt this at any table without getting permission from your DM and other players first.
One of the first 5e games I played was Mines of Phandelver and I was a Divination wizard. In two separate encounters, I one one-hit KO’d the opposing wizards with Catapult (ensuring a saving throw fail with a low portent die). My DM was both thrilled for me but exasperated that his encounter turned out easier than he planned. It was especially grating for him because while he could excuse himself the first time it happened, he forgot to account for it in the second encounter 😄
I think it is worth mentioning that the cantrip prestidigitation can create a small item that can fit in your hand. This works amazingly with catapult as the item lasts for 1 hour and you can create multiple of them since it isn’t concentration meaning you can get acid for your catapult without needing to spend the money to get it.
There truly is nothing quite like being held in a fear effect and perusal your party tick off a round at a time. Like the ending scene of full metal jacket. And most the times ive seen it happen, upon discussing what happened after the session the dm would end up letting the party know that one save was all that made the difference. That heroism would get around that.
I would really love to see a article covering the High Level combination of Level 14 Illusionist Wizard with Illusory Reality and Level 2 Warlock with Misty Visions. The various applications to this combo are endless and could possibly end any kind of encounter if the player is clever enough to utilize the spell effectively.
Another great use of silent image is to create a wall of darkness between yourself (plus party) and enemies you’re fighting. You and your party know its fake, so can see through it, while all the enemies assume its a darkness spell (or similar) so never check to see if its an illusion, as they already think they know what it is. Meanwhile you and party are completely hidden, so have advantage on all your attack rolls until someone passes through the illusion. Send out the fighter/paladin/barbarian (or whatever) to keep the masses away from the fake darkness, and your ranged fighters and casters can keep their advantage the entire fight. Combos particularly well with a ranged ranger/rogue multiclass character.
There is some big DM caveat involved with using a Net with Catapult. Catapult doesn’t use the on-hit characteristics of thrown weapons, otherwise a Catapulted Greatsword would deal 2d6 extra slashing damage. Similarly a Net doesn’t restrain any creature that comes in contact with it, just those who are hit by an attack made with it. I’d hazard against ruling that it works anyways since that would make Catapult deal 3d8 damage and restrain the target, requiring an action to break free, which goes far beyond the effects of a 1st level spell.
Your mention of Silent Image, especially through Misty Visions, reminded me of something. So the group I’m in was doing a short (it was originally meant to be a one-shot whilst the DM – me – at the time got stuff together for the main campaign, but it went on a lot longer than expected) PvP game. It should be noted that most of us – all but one, really – weren’t really bothered about being competitive, it was more about just having fun. In any case, I took a warlock with the misty visions invocation and minor illusion cantrip. I and the more competitive player, who was playing a rogue, ended up at opposite ends of a long (60ft) corridor (this is taking place in a large labyrinth) where we could barely see each other due to darkvision, though our characters couldn’t make each other out, so had no idea who the person on the other end of the corridor was. I used misty visions to conjure up the illusion of a shadowy humanoid figure with glowing white eyes, which did a sort of silent, demonic rush towards the other end of the corridor until it was directly in front of the other person, where (the DM asked if they could take over here and give it a bit of flavour due to the illusion coming from my patron’s magic – my patron is a GOO btw – and I agreed) it began to mimic their movements in a rather sinister way. On my next turn, I had it retreat to the middle of the corridor, 30ft away from me and him, so it would be within the range for me to use minor illusion. I did so in order to make it ‘speak’ in an ominous tone, “Who.
I’ll be real, I feel like the Command “Discount” really backfires, because running the scenario: you forcefully cause the shopkeeper to take an action he might otherwise not by use of magic. He does precisely what he says, discounting the price, then immediately gets angry and starts either telling you to get out and never come back or calling guards. Unless you’re a Subtle Spell using Sorceror, this sounds like a set-up for disaster, as nothing says they forget the command or are charmed.
I had Catapult for my Tortle Barbarian/Artificer and it was amazing!!! My DM worked with me to create tiny morter shells id carry and launch with. Not only would the foe hit get the 3d8, but also 3d4 fire damage when it’d explode. I also loved the flavor of casting it by loading my Eldritch Cannon with it to fire it off
Personally, I’d like the Ceremony spell better if it lasted for either a year or even just one week. Like, some of these effects are “once per lifetime” so it really ought to last longer than just twenty four hours. I know some of the effects would be busted that way, but that’s also how I think it should be. I mean, one year disappears quickly. Especailly if your DM is fond of downtime. And even if they’re not, one day really doesn’t do anything. Like, one member of our party got this “life changing” buff and we ended up taking a long rest almost immediately afterwards. The 24 hour’s it lasted literally didn’t make it though an entire session!
I feel like it would technically work within the rules if you commanded a target to betray for them to fulfill this command by betraying this command and not betraying. but you could also say then if that’s the case then they didn’t betray this command since they still technically preformed a betrayal there for they adhered to the command and didn’t betray it which means they didn’t preform a betrayal so they didn’t adhere to it at the same time. It’s a paradox that would deal 10k psychic damage to them making the spell even more broken
1:08 i agree. I love catapult. I once played a divine soul sorcerer with both catapult and guiding bolt, used them about the same amount. I had twinned and distant spell and once we got into a sea battle with orcs. We had lots of time to prepare for the battle to defend the harbor. Lets just say i sunk a lot of ship with twinned and distant catapults 5 pounders (5 pound cannon balls) and the occasional BIG MAMA (10 pounders) for the bigger ships.
Also not related to my previous comment, but atonement has been a big deal several times for my group… A few examples 1. Half the party got infected by lycanthropy, after I removed the curse the DM ruled that their alignment was still now chaotic evil, then I atoned them with a ritual, DM said he wanted to be pissed because he had planned on us needing greater restoration for that (something I didn’t have access to yet), but then we all roleplayed it so well that he was even happier with that 2. Much later in the campaign we spent a little too long tracking down a pit fiend in hell, and I rolled poorly on my saving throw and got my alignment changed to lawful evil, and lost all my cleric powers. After a couple of sessions the rest of the party got me an atonement ceremony (back in the material plane) and I got my divine powers back 3. Similar to point 2, I helped the paladin out with an atonement after he had committed the act of oathbreaking. (It should be pointed out though that the spell doesn’t explicitly say that you can do that, but our DM allowed it, along with a penance) 4. Our sorcerer died at one point while we were fighting some necromancers from Thay and I used it to prevent him from being turned into an undead, before bringing him to our stronghold which was protected by a permanent hallow spell (while I was certainly high enough level to just bring him back to life we don’t use resurrection at our table unless it’s granted by an angel or by divine intervention)
I play a druid and my friend is playing an artificer. I’m still pretty new to D&D and didn’t know that catapult was a thing until he used it. Then I saw I had access to magic stone in my cantrips. Now we combo magic stone with catapult for that bit of extra damage and it was my first introduction to how you can use different spells and mechanics to do some pretty strong combos.
Here’s something I had in mind when I saw Catapult_. A spellcaster has a crossbow. Spellcaster readies the crossbow with a standard bolt. Spellcaster aims the crossbow at the target. Spellcaster then casts _Catapult at the bolt, and–they have to time it perfectly–just as the spell is being triggered, the spellcaster pulls the trigger, firing the bolt. The combined energy of both the crossbow and the spell combine, accellerating the bolt to near sonic, or even supersonic speeds.
something I tried with catapult at one of my games was launching my 50ft rope as a limbo bar to try and hit 3 enemies (they were in a line-up but spread out). DM thought it was cool enough to work since it entered their space. Also used it to get the same rope anchored on a cliff face to give us an easier time climbing (had it tied to an eye hook piton and catapulted that). It’s interesting that the weight is a requirement but not the object’s size
COMMAND is even better for people who plays in SPANISH. Because in spanish, you can point some item, and say: “dámelo” (means: give that thing to me)… “lleváselo” (means: take this and give it to him/her). We can use that final ‘-me’, ‘-te’, or ‘-se’, ‘-nos’, ‘-os’ and ‘-lo’… to create more complex words. AND I CAN JUST IMAGINE, the things what you can do in languages like German, with words sooooooo large. The great power of command, is when you don’t speak english on your campaign.
RAW you cannot use Catapult on a net to trigger the net’s “On hit, creature is restrained” as Catapult requires a saving throw, it’s not an attack. To hit something, you have to make an attack roll. Up to the DM to determine if this can be done in this way. Same as with the Battlemaster’s Disarming attack. Requires an attack roll hit, not a saving throw.
I love Catapult. Such a fun Spell. We used sacks of flour, a held action and a produce flame cantrip to create a dust explosion. Basically, I would use catapult to hurl sacks of flour at an enemy, which sends the flour flying. Then produce Flame from my genasi friend on a held action to imidiatly ignite the flour dust and tada, a mini fireball.
You mentioned firing interesting things at people with catapult. This one isn’t really interesting gameplay-wise but more roleplay-wise, one of my wizard’s favorite spells is catapult, and she also has an owl familiar. Canonically, the object she throws for catapult is her familiar’s owl pellets. I love it.
A friend and I actually made our characters around Ceremony. They were a married couple with the blessing of +2 AC, and with the permission of the DM we were allowed to recast the spell to renew the buff. It just took more and more gold to keep it up. Honestly though, totally worth it. Especially since one of the characters was a Warforged Forge Cleric. Who knew a level 1 character could have 25 AC?
Used Command: Destroy on a caster who had used their turn to prepare a Teleportation Circle spell scroll (our DM has the usage of scrolls in combat take two turns, for a more cinematic feel and so that an enemy teleporting away doesn’t feel cheap). Baddy failed, and used their next turn to rip the scroll on two. The party’s Hexblade quickly followed up with an Eldritch Smite, and the bad guy of the arc was smithereens. Command is a great spell for creative players!
Once played an arcane trickster with catapult. Oh man, the things I found to lob at people! Acids, contact/inhaled poisons (fun tip if you have inhaled poisons, find ways to aim so that even if they make their dex save, the poison still lands in their space), thunderstones, oil, ball bearings, caltrops. You can pull off some serious shenanigans even with a strict DM.
Catapult is amazing for so many reasons, in addition to the ones mentioned here it also works as a pseudo line-aoe. If you line up enemies and the first one makes their save, that’s ok because it just means the next guy in line has to make a save now and by the power of probability you can ensure that someone is gonna eat that damage making it a pretty safe damage dealer.
I think the best use of Silent image I have had in a party was Silent image of a massive wolf occupying the full 15 foot cube by our Warlock. Mean While the wizard cast minor illusion to cause sounds and vard used minor illusions to seemingly toss around the snow on the mountain as the wolf moved. Then our DM allowed the fighter (myself) and the cleric to hid in the legs of the illusory wolf. We coordinated our attacks to match the giant wolf’s swings. DM required a group performance check, but we ended up scaring off the massive pack of direwolves instead of needing to kill them all
There are so many more ways to use catapult than just combat. I have always loved the idea for using catapult somewhat like a utility spell. For example, let me yeet something down a hallway to distract a guard. It says in the spell description that you can not only choose the direction, but also the distance. It says that you can launch something “up to” the maximum range of 90 feet, implying that if you wish, you can choose to launch it less than maximum. “Oh no! The BBEG is right next to the McGuffin Sword of Plot Relevancy! And we are on the other side of this massive room. Nobody can teleport, move fast enough, or stop the BBEG from getting to it, whatever shall we do?!” Cue the Sorcerer, casting catapult on the sword and causing it to fly 89 feet towards him so that it gets right next to him without actually hitting him, and then he just picks it up off of the ground (before anyone points out that the range of the spell is 60 feet, yes, the casting range is 60 feet, but the yeet range is 90 feet. He bridges the 90 foot gap with his spell because he used the distant spell Metamagic). It would be great for thievish characters, being able to yoink something from ~60-90 feet away. Of course, it would take 2 turns to yoink and grab, but that’s what teammates are for. There are of course other ways to use this aspect of the spell, such as playing keep away, or passing something to a teammate that’s too far away. But so long as the object doesn’t hit anything, it will take no damage.
I’d say Artificer is the best build for catapult shenanigans. You can use an infusion to make an Alchemy Jug, which can make two vials worth of acid a day as long as you purchase the empty vials which should cost 1gp each. Bonus: Acid Vials are worth alot more money than empty vials are, with the right DM you can cheese this for a pretty solid income. At higher levels, you can put catapult in a spell storing item, give said spell storing item and some acid vials to a hireling/familiar/steel defender, and let them use their action to throw acid around for you.
Even better use of catapult I once saw: Vials of acid are usually one about a pound. if you put 5 of them in a mesh bag thats about 5 pounds. Catapult that at an enemy and now youre doing 3d8+10d6 damage with a first level spell. It depends on if the dm counts the bag as one object and if they rule that all the vials would take damage or just the bag (which would be weird but hey theyre the dm) but if it works its insane power.
I’ve used Catapult and Heroism in my games many times. Both from my Artificers and have been clutch. My Artillerist got it with the Artificer Initiate Feat so it’s always prepared for at least 1 use. And with the DM’s approval, I made 5lbs motor shells that deal an addition 3d4 Fire Damage upon a hit. If the make the dex save, they don’t take the damage either, but it’s all risk all reward. Heroism helped out our party when dealing with a scary threat. My Battle Smith is a Canonical Coward, so by placing it on him and another party member at the start of the fight, we were able to charge in and be immune to the frightening pressence it had when up close to it, and was able to wail away at it
Back in 3rd Ed days, I remember our party being pursed by pirates, with a Giant onboard their ship. As they got in range, one of our character commanded “Jump”. We expected the giant to jump overboard. Instead, he jumped straight up, then came straight down, bunching a hole through the deck into the pirates ships keel. They started sinking, as we pulled safely away.
I love the idea of catapult, but the problem with some possible projectiles (such as a net) is that the projectile you fire ALSO takes the damage of catapult. A net might rip from being catapulted (and it isn’t guaranteed to fly in an unfolded state so that it actually ensnares). Does work amazingly well with flasks of dangerous shit like acid or holy water though. Yes, command is indeed amazing in comparison, because in 5e all the “proper” crowd control spells have the bullshit “target gets to re-save every turn” clause attached causing you to waste their high level spell slots on what is effectively only going to last a tenth of their intended duration (and you also have to concentrate on them usually, ugh). Though “discount” obviously doesn’t work. A transaction takes too long for them to not take back whatever they said under your influence AND it is obvious that you magically influenced the person you’re trading with so it’s more likely to get you kicked out of a store and/or arrested than it is to get you a discount. Also, vecna is a lich, he cannot poop no matter how much you want him to. And yes, ceremony is a fun flavory spell indeed, though I would not like the idea of marrying JUST for the sake of a stat boost.
As a forge cleric I once commanded an Adult Black Dragon to spit his breath attack in front of him where there were noone at the time. That avoided a TPK as everyone was positioned elwhere. If he could use and aim that at this turn, It would be bad, we were out of cover. Lvl7, also had Guardian of Faith = ATOMIC DWARF
Hypothetically, an Artificer could store the Catapult spell inside a net, and infuse it with Returning Weapon so it’d drag any successfully restrained enemy back over to the person who launched the net. That is, assuming a Returning Weapon flies through the air back towards the user’s hand; if it instead teleports to them, then putting it on a net makes it worthless because it’ll immediately un-restrain the target after restraining them. I can’t really find any details on the specifics of how the infusion functions beyond “you get the weapon back in your hand”.
The Eldritch Invocation Misty Visions is actually an insane value. Silent Image at will is just so astoundingly useful. It’s essentially a Cantrip at that point, and what you can make it look like is nigh limitless. Like a wall that looks like what an enemy would see if you weren’t in the spot you are. And you can make it move realistically. If your DM is fair, few enemies know to investigate a thing they didn’t see approach. They don’t know where to check. Boots of Elvenkind. Rogue. Buddy you aren’t getting caught by any guards in any city. No spell slot fatigue. A ghost. For minor engagements anyway. Add in Nystuls Magic Aura at a certain point and you can change your signature to nothing and air.
I love the Command spell. I have a 6 Battlemaster Fighter / 11 Glamour Bard. He essentially is his own homebrew class at this point, because he’s a battlefield commander. I can disarming strike an enemy with my bow to make them drop their shield, then commander’s strike the rogue to attack them, and because of Mantle of Majesty, I can for 1 minute use Command as a bonus action. I’ve commanded enemies to grovel, drop their equipment, betray, flee, surrender, etc. So yeah, drop their shield, leave them open for a sneak attack from the rogue, then command them to approach, taking opportunity attacks from the front line on their turn (since they use their own movement to follow the command). And that’s just one turn. Once the enemy mind controlled our Rogue, and I used Command to make him drop his weapon, held my action to pick it up, and ran into a fog cloud so he couldn’t murder us with it, lol.
btw, my players cast command during a huge fight against 10 or so goblins, plus a hobgoblin riding a (clearly) captured and angry owlbear (btw, there were 5 level 3 players, and a weak npc). Now, one of the players cast command on the hob goblin (who failed his save) and told him to jump… off of the owlbear. So yeah, thats how my player avoided a very dangerous fight!
back in 3.5e the mage hand spell was a straight 5 pound telekinesis spell. i used that as the 5e catapult spell several times. one time i ended up killing a ranger in 1 hit because i knocked her out of a tree and she fell to her death. was good since the monk in our group was climbing said tree and taking hit after hit and was on like, 3hp when i ended the fight. (we kinda did a noob thing and split the party and i came to the rescue just at the last moment)
2:06 Removing spellcasters focus doesn’t remove their ability to cast spells. Only their ability to cast spells that require material components. Command has also a major weakness – the target must understand you. My players were reminded about it when they tried to cast Command on a red slaad and were pretty horrified when I asked “Okay, do you speak slaad?”. Also, 4:01, Vecna is undead, command doesn’t work on them.
Command is great with high health monsters with low Wisdom as you can command them to sleep rather then cast sleep. You can put a low level BBEG to sleep and as long as your party is quiet about it can heal and sneek up for an advantage round of attacks. Of course unlike sleep it can wake up straight away if it has a high perception or your loud about it.
I’m pretty sure JC would rule that a catapulted net does not restrain the target (while acknowledging the freedom of the DM to do whatever the hell they like). The hit effect is specified by the spell. If you catapult a sword, for a clearer example, it does not do slashing damage. Also, the damage type is bludgeoning, not magical bludgeoning. Just because an item is launched by magic does not make the damage when it lands magical; you have just been hit by an ordinary ballistic ukulele. For clarifying example, if you use a mage hand to poke someone with an ordinary dagger, the dagger does not suddenly become able to hurt them even though they are a werewolf.
1.Catapult: i love to use it to throw acid or the like, since they break on a hit, and remember, it doesnt need to be hold by you, is any loose object within range, but a cool way is to throw a mix prepared for the lols: make a saddle filled with acid bottles, oil and alchemist fire’s, then, then upcasted to throw an acidic oiled alchemist fire… you can add bearing balls and caltrops in the bag too, i call it “the home alone special” 2. Command: i adore it since use it as a idol bard, i mean… yeah, idol bard is the right name of the subclass 😂🤣 people usually forgets that command is i the creature turn, most DMs always start describing the action commanded and i have to remind them that is not a reaction, is in their turn. And yes, not being a charm is OP for such spell 3.heroism: another good one for bards. Because inmune to being affraid? Is by far better than Countercharm… to be fair, anything is better than countercharm… 😒 4. Silent image: the true use is to use it in battle and appear a wall or smoke, to block enemies line of sight, then, whisper to the other party members that is in fact an illusion, then they know, ergo, they can see through it, but enemies cant. Usually spells and attacks cant be aimed if theres no line of sight, but if you know it is an illusion, you can! 5. Ceremony: so… a zealot barbarian… and a group of polygams… no? Ok…
I had a sorcerer use catapult to grab a stone from a cliff-side to start a landslide and Mulan an enemy force. And I had a Paladin of the Ancients and Courtesan of Sharess use Grovel to destroy 2 Legendary Resistances and 2 full turns while fighting an White Dragon using Grovel. I was having trouble staying in Melee with it, but Grovel let my party’s rogue and sorcerer pile on the damage. And the fact that I was playing a paladin who’s regular job basically included being a dominatrix… well… flavor win. Same fight, same Paladin, I had Heroism cast on the sorcerer which allowed them to wake up after being knocked out at the start of a turn. So she got into the fight on them own with out us needing to heal them. Yuan-ti Celestial Warlock with Misty Visions (Silent Image at will), I used it to get us across a war zone in a city by creating “walls” between us and battling forces while we focused on trying to get to the task we had been given. Courtesan Paladin again, also used Ceremony to arm the party with holy water before going into a fight against a vampire.
i’m actually super happy to see catapult as the first one on the list. i had an interesting encounter where it was me vs 4 enemies alone. They were trying to steal my stuff. Well, i was trying to think of a strategy to defeat 4 enemies as a crossbow specializing artificer at 1st level. As i was doing that I simply pulled out my crowbar from my starting gear and threw it on the ground. Then stated how it was my only real item of value. I then used that that as a distraction to lead into like i was going to pull something else out only to cast catapult on the crowbar flinging it into the head of the leader of the bad guys. instant K/O
Don’t forget the best part of Silent Image! It creates heavy obscurement for the entire party until the enemy moves up to it to touch it or uses their action to attempt an identify. Are you a ranger with sharpshooter and this spell? Create a silent image of a grassy gnoll, sit inside it and snipe at the enemy with advantage. Better than darkness because allies inside it can also see through it.
As a quick note, magically hurling an object doe not make the damage the object does when it hits something magical. While “bludgeoning damage from a magical source is one of the best damage types in the game” the Catapult spell does not do magical damage, unless you happen to be hurling a magic weapon, or similar, of course. If you want to do magical bludgeoning damage use Shillelagh, Magic Stone or Magic Weapon on a bludgeoning weapon, all of which state that the weapon / damage becomes magical. As a counter example, consider Green Flame Blade: “On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack’s normal effects…” Magic spell used, but the weapon damage remains non-magical if used with a non-magical weapon.
rather than grovel, i would use “flee” or “scram”. They dash away, taking attacks of opportunities then next turn have to dash back, wasting 2 turn and taking a ridiculous amount of damage at level 1 depending on how many melee PCs are in range to deliver their AoOs. Teamwork ftw. Jeremy Crawford said it works in a FAQ.
There’s nothing that says that Catapult ends after someone dodges the object. It’s not save for half, it just keeps going. If you line up multiple enemies (which is simple enough by targeting a rock in a square that lines them up), even if the closest enemy makes their Dex save, what’s stopping it from continuing towards another enemy within range to potentially hit them? If you line up just 2 enemies, it’s almost like getting advantage to hit. Which statistically makes it much more reliable.
here’s the set up two cops sitting in a car, just about to rev the engine and chase the party after a kind of botched carjacking attempt I hear the Cleric’s player’s keyboard clicking, a moment later he hits the cop in the driver’s seat with “Command: Autodefenestrate” Autodefenestrate- (rare, nonce word) The act of hurling oneself from a window favorite use of command I’ve seen as a dm
I just realized, scribe wizards can conjure a catapultable item in their quill whenever they want. Probably not the most useful thing since there’s probably small items around all the time, but just in case there aren’t theres no need to worry. And at 2rd level your probably not going to have something to spend your bonus action on anyways, and even if you don’t resummon it for some reason it’s not like your losing any combat stuff unless it really is your only catapult option. And you can change the damage type. Far from the best option, but what says scribe wizard more than attacking with lightning enfused magic pens. Show that the pen truly is mightier than the sword by rolling more dice than the fighter’s sword attack. And you get to pepper your opponent with ink.
Net/Catapult combo doesn’t work. Net says when you “hit” a creature, meaning you made a successful attack roll with the net was a weapon. Catapult says you “strike” a creature, meaning the net is propelled at the creature but no attack roll was made with it. If you think about it, attacking with a net involves splaying the net out to encompass the target to hopefully restrain them. Catapult would just hurl a tangled ball of rope at the target, unless the net was already somehow fully spread out in its intended “grappling” design.
I keep trying to convince someone to play a Thri-kreen Zealot Barbarian that’s just a giant praying mantis. Each time they get their head bitten off, the whole party is one free Revivify away from the +2 AC from Ceremony. I didn’t realize the person who died wouldn’t benefit, but love is about sacrifice.
my bard abuses Command, due to being a Glamour bard…… most of what he does is Dance, Dive and stop….. though he has used “break” as the command before, as the DM allows pointing, aka he points at a wall, and uses command “break” on an ogre… Ogre breaks wall first time I realised how strong Command is, is when I used my class ability to bonus action cast it, and kept an Oni out of the fight for like 6 turns just dancing….. MENECINGLY!!!
Because command effect is devastating on bosses, it’s the best spell to use to burn legendary resistances. No dm will accept his bbeg to lose a turn so they will use legendary resistance if they have some. So if you have a way to boost your dc and give disadvantage (say with eloquence bard + silvery barbs), you’ve got yourself a very powerful spammable tool at high levels.
Catapult vs Chromatic orb: I would also like to point out that Chromatic orb has a material component that has a GP value greater than 1 (50 Gp diamond). Catapult does not. Chromatic Orb Casting Time: 1 action Range: 90 feet Components: V, S, M ( a diamond worth at least 50 gp ) Duration: Instantaneous Catapult Casting Time: 1 action Range: 60 feet Components: S Duration: Instantaneous And before you mistype the rules on foci: “Casting some spells requires particular objects, specified in parentheses in the component entry. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in “Equipment”) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell. If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell. A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components — or to hold a spellcasting focus — but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.”
Sleep is the ultimate 1st level spell. Roll 5d8(22.5) and effects a 4×4 square. There is no save, it is entirely based on the opponents current hp. In the area, it targets the enemy with the lowest current hp first and you subtract its hp to your sleep roll. Do this till the target exceeds the current sleep roll value. For reference, a lv1 barbarian that rolled 18 for con and has 20 con from a racial trait will have 17 hp. Even the fattest class in the game has less than 50% chance to resist falling asleep. I honestly overlooked this spell for years until i actually read the description and did the math.
In the first campaign I played in I absolutely abused the ceremony spell after finding a massive hoard. 1 vial is roughly 10mL A barrel is 118L or about 11800x one vial. We had 6 of these. My cleric carried two smaller 20L barrels with her most times. Or the same as 4000 vials of holy water. Used divine intervention to perform a ceremony to make a mountain spring holy. Also Hallowed the ground. When we met one fiend boss my Cleric used Shape Water to do 4000d6 damage one shotting it. DM asked if I wanted to roll exploding dice. Naturally I said yes. Total damage: 30k radiant. It is why my Cleric got the title “Nightmare of Demons”. As a side note a 2L bottle (just under 5 lbs) of holy water would do 400d6 damage and can be launched by the catapult spell.
Always wondered: what happens if you have a net with the minor property Unbreakable (The item can’t be broken. Special means must be used to destroy it)? 🤔 “A creature can use its Action to make a DC 10 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, Ending the Effect and destroying the net.”
Command: Shit is a very good one on humanoids. They skip their turn shitting themselves, which is VERY uncomfortable afterwards. If they’re able to get their armor out of the way to drop their pants first, congrats, now they’re in a very vulnerable position and will have to spend the next turn putting themselves back together. And it’s humiliating, which can lead to the high-Cha members of the party turning bandits against their warlord and so on.
Heroism becomes a S-Tier spell the second your DM decides to implement any consequences for dropping to 0hp. With the “babies first ttrpg” rules that you just jump back up when healed, healing word is so busted no other healing spell is even worth looking at, but just add something like a level of exhaustion (even the OneDnD version that just gives -1 on everything per level) and suddendly a spell that constantly gives temp hp becomes way more valuable. And 5 per turn is not even that bad. Even at higher levels that can mean a damage reduction anywhere from 10% to 15% each turn.
As a GM, the net would take 3d8 damage also and be destroyed on impact. Making the restrained part not effective. At least that’s how I would rule it, people trying to find ways to abuse level 1 stuff or low level items is just power gamery and takes away from the story. Might be fun once, but after that it doesn’t do anything for the story and/or character development it is just a way for players to abuse things that were not meant to be abused as described in the spell. Though Alchemist Fire and other bomb potions is a good idea to, but I’ve had that happen in a game before. Also, Wizards will be able to cast spells they just wouldn’t be able to add their proficiency to the spells DC or attack.
I feel compelled to at least say what feels like the main purpose of catapalt. This is a silent spell (no verbal components) that can move any small object from 60ft away to a point 90ft away. In a lot of ways this can be upgraded mage hand. Hurl a mcguffin across a cliff directly into your hand. Silently grab a letter from 60ft away within a single round while hiding. Toss a note or important object above a wall and then catapult it at the angle it needs to go for curved shots. Lots of utility, even beyond prepping combat situations.
I mean, if you want to knock people prone then if the dm allows critical roll content use freedom of the waves, 3rd level, 2d8 damage 15 foot radius, anywhere within 120 feet, knocks every hit enemy prone on a failed save and you can teleport from anywhere within it to anywhere else within it if you are within the area, and finally you can choose a number of creatures equal to your spellcasting ability modifier to automatically succeed the save, the obvious problem is that it does nothing on a successful save rather than half damage.
I use command all the time, I’ve made that spell infamous in my group. I could write an essay about how awesome that spell is (it’s one of the big reasons I play bard or cleric, rather than wizard) Also it doesn’t care about charmed immunity, (edited, you actually mentioned that but I’d already typed the comment…. Although I do feel obligated to point out that undead are indeed immune to it… And I would rule so is anyone affected by mind blank) But yeah the number of combats I’ve broken by using a first level spell is insane, my favorite use of it that I have actually done was to break a concentration spell by telling the bad guy to relax I also really enjoyed telling an enemy necromancer to approach when he was being flanked by the fighter/rogue and the paladin This happened a second time a couple of sessions later except this time he counterspelled, and then didn’t have his reaction to cast shield when the paladin went nova on him…. The last situation I’ll mention was once we were getting attacked by a group of chimeras while flying, I upcasted command to 4th level and dropped 3 out of 4 of them out of the sky, they didn’t hit the ground because we were a couple of thousand feet in the air, but it did take them several turns of dashing to even get back to our altitude, by which point we had killed the one that made it’s saving throw and skedaddled
Okay I got a crazy idea for ceremony if you can marry any two creatures What if you need a party member to an enemy technically it accidentally buff the enemy but if you want to kill the enemy anyway that means the party member becomes widowed and you get to catch it on them again and you can keep doing this
mix catapult with instant fortress. 1 inch cube that turns into a huge fortress at command word. Catapult the cube or cubes at enemy, command word. they now have a literal large fortress thrown against them… good luck calculating the damage Instant Fortress You can use an Action to place this 1-inch metal cube on the ground and speak its Command word. The cube rapidly grows into a fortress. The fortress is a square adamantine tower, 20 feet on a side and 30 feet high. PLUS, Each creature in the area where the fortress appears must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10d10 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Ceremony should replace the 25gp worth of silver with whatever is appropriate for situation and deity, silver specifically does not make sense for deities of sun or those whose portfolios involve lycanthropes, undead and demons. Cost is also high for everyone but high level characters which messes up with roleplaying, no god who demands most of your monthly wages just to let you start worshiping them is going to get many followers, though “only the rich can afford to have a funeral that keeps their corpses from being molested by every necromancer who wants minions” might be a fun part of lore. And remember the scene in Final Fantasy X game where the main girl had to dance the souls of the dead into the afterlife because in that setting everyone who doesn’t get that blessing comes back as a monster?
catapult + Daern’s instant fortress…. 10d10 + 3d8 Daern’s instant fortress starts off as a small one inch metal cube. When the command word is spoken (free action) it expands into its full-size potentially crushing anyone underneath it dealing 10 d-10 bludgeoning damage if they fail their dexterity save. (How to use) I drop daern’s instant fortress (interact with objects), upon which I cast the spell catapult while it is midair, sending it at the orc in front of me… While it is in flight I use a free action to call out the command word, causing it to grow to its full size… Now the target must make a dexterity saving throw to avoid both the instant fortress and the effects of the spell… And to top it off the fortress is immune to all damaged except for siege weapon damage. So it will be perfectly fine. Receiving a total of 10d10+3d8 bludgeoning damage… (Note: whether the DM would allow this and their game depends. More than likely if they are a league structured DM they will say you can do all that, but after the fortress expands due to its size it will no longer receive the effective damage from the catapult spell… But it will still continue on its path dropping as it goes and forcing the target to make the dex save for the fortresses crushing effect… This may vary from dm to DM…. Have fun
Sadly catapults dont work with nets RAW but yes it’s cool to catapult acid flasks and alchemist’s fire. you also failed to mentioned silent image’s best use: creating atmospheric effects. yes physical interaction breaks an illusion but only if the ILLUSION IS MEANT TO BE SOLID. JC has clarified that physical interaction doesn’t break an illusion of something that objects are meant to pass through like a an illusion of fog cloud. this essentially grants you perfect obscurement, advantage to hit an enemy/disadvantage to be hit along with being untargetable by sight spells. bonus points: once a recurring villains smarts up to your atmospheric effect illusions and starts investigating your fog cloud to break it, cast the actual fog cloud. now they are investigating your fog cloud repeatedly thinking that they aren’t breaking it just because they failed their check (assuming your DM doesn’t metagame you).
I have personally had an amazing experience with Catapult, even though I didn’t cast it. We were playing a campaign that required us to slay a nuisance ghast for a local town, and return with proof of its defeat. Defeat it we did, Con saves against the putrid odors and all, and we tooks its head for proof. I, the hermetic spore druid, was granted the privilege of carrying the bag because frankly, I probably smelled just as bad. Once we were close to our objective to turn this in for reward, we were suddenly ambushed by a group of soldiers from a rival kingdom, a plot hook set up to move us into the main story line for the campaign. They had an archer stationed atop a roof at the edge of town where we were, and the range made him difficult to deal with without pressing closer through the ranks of soldiers. So our fighter proposed an idea. I help him to loose a bag from my waist, and he declares “Catapult” to the DM. “What are you throwing?” he asks. “I throw the ghast head,” was the response. Not only did he deliver an impeccable throw and hit, splattering gore and viscera all over this poor fellow, but the enemy soldier also critically failed his Con save. He fell in a gooey, bloody, vomit covered heap from the roof and right into the ranks of the enemy’s reserves. It was probably our most decisive victory that campaign.
#1 the catapult and net combo: wouldn’t the net also take 3d8 damage and be ruined? Here’s the relevant text: “When the object strikes something, the object and what it strikes each take 3d8 bludgeoning damage.” The net only has 5hp. “Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net.”
DM tip: if your players group up during a dragon fight to cast heroism, it’s breath weapon time. Also, ceremony tip: if you are an artificer, you can pick the 1st level spellwrought tattoo as an infusion. Free ceremony = holy water stockpile from level 2. Similarly, the alchemy jug is an infusion that will let you stockpile acid for similar tactics w/ non undead.