Magic intitate

[gryffydd65]

What is the best 1st level spell if your character has magic intitate?

[Mellack]

That depends totally on what you want your character to do. Find Familiar is good for scouting and help if your DM allows. Bless is nice for a party buff. Shield for an emergency save when in trouble. Even Disguise Self if you want to be a sneak. Your question doesn't have a single answer.

[Klorox]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?471816-Magic-Initiate-A-guide-to-an-underestimated-%28and-cool%29-feat

[Avigor]

Also, think about how often you'll be using this magic in combat, vs using it for out of combat utility. Ritual Caster has more versatility for out of combat applications, so long as speed isn't essential.

[gryffydd65]

Thank you, I was thinking about having my barbarian pick it up as part of my background story. Find familiar might be the best way.

[djreynolds]

Now as a barbarian you cannot "always" concentrate on spells, but I like the resistance cantrip... good for saves and protection from evil before a fight I know is coming.

These 2 spells have save my bacon and my parties bacon. You can still reckless attack and pop you rage at the appropriate moment

Heroism is also good, fear sucks

[Blacky the Blackball]

It's very situational.

For example, my current character - a halfling paladin (oath of devotion) - took magic initiate at 4th level to get the spells goodberry and magic stone.

This was in a game where we had no treasure and no money, and were having to survive in a hostile wilderness hunting for food to survive. The goodberry spell meant I could feed the whole party every day without us needing to hunt; and magic stone meant I not only had a missile attack, but a magic one at that - and throwing stones is very fitting for a halfling.

That was clearly a very good use of magic initiate for my particular character in his particular campaign, but others will find different spells more useful.

[Waterdeep Merch]

A totem barbarian with find familiar, minor illusion, and either light or control flames could be pretty cool thematically and incredibly useful in the hands of a clever player. Play it as assistance from your tribe's totems, protecting and guiding you.

Have your familiar scout and hunt often, use minor illusion to help set traps and ambushes (or a million other things, it's an insanely versatile spell), try using light on a pebble and firing it from a slingshot. Control flames is just really, really cool for when you need to explain something and want to roleplay a storyteller shaman.

[samcifer]

A really useful one is the XGtE spell Catnap (Sorcerer has it). It only works once per short rest per character affected anyways, so once per long rest isn't going to change anything. IF you can stay asleep the full 10 min., you basically get a short rest that refreshes everything for you. Combining it with a mc sorc/warlock character is really useful as well.

[tsotate]

A really useful one is the XGtE spell Catnap (Sorcerer has it). It only works once per short rest per character affected anyways, so once per long rest isn't going to change anything. IF you can stay asleep the full 10 min., you basically get a short rest that refreshes everything for you.
Unless, of course, you're a monk, in which case the meditation requirement now makes you the odd one out when the party's in a hurry.

[DarkKnightJin]

I can see some shenanigans happening with Catnap..
I'm guessing it's not for the entire party, but the caster or 1 willing target?
Because if you can cram a Long Rest into a 10 minute catnap.. even once per short rest sounds like it'd be on the high end of the abusability scale.
Oncr per Long Rest sounds a bit more sane..

[samcifer]

I can see some shenanigans happening with Catnap..
I'm guessing it's not for the entire party, but the caster or 1 willing target?
Because if you can cram a Long Rest into a 10 minute catnap.. even once per short rest sounds like it'd be on the high end of the abusability scale.
Oncr per Long Rest sounds a bit more sane..

Catnap's effect counts as a short rest worth of rest, not a long rest.

[Pex]

A wizard or non-Dragon Sorcerer has interest in taking it for their own class for Mage Armor without using a spell slot and get two more Cantrips. Possibly only worth doing as a Variant Human.

[DarkKnightJin]

Catnap's effect counts as a short rest worth of rest, not a long rest.

That's a lot more sane than what I was dreading.
Not very much use for long rest classes then, got it.

[Ritorix]

A wizard or non-Dragon Sorcerer has interest in taking it for their own class for Mage Armor without using a spell slot and get two more Cantrips. Possibly only worth doing as a Variant Human.

A dragon sorcerer can also use it to take Shield (from their own class). They were going to take Shield anyway, so the feat basically buys them a precious spell-known slot that scales as they level.

[Chugger]

Thank you, I was thinking about having my barbarian pick it up as part of my background story. Find familiar might be the best way.

Find Fam is easily the "best" for most situations for a barb. You can't cast raging, but ff is cast out of combat (takes an hour to cast). The familiar helps you by scouting, by triggering deadly traps possibly, and mostly by helping you in combat and giving you advantage on one attack a round - which is deadly good.

I'd use an owl because it has good perception for scouting (and possibly some stealth), it can fly, iirc it can see in the dark, and it is the only one with "flyby" - meaning it can enter and leave an enemy's space w/out triggering an attack of opportunity - otherwise your fam will die fast, if you let something AoO it. Use the owl's great speed to park it where it hopefully won't be hit by AoE spells - it has only 1 hp.

If you put it up high and it's just inside a fireball aoe, say, remember it is a sphere - and if it is 15 or 20 feet in the air it may well not be in the fireball's area. The taller the thing you're fighting, the higher your fam can go. It can be hit by friendly aoe too.

[Pex]

A dragon sorcerer can also use it to take Shield (from their own class). They were going to take Shield anyway, so the feat basically buys them a precious spell-known slot that scales as they level.

I know.

Done that.

:smallsmile:

What sold me to do it is paranoia. I wanted to be able to cast Shield that one more time I need even though I'm out of 1st level slots or at least want to cast another 1st level spell. It was a peace of mind choice.

[Provo]

Catnap's effect counts as a short rest worth of rest, not a long rest.

Catnap is a third level spell, so magic initiate won't be able to use it.

[samcifer]

Catnap is a third level spell, so magic initiate won't be able to use it.

Yeah, I missed that part. Thanks.