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nickl_2000
2018-10-07, 12:30 PM
Just a few melee cantrips I'm going to see if my druid can create /research. Effectively I want to mix it up more in melee without stepping on the toes of other players who are using GFB and BB

Thorned Strike
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V M (A weapon)
Duration: 1 round
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you strike, thorned vines wrap around the target. The target or any creature within 5 feet may use their reaction to rip the vines off the target. If they don't, the target takes 1d6 piercing damage at the start of their next turn.

At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d6 piercing damage, and the thorn damage increases to 2d6. Both damages increase by 1d6 at 11th and 17th level.


Acid Bath
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V M (A weapon)
Duration: 1 round
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you strike acid drips down off the weapon and pools at their feet. Any creature ending their turn in the acid pool takes 1d6 acid damage. The acid dissipates the the beginning of the casters next turn

At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d6 acid damage, and the acid pool damage increases to 2d6. Both damages increase by 1d6 at 11th and 17th level.



Electrical Arc
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V M (A weapon)
Duration: 1 round
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you strike, an electric shock courses through your opponent. You may choose to then have the electricity arc from that opponent to other opponents with 15 feet of the original target. That second opponent takes 1d4 electric damage

At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d4 electric damage, and the electric arc damage increases to 2d4. Both damages increase by 1d4 at 11th and 17th level.


Freezing strike
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V M (A weapon)
Duration: 1 round
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. On hit shards of ice shatter around the target. This ice settles to the ground making the ground under the target and the surrounding terrain around the target difficult terrain. This ice melts at the beginning of the casters next turn.

At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d6 cold damage, increasing an extra 1d6 at 11th and 17th level



Dazzling Fairy Strike
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V M (A weapon)
Duration: 1 round
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you swing, you magical fey lights around your weapon. On strike, they flash in a dazzling display of lights and fireworks distracting the target. If they target is concentrating on a spell, they have disadvantage on their check to keep concentration for the damage caused by this spell.

At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d6 psychic damage, increasing an extra 1d6 psychic at 11th and 17th level



Thorned Strike
1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V, M (A thorn)
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you strike, thorned vines wrap around the target. The target may use their reaction to rip the vines of themselves. If they don't, the target takes 1d8 piercing damage at the start of their next turn.

At advanced levels the spell deals 1d8 damage, and the thorns damage increases by 1d8 (using the same progression as booming blade).


Acid Bath
1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V, M (A piece of rusted metal)
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you strike acid drips down off the weapon and pools at their feet. If the target doesn't move, they take 1d6 acid damage at the end of their turn.

At advanced levels the spell does 1d6 damage, and a additional 1d6 damage if they don't move (using the same progression as booming blade).



Electrical Arc
1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V, M (A piece of wool cloth with a static charge)
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. As you strike, an electric shock courses through your opponent, if they are wearing metal armor they take an additional 1d6 electric damage.

At advanced levels the spell does 1d6 damage, and a additional 1d6 damage when wearing metal armor (using the same progression as booming blade).


Freezing strike
1 action
Range: 5ft
Components: V, M (A drop of water)
As part of casting the spell, make a melee attack. On hit shards of ice shatter around the target. This ice settles to the ground making the 5 feet of ground under the target difficult terrain until the end of the target's next turn.

At advanced level the spell does 1d8 cold damage extra each normal interval.

sandmote
2018-10-07, 01:42 PM
Thorned strike: It's the power of Booming Blade without completely overshadowing Shocking Grasp.

Acid Bath: This synergizes with booming blade very nicely.

Electrical Arc: I would have a separate attack roll to deal bonus damage to enemies wearing metal armor or grant advantage (again, like Shocking Grasp). At the very least, clarify the wording so that you don't have a cantrip automatically dealing damage. Perhaps "If the opponent is wearing metal armor, they take an extra 1d6 electric damage on a hit," assuming you want to keep one roll and damage.

Freezing Strike: I'm assuming this reduces the target's otherwise equal movement by 5' so you can disengage as a bonus action and get out of their 5' reach. Which is actually a pretty good cantrip.

Overall pretty nice.

nickl_2000
2018-10-07, 03:15 PM
Thorned strike: It's the power of Booming Blade without completely overshadowing Shocking Grasp.

Acid Bath: This synergizes with booming blade very nicely.

Electrical Arc: I would have a separate attack roll to deal bonus damage to enemies wearing metal armor or grant advantage (again, like Shocking Grasp). At the very least, clarify the wording so that you don't have a cantrip automatically dealing damage. Perhaps "If the opponent is wearing metal armor, they take an extra 1d6 electric damage on a hit," assuming you want to keep one roll and damage.

Freezing Strike: I'm assuming this reduces the target's otherwise equal movement by 5' so you can disengage as a bonus action and get out of their 5' reach. Which is actually a pretty good cantrip.

Overall pretty nice.

Thanks, I touched up the wording a little bit. I will go through an make it more clear for additional damage as you level tomorrow.

Actually my worry with acid bath is that is synergizes to well with booming blade, but that is part of the reason that I dropped the extra damage to 1d6 for that and electric arc.

Freezing Strike is more of a sticky type spell to keep the enemy from getting to your more squishies.

PeteNutButter
2018-10-08, 06:23 AM
I myself also made an array of these cantrips, so I'm a fan.

I think it's important to note from your other post you seem to wanting these to be druid cantrips. That's fine, but I'd probably keep the damage bonuses on all them at d6s instead of d8s, as arcane casters are supposed to be better at direct damage. I'm a stickler for wording and mechanics (and wary of pedantic DMs) so I'd more closely copy the wording of BB/GFB. That includes no material components. You don't want to be juggling a vial of water when you are trying to swing a weapon.

Thorned Strike
I like this. If I were to make it, I might allow the target or any creature within 5 feet to use their reaction. It probably would only come up with a boss and lackeys.

Acid Bath
Solid design space. Basically an opposite BB. I'd clarify it a bit. It doesn't make sense to force them to move. What if they are flying? I think what you are looking for is something like: "...acid drips down off the weapon and pools at the target's feet in an area 5 ft by 5 ft. Any creature ending it's turn in the area takes 1d6 acid damage. The pool dissipates at the start of your next turn."

Electrical Arc
I have the same problem with this one that I have with the spell heat metal. It's conditional but not really a choice. You can't take off plate in combat, but you can move or not move for the effects of BB. But since Heat metal is a thing, this could be also. In my array of these cantrips I initially had a radiant one for clerics that did bonus damage to undead only, but I scraped it because it didn't feel like it was in line with the others. It like your lightning one was conditional on the target, rather than conditional on the target's actions.

If you care for ideas, my lightning one functioned exactly like GFB, but instead hit targets anywhere from 10-15 ft away (but not within 5 feet). It worked about as well as GFB, as foes tend to be adjacent instead of "two or three squares away."

Freezing Strike

I feel like I want this to also have some conditional damage bonus, but rough terrain is an interesting trait to give. I'd point out that rough terrain only inhibits movement for creatures moving into it. This means you'll rarely have any effect out of this. It'd require the target to leave the space and another one to move in. You might just want to go the Ray of Frost route and reduce the target's movement speed by 5 ft.

Overall interesting stuff.

nickl_2000
2018-10-08, 07:35 AM
...

Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, the intent on this was to make it for a Druid, which is why they are more elemental themed that otherwise. I don't see why an arcane caster couldn't also get them.

I touched up the wording per most of your suggestions and posted the most recent at the OP

Thorned Strike - Allowed allies withing 5 feet to also remove them.
Acid Bath - used your thought about creatures ending their turn in the acid. That makes perfect sense
Electric Arc - Allowed the character to choose if the electricty arcs to a second person withing 15 feet, but dropped the bonus damage to only 1d4. That should sufficiently reduce the power for a choice and distance of the arc.
Freezing Strike - Made a larger area of difficult terrain, so that it will be affected if it tries to move.

nickl_2000
2018-10-08, 10:04 AM
Added in Dazzling Fairy Strike for one more option.

sandmote
2018-10-08, 12:32 PM
Very glad you've cleaned up the wording of the cantrips.


Freezing Strike is more of a sticky type spell to keep the enemy from getting to your more squishies.

Well, you accidentally also made the cantrip useful for squishies wanting to get away.


Added in Dazzling Fairy Strike for one more option.
It's a druid cantrip, so it should probably stay short ranged, but I don't thin this works best with a weapon attack. I would probably change it to a melee touch cantrip dealing 1d6 psychic damage. I realize that kind of contradicts your theme of spells based on BB and GFB, but wrapping the weapon in bright lights just seems odd to me (even compared to BB).