Best Witch Bolt Homebrew fix

[MightyDuck]

I have a player whose rolling a wizard and the spell witch bolt is especially significant to their character, however as you probably well know, witch bolt kinda sucks and I want to tweak it so that its better and stays relevant at higher levels but I'm not certain how. My current ideas are; having the attacks on subsequent turns scale when you cast the spell at higher levels and/or allowing you to use a bonus action to deal the damage on subsequent turns. I don't know if this is a good fix so I'm wondering if there are any widely accepted fixes or any that you've found to work particularly well.

[sophontteks]

Remove the concentration and it'll probably be ok.

[DarkKnightJin]

I would probably knock it down to a cantrip, and keep the rest as is.
At least this way, they're not 'wasting' a spell slot to cast the damn thing.
If it turns out to be too strong that way, knock it down to a d10 or even a d8.

If you're feeling particularly generous: consider boosting the range to 60ft, so they don't have to be within butt-slapping range of the enemy to keep the spell going.

[Ganymede]

One possible tweak is to change the subsequent shocks to a bonus action.

Another is to change the spell ending so it does so if you end your turn outside of the listed range; that gives you a chance to run back in range of an escaping foe before the spell ends.

I would probably implement both changes at once. It would become something competitive with hex.

[The Jack]

Each level gives you two additional witchbolts, but no more than one bolt can apply to a single character in concentration. . In addition, you apply a shove to all your victims, resisted with wis. They gain disadvantage if you spend the turn screaming "UNLIMITED POWER!!!!"

[Misterwhisper]

One possible tweak is to change the subsequent shocks to a bonus action.

Another is to change the spell ending so it does so if you end your turn outside of the listed range; that gives you a chance to run back in range of an escaping foe before the spell ends.

I would probably implement both changes at once. It would become something competitive with hex.

I used the change of making the subsequent rounds a bonus action and made the range 60.

It worked pretty well, it made it at least usable at low levels, not much for mid level or up but then again it is a 1st level spell so that is fine to me.

[Spectrulus]

At my table it does Xd12 per turn based on level X cast, still uses action to damage, removes concentration, and only "breaks" if target moves 60ft away, and still has initial range of 30. That way it outpaces cantrip damage & stays relevant at higher levels.

I do like the cantrip idea too, but it'd probably have to drop to a d10 for level scaling purposes l, and keep the concentration.

[Ganymede]

I do like the cantrip idea too, but it'd probably have to drop to a d10 for level scaling purposes l, and keep the concentration.

I think 1d12 damage at a 30' range is on par with 1d10 damage at a 120' range or 1d12 necrotic damage on damaged targets.

[stoutstien]

Allow it to pick a new Target if the initial Target moves out of range or dies on casters next turn?

[Mr.Spastic]

I would suggest having the subsequent turns deal 1d12 per slot level rather than just 1d12. I think the point of the spell is the you want to get really close to them and force them to move away, but you can't really do that when it only does 1d12 damage using your action on following turns. With my tweak it works really well if you have a party member with Sentinel to just keep them there. I might also tweak it so you could use you opportunity attack to hit them again when they leave your melee range, I might require you to have Warcaster though.

[Misterwhisper]

I would suggest having the subsequent turns deal 1d12 per slot level rather than just 1d12. I think the point of the spell is the you want to get really close to them and force them to move away, but you can't really do that when it only does 1d12 damage using your action on following turns. With my tweak it works really well if you have a party member with Sentinel to just keep them there. I might also tweak it so you could use you opportunity attack to hit them again when they leave your melee range, I might require you to have Warcaster though.

That would be too good.

A level 5 spell that does 5d12 damage first and then automically another 5d12 every round just by spending an action to maintain it is a little too good.

You could cast that once for an entire combat against the big bad. Just cast it and then dodge/stealth/defend from then on.

[Foxhound438]

That would be too good.

A level 5 spell that does 5d12 damage first and then automically another 5d12 every round just by spending an action to maintain it is a little too good.

You could cast that once for an entire combat against the big bad. Just cast it and then dodge/stealth/defend from then on.

I mean, if you miss the initial attack you're still out of luck, and they can in fact still just run out of range... I do agree that it might be a bit too strong at high levels though, so maybe scale every other spell level rather than every- so with a L3 slot you'd do 2d12 per turn, with an L5 you'd do 3d12, 7 gets you 4d12, and if you're a madman who casts with a 9th level slot it can be 5d12.

[stoutstien]

Add new Target per spell slot so 2nd lv slot could hit two targets.

[Eragon123]

Extend the range of the spell to 60 feet. And have it halve the speed of the affected creature. The speed decrease lasts as long as you keep using your action to fuel it.

Also if you wanted to bump up the secondary damage maybe have it be every other level.

[lunaticfringe]

It's important to them at level 1. They can become more tactical as they grow in power or continue to use a lesser spell because of an emotional attachment. Maybe a player goes down and the character in hindsight realizes they could have prevented it if they had cast X. It's not your job to 'fix' a player's build decisions. Wizard's can just not prepare it and Sorcerers & Warlocks can ditch it.

[MightyDuck]

It's important to them at level 1. They can become more tactical as they grow in power or continue to use a lesser spell because of an emotional attachment. Maybe a player goes down and the character in hindsight realizes they could have prevented it if they had cast X. It's not your job to 'fix' a player's build decisions. Wizard's can just not prepare it and Sorcerers & Warlocks can ditch it.
I don't particularly like this approach, the player really likes the idea of the spell and thinks it fits thematically and aestetically with the character they've created and I think it could look or be really cool. Punishing a player for picking a bad spell and pushing then to pick something more optimized just doesn't sound fun for them or me, I'd rather reward the player for picking a niche spell because it fits the character better. The reason I want to homebrew it is because it is not a good spell mechanically and it won't be as fun for them to play with, so rather than make them pick a new spell I'd rather make the spell they like work better. This way they get to use the spell they want and still keep up in combat, everyones happy and there are no downsides.

[BarneyBent]

I’d suggest three options:

1. Cantrip, otherwise unchanged
2. Subsequent damage is a bonus action
3. CON save, if target fails it’s incapacitated. Gets a chance to save at the end of each turn.

[thoroughlyS]

Witch Bolt
1st-level evocation

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a twig from a tree that has been struck by lightning)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

A beam of crackling, blue energy lances from your outstretched hand. Make a ranged spell attack against a creature within range. On a hit, the target takes 1d12 lightning damage. For the duration, you can repeat the attack as an action. If you target a creature you hit with this attack during your last turn, you automatically hit.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 1st.

[clash]

I actually really like this better than other fixes I have seen and it works great for the warlock with limited spell slots. I would use this