Wrathful Smite + Twinned Booming Blade

[Swosh]

So the Wrathful Smite affects the first creature you hit with an attack, but what happens if you hit two creatures simultaneously?

Would Wrathful Smite + a twinned Booming Blade affect 2 creatures with the Wrathful Smite effect?

[LudicSavant]

Would Wrathful Smite + a twinned Booming Blade affect 2 creatures with the Wrathful Smite effect?

RPG Stackexchange argues that it's just one, following the rule for simultaneous effects in Xanathar's. It's listed in the optional rule section but we aren't actually offered a different one on the matter, AFAIK.


In rare cases, effects can happen at the same time, especially at the start or end of a creature's turn. If two or more things happen at the same time on a character or monster's turn, the person at the game table - whether player or DM - who controls that creature decides the order in which those things happen.

Reference: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/144020/if-i-use-twinned-spell-to-target-two-creatures-with-an-attack-do-the-attacks-oc

Another possible way of looking at it is that it's not actually simultaneous in the first place, just like most mechanics with a "when" wording (for example, an Eldritch Knight using War Magic doesn't actually count as taking their action and bonus action simultaneously, you'd resolve one after the other). Or like other spells that allow you to make attack rolls against multiple targets (like Scorching Ray or Eldritch Blast).

Either way it seems like the answer is no.

[Swosh]

RPG Stackexchange argues that it's just one, following the rule for simultaneous effects in Xanathar's. It's listed in the optional rule section but we aren't actually offered a different one on the matter, AFAIK.



Reference: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/144020/if-i-use-twinned-spell-to-target-two-creatures-with-an-attack-do-the-attacks-oc

Another possible way of looking at it is that it's not actually simultaneous in the first place, just like most mechanics with a "when" wording (for example, an Eldritch Knight using War Magic doesn't actually count as taking their action and bonus action simultaneously, you'd resolve one after the other). Or like other spells that allow you to make attack rolls against multiple targets (like Scorching Ray or Eldritch Blast).

Either way it seems like the answer is no.

Okay great! Thanks for clearing that up

[swamp_slug]

I would question whether Booming Blade is twinnable in the first place since it's not the spell that targets the creature but the melee attack. Also, since Booming Blade requires you to make a melee attack against a target does twinning give you a second attack to use against the second target or is it hitting two targets from the same melee attack?

Assuming that you can twin Booming Blade then I would suggest from a logical stand point that you do not hit the two creatures simultaneously. Weapons are typically not large enough to meaningfully hit two creatures at the same time so one is hit before the other and that is the one that takes the Wrathful Smite damage.

[OverLordOcelot]

It's arguable that you can't twin booming blade - the wording of the spell states that you have to make an attack against one creature and implies that creature is the target of the spell. It doesn't give you the option to make multiple melee attacks, either as part of the spell or by using extra attack, and twin spell doesn't give you any sort of extra melee attack, so it's not unreasonable to rule that twinning isn't effective on this particular spell. If the DM does rule that twinning booming blade gives an extra attack, then it is reasonable to treat it like any other instance of mult-attack and one of them happens first. If the DM rules that you make one attack as part of the spell, then the twinning has it affect two targets, then there's only one attack for the smite to trigger off of.

I'm not a big fan of the two 'melee attack' cantrips, they were clearly not written to work well with other abilities like twin spell, and the unique 'make a melee attack' component was not well thought out. The fact that they're left in just SCAG and didn't get picked up for Xanathar's also makes them look like a failed experiment.

[Damon_Tor]

So the Wrathful Smite affects the first creature you hit with an attack, but what happens if you hit two creatures simultaneously?

Would Wrathful Smite + a twinned Booming Blade affect 2 creatures with the Wrathful Smite effect?

The better question is, what happens when you use it (or a spell like it) right before you do a Whirlwind Attack? Since we've established that Whirlwind Attack is not many attacks, but a single attack with many targets, there's no reason all the targets hit by the attack wouldn't take damage from the smite.