Bladesinger: Tenser's Transformation

[sandman102]

I have a lvl 11 elf bladesinger who has a Dex (18), Con (16), and a Int (19) due to headband of intelligence boost and is more designed for melee...

Was looking at spells at saw Tenser's Transformation:
"You endow yourself with endurance and martial prowess fueled by magic. Until the spells ends, you can't cast spells..."

I am curious, if like a Paladin w/ rage, if the Bladesinger's Song of Defense bypasses the spell limitation as it is a class ability and not actually casting a spell?

Furthermore, if I also am allowed to have bladesong active and get constitution bonus equal to my Int (4) when making a spell save, because Tenser's gives proficiency in Con saves, I'd have a Con bonus of +11. If say the DC to maintain Tenser's is 10, would I automatically pass even with a natural one critical failure roll?

[Danielqueue1]

Short answer yes and yes.

Slightly longer answer class features are only spells if they say so. And RAW critical failures only happen on attack rolls.

[jas61292]

You are correct on both counts. If it is not a spell, it is not limited, so your song works fine. And yes, saves where your bonus is one less than the DC or higher are automatically successful. Natural 1s and 20s have no effect on anything but attack rolls. So with a bonus of +9 or higher, you always succeed on a DC 10 save.

[RickAllison]

I had a Con focused wizard who plainly didn’t care about concentration saves until they hit 28 or so by the end of his life. It was a lot of fun to toss out an Absorb Elements and be able to say “I make the save” to a dragon’s Breath.

[sandman102]

Thank for the help,

I've read a lot that Tenser's Transformation works sort've contrary to what a wizard should do, but there seems to be a lot of synergy between it and the Bladesinger.

Really excited to test it out.

[MaxWilson]

Thank for the help,

I've read a lot that Tenser's Transformation works sort've contrary to what a wizard should do, but there seems to be a lot of synergy between it and the Bladesinger.

Really excited to test it out.

In a way it's an anti-synergy, because another wizard with Tenser's (e.g. an Enchanter) is approximately as good in melee as a Bladesinger with Tenser's. Bladesinger will have a better AC and slightly more damage, Enchanter will have Instinctive Charm as a defense and a Hypnotic Gaze option, but they'll both have two attacks doing lots of force damage (three attacks if dual-wielding, but the Bladesinger loses out on the first round of dual-wielding due to needing to activate Bladesong).

[RickAllison]

In a way it's an anti-synergy, because another wizard with Tenser's (e.g. an Enchanter) is approximately as good in melee as a Bladesinger with Tenser's. Bladesinger will have a better AC and slightly more damage, Enchanter will have Instinctive Charm as a defense and a Hypnotic Gaze option, but they'll both have two attacks doing lots of force damage (three attacks if dual-wielding, but the Bladesinger loses out on the first round of dual-wielding due to needing to activate Bladesong).

Agreed, I think in most cases, you'd be better off going with Greater Invisibility. Cheaper, fewer restrictions, comes with some hard defenses (a lot of effects just can't touch you if they can't see you), and has more utility.

[MaxWilson]

BTW, don't forget to cast Fire Shield before you cast Tenser's Transformation, to make the most of those bonus HP. Fire Shield is non-concentration, 10 minutes, so it should last basically the whole time.


Agreed, I think in most cases, you'd be better off going with Greater Invisibility. Cheaper, fewer restrictions, comes with some hard defenses (a lot of effects just can't touch you if they can't see you), and has more utility.

Yep, Greater Invisibility is a solid choice against anything that doesn't have blindsight. Haste isn't bad either if you use it to kite: instead of using it to go from 3 to 4 attacks per round (while dual-wielding), exploit your doubled movement speed and extra Dash/Disengage/Hide each round to reduce your damage taken to zero.