Interesting Interactions with the Elemental Spell Metamagic?

[TaiLiu]

The latest UA (https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/class-feature-variants) came with three new metamagic options for the Sorcerer, one of which is Elemental Spell:


When you cast a spell that deals a type of damage from the following list, you can spend 1 sorcery point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder.

This helps with making a more thematic Draconic Sorcerer, of course. A Black Dragon Sorcerer can add a whole bunch of spells to their list and change them to acid spells. It can let you invoke sorcerous origin features like Elemental Affinity and Heart of the Storm using spells that you normally couldn't. It can let you get around resistances and take advantage of vulnerabilities. Those are all fairly self-evident benefits of using the metamagic. I wonder, however, if the Elemental Spell metamagic enables any tactics or calls on unexpected mechanics that might make this metamagic option more potent at first glance.

For example, a Fireball [Cold] can light things on fire, and a Cone of Cold [Fire] can freeze people to death, both bringing a whole new meaning to the term "ice burn." But puns just make your fellow players give you the cold shoulder. Another option for the multiclassed Sorcerer / Tempest Cleric might be enabling Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath for a more diverse array of spells. (You can finally take advantage of the range and width of Fireball!) Does anyone else see any other interesting interactions with Elemental Spell?

[ImproperJustice]

Be careful: Once you start making ice puns, your on a slippery slope....


But yeah, there are some interesting effects in there:
Thunderwave as Acid Wave? Pushes and melts people.

Or Tidal Wave becomes Tidal Lightning that knocks people prone.

I need the metamagic description again, but does this make Synaptic Fireball a thing?
Cuz that sounds awesome.

[stoutstien]

Combos with tempest cleric probably a little to well lol.

I like it as a theme for sorcerers alot and it goes a long way to address spell diversity issues without just adding a bunch of spells. Worried out multiclass issues but I need to see it in play.

[Sparky McDibben]

I need the metamagic description again, but does this make Synaptic Fireball a thing?
Cuz that sounds awesome.

No; psychic damage is not one of the listed damage types. That does raise kind of an interesting point, though - are any spells are invalidated or made suboptimal for the sorcerer by this option?

[Ganryu]

Why, hello Tempest Cleric and Meteor Swarm. Daddy missed you.

[Blood of Gaea]

It's worth noting that if you go for Tempest Cleric, you might as well pick up Storm Sorcerer to squeeze a bit more from your lightning/thunder spells, provided you can manage in melee.

[Theaitetos]

It's great with the Investiture of Flame/Ice spells, because they still provide you with the fire/ice immunity & resistance while allowing you to change the damage part to another element, e.g. when fighting a Salamander you can cast Investiture of Flame with cold damage, granting you immunity to fire damage while dealing cold damage to the fire elemental.

A Wall of Fire Thunder is cool too! Or a Delayed Blast Thunderball; although this spell benefits much more from Extended Spell than Elemental Spell…

[TaiLiu]

Be careful: Once you start making ice puns, your on a slippery slope....
Now's not the time to get cold feet with puns. :smallwink:

But yeah, there are some interesting effects in there:
Thunderwave as Acid Wave? Pushes and melts people.

Or Tidal Wave becomes Tidal Lightning that knocks people prone.
Oh, yes, good points. You can get some rider effects that aren't usually attached to the element that you're blasting with.

Combos with tempest cleric probably a little to well lol.
Yeah, that combo's real potent.

I like it as a theme for sorcerers alot and it goes a long way to address spell diversity issues without just adding a bunch of spells. Worried out multiclass issues but I need to see it in play.
Seconded.

That does raise kind of an interesting point, though - are any spells are invalidated or made suboptimal for the sorcerer by this option?
Possibly lightning bolt. It's potent, but the fact that it's a line and that it has to emanate from you does make it weaker than fireball. And if you can just make it do lightning damage, then your Draconic [Lightning] Sorcerer might as well spend that sorcery point.

Why, hello Tempest Cleric and Meteor Swarm. Daddy missed you.
A hundred and twenty lightning damage and an average of seventy damage of bludgeoning damage over an absolutely massive area - I've never played in Tier Four before, but that doesn't sound half bad.

It's great with the Investiture of Flame/Ice spells, because they still provide you with the fire/ice immunity & resistance while allowing you to change the damage part to another element, e.g. when fighting a Salamander you can cast Investiture of Flame with cold damage, granting you immunity to fire damage while dealing cold damage to the fire elemental.
Oh, nice! Good combo with the investiture of... spells that I didn't notice.

[Chronos]

First thought is that they included Sonic on the list, and while it's not quite on the level of Force or Radiant, there are still a heck of a lot fewer things that resist sonic than fire, cold, or lightning.

[micahaphone]

First thought is that they included Sonic on the list, and while it's not quite on the level of Force or Radiant, there are still a heck of a lot fewer things that resist sonic than fire, cold, or lightning.

Sonic is now called thunder, so it's in the metamagic as an option

[TaiLiu]

First thought is that they included Sonic on the list, and while it's not quite on the level of Force or Radiant, there are still a heck of a lot fewer things that resist sonic than fire, cold, or lightning.

Sonic is now called thunder, so it's in the metamagic as an option
Yeah, I don't think many monsters are vulnerable to thunder damage, but very few are immune or resistant, so it's a pretty good damage type to use when getting around a monster's defenses.

[Theaitetos]

Oh, this threat reminds me:

Please everyone, who hasn't done the UA survey yet, please tell them to include poison in the metamagic option as well! If it's not included in the list then Green Dragon Sorcerers cannot change other spells to poison, and they're already shafted enough as is, since poison is an extremely bad energy type. :smallfrown:

[JackPhoenix]

Yeah, I don't think many monsters are vulnerable to thunder damage, but very few are immune or resistant, so it's a pretty good damage type to use when getting around a monster's defenses.

Earth elementals come to mind for vulnerability, and anything incorporeal for resistance.

[Reynard]

Oh, this threat reminds me:

Please everyone, who hasn't done the UA survey yet, please tell them to include poison in the metamagic option as well! If it's not included in the list then Green Dragon Sorcerers cannot change other spells to poison, and they're already shafted enough as is, since poison is an extremely bad energy type. :smallfrown:

Any DM that doesn't let you change it to poison hasn't read the monster manual and realized just how many things just don't care about poison at all. Same could be said for Players who want to change it to poison, too, honestly.

But yeah, this is just a lesser version of that broken OP wizard feature they seem to have scrapped for now. Cha-Save Fireballs don't need to exist, but I don't mind swapping the elements around a bit.