Cantrip: Magic Net

[Segev]

Magic Net
Conjuration Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 15 feet
Components: S, M (a bit of rope, or a net made of string)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Classes: Wizard

You conjure a net, either in your hands or up to 15 feet away. When you conjure it in your hands, you may immediately make a ranged weapon attack with it as part of casting the spell. If you conjure it directly onto a creature, make a spell attack. The attack resolves normally for a net on a hit. The net is an ordinary rope net in every way once conjured. If you are proficient with nets, this spell does not require concentration. The spell ends if you cast it again or you dismiss it.

This is given only to the Wizard because it's primarily intended for Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights, the latter of whom are automatically proficient with nets and thus get the most out of this spell.

[TinyMushroom]

I think you should probably specify that the net disappears when the spell ends.

The main draw for this cantrip is definitely Eldritch Knight, since at 7th level they gain the ability to make a weapon attack after they cast a cantrip. This is definitely superior to just buying a net and using that to fight, since nets normally allow only 1 attack during the attack action. In that specific class it opens up a totally new fighting style, but if I were an Arcane Trickster I don't think I would take this over just buying a net unless shops were really scarce for some reason.

I think the versatility to use weapon or spell attack rolls is fine since Nets don't really deal any damage. If you feel like it you can think about whether you want the cantrip to scale somewhat (for example making the net less easy to break, allowing more range, or allowing the net to entrap larger creatures). However, I think the cantrip is fine as-is too.

[Old Harry MTX]

It seems like a really nice cantrip to me. Maybe I would modify it that way:


...
Range: Self
...

You conjure a net in your hand, which you must immediately thrown using either a ranged weapon attack or a ranged spell attack, of your choice. The attack resolves normally for a net on a hit. The net works as an ordinary rope net in every way once conjured. If you are proficient with nets, this spell does not require Concentration. The net disappears if you cast this spell again, you loose Concentration, you dismiss it with a bonus action, or under the effect of other spells such as dispel magic.

One way to make the spell scale would be to be able to keep more conjured nets as you reach higher levels.

[Segev]

My current idea behind it is, yes, to make it particularly attractive for Eldritch Knights, and that they get the dual benefit of not having to use Concentration and, in the process, can conjure multiple nets. I would have thought the nets vanishing when the spell ended would be obvious, but you're right that I probably should make it explicit just to close any question.

As written, unless you have a particularly solid ranged build that includes Sharpshooter or Crossbow Expert, the spell attack being not-at-disadvantage will make it probably grossly more attractive than the option to attack as a ranged weapon attack. However, I wanted to include the alternative again for Eldritch Knights so they will never feel like the cantrip is working against them the more they build for range.

The 15 foot range rather than "self" is precisely to enable the spell attack.

Noting it works as an ordinary rope net once conjured may also be good. Something like, "Once conjured, the net is an ordinary rope net that disappears when the spell ends."

[Segev]

I find myself waffling on the notion of scaling it with the number of nets you can maintain, or just sticking with proficiency removing concentration. The latter isn't really any more powerful than having a net on hand. Even for an eldritch knight, who could still use his attack to hit something twice, his object interaction to draw the net, and his bonus action to throw the net via dual-wielding rules.