Blade Ward Homebrew

[Sillybird99]

Blade Ward
Abjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round
You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. Until the end of your next turn, the target creature has resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks. Any creature who hits the warded creature with a melee weapon attack takes damage of the type dealt by their attack equal to your character level.


Just making it a touch cantrip adds a lot more use cases, and although the original version technically scales with damage dealt by enemies, I figured adding minor scaling retributive damage makes it a cooler use of your action. The retributive damage is balanced by only working vs melee attacks.

Is it now worth taking? Abusable?

[Twelvetrees]

This stacks with Armor of Agathys really well. I'd find it well worth taking as a warlock now.

I'm not sure if it tips over into the point of being abusable. My gut feeling says no, but I think I'd have to see it in action to say for sure.

Being able to cast it on allies opens up some fun possibilities, too, especially if you've got ways to encourage foes to target those allies with their attacks.

[Yakk]

You have to think what you want to do with this spell.

Invent a way for someone to want to do this instead of Flame Bolt or Greenflame Blade in combat.

Also, try to abuse it. Like, abjuration wizard with armor or agys. How strong does it get?

The fact it works on someone else is also pretty big.

[mcumoric]

Blade Ward
Abjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round
You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. Until the end of your next turn, the target creature has resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks. Any creature who hits the warded creature with a melee weapon attack takes damage of the type dealt by their attack equal to your character level.


Just making it a touch cantrip adds a lot more use cases, and although the original version technically scales with damage dealt by enemies, I figured adding minor scaling retributive damage makes it a cooler use of your action. The retributive damage is balanced by only working vs melee attacks.

Is it now worth taking? Abusable?


IMO, the best way to buff blade ward is making it a bonus action, still lasting a round, but not costing concentration, and then making it a first level spell, though even this seems underpowered idk.

[Potato_Priest]

Being able to use it on allies is huge, that'd be more than enough for me. Personally I'd take out the retributive damage, but if you really want to keep it it should definitely be 1/turn only. No armies of goblins slaughtered to a man by attacking a level 9 bard with a cantrip on him.

[Yakk]

Blade Ward
Abjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute (concentration)
You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. It hovers near you and glows until the spell ends. Select a kind of damage (bludgeoning, piercing or slashing). Whenever you take damage of that type, you can expend your reaction to end this spell and gain resistance against the damage done.

Blade Ward
Abjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 reaction
Range: self
Trigger: You take bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round (concentration)
You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. You gain resistance to the damage type of the triggering damage until the end of your next turn. On your next turn, you cannot take your action.

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These both "side-load" the action cost, and restrict it to one type of damage (picked when you cast it).

The first is one hit only, but you can pre-buff. The second lasts for a turn, but costs you your next turn's action. Both require concentration.

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Blade Ward
Abjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round (concentration)
You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. Until the spell ends, attacks made against you with weapons are at disadvantage, and you have resistance to bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage.

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This one is a "super dodge action". Making it require concentration is aimed at avoiding the tactic of putting up a high damage concentration spell, then spanning a super dodge.

[BerzerkerUnit]

I've always ignored the part about the damage having to come from weapon attacks and found it very useful left otherwise as is. No way out but the 3rd story window? Blade Ward and jump.

BW and Armor of Agathys have been a favorite since launch.

With the new Bladesinger, BW, Bladesong, and Haste are probably on par with Rage.

[Kane0]

Huh. I just modelled Blade Ward, Resistance and True Strike off of Guidance. Action to touch someone, for the next minute (using concentration) they have a d4 they can spend to reduce damage taken/add to attack roll/ saving throw which ends the spell. Blade Ward and True Strike scale to d6 at level 5, d8 at 11 and d10 at 17.

[Yakk]

d20 rolls and damage rolls don't scale the same.

[JNAProductions]

d20 rolls and damage rolls don't scale the same.

True... But adding +1d10 to a single attack roll by spending an action isn't likely to break anything.