2nd-level spells from past editions updated to 5e (PEACH)

[Abuzorg]

Continuing on from my previous post where I presented Cantrips and 1st-level spells from past editions updated to 5e, here are the 2nd-level spells. I greatly appreciated the previous feedback and it was welcomed by the people I play with as well. Looking forward to the comments on these spells.

gmbinder link : https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-N4yLXEKM9zR90f2kgBq

[GalacticAxekick]

Ablative Armor is weaker, in my opinion, than both Absorb Elements and Shield. At best, it's even with them, which is too weak for a 2nd level spell. Shield does a better job of protecting you from the most common bludgeoning, piercing and slashing effects (attacks) and protects you from attacks that deal other damage types. Absorb Elements comes with the consolation of boosting your damage slightly.

Consider making Ablative Armor do what ablative armor really does: deteriorate over time. For example, it could grant immunity to the damage of the triggering effect, resistance to the next, and then nothing. This puts it on par with 2nd level spells like Mirror Image (which completely negates attacks a fixed number of times).

Blast Rod is funny (it's just a gun!). It's stronger than Scorching Ray (6d6 = 21, 8d8 = 36), has more flexible damage types, and has longer range. But it only deals up to 4d8 (18) per round, and requires one round just to "load your gun", and requires concentration, so I see this as a risk-reward and expediency thing. Overall I think it's balanced, and very cool!

Consecrate is difficult for me to balance, because it's niche. In one game this spell could turn the tables. In another, it could be utterly useless. Maybe broaden it to include not just undead, but the players choice of aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead. This gives it some much-needed flexibility!

Conjure Swarm overlaps with Conjure Animals thematically (there's no reason you can't use the latter to conjure swarms!), but is narrower and scope and lower CR, so I guess it's balanced.

Death Knell is very niche. You'll never use it to finish off creature with 0 hit points (three ordinary attacks accomplish the same thing). And you'll rarely have the chance to attack a sleeping creature. So what is this spell for?

EDIT: I just realized there's more on the next page. I guess the purpose of this spell is to turn defeated enemies into temporary hit points and a damage boost. This is better! But still not very good. Either I'm spending a turn and a 2nd level slot in the middle of a fight to stomp a defeated enemy and power up slightly—a turn and a slot I could have spend actually participating in the fight!—or I'm spending a 2nd level slot after the fight to stomp a defeated enemy and power up in case I get in another fight within an hour.

This spell is cool thematically (very fitting for a vampire or something) but in practice, I don't know why anyone would ever pick it over a spell with a more direct effect.

Decastaff is interesting! For an Artificer, Sorcerer or Wizard, it offers okay damage and healing at close range. Relying on melee attacks means you're probably going ot get hit as much as you hit others, which cancels out the healing that the spell offers. And with a concentration requirement, you're pretty likely to get hit and lose the spell. I would never cast this spell expecting to be healed. Rather, I would cast this if I were stuck in melee and needed to survive a little longer.

On the other hand, the Eldritch Knight gets A LOT out of this. It can use this to make two, three or four attacks and regain up to 4d8+20 (38) hit points with every Attack action. They can use it together with I]Polearm Master[/I] to make 1d4+Strength bonus action attacks (that deal force damage and heal!), and can use it along with Polearm Master + Sentinel keep-away tactics! They have excellent AC and excellent Constitution saves, concentration is no issue. There's absolutely no downside.

For Desecrate, I suggest the same thing as Consecrate. Broaden the monster types. Otherwise niche, but fine.

Fire Trap sounds cool and balanced!

I'll read the remaining spells later!

[Abuzorg]

Ablative Armor is weaker, in my opinion, than both Absorb Elements and Shield. At best, it's even with them, which is too weak for a 2nd level spell. Shield does a better job of protecting you from the most common bludgeoning, piercing and slashing effects (attacks) and protects you from attacks that deal other damage types. Absorb Elements comes with the consolation of boosting your damage slightly.

Consider making Ablative Armor do what ablative armor really does: deteriorate over time. For example, it could grant immunity to the damage of the triggering effect, resistance to the next, and then nothing. This puts it on par with 2nd level spells like Mirror Image (which completely negates attacks a fixed number of times).

Blast Rod is funny (it's just a gun!). It's stronger than Scorching Ray (6d6 = 21, 8d8 = 36), has more flexible damage types, and has longer range. But it only deals up to 4d8 (18) per round, and requires one round just to "load your gun", and requires concentration, so I see this as a risk-reward and expediency thing. Overall I think it's balanced, and very cool!

Consecrate is difficult for me to balance, because it's niche. In one game this spell could turn the tables. In another, it could be utterly useless. Maybe broaden it to include not just undead, but the players choice of aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead. This gives it some much-needed flexibility!

Conjure Swarm overlaps with Conjure Animals thematically (there's no reason you can't use the latter to conjure swarms!), but is narrower and scope and lower CR, so I guess it's balanced.

Death Knell is very niche. You'll never use it to finish off creature with 0 hit points (three ordinary attacks accomplish the same thing). And you'll rarely have the chance to attack a sleeping creature. So what is this spell for?

EDIT: I just realized there's more on the next page. I guess the purpose of this spell is to turn defeated enemies into temporary hit points and a damage boost. This is better! But still not very good. Either I'm spending a turn and a 2nd level slot in the middle of a fight to stomp a defeated enemy and power up slightly—a turn and a slot I could have spend actually participating in the fight!—or I'm spending a 2nd level slot after the fight to stomp a defeated enemy and power up in case I get in another fight within an hour.

This spell is cool thematically (very fitting for a vampire or something) but in practice, I don't know why anyone would ever pick it over a spell with a more direct effect.

Decastaff is interesting! For an Artificer, Sorcerer or Wizard, it offers okay damage and healing at close range. Relying on melee attacks means you're probably going ot get hit as much as you hit others, which cancels out the healing that the spell offers. And with a concentration requirement, you're pretty likely to get hit and lose the spell. I would never cast this spell expecting to be healed. Rather, I would cast this if I were stuck in melee and needed to survive a little longer.

On the other hand, the Eldritch Knight gets A LOT out of this. It can use this to make two, three or four attacks and regain up to 4d8+20 (38) hit points with every Attack action. They can use it together with I]Polearm Master[/I] to make 1d4+Strength bonus action attacks (that deal force damage and heal!), and can use it along with Polearm Master + Sentinel keep-away tactics! They have excellent AC and excellent Constitution saves, concentration is no issue. There's absolutely no downside.

For Desecrate, I suggest the same thing as Consecrate. Broaden the monster types. Otherwise niche, but fine.

Fire Trap sounds cool and balanced!

I'll read the remaining spells later!

Ablative Armor I think there is a point at higher level, especially when even a shield spell would have no way to block the attacks of a melee brute, that this spell can be very good. In those situations, it is much stronger than absorb elements given the fact that B/P/S damage is much more common than energy damage.

Consecrate / Desecrate You make a good point, plus it would be in the spirit of 5e that such spells would cover different creature types.

Conjure Swarm I think that there is an argument to be made that you can't summon a swarm with conjure animals because of the way that swarms are described as being composed of many different individuals. On top of that, a swarm of bats, for instance, doesn't have "Beast" marked as its type, but rather, "Swarm of tiny beasts". Regardless, I'm not here to pick a RAW fight over this and as you said, it doesn't matter for the balance of the spell.

Death Knell Yeah, this spell caused me a lot of problems to balance. It was overtuned the first time a player tested it. Now, I feel that it is a buff that is stronger than the average 2nd level spell, but this power comes at the cost of you having to take an action to "finish off" an enemy in combat. Of course, whether or not an enemy reduced to 0 hit points is already dead or not is up to the DM, so the experience of casting this spell might vary from table to table.

Decastaff Having the decastaff work with polearm master is not the intent. The wording "ressembles a staff" might be ambiguous if it led you to believe that it is a quaterstaff for mechanical purposes.

Looking forward to your feedback for the rest.

[GalacticAxekick]

Ablative Armor I think there is a point at higher level, especially when even a shield spell would have no way to block the attacks of a melee brute, that this spell can be very good. In those situations, it is much stronger than absorb elements given the fact that B/P/S damage is much more common than energy damage.

Fair enough! But should a 2nd level spell only become useful at higher levels? I'd have it grant immunity -> resistance -> nothing just so that it's consistently useful across levels.

Consecrate / Desecrate You make a good point, plus it would be in the spirit of 5e that such spells would cover different creature types.

Cool!

Conjure Swarm I think that there is an argument to be made that you can't summon a swarm with conjure animals because of the way that swarms are described as being composed of many different individuals. On top of that, a swarm of bats, for instance, doesn't have "Beast" marked as its type, but rather, "Swarm of tiny beasts". Regardless, I'm not here to pick a RAW fight over this and as you said, it doesn't matter for the balance of the spell.

Cool!

Decastaff Having the decastaff work with polearm master is not the intent. The wording "ressembles a staff" might be ambiguous if it led you to believe that it is a quarterstaff for mechanical purposes.

Oh! I didn't stop to think that it merely resembles a staff and that it does not count as a staff. In that case, the Polearm Master abuses are gone. But the spell remains extremely powerful in the hands of an Eldritch Knight. To avoid this, you'll need to make the healing effect incompatible with Extra Attack (for example, by making it an action of its own instead of part of the Attack action) or make the healing effect occur no more than once per turn (for example, as a bonus action when you hit).

I actually think the Eldritch Knight synergy is very cool! But it's nonetheless overpowered.

[Abuzorg]

I like the once per turn clause for decastaff's healing effect!

[GalacticAxekick]

Now, on to the remaining spells:

Ghoul Touch has inferior range to Hold Person, and targets a save that most creatures are better at. But it also effects all creatures (rather than only humanoids), which is a good tradeoff.

Poisoning creatures near the target is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it helps clear enemies away from the paralyzed target while you beat them up, or at least makes them less threatening. On the other hand, it forces your allies to clear away or become less threatening. It's a strange spell overall, but not an overpowered or bad one in my opinion.

Glitterdust has many times the range of Blindness/Deafness, a great area of effect, and the added bonus of revealing invisible and hidden creatures. Those are all HUGE bonuses. The only downside is that it requires concentration. As it is, I'd make this a 3rd level spell. Alternatively, I'd nerf the range and area significantly (for example, make it a 15 foot cone)

Hold Beast is perfect.

Knight's Move is handy, and certainly balanced! I love it!

Lion's Charge seems underpowered. Zephyr Strike (a 1st level spell) grants advantage on one attack and bonus damage to that attack (which is overall equivalent, I'd say, to a free attack), a 30 foot boost in speed (as opposed to your 20 foot boost in speed), and 1 minute of free disengages. The only downside is requiring concentration.

I'd make Lion's Charge either travel further and hit harder or last longer.

Magic Fang is cool! It's going to make a Monk very happy.

I'll read more later!

[Abuzorg]

Now, on to the remaining spells:

Ghoul Touch has inferior range to Hold Person, and targets a save that most creatures are better at. But it also effects all creatures (rather than only humanoids), which is a good tradeoff.

Poisoning creatures near the target is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it helps clear enemies away from the paralyzed target while you beat them up, or at least makes them less threatening. On the other hand, it forces your allies to clear away or become less threatening. It's a strange spell overall, but not an overpowered or bad one in my opinion.

Glitterdust has many times the range of Blindness/Deafness, a great area of effect, and the added bonus of revealing invisible and hidden creatures. Those are all HUGE bonuses. The only downside is that it requires concentration. As it is, I'd make this a 3rd level spell. Alternatively, I'd nerf the range and area significantly (for example, make it a 15 foot cone)

Hold Beast is perfect.

Knight's Move is handy, and certainly balanced! I love it!

Lion's Charge seems underpowered. Zephyr Strike (a 1st level spell) grants advantage on one attack and bonus damage to that attack (which is overall equivalent, I'd say, to a free attack), a 30 foot boost in speed (as opposed to your 20 foot boost in speed), and 1 minute of free disengages. The only downside is requiring concentration.

I'd make Lion's Charge either travel further and hit harder or last longer.

Magic Fang is cool! It's going to make a Monk very happy.

I'll read more later!

Ghoul Touch Keep in mind that the initial paralysis happens on a hit with a successful spell attack. The target gets a save at the end of its next turn. Thus, you have a better chance (usually) to have at least 1 round of paralysis compared to Hold Person, but then you are in melee range.

Glitterdust Yeah, I realize that it is better than blindness/deafness, even if the latter doesn't require concentration. Nerfing the range and / or area is probably the best option because I don't believe it is good enough for a 3rd level spell as is.

Lion Charge Good points, thanks!

[GalacticAxekick]

Needlestorm is easy to compare to Conjure Barrage.

• 2nd level vs 3rd level.
• 30 ft cone vs 60 ft cone.
• 2d12 (13) damage Dex save for half vs 3d8 (13.5) damage Dex save for half.
• Speed reduction until healed on failed save vs no special effect on failed save

I'd say that they're roughly equal in effectiveness. Needlestorm is better for area control. Conjure Barrage is better for blasting. But 2nd and 3rd level spells shouldn't be roughly equal! I would nerf Needlestorm's damage, and let the movement penalty—a very cool effect—be the focus.

Poison Dart overlaps with Ray of Sickness. A lot. The only difference between an upcast Ray of Sickness and Poison Dart is that the former does 3d8 and the latter does 3d12. They deal the same damage type, require the same save, inflict the same condition for the same duration, have the same range, and have the same components. I would scrap this spell.

Protection from Normal Missiles has a very silly name, which reflects how oddly specific its effect is. Still, it seems balanced.

Remove Fear strikes me as the sort of spell you only cast when you anticipate very specific enemies. This works well for Clerics (who prepare their spells), but otherwise seems underpowered. I might increase the duration to 8 hours, just to improve the odds that the target actually gets some use out of it.

Resurgence is really cool! It's a good all-purpose support spell more flexible than but less powerful than Lesser Restoration.

Spectral Hand has a lot going on. I'm going to pretend there is no hit point cost—because that complicates the balancing process—and weigh everything against the spell slot cost.

You create a tiny floating object with an AC of 15 and half of your maximum hit points (which is about 10 hit points, as a 3rd level caster). All your touch spells gain a range of 60 feet until the hand is destroyed. I think this is really cool, because I love the idea of features that change how enemies must fight you and how you must protect yourself! And I think this is balanced, since it makes many otherwise risky spells safer, but doesn't otherwise empower or protect you in any way. The only change I would make is removing the self-inflicted damage.

Tree Shape is silly, but handy!

Vocalize is pretty niche. You might use this to cast spells while gagged, but how often does that happen? You might use this to cast spells while sneaking, that's pretty circumstantial too. I would broaden this spell by letting it replace either verbal OR somatic components. And at higher levels, I would let it replace both. I also might increase the duration to 1 hour.

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Two spells to go! I'll read them later

[Abuzorg]

Needlestorm is easy to compare to Conjure Barrage.
2nd level vs 3rd level.
30 ft cone vs 60 ft cone.
2d12 (13) damage Dex save for half vs 3d8 (13.5) damage Dex save for half.
Speed reduction until healed on failed save vs no special effect on failed save

I actually balanced Needlestorm against another 2nd level spell, Rime's Binding Ice :
Both are 30 ft cone;
2d12 piercing (13) vs 3d8 (13.5) cold (roughly equal since piercing should usually be a better dmg type);
DEX vs CON save (Needlestorm wins)
Speed reduced by 10 until healing vs speed reduced to 0 until you take an action to break the ice (Rime wins).

I don't think it's appropriate to compare anything with Conjure Barrage, which is one of the, if not the worst 3rd level spell in the game. In designing new spells, I try to measure them up against the good spells of their level, else I will end up with a spell that nobody will pick and I will have wasted my time.

Poison DartI would scrap this spell.

Agreed. I wanted to have a 2nd lvl poison spell so much that I didn't notice it was so similar to ray of sickness.

Protection from Normal Missiles I didn't invent it! I could have gone for the 3.5 name "Protection from Arrows", but I somehow like the AD&D name better.

Remove Fear You could also cast it on someone who is affected by the frightened condition to make him immune to it. There is overlap with calm emotions, but the latter affect multiple targets and is more versatile, at the cost of concentration and a shorter duration.

Spectral Hand Agreed that the self inflicted damage is unnecessary in the context of 5e.

Vocalize You could also cast this on yourself if you are in the area of a silence spell to be able to resume casting spells that would normally require verbal components. I do agree that there could be room to increase the duration if you upcast it.

Thanks for your feedback!

[GalacticAxekick]

I actually balanced Needlestorm against another 2nd level spell, Rime's Binding Ice [...] I don't think it's appropriate to compare anything with Conjure Barrage, which is one of the, if not the worst 3rd level spell in the game. In designing new spells, I try to measure them up against the good spells of their level, else I will end up with a spell that nobody will pick and I will have wasted my time.

Good point!

Remove Fear You could also cast it on someone who is affected by the frightened condition to make him immune to it

This is what I'm refering to when I say "this strikes me as the sort of spell you only cast when you anticipate very specific enemies". Not very many enemies can inflict the frightened condition!

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On to the last couple spells!

Warp Wood is a versatile utility, and a surprisingly powerful save-or-suck (up to 5 enemies lose their weapons!). It's certainly the most interesting save-or-suck I've seen because it forces martial targets to play without their weapons of choice. I would need to see it in gameplay to judge just how balanced it is, though. (What does a swordsman do with no sword? What does an archer do with no bow?)

Whispering Wind is awesome! It's slow enough and short-ranged enough not to outclass higher level spells like Sending, but effective enough to be worthwhile. Balance aside, it's thematically very charming!

[Yakk]

Fire Trap needs a "doesn't work if it moves". Or something.

As it stands, you can cast it X times, transport it to a target, then open all of them at once, for a mega-bomb.

[Abuzorg]

Fire Trap needs a "doesn't work if it moves". Or something.

As it stands, you can cast it X times, transport it to a target, then open all of them at once, for a mega-bomb.

I don't think the fact that you can move an item is such a big deal, but I think I could add the following line that was present in the 3.5 description of the spell :

A fire trapped item cannot have a second closure or warding spell placed on it.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll be back next week with the 3rd level spells.