I haven’t done any D&D spell design in… well, quite a lot longer than is normal for me, but I’m about to jump back into it for a paid project, so I thought you might enjoy seeing my warmup round. The fact is, though, 5e has an incredibly rich back catalogue of spells already. This is why I do a lot of high-level spell design: it’s difficult, but there are a lot fewer existing creations.
Because this is a warmup, a lot of these live in the space of either bringing 4e content into 5e, or variants/higher-level extensions of core spells. Ideas come from where they come from, but warmup rounds mean low-hanging fruit.
Ashen Scourge
Level 2 Evocation (artificer, druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (15-foot radius)
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
You create three lashing tendrils of fire and ash. You can use them to attack one target within range or several. Make a melee spell attack for each tendril. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 + your spellcasting ability modifier Fire damage and is pulled 5 feet toward you. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it also has the Grappled condition until the start of your next turn.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. You create one additional tendril for each spell slot level above 2.
Black Garrote
Level 3 Necromancy (bard, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a black silk sash)
Duration: 1 round
A black cord appears around the neck of a creature that you can see and that can’t see you. The creature rolls a Constitution saving throw. On a failure it takes 3d10 Necrotic damage and has the Incapacitated condition until the start of your next turn. You deal additional Necrotic damage equal to your Sneak Attack damage bonus.
This spell has no effect on creatures that don’t have a discernible neck or throat, or that don’t breathe.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d10 for each spell slot level above 3.
(This spell is adapted from 4e.)
Concatenation of Power
Level 2 Transmutation (artificer, sorcerer, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You draw power into yourself and hold it to empower another creature’s spell. When a creature you can see expends a spell slot to casts a spell of level 2 or lower, you can take a Reaction to treat that spell as if it were cast with a spell slot 1d4 levels higher. You can’t use this spell to improve your own spells. You can cast a second spell using a spell slot in the same turn that you cast this spell.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The maximum level of spell that you can increase with this spell is equal to the level of the spell slot you expend.
Dragonwing
Level 3 Transmutation (sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a dragon’s scale)
Duration: 1 hour
Wide, leathery wings sprout from your back, doing no damage to your clothing or armor. You gain a Fly Speed of 60 feet and you have the carrying capacity of a creature one size larger than you are. You can’t hover, and must move at 15 feet on each of your turns while you are flying. When the spell ends, you fall if you are still aloft, unless you can stop the fall.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. Your Fly Speed increases by 10 feet and the spell’s duration increases by 1 hour for each spell slot level above 3.
Withering Gale
Level 6 Necromancy (druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a desiccated locust)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
A Line of strong wind 60 feet long and 10 feet wide blasts from you in a direction you choose for the duration. Each creature in the Line must make a Strength saving throw. Creatures that fail take 6d6 Necrotic damage, have Disadvantage on Strength-based D20 Tests until the start of your next turn, and are pushed 15 feet away from you in a direction following the Line. A creature that ends its turn in the Line must make the same save.
Any creature in the Line must spend 3 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves when moving closer to you.
The gust disperses gas or vapor, and it extinguishes candles and similar unprotected flames in the area. It causes protected flames, such as those of lanterns, to dance wildly and has a 50 percent chance to extinguish them. Ranged weapon attacks originating or passing through the Line have Disadvantage.
As a Bonus Action on your later turns, you can change the direction in which the Line blasts from you.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The damage increases by 1d6 for each spell slot level above 6.
Design Notes
As mentioned above, I’m playing with other sources in this one:
Ashen Scourge is from the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting.
Black Garrote is also from 4e, but I can’t seem to find which book it came from right now. I’ll try to track that down. As I mentioned a zillion years ago in my thread of 4e content that hadn’t yet been updated to 5e, it’s doing the Punjab Lasso from Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. It is very much designed to appeal to the Arcane Trickster or caster/rogue multiclass niche.
Concatenation of Power is me playing with casters being able to buff other casters. This is a thing I worked on as a PC in Altera Awakens LARP, then brought into Citadel LARP spell design. I think players have enjoyed that.
Dragonwing takes Fly and moves a bunch of its levers around to make something also useful, but different. I don’t expect it would replace Fly for most players, but I think it has character (I like that it helps you carry stuff, or other characters—things you often want to do as a flyer!).
Withering Gale is Gust of Wind taken to a scouring, brutal extreme. I also just think Line effects are interesting for encouraging players to corral enemies and use forced movement.
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These are all cool additions to the 5e spell lists. Concatenation of Power, in addition to teaching me a new word, is an interesting new mechanical niche, one that feels like it could be expanded.
I agree that Dragonwing is different enough from Fly to justify its existence as well.
I kind of want Black Garrote to be a 1st or 2nd-level spell so that Arcane Tricksters can pick it up before level 13. Seems like you could just lower the base damage to make that work.
Neither Ashen Scourge nor Withering Gale has any effect on a successful save, which seems very strange to me. Even just half damage would seem appropriate.
Thanks!
I felt like I didn’t want the Incap and +Sneak Attack options available in a level 1 or 2 spell, because I think that makes shallow multiclass dipping too optimal.
Ashen Scourge uses attack rolls and not saves?
Withering Gale I set up that way because it becomes a new ongoing effect that only requires anything from the caster if you need to change the direction, and then only a Bonus Action. I felt like that could still be okay with no effect on a success. I’m not married to that, tho.
Ashen Scourge does use attack rolls. I mistyped that last comment.
I meant to say Black Garrote and Withering Gale have no effect on a successful save.
Having looked more closely at Withering Gale, I think I agree with your point about it being a continuous effect. Especially since failing a save gives you disadvantage on future saves, assuming the caster keeps you in the line of effect.
So is the intended caster of Black Garrote supposed to be a lvl 5+ full caster/rogue multiclass?
See below, my attempted rewrite as a 1st-level spell.
Black Garrote
Level 1 Necromancy (bard, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a black silk sash)
Duration: 1 round
A black cord appears around the neck of a creature that you can see and that can’t see you. The creature rolls a Constitution saving throw. On a failure it has the Incapacitated condition until the start of your next turn. If you have the Sneak Attack feature the creature has disadvantage on its saving throw and you deal additional Necrotic damage equal to your Sneak Attack damage bonus.
This spell has no effect on creatures that don’t have a discernible neck or throat, or that don’t breathe.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. You deal 1d10 additional necrotic damage each spell slot level above 1.
Right, okay. I agree that Black Garrote as I wrote it has no effect on a successful save; I’m anticipating fairly explosive amounts of damage (Level 13 Arcane Tricksters are looking at 3d10 + 7d6 damage (avg 40 damage), f’rex.) But also, my feeling is that in the fiction of Black Garrote, it feels fairly correct to get all or nothing on the basis of the save, because part of my inspiration is the Punjab Lasso, and both Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd-Webber emphasize “your hand at the level of your eyes!” as a defense/saving throw. The spell’s other great strength is that there are almost no attack spells with no Verbal component, but this is one–which means that it breaks the Invisibility spell but not the Invisible condition from being hidden.
Ultimately, though, for me the spell is an experiment. I think I’ve gotten out of the habit of having to make the final decision about whether a spell is “right” at level X rather than level Y with different damage numbers, just because I’ve been working with a Lead Designer who is a lot better than I am for quite a long time now. What I’m trying to say is, it might be a better design with your version, but I feel like I’ve lost some capacity to judge usefully.
Fair enough; the spell is cool in either form. I like it when spells interact with other game systems or class mechanics in unusual ways. Even if it narrows the use case or focus of the spell, it is still interesting.