@@marcperez2598 yeah been wanting to do a higher level campaign. But I also love lower level stuff. Dnd or video games I love still being ground level with most things struggling then having more hit dies then the enemies have hit points
Marc Perez You do have to keep in mind level 15+ is Hell for most dms to run, the party can teleport nearly anywhere so you better have *the entire world* ready because you don’t know where they’re gonna go, monsters are going to be shred through, players become complacent and will rely on class features over clever tactics, double checking the wording on the higher level spells adds a lot more time to the game and if you don’t do that the players could abuse the system, and any major npc that isn’t an extremely high level caster is at the player’s mercy. As a dm I really hate high level campaigns because of how little control you have for the amount of work that you have to put in.
Hypnotic pattern, Sleet Storm, and Plant growth are all spells that I would consider very good for various reasons. I also think they work in more situations then something like crusaders mantle
I know you said you had lots of video ideas already but here goes a few that came to mind: 1) Top 10 spells for bards magical secrets. 2) Top 10 spells for wizards spell mastery. 3) Top 10 spells for wizards signature spells.
I feel like clerics use sending more than wizards because they can swap their spells around while wizards must a choose it on lv up or hope the dm provide it in shops or loot
Also, to follow up, clerics and DIVINATION just go together for alot of people... The cleric gets things like Augury (as well as Scrying, etc.)... Clerics are great diviners... WHen the party is in divine mode it most likely has time for the cleric to prepare and cast maybe ALL THE GOOD divination spells alkl in one day WITHOUT searching for spell scrolls or grumpy mages to barter with... ... however remember that in 5e DND spell preparation is strange, i guess... Wizards and Clerics PREPARE SPELLS THE SAME WAY... yes Wizards dont auto learn them but any wizard will most likely gain sendingand other divination spells fairly soon considering their general utility and considering alot of hedge mages are actually working for the community in very much a utility capacity... i.e. iThey are common spell... and yes it is a MAJOR HIT to take it as a sorc or bard (due to limited spells learned) but i figured that all along Nerd immersion was comparing the wizard to the cleric (why are the clerics AND NOT THE WIZARDS casting sending? ).. So yeah the fact they auto learn most good divination spells is definitely a reason but i feel that the fact they get some divinations that WIZARDS dont get psychologically prime people to use clerics as diviners since they are a one stop shop for such things so to speak..
Not only that, but I find most 3rd level cleric spells to be... I dunno, uninteresting? Level 2 spells feel more impactful to me, so yeah, not much competition
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Revivify. As the only resurrection spell available for characters level 5-8, it can be incredibly valuable. It can be the difference between rolling up a new character and fighting another day, and even at higher levels, it's the cheapest, most spell slot efficient way to bring someone back after a battle.
I'm amazed Slow isn't included. Very convenient to use, and a powerful disable that works well against any type of enemy. It has the potential to entirely remove enemy spellcasters' turns. And you include Catnap?? The vast majority of the time, if you've got 10 minutes to rest, you've got an hour. Also worth mentioning, if your DM is using UA, the class feature variant added spirit guardians to the core Paladin spell list.
Slow is amazing. I think the only thing holding it back is that it can’t be cast with higher level spell slots. Meaning, you have to cast other 3rd level spells at a higher level if you want to maintain the option to cast the spell.
In the PHB it says: "A reaction ... can occur on your turn or on someone else's." It actually already answers a lot of questions regarding the rules. Just have to find them.
To echo the author of this post and nerd immersion himself: yeah what the heck is up with the Bard having to use its magical secret to get ciounterspell?! 100% should be a bard spell... Seems like an oversight to me really... Using resonate notes to disrupt the enemy spellcaster is iconic Bardic badassery in my mind... just as the bard inversely silencing the enemy bard is iconic bardassery...
@@UmekCrafter yup and another commonly missed thing about counterspell is you only get 1 reaction so if another spell comes at you you are defenceless where aa if it is an attack roll you are way better off with a basic shield spell
@gangsteroyster it's not just you. Anyone with a brain and two neurons to rub together will realize that you can't be riding a bike and doing jumping jacks to the same fucking time. It is exactly as you said, if you cast a counterspell in the middle of casting another spell of your own oh, you have interrupted yourself.
...bard casts greater invisibility on them; the druid, freedom of movement; the paladin, shield of faith; the ranger, longstrider; the sorcerer, enlarge, and the warlock, fly. Then everyone hides in a tiny hut and prays the enemy does not have dispel magic.
@@maxx8362 that would take the enemy a total of 8 combined turnes to dispel all the effects. And most battles wont have that many party members and many enemy spellcasters.
@@abcrasshadow9341 That is not true, One dispel magic is (potentially) enough to dispel all effects. www.dnd-spells.com/spell/dispel-magic "Choose any creature, object, or magical effect within range. Any spell of 3rd level or lower on the target ends. For each spell of 4th level or higher on the target, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell ends. " *"...Any spell of 3rd level or lower..."* when you target a creature you dispel ALL EFFECTS ON HIM, you must roll for each effect if you can't auto-succeed on it (up-casting Dispel Magic to the highest level the caster can do will have amazing value here).
@@rafaelplugge3214 Obviously there's room for interpretation, but I'd say since it's written as "ANY spell of 3rd level or lower on the target ends" and not "ALL spells of 3rd level or lower on the target ends", I'd rule one magical effect per casting.
Playing Curse of Strahd and Sending is the BEST spell to have in this campaign. I've been using it to keep in contact with NPCs all over Barovia. I've been gathering wizard allies, letting them copy Sending from me, and we have been organizing a telecommunications system since. Also, one of the players had been more or less trapped in Ravenloft (Ireena and wedding shenanigans is involved) and thanks to Sending, we are currently gathering resources and allies to attempt a rescue. Now all my friends have been picking up Sending because of how useful it was.
Lore Bard lvl 6 :) Additional Magical Secrets At 6th Level, you learn two Spells of your choice from any class. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip. The chosen Spells count as bard Spells for you but don’t count against the number of bard Spells you know.
You know I once tried reading a book about a tower with the drawbridge up, but I couldn’t get into it. Oho I jest. Thank you to @Nerd Immersion for considering my signature spell for this list. You're welcome there anytime. ~Galder Fendt, Conjuration Wizard.
Yes, you may use a reaction on your turn according to page 190 of the PHB “A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else's.” You also have to look at it from rules as intended... ok, so, all of these things happen in 6 seconds (everyone moving, casting spells, making attacks) and it’s your turn. Example 1: You go up cast your spell end your turn then an enemy caster goes and you counterspell it. Example 2: You go up cast your spell then enemy casts counterspell (on a spell you already cast and used the time requirement for as your action) then you use your reaction to cast a counterspell so your spell goes through. In both situations (even though one is on your turn and the other is not) they are theoretically using the same amount of time (1 action and 1 reaction) in the same amount of time allotted (6 seconds).
I'm so glad Catnap got mentioned, I found a lot of players overlook this spell, but the one time I played (I'm usually a DM) I used Catnap and boy is it a great spell~
Starlight Lime why would you use catnap over rope trick? Unless you only have 10min before something happens, it is faster to cast, safer, and cooler plus it’s a spell level lower.
@@BigHank Agreed, in the campaign I was in time was of the essence, and I just generally love the flavor of the spell. But yeah, looking at Rope Trick, definitely a better alternative if time isn't an issue.
@@Michael-bn1oi right, it depends what you want. If you want a safe short rest then rope trick or Leomunds are far better spells. If you need a short rest in 10min then catnap is the only option outside genie warlock. I find the situations where catnap is better to be quite rare and would never prepare/learn a spell for that situation when rope trick is better >90% of the time
I don't think Catnap would give Monk their Ki points back, considering that in the description of Ki, it specifically states that you need to be spend 30 minutes of a short rest meditating to regain them, rather than just regaining them as a part of your Short Rest.
Catnap is a spell I feel is only useful if you are in a hardcore campaign where short rests are costly and the dm wont let you take them easily. If you can hand wave 10 minutes you can hand wave an hour in most cases. Plus they are asleep so there has to be 1 person awake at all times to keep watch for those 10 minutes. It only affect 3 people when parties tend to be 4-6. Some are missing out on healing or getting stuff back inevitably unless you up cast. Leomands tiny hut is ritual spell that lasts 8 hours and completely protects 10 medium or smaller creatures and is the same level.
I’d love to see more of the spell ranks. Maybe you could consider also doing best spells by class or play style? Only addition I really would like to see here is hypnotic pattern. One of the best control spells I know of.
I think the main issue with Catnap is its duration. You basically have to meet all of these conditions to make it worth while - Have enough players in the party that *actually benefit from a short rest other than just using hit die* - You are in a *hurry/being chased* and people are low on spells/ki points/maneuvers etc - You are in that weird middle ground that its too urgent for a *1hr short rest but 10 mins is just right* - Also willing to have 3 allies completely unconscious for 10 mins... *but arent you also in a hurry? Isnt that dangerous/cutting it close?* - Be willing to use a 3rd level spell slot that could be used for better spells *(Hypnotic Pattern, Fireball, Conjure Animals etc)* This spell is only useful imo if you have an incredibly short rest heavy party and you are actively pushing for a time sensitive objective. But it is completely broken in a *gritty realism* type campaign where short rests are 8 hours.
The spell level/cantrip limitation is specifically in the "Bonus Action" section of the spellcasting chapter, so you can cast any reaction spell, assuming you cast a leveled spell as an action, and not as a bonus action. This is also how Action Surge allows casting two action spells that are level 1 or higher.
The targets of Haste must be willing. So in theory, you could cast the spell on your opponent, and then drop concentration right when they run up to your allies, resulting in a lost action and immobilized enemy. This could be an effective debuff spell if you convince an enemy to be "willing".
I think the only time you can't counterspell a counterspell is either when you have used your reaction already, or if you cast a bonus action spell in the same turn as you're trying to counter. So a Sorcerer who quickened their Fireball couldn't counterspell the counterspell because they can only do cantrips that have a casti time of 1 action for the rest of their turn. On the next person's turn, though, then they could have counterspell available again.
I always took it that your reaction is once around and it doesn’t have to be tied to your turn, therefore you can take it at any time that’s how I always ruled it.
I believe Jeremy Crawford has said that counterspell can counter a counterspell. And if you have ton of people with that spell, you have the magic the gathering counterspell war. And you then mentioned the sage advice haha.
The question that I always see come up is, can the caster of the original spell sideline that casting to cast a counterspell without losing focus on casting the original spell.
For those want to know Counterspell work on your Turn. Here is Time 16:40 . Thank you Nerd Immersion, now next I fighting Evil Wizard, I going Counterspell his Counterspell when I am Casting Maximilian's Earth Gasp!
There is nothing in the rules that prevents you from a) using your reaction during your own turn or b) casting a spell as a reaction on your turn after already having cast a spell as an action. The only limitation on spellcasting (in terms of action economy) is that if you cast any spell (cantrip or otherwise) as a bonus action, you can then only cast cantrips* with your action(s).
and that whole counterspelling the counterspell loop you talked about reminded me of the scene from Mark Wahlberg's "the big hit" where the kidnappers use a "trace-buster" and the father (who owns the actual company that made the device) uses a "trace-buster-buster" to get the phone number. LOL.
As for the counterspell thing, this is from the SA compendium: Can you cast a reaction spell on your turn? You sure can! Here’s a common way for it to happen: Cornelius the wizard is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell on him. Cornelius also has counterspell prepared, so he uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell before it can stop fireball.
Keep in mind Ned, Bard has magical secrets and because Counterspell is an ability check Bards get to add their Jack of All Trades feature to the check (making them the best counterspellers in the game already). Conjure Animals is really good. However, you are correct in that the DM chooses what appears. Not only that but the player who casts the spell only gets to choose which option the options read "Up to 8 beasts of CR 1/8" meaning that the DM could give you a single CR 1/8 creature if they so desired as the spell states clearly that you only recieve "UP TO" X number of creatures of X CR. That said, Crusaders Mantle works insanely well with Conjure Animals if you get a ton of animals. Same when stacked with Animate Objects.
Regarding counterspell, this is what my dm ruled- anyone can counterspell a counterspell as long as they are not the one who casted the initial spell. BUT- as you only need somatic components for counterspell you can you can counterspell a counterspell while casting the initial spell as long as you have 2 free hands, one for each of the spells' somatic component
I mean, besides being a fucking kick ass, 10 metre telescope on my head, i dont see much. Perhaps if you're dealing with the moon, skyships or things on the sky, its useful.
I think the sheer versatility of Animate Dead should earn an honorable mention. Sure you're limited to necromancer wizards or clerics, but being able to add skeleton archers for extra ranged dps, zombies for meat shields to soak up enemy damage and/or grapple enemies pinning them in place (which also combos quite nicely with Cloudkill or other aoe poison attacks as they're immune) can't be overstated. Add to that the ability to upcast it and get 2 extra undead per level slot over 3rd, not to mention the bonus undead, bonus HP, and damage bonus granted by wizard necro's Undead Thralls ability, and you've got your very own personal army that's incredibly useful in and out of combat. Need to haul back all that loot, no problem. Need to dig out that collapsed tunnel, done. Want to build a bridge, yeah ok I got it. Nearly unlimited mindless manpower at your fingertips.
Galder's Tower is pretty cool. Considering in some rule sets of D&D a 8 story tower would cost 100's of thousands of gold and a significant time to erect before using it and then the cost of outfitting. This thing is up and running on day one. It could use some more detail and options. Magical stables? Summoning chamber? windows? battlements on the roof? Barracks with armory? Once permanent can it be modified like a normal structure? Galder's Tower in Icewind Dale would be a total endrun cheat around the dangers of north, at a level 3 spell slot.
Something I've thought of before is a party with a bard and a paladin combining Crusader's Mantle with Animate Objects. That's 10d4 radiant damage from your handful of loose change.
@@kylethomas9130 They're both concentration, unfortunately. Gotta pick one or the other unless you've got an hour to set up a Glyph of Warding in advance.
@@goldfencer wait, Glyph of Warding will let you duel concentration? Edit: Doesn't say no on the spell itself, and you could rig it to cast Crusader's Mantle on yourself...
@@kylethomas9130 Yeah. If you use the Spell Glyph option you could cast Crusader's Mantle into the glyph with the trigger being "when Animate Objects is cast nearby." The glyph concentrates on the spell for you, with the downside being that it can't move, and thus the aura effect of Crusader's Mantle doesn't move either.
@@goldfencer I was thinking that'd be the case, but if you were just setting up a Glyph trap of say Slow, would the enemy be only under the effect in that perimeter?
hey ted! really dig the new intro! :) i mostly agree with your video but you could have included "similar spells" - e.g. Psionic Blast (UA) at the place of fireball also, what are your thoughts on counterspell variant homebrews? e.g. reflect, 3rd-level, reflects single targeted attack roles against a creature you can see within 60 ft. back to the caster, up cast to 5th to a creature of choice instead of the caster; like counterspell auto-reflecting spells on the reflects casting level or lower and making it a roll for higher level spells then the casting. I'd really like to see your opinion on homebrew spells and homebrew items as a video series, or just a showcase series where you talk about homebrew creatures, encounter, spells, items, etc., you'd include in your game or tweak and include in your game :) looking forward to your answer! :)
If it was going to auto reflect, I'd think about possibly making it slightly higher than 3rd level, but other than that I like it. Though there are very few options of spells that actually have attack rolls. Homebrew stuff is definitely something I can tackle, I just need to sort out video priorities!
@@NerdImmersion yeah the attack roll specification is the reason why i usually see spells like this not being on a higher minimum cast than 3rd-level, but it can surely be 4th and then autoreflect anything lower than 4th, making 9th level attack roll spells still not 100% countered by a 9th level reflect. or just make it a variant of the shield spell, make it 2nd-level spell at minimum reflecting to the caster, limited on yourself, autoreflects if the let's say +2 AC from the Reflect would negate the spell attack from hitting, and if not it's a roll 10+enemy spell level vs. d20+Spellcasting ability. Then it's still a reaction, counterspelling, has spell attack roll specification, selfcast only, excluded from twinspelling because of selfcast, not totally garbage because of the +2 AC like shield's +5, etc. also make the bonus to AC equal to the cast of the spell making it useful at higher levels too, as the AC buff is the tie-in to the autoreflecting capabilities. there is a lot you can do with the concept of reflect. why not both. "Reflect Spell" and "Reflective Shield". ;^)
@@orionar2461 Longstrider and Jump are non Concentration so could be put with Haste. Idk why you'd need all 3 spells together, but I guess its possible.
our DM gave us an encounter where we were attacked by 8 cockatrices, so literally everyone was terrified of now being petrified. I pop out spirit guardians and all the cockatrices fail and i literally do 24d8 damage on my first turn. And i was high in the initiative, so the ones who lived through the initial barrage take more damage in their turns and the whole encounter is over in 1 round. That was a happy life cleric.
Great post! One thing I could think of - in terms of the "conjure animals" I've heard some people suggest that the animal(s) summoned should be native to the location/biome(sp?) where the spell is being cast (i.e. deer in the woods, shark in the ocean etc). However, because the animal being summoned is actually a fae spirit and not an actual animal, it theoretically doesn't have a direct connection to wherever you happen to be when you cast the spell and therefore maybe you ought to be able to summon any type of animal anywhere. That being said - obviously if you summon something like a shark in a forest, you're going to run into some difficulties hehe I haven't necessarily read someone else talking about this (though of course someone else must have, I just haven't come across it) and so does this make sense or am I overlooking something?
Galdurs tower looks really fun. Bar the door and I think enemies are at least going to find it hard to surprise you. I think any night time attacks would actually be pretty fun. Especially if you set alarms up.
I totally agree with Ted and the other commentators: Counterspell would have a place on the bard’s spell list! We are talking about an iconic spell which perfectly fits the bard's style. College of Lore bards are the strongest ones (thanks to their powerful 6th level Magical Secrets), so it would be nice to allow Counterspell by default for all bard and make room for the other bard colleges to rise and shine.
Well.... Problem with Bards is the jack of all trades. The counterspell on bards makes them the strongest counterspeller in the game. JOAT applies to counterspell. That is why it has to be gained using the class feature and not on the list by default.
So, as I sit here in my 11x11 office with a desk and chair, a day bed, some file cabinets and a chest of drawers, I think the 10x10 rooms of Galder's Tower would be doable, but would be cramped for more than 1 or 2 people. I suppose it would be better than freezing to death or sleeping in the elements. I think what throws it off on most maps is that most character tokens take up the entire 5 foot square, but in reality most people of average size are not that wide in every direction.
In my mind sending has a word limit for two reasons. It limits the amount of words that can be conveyed to enforce thinking about the message or secondly its a nod to telegrams.
Sidenote in relations to ki regain using catnap. Monks only regain ki points if they spend 15 minutes of the short rest meditating. Probably not super relevant, but i felt like mentioning it.
Catnap is legit quite good, your guess is completely correct. DM'd for a group consisting of a Wizard, Monk, Warlock, and Bard. The Wizard would Ritual cast Alarm and keep watch while giving the other three the benefits of the spell to recharge their short rest abilities. It was pretty solid.
On a different note, I hate hearing about how good Fireball is. It's good, sure, but I feel it's not as flexible as people give it credit for. When I play Borderlands, I don't use my rocket launcher at all times, but my Torgue assault rifle? Sure. Every gun fight. The Torgue assault rifle in this analogy is Melph's Minute Meteor. It has less damage per round and less AOE, but it deals more damage over all, is more flexible, and scales better with higher level spell slots.
My Cleric's love spirit guardians, quite often as we are decently high level (just leveled up to 13) I over level it to 4th as it is a bit of a dead zone for cleric spells and being able to hit everyone near me for 4D8 radiant is great and has made quick work of many a enemy
actually, it makes sense that bards don't get counterspell. the bard spell list is primarily illusions and enchantments, with a few druid spells mixed in. counterspell would mean that bards have trained in magic so much, they can interfere with a spell being cast. none of the bard subclasses are THIS focused on magic, with the exception of lore bards. the rest are casuals in the study of magic. i think it is extremely useful for bards to have the spell, but only using one of their magical secrets. (bards don't have the offensive series of spells that a wizard or sorcerer have access to, SO they can focus more slots to counterspelling) I am currently playing an arcana cleric and was disappointed that counterspell wasn't a domain spell, only the lesser spell-nullifying dispel magic. which makes sense since a cleric doesn't study how his spells work, just asks for them from their deity.
I recall the double upcast of spirit guardians insta death of the entire drugar army in your out of the abyss playthrough. Super awesome. Thank you for doing these videos they help me be a better player and dm.
You can counterspell a counterspell as long as you're not casting a bonus action spell. Read the rules on bonus action casting. Hope that helps. There is a sage advice in it as well confirming this.
Tiny Servant should have at least had an honorable mention. It's an insanely useful utility spell, especially for recon, and at higher levels you can upcast it and essentially have a small army of animated objects you can sic on enemies.
3:26 My reasoning would be that anything more than that and the chance of failure over planes would increase. I think it would make sense if you could cast it at higher level to send longer messages but the reason why it doesn't work like that in reality is probably just because tracking the words would become more difficult.
In my world, a major cleric is a pink skinned, white horned Tiefling. She uses mass healing word with 2-4 others also casting, on people all the time, at her clinic.
great job Ted. Keep up the awesome work. I know you have a ton of ideas but any suggestions on city development. My pcs have just entered a major city in my world and i have realized i totally underestimated the amount of development i needed to add.
I have an issue with counterspell countering counterspell. The description says "you attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell". So you're casting it before the original spell completes. For the original caster to counter that counterspell, they'd also need to do so before their original spell completes, interrupting its casting.
I'm surprised Hunger of Hadar didn't show up or get honorable mention. That spell's busted. Lots of damage output, the area is difficult terrain, it's magical darkness so the enemy could potentially get stuck in there for the entire duration, it's great. Also personally would've put Counterspell just above Mass Healing Word, since MHW is just a measly d4, which, sure, it can help in a pinch and targets 6 people, but it's also a 3rd level spell, so I'd expect it to heal slightly more. No doubt useful, but should do more imo at it's level. -Dakota
On the spell limitations, I believe it only applies when one of the spells in question is a Bonus Action. Since Counterspell is a reaction, the limit doesn't apply (unless they were counterspelling your Bonus Action spell? not sure how that works)
Spirit Guardians is bae. I'm a pretty tanky Life Cleric and 1st round Spirit Guardians followed by Dodge on subsequent rounds has been great for getting aggro and dealing damage. Totally agree with your #1 choice.
As a level 5th lvl cleric (grave) who just unlocked 3rd lvl spells im a little hesitant to take mass healing word just yet. For now it feels like I should wait my friends to fall unconscious and then get max heal with a simple cure wounds. ( lvl 3 would be ~28hp) That way i have a couple turns where i can focus on doing damage ( cantrips mainly) and potentially use my channel divinity. Will for sure take spirit guardian though :) top 10 ideas ; - Top 10 multiclass - Top 10 cleric domains
spirit guardians is insanely good. that spell alone makes clerics one of the most badass classes in the game. people don't really think of the cleric as a badass but seriously, for a class that you think of as "the healer" clerics are actually just completely nuts, they're one of the few classes that has a really good power curve in all 4 stages of a adventure. compare this to fighters who will fall off a bit in tier 3 and then allot in 4, or the sorcerer who is horrible in tier 1, and mediocre in tier 2. or monk... who is ok in tier 1, mediocre in tier 2, bad in tier 3, and horrible in tier 4... poor monk....
Bards need counterspell. Agreed that it is dumb for them to not have on their list, as they are gonna take it anyway. For shit's sake, the most clutch usage in pop culture was the finally for the first season of Critical Role. Scanlan the bard rocks that shit.
That and the Jack of All Trades bonus is applicable to a roll. Cast Glibness, and the Final Boss won't be able to cast a Cantrip without your permission.
Per your sending spell question in your video, I suspect the 25 word limit, is a generous allotment of words one can say in the 6 second (one action) casting time. But one can argue that the cantrip message doesn't have a similar restriction spelled out, but I use the 25 word limit for message as well based in sending.
Monks don't get their Ki points back through Catnap, though. It's stated in the PHB that in order to get them back they need to spend at least 30 minutes of the short rest meditating.
The only thing I find interesting in this video is that you include "Catnap"... which you have never used... It's a bit odd sounding to me since personally I've hardly ever heard of anyone using it or finding it useful. Personally I think Catnap would be better if it had a ritual option. I know this would make the short rest take 20 minutes, instead of 10, decreasing its usefulness, but third level spell to get a short rest... maybe not the best unless in a dire situation. In addition, personally, I find it not so great it only affects 3 people, and often parties have more members, so you would often have to cast it more than once to be effective or use a higher level slot, again wasting even more of a spell to get something that would probably not be needed as you could probably take a short rest if no one is coming in to attack you within 10 minutes.
You dont want it to effect the whole party. You want someone awake to protect the sleepers. Consider: you can use it whenever you ritual cast detect magic, which most parties get to do as a matter of course. A single level 3 spell slot to significantly heal 3 party members, get your fighter back to full resources, give 2-4 level 3 or higher slots to the warlock and give your cleric their channel divinity? Boss, that is a *BARGAIN*. don't forget that you can use it on yourself, that means you can arcane recovery. If a dm is throwing encounters at you for using catnap, but not for ritual casting detect magic (or other rituals) then that is an issue.
@@Rodrik18 I get what you are talking about, and thanks for giving me this perspective. I personally still see it not as effective as you, but that's probably because I've never used it myself. My point would be that, yes, this would be amazing if you have only 3 player characters or 3 characters in general who need a short rest. But often if you have 3/6 or so out of resources completely, then most others could benefit from a short rest after that tough fight as well. And it is still a 3rd level spell so if you are getting hammered constantly by encounters and need to use this, you could probably still use the slot for something else or could use regaining other spell slots, not just the 3rd you just used to cast it. But, I see your point, and can now see more situations where it would be useful.
@@PowderKeg3838 Yes I mainly see people take Rope Trick and get the same benefit as catnap with the added protection of the space where no one can be and its a lower level spell so double bonus
I would remove sending, catnap and haste. (Rope trick is usually better than catnap and haste can be disasterous if you lose concentration) and replace with dispel magic, fly, and hypnotic pattern
So here's a fun little rule nitpick. Catnap would not allow a Monk to regain their Ki. In the Ki section of Monk, it specifies the Monk has to spend 30 minutes of its rest meditating. So unfortunately RAW no Ki for Monks then. Now would I personally allow Catnap to allow you to recover Ki? Oh yea. But some DMs may not.
On the same haste bladesinger train! Got 2 levels of Rogue and the mobile feat too, so with haste and bladesong I can dash, dash, dash, and move with 100ft movement for a total of 400ft in a single turn.
Galder's tower was only in one book? It looks like a pretty good, I suggest you make a video just about spells like that. Spells that are lesser-known or were only in one book like that and some of the spells in acquisitions incorporated.
Its semi-official as it was a tribute to a player that died due to cancer. His character Galder was immortalized by WotC... By adding his spells to little known adventure module
I think Bard didn't get it because it was intended that your Magical Secrets slot will be used for it, as a countermeasure for getting access to any spell on any spell list
I give Druids Spirit Guardians because I don't know why they don't have it already. I mostly agree with the spell list but I would try to somehow fit: Slow, Beacon of Hope and Hypnotic Pattern, to my top 10 3rd level spells
One list that I think you should do is spells that either are Nonverbal and/or a list of spells with have No somatic components as that is in some ways an eye opening topic. Edit: simplification
While it's not particularly interesting or fun, purely from a mechanical viewpoint Revivify has to be one of, if not the, best 3rd level. The first spell that can bring someone back from death and the only way to do so as an action in combat aside from a Wish. Your party should never be without it prepared if possible
Where is hypnotic pattern? have you never seen it in use? Here is my list 1: Counterspell 2: Revivify (bring back the dead) 3: hypnotic pattern (Make half the enemies stare into empty air) 4: spirit guardians 5: Tiny Hut (you can shoot arrows out, they can't shoot in, this is not just safe rest, it is crazy good to cast in a room, as a ritual, and then lure the enemy into that room) 6: Sending 7: Haste 8: Fireball 9: Blink (Not concentration, and a defensive buff) 10: Mass healing word Honorable mentions: Plant growth (Humongous area of extra difficult terrain, that stacks with regular difficult terrain, that you can have pathways through. If your range game is better than the enemies, this can give you 2-4 turns of free shooting.) Sleet storm (the enemy will stumble out one by one, like lambs to the slaughter) Protection from energy (situational, but really good when you know what you will go up against, with no concentration)
I would like to see your top 10 spells per level and class. However, I am most interested in seeing your top 10 spells for 4th and 8th level as I find most casters tend to use those slots to up cast other spells rather than cast spells of that level with the exception of a few standouts like banishment, polymorph, and such.
I don't believe it should be posible to counterspell if you was already casting something with somatic component, but you can of course to counterspell counterspell which targets someone else.
I have a Death Cleric Lizardman that uses Spirit Guardians. Basically he casts it and grapples the weakest opponent and bites/grapple/rot them until dead and then repeat.
sending is almost always cast by clerics because they are way more free in what spells they get. they can pick any spell, so when the need for sending arrives they'll just prepare it after a long rest. a wizards has to spend ether one of 2 spells on a level up or have a DM that gives out spells and spend 150 gp AND 6 hours to get it in his spellbook. and yes, i dislike that wizards are so much more inept at magic then clerics and druids who don't need to do shit for it.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it doesn't say anywhere that you have to SEE a creature casting a spell to use COUNTERSPELL against it. I believe it was made a point in CR, when Caleb (Liam) stopped a control water spell through an opaque wall of fire.
You cast counterspell on the creature casting the spell, not the spell effect. So if you can't see the caster or have no idea they're casting it (i.e. sorcerer subtle spell) you can't counterspell it
"Fireball is fireball, I don't really need to explain it."
*BigDickWizard69 liked that*
All problems can be solved by fireball.
Ah level three spells. Generally the highest level slots most campaigns I've been in.
Voided Sanity and goddest lvl 3
Fam gotta love mid to high tier campaigns. Always feel bad when people dont get to experience 15+ levels
@@marcperez2598 yeah been wanting to do a higher level campaign. But I also love lower level stuff. Dnd or video games I love still being ground level with most things struggling then having more hit dies then the enemies have hit points
Marc Perez You do have to keep in mind level 15+ is Hell for most dms to run, the party can teleport nearly anywhere so you better have *the entire world* ready because you don’t know where they’re gonna go, monsters are going to be shred through, players become complacent and will rely on class features over clever tactics, double checking the wording on the higher level spells adds a lot more time to the game and if you don’t do that the players could abuse the system, and any major npc that isn’t an extremely high level caster is at the player’s mercy. As a dm I really hate high level campaigns because of how little control you have for the amount of work that you have to put in.
Can you do top 10 non concentration buff spells? Thanks
Spirit guardians is not difficult terrain. It stacks with difficult terrain.
Excellent point!
I'm really surprised that hypnotic pattern didn't even get an honorable mention. What a great crowd control spell.
Yes lol I was just about to say that. One of the best spells for its level in the entire game
My thoughts as well
Hypnotic pattern, Sleet Storm, and Plant growth are all spells that I would consider very good for various reasons. I also think they work in more situations then something like crusaders mantle
Chris Velo too many people sleep on sleet storm, it’s such a great spell
I saw Hypnotic Patten end an entire boss fight in 1 turn.
I know you said you had lots of video ideas already but here goes a few that came to mind:
1) Top 10 spells for bards magical secrets.
2) Top 10 spells for wizards spell mastery.
3) Top 10 spells for wizards signature spells.
I feel like clerics use sending more than wizards because they can swap their spells around while wizards must a choose it on lv up or hope the dm provide it in shops or loot
Also, to follow up, clerics and DIVINATION just go together for alot of people... The cleric gets things like Augury (as well as Scrying, etc.)... Clerics are great diviners... WHen the party is in divine mode it most likely has time for the cleric to prepare and cast maybe ALL THE GOOD divination spells alkl in one day WITHOUT searching for spell scrolls or grumpy mages to barter with...
... however remember that in 5e DND spell preparation is strange, i guess... Wizards and Clerics PREPARE SPELLS THE SAME WAY... yes Wizards dont auto learn them but any wizard will most likely gain sendingand other divination spells fairly soon considering their general utility and considering alot of hedge mages are actually working for the community in very much a utility capacity... i.e. iThey are common spell... and yes it is a MAJOR HIT to take it as a sorc or bard (due to limited spells learned) but i figured that all along Nerd immersion was comparing the wizard to the cleric (why are the clerics AND NOT THE WIZARDS casting sending? ).. So yeah the fact they auto learn most good divination spells is definitely a reason but i feel that the fact they get some divinations that WIZARDS dont get psychologically prime people to use clerics as diviners since they are a one stop shop for such things so to speak..
Not only that, but I find most 3rd level cleric spells to be... I dunno, uninteresting? Level 2 spells feel more impactful to me, so yeah, not much competition
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Revivify. As the only resurrection spell available for characters level 5-8, it can be incredibly valuable. It can be the difference between rolling up a new character and fighting another day, and even at higher levels, it's the cheapest, most spell slot efficient way to bring someone back after a battle.
I'm amazed Slow isn't included. Very convenient to use, and a powerful disable that works well against any type of enemy. It has the potential to entirely remove enemy spellcasters' turns. And you include Catnap?? The vast majority of the time, if you've got 10 minutes to rest, you've got an hour. Also worth mentioning, if your DM is using UA, the class feature variant added spirit guardians to the core Paladin spell list.
Slow is one of those that gets better with higher level gameplay, Multiattack, Reactions, etc.
Slow is amazing. I think the only thing holding it back is that it can’t be cast with higher level spell slots. Meaning, you have to cast other 3rd level spells at a higher level if you want to maintain the option to cast the spell.
@@rettwoods it can be casted with higher level slots, just doesn't receive benefits for that. Isn't convenient, but is possible if you need it.
In the PHB it says: "A reaction ... can occur on your turn or on someone else's."
It actually already answers a lot of questions regarding the rules. Just have to find them.
That’s not the question. The question is if you can use your reaction on your turn to cast a spell if you have already cast
I let Bards have Counterspell in my games cause they're gonna take it anyway and I want then to have more options
Hard pressed to think a reasonable build where a Bard doesn't take counterspell.
Campaigns where the enemies don't use spells?
@@thereaIitsybitsyspider A glib answer worthy of a bard.
@@kylethomas9130 it can be a tough choice for non lore bard
To echo the author of this post and nerd immersion himself: yeah what the heck is up with the Bard having to use its magical secret to get ciounterspell?! 100% should be a bard spell... Seems like an oversight to me really... Using resonate notes to disrupt the enemy spellcaster is iconic Bardic badassery in my mind... just as the bard inversely silencing the enemy bard is iconic bardassery...
Counterspelling counterspell is covered in the sage advice... was just about to say lol
Hah, same. Limit of one-spell-in-turn is only for bonus action spells... Which makes fighter multiclasses able to cast two spells with action surge 🤔
@@UmekCrafter yup and another commonly missed thing about counterspell is you only get 1 reaction so if another spell comes at you you are defenceless where aa if it is an attack roll you are way better off with a basic shield spell
@gangsteroyster nope still the same action economy ... 5 things in a turn
@gangsteroyster it's not just you. Anyone with a brain and two neurons to rub together will realize that you can't be riding a bike and doing jumping jacks to the same fucking time. It is exactly as you said, if you cast a counterspell in the middle of casting another spell of your own oh, you have interrupted yourself.
Wizard haste’s the fighter cleric gives them holy weapon
Life is good
...bard casts greater invisibility on them; the druid, freedom of movement; the paladin, shield of faith; the ranger, longstrider; the sorcerer, enlarge, and the warlock, fly.
Then everyone hides in a tiny hut and prays the enemy does not have dispel magic.
@@maxx8362 that would take the enemy a total of 8 combined turnes to dispel all the effects. And most battles wont have that many party members and many enemy spellcasters.
@@abcrasshadow9341 An army of wizards. The wizard corp have arrived.
@@abcrasshadow9341 That is not true, One dispel magic is (potentially) enough to dispel all effects.
www.dnd-spells.com/spell/dispel-magic
"Choose any creature, object, or magical effect within range. Any spell of 3rd level or lower on the target ends. For each spell of 4th level or higher on the target, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell ends. "
*"...Any spell of 3rd level or lower..."* when you target a creature you dispel ALL EFFECTS ON HIM, you must roll for each effect if you can't auto-succeed on it (up-casting Dispel Magic to the highest level the caster can do will have amazing value here).
@@rafaelplugge3214 Obviously there's room for interpretation, but I'd say since it's written as "ANY spell of 3rd level or lower on the target ends" and not "ALL spells of 3rd level or lower on the target ends", I'd rule one magical effect per casting.
Playing Curse of Strahd and Sending is the BEST spell to have in this campaign. I've been using it to keep in contact with NPCs all over Barovia. I've been gathering wizard allies, letting them copy Sending from me, and we have been organizing a telecommunications system since. Also, one of the players had been more or less trapped in Ravenloft (Ireena and wedding shenanigans is involved) and thanks to Sending, we are currently gathering resources and allies to attempt a rescue. Now all my friends have been picking up Sending because of how useful it was.
Lore Bard lvl 6 :)
Additional Magical Secrets
At 6th Level, you learn two Spells of your choice from any class. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip.
The chosen Spells count as bard Spells for you but don’t count against the number of bard Spells you know.
You know I once tried reading a book about a tower with the drawbridge up, but I couldn’t get into it. Oho I jest. Thank you to @Nerd Immersion for considering my signature spell for this list. You're welcome there anytime. ~Galder Fendt, Conjuration Wizard.
I'd be okay with watching top 10 videos for each spell lvl
Yes, you may use a reaction on your turn according to page 190 of the PHB “A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else's.” You also have to look at it from rules as intended... ok, so, all of these things happen in 6 seconds (everyone moving, casting spells, making attacks) and it’s your turn. Example 1: You go up cast your spell end your turn then an enemy caster goes and you counterspell it. Example 2: You go up cast your spell then enemy casts counterspell (on a spell you already cast and used the time requirement for as your action) then you use your reaction to cast a counterspell so your spell goes through. In both situations (even though one is on your turn and the other is not) they are theoretically using the same amount of time (1 action and 1 reaction) in the same amount of time allotted (6 seconds).
I'm so glad Catnap got mentioned, I found a lot of players overlook this spell, but the one time I played (I'm usually a DM) I used Catnap and boy is it a great spell~
Starlight Lime why would you use catnap over rope trick? Unless you only have 10min before something happens, it is faster to cast, safer, and cooler plus it’s a spell level lower.
@@BigHank Agreed, in the campaign I was in time was of the essence, and I just generally love the flavor of the spell. But yeah, looking at Rope Trick, definitely a better alternative if time isn't an issue.
Played a campaign where the bard had Catnap. My warlock had never felt so powerful.
@@BigHank probably because they do different things. Catnap is for the 10mins. That is the whole point lol
@@Michael-bn1oi right, it depends what you want. If you want a safe short rest then rope trick or Leomunds are far better spells.
If you need a short rest in 10min then catnap is the only option outside genie warlock. I find the situations where catnap is better to be quite rare and would never prepare/learn a spell for that situation when rope trick is better >90% of the time
I don't think Catnap would give Monk their Ki points back, considering that in the description of Ki, it specifically states that you need to be spend 30 minutes of a short rest meditating to regain them, rather than just regaining them as a part of your Short Rest.
Catnap is a spell I feel is only useful if you are in a hardcore campaign where short rests are costly and the dm wont let you take them easily. If you can hand wave 10 minutes you can hand wave an hour in most cases. Plus they are asleep so there has to be 1 person awake at all times to keep watch for those 10 minutes. It only affect 3 people when parties tend to be 4-6. Some are missing out on healing or getting stuff back inevitably unless you up cast. Leomands tiny hut is ritual spell that lasts 8 hours and completely protects 10 medium or smaller creatures and is the same level.
Ah yes, Spirit Guardians, aka, “the reason I play a divine soul Sorcerer instead of a Wizard”.
I think Davvy Chapy said it best, if you’ve got the 10 minutes for Catnap, then you’ve got the hour for a short rest.
I mean alternatively, if you're taking 10 minutes to ritual cast detect magic or identify, the others party members can get a short rest.
Top 10 for all spell levels would be cool :)
I’d love to see more of the spell ranks. Maybe you could consider also doing best spells by class or play style?
Only addition I really would like to see here is hypnotic pattern. One of the best control spells I know of.
I think the main issue with Catnap is its duration. You basically have to meet all of these conditions to make it worth while
- Have enough players in the party that *actually benefit from a short rest other than just using hit die*
- You are in a *hurry/being chased* and people are low on spells/ki points/maneuvers etc
- You are in that weird middle ground that its too urgent for a *1hr short rest but 10 mins is just right*
- Also willing to have 3 allies completely unconscious for 10 mins... *but arent you also in a hurry? Isnt that dangerous/cutting it close?*
- Be willing to use a 3rd level spell slot that could be used for better spells *(Hypnotic Pattern, Fireball, Conjure Animals etc)*
This spell is only useful imo if you have an incredibly short rest heavy party and you are actively pushing for a time sensitive objective. But it is completely broken in a *gritty realism* type campaign where short rests are 8 hours.
The spell level/cantrip limitation is specifically in the "Bonus Action" section of the spellcasting chapter, so you can cast any reaction spell, assuming you cast a leveled spell as an action, and not as a bonus action. This is also how Action Surge allows casting two action spells that are level 1 or higher.
The targets of Haste must be willing. So in theory, you could cast the spell on your opponent, and then drop concentration right when they run up to your allies, resulting in a lost action and immobilized enemy. This could be an effective debuff spell if you convince an enemy to be "willing".
I think the only time you can't counterspell a counterspell is either when you have used your reaction already, or if you cast a bonus action spell in the same turn as you're trying to counter.
So a Sorcerer who quickened their Fireball couldn't counterspell the counterspell because they can only do cantrips that have a casti time of 1 action for the rest of their turn. On the next person's turn, though, then they could have counterspell available again.
I always took it that your reaction is once around and it doesn’t have to be tied to your turn, therefore you can take it at any time that’s how I always ruled it.
Wow, my top10 would be something like:
1. Spirit Guardians
2. Counterspell
3. Conjure Animals
4. Fire Ball
5. Hypnotic Patern
6. Leomunds Tiny Hut
7. Mass Healing Word
8. Sending
9. Sleet Storm
10. Crusaders Mantle
Oops, missed haste, it would fall around Hypnotic pattern and bump the list down
Liking the "somatic components" being inserted into the intros lately.
I believe Jeremy Crawford has said that counterspell can counter a counterspell. And if you have ton of people with that spell, you have the magic the gathering counterspell war.
And you then mentioned the sage advice haha.
The question that I always see come up is, can the caster of the original spell sideline that casting to cast a counterspell without losing focus on casting the original spell.
For those want to know Counterspell work on your Turn. Here is Time 16:40 .
Thank you Nerd Immersion, now next I fighting Evil Wizard, I going Counterspell his Counterspell when I am Casting Maximilian's Earth Gasp!
There is nothing in the rules that prevents you from a) using your reaction during your own turn or b) casting a spell as a reaction on your turn after already having cast a spell as an action.
The only limitation on spellcasting (in terms of action economy) is that if you cast any spell (cantrip or otherwise) as a bonus action, you can then only cast cantrips* with your action(s).
and that whole counterspelling the counterspell loop you talked about reminded me of the scene from Mark Wahlberg's "the big hit" where the kidnappers use a "trace-buster" and the father (who owns the actual company that made the device) uses a "trace-buster-buster" to get the phone number. LOL.
Powerful level 3 spells which deserve a mention: Fly, Hypnotic Pattern, Protection from Energy, Revivify.
Yes to revivify... Makes a high level group that works well together nigh unkillable from my experience...
As for the counterspell thing, this is from the SA compendium:
Can you cast a reaction spell on your turn? You sure can!
Here’s a common way for it to happen: Cornelius the wizard
is casting fireball on his turn, and his foe casts counterspell
on him. Cornelius also has counterspell prepared, so he
uses his reaction to cast it and break his foe’s counterspell
before it can stop fireball.
Oh, should have watched 10 seconds more of the video, haha!
Keep in mind Ned, Bard has magical secrets and because Counterspell is an ability check Bards get to add their Jack of All Trades feature to the check (making them the best counterspellers in the game already).
Conjure Animals is really good. However, you are correct in that the DM chooses what appears. Not only that but the player who casts the spell only gets to choose which option the options read "Up to 8 beasts of CR 1/8" meaning that the DM could give you a single CR 1/8 creature if they so desired as the spell states clearly that you only recieve "UP TO" X number of creatures of X CR.
That said, Crusaders Mantle works insanely well with Conjure Animals if you get a ton of animals. Same when stacked with Animate Objects.
Regarding counterspell, this is what my dm ruled- anyone can counterspell a counterspell as long as they are not the one who casted the initial spell. BUT- as you only need somatic components for counterspell you can you can counterspell a counterspell while casting the initial spell as long as you have 2 free hands, one for each of the spells' somatic component
Also would love a top 10 for every level. I didn’t even know about that aura spell you mentioned this video
The observatory for Galder's Tower has to have some obscure benefit. Does it?
I'd give a bonus to perception checks for sure. A bonus to survival checks in some circumstances also. Good point Matt!
I mean, besides being a fucking kick ass, 10 metre telescope on my head, i dont see much. Perhaps if you're dealing with the moon, skyships or things on the sky, its useful.
I think the sheer versatility of Animate Dead should earn an honorable mention. Sure you're limited to necromancer wizards or clerics, but being able to add skeleton archers for extra ranged dps, zombies for meat shields to soak up enemy damage and/or grapple enemies pinning them in place (which also combos quite nicely with Cloudkill or other aoe poison attacks as they're immune) can't be overstated. Add to that the ability to upcast it and get 2 extra undead per level slot over 3rd, not to mention the bonus undead, bonus HP, and damage bonus granted by wizard necro's Undead Thralls ability, and you've got your very own personal army that's incredibly useful in and out of combat. Need to haul back all that loot, no problem. Need to dig out that collapsed tunnel, done. Want to build a bridge, yeah ok I got it. Nearly unlimited mindless manpower at your fingertips.
Galder's Tower is pretty cool. Considering in some rule sets of D&D a 8 story tower would cost 100's of thousands of gold and a significant time to erect before using it and then the cost of outfitting. This thing is up and running on day one. It could use some more detail and options.
Magical stables? Summoning chamber? windows? battlements on the roof? Barracks with armory? Once permanent can it be modified like a normal structure?
Galder's Tower in Icewind Dale would be a total endrun cheat around the dangers of north, at a level 3 spell slot.
Hell yes top 10 spells of each level! Let’s go
A lot of people say Catnap isn't that good, meanwhile my insomniac ass is looking at it as if it were the Wish spell.
With wish you can get rid of your insomnia forever
Something I've thought of before is a party with a bard and a paladin combining Crusader's Mantle with Animate Objects. That's 10d4 radiant damage from your handful of loose change.
Oooh. I want to make a fencer Bard that uses both of those spells on some extra swords.
Too bad they're both Concentration.
@@kylethomas9130 They're both concentration, unfortunately. Gotta pick one or the other unless you've got an hour to set up a Glyph of Warding in advance.
@@goldfencer wait, Glyph of Warding will let you duel concentration?
Edit: Doesn't say no on the spell itself, and you could rig it to cast Crusader's Mantle on yourself...
@@kylethomas9130 Yeah. If you use the Spell Glyph option you could cast Crusader's Mantle into the glyph with the trigger being "when Animate Objects is cast nearby." The glyph concentrates on the spell for you, with the downside being that it can't move, and thus the aura effect of Crusader's Mantle doesn't move either.
@@goldfencer I was thinking that'd be the case, but if you were just setting up a Glyph trap of say Slow, would the enemy be only under the effect in that perimeter?
hey ted! really dig the new intro! :)
i mostly agree with your video but you could have included "similar spells" - e.g. Psionic Blast (UA) at the place of fireball
also, what are your thoughts on counterspell variant homebrews? e.g. reflect, 3rd-level, reflects single targeted attack roles against a creature you can see within 60 ft. back to the caster, up cast to 5th to a creature of choice instead of the caster; like counterspell auto-reflecting spells on the reflects casting level or lower and making it a roll for higher level spells then the casting.
I'd really like to see your opinion on homebrew spells and homebrew items as a video series, or just a showcase series where you talk about homebrew creatures, encounter, spells, items, etc., you'd include in your game or tweak and include in your game :)
looking forward to your answer! :)
If it was going to auto reflect, I'd think about possibly making it slightly higher than 3rd level, but other than that I like it. Though there are very few options of spells that actually have attack rolls.
Homebrew stuff is definitely something I can tackle, I just need to sort out video priorities!
@@NerdImmersion yeah the attack roll specification is the reason why i usually see spells like this not being on a higher minimum cast than 3rd-level, but it can surely be 4th and then autoreflect anything lower than 4th, making 9th level attack roll spells still not 100% countered by a 9th level reflect.
or just make it a variant of the shield spell, make it 2nd-level spell at minimum reflecting to the caster, limited on yourself, autoreflects if the let's say +2 AC from the Reflect would negate the spell attack from hitting, and if not it's a roll 10+enemy spell level vs. d20+Spellcasting ability.
Then it's still a reaction, counterspelling, has spell attack roll specification, selfcast only, excluded from twinspelling because of selfcast, not totally garbage because of the +2 AC like shield's +5, etc.
also make the bonus to AC equal to the cast of the spell making it useful at higher levels too, as the AC buff is the tie-in to the autoreflecting capabilities.
there is a lot you can do with the concept of reflect.
why not both. "Reflect Spell" and "Reflective Shield".
;^)
Haste is basically force speed
I disagree. Force speed is basically the haste spell.
@@maxx8362 longstride plus jump
@@orionar2461 Longstrider and Jump are non Concentration so could be put with Haste.
Idk why you'd need all 3 spells together, but I guess its possible.
@@kylethomas9130 you dont need to add haste to get a thematic speed effect
For level 1, Shield is excellent. I take it every chance I get. It has saved my life so much.
our DM gave us an encounter where we were attacked by 8 cockatrices, so literally everyone was terrified of now being petrified. I pop out spirit guardians and all the cockatrices fail and i literally do 24d8 damage on my first turn. And i was high in the initiative, so the ones who lived through the initial barrage take more damage in their turns and the whole encounter is over in 1 round.
That was a happy life cleric.
Great post! One thing I could think of - in terms of the "conjure animals" I've heard some people suggest that the animal(s) summoned should be native to the location/biome(sp?) where the spell is being cast (i.e. deer in the woods, shark in the ocean etc). However, because the animal being summoned is actually a fae spirit and not an actual animal, it theoretically doesn't have a direct connection to wherever you happen to be when you cast the spell and therefore maybe you ought to be able to summon any type of animal anywhere. That being said - obviously if you summon something like a shark in a forest, you're going to run into some difficulties hehe I haven't necessarily read someone else talking about this (though of course someone else must have, I just haven't come across it) and so does this make sense or am I overlooking something?
Galdurs tower looks really fun. Bar the door and I think enemies are at least going to find it hard to surprise you. I think any night time attacks would actually be pretty fun. Especially if you set alarms up.
I totally agree with Ted and the other commentators: Counterspell would have a place on the bard’s spell list!
We are talking about an iconic spell which perfectly fits the bard's style. College of Lore bards are the strongest ones (thanks to their powerful 6th level Magical Secrets), so it would be nice to allow Counterspell by default for all bard and make room for the other bard colleges to rise and shine.
Well.... Problem with Bards is the jack of all trades. The counterspell on bards makes them the strongest counterspeller in the game. JOAT applies to counterspell. That is why it has to be gained using the class feature and not on the list by default.
I completely forgot about catnap!!! Good point.
So, as I sit here in my 11x11 office with a desk and chair, a day bed, some file cabinets and a chest of drawers, I think the 10x10 rooms of Galder's Tower would be doable, but would be cramped for more than 1 or 2 people. I suppose it would be better than freezing to death or sleeping in the elements. I think what throws it off on most maps is that most character tokens take up the entire 5 foot square, but in reality most people of average size are not that wide in every direction.
If your DM allows GGtR material you can take the Azorius Functionary background to gain access to Counterspell as a Bard.
Melfs minute meteors is a great combo with ice knife
As the only member of my party with access to counterspell, I'm glad I can use a reaction to block counterspells against my own spells.
In my mind sending has a word limit for two reasons. It limits the amount of words that can be conveyed to enforce thinking about the message or secondly its a nod to telegrams.
Sidenote in relations to ki regain using catnap. Monks only regain ki points if they spend 15 minutes of the short rest meditating. Probably not super relevant, but i felt like mentioning it.
Catnap is legit quite good, your guess is completely correct. DM'd for a group consisting of a Wizard, Monk, Warlock, and Bard. The Wizard would Ritual cast Alarm and keep watch while giving the other three the benefits of the spell to recharge their short rest abilities. It was pretty solid.
On a different note, I hate hearing about how good Fireball is. It's good, sure, but I feel it's not as flexible as people give it credit for. When I play Borderlands, I don't use my rocket launcher at all times, but my Torgue assault rifle? Sure. Every gun fight.
The Torgue assault rifle in this analogy is Melph's Minute Meteor. It has less damage per round and less AOE, but it deals more damage over all, is more flexible, and scales better with higher level spell slots.
My Cleric's love spirit guardians, quite often as we are decently high level (just leveled up to 13) I over level it to 4th as it is a bit of a dead zone for cleric spells and being able to hit everyone near me for 4D8 radiant is great and has made quick work of many a enemy
actually, it makes sense that bards don't get counterspell. the bard spell list is primarily illusions and enchantments, with a few druid spells mixed in. counterspell would mean that bards have trained in magic so much, they can interfere with a spell being cast. none of the bard subclasses are THIS focused on magic, with the exception of lore bards. the rest are casuals in the study of magic. i think it is extremely useful for bards to have the spell, but only using one of their magical secrets. (bards don't have the offensive series of spells that a wizard or sorcerer have access to, SO they can focus more slots to counterspelling) I am currently playing an arcana cleric and was disappointed that counterspell wasn't a domain spell, only the lesser spell-nullifying dispel magic. which makes sense since a cleric doesn't study how his spells work, just asks for them from their deity.
I recall the double upcast of spirit guardians insta death of the entire drugar army in your out of the abyss playthrough. Super awesome. Thank you for doing these videos they help me be a better player and dm.
You can counterspell a counterspell as long as you're not casting a bonus action spell. Read the rules on bonus action casting. Hope that helps. There is a sage advice in it as well confirming this.
Tiny Servant should have at least had an honorable mention. It's an insanely useful utility spell, especially for recon, and at higher levels you can upcast it and essentially have a small army of animated objects you can sic on enemies.
These are really hot takes but I'm glad you're calling attention spells I've never heard of rather than just talking about popular spells.
3:26 My reasoning would be that anything more than that and the chance of failure over planes would increase. I think it would make sense if you could cast it at higher level to send longer messages but the reason why it doesn't work like that in reality is probably just because tracking the words would become more difficult.
In my world, a major cleric is a pink skinned, white horned Tiefling. She uses mass healing word with 2-4 others also casting, on people all the time, at her clinic.
great job Ted. Keep up the awesome work. I know you have a ton of ideas but any suggestions on city development. My pcs have just entered a major city in my world and i have realized i totally underestimated the amount of development i needed to add.
I have an issue with counterspell countering counterspell. The description says "you attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of casting a spell". So you're casting it before the original spell completes. For the original caster to counter that counterspell, they'd also need to do so before their original spell completes, interrupting its casting.
I'm surprised Hunger of Hadar didn't show up or get honorable mention. That spell's busted. Lots of damage output, the area is difficult terrain, it's magical darkness so the enemy could potentially get stuck in there for the entire duration, it's great.
Also personally would've put Counterspell just above Mass Healing Word, since MHW is just a measly d4, which, sure, it can help in a pinch and targets 6 people, but it's also a 3rd level spell, so I'd expect it to heal slightly more. No doubt useful, but should do more imo at it's level.
-Dakota
On the spell limitations, I believe it only applies when one of the spells in question is a Bonus Action. Since Counterspell is a reaction, the limit doesn't apply (unless they were counterspelling your Bonus Action spell? not sure how that works)
Spirit Guardians is bae. I'm a pretty tanky Life Cleric and 1st round Spirit Guardians followed by Dodge on subsequent rounds has been great for getting aggro and dealing damage. Totally agree with your #1 choice.
6:15 I think tabaxi should get this spell naturally three times per day or use a spell slot to upcast it.
As a level 5th lvl cleric (grave) who just unlocked 3rd lvl spells im a little hesitant to take mass healing word just yet.
For now it feels like I should wait my friends to fall unconscious and then get max heal with a simple cure wounds. ( lvl 3 would be ~28hp)
That way i have a couple turns where i can focus on doing damage ( cantrips mainly) and potentially use my channel divinity.
Will for sure take spirit guardian though :)
top 10 ideas ;
- Top 10 multiclass
- Top 10 cleric domains
spirit guardians is insanely good. that spell alone makes clerics one of the most badass classes in the game. people don't really think of the cleric as a badass but seriously, for a class that you think of as "the healer" clerics are actually just completely nuts, they're one of the few classes that has a really good power curve in all 4 stages of a adventure. compare this to fighters who will fall off a bit in tier 3 and then allot in 4, or the sorcerer who is horrible in tier 1, and mediocre in tier 2. or monk... who is ok in tier 1, mediocre in tier 2, bad in tier 3, and horrible in tier 4... poor monk....
Bards need counterspell. Agreed that it is dumb for them to not have on their list, as they are gonna take it anyway. For shit's sake, the most clutch usage in pop culture was the finally for the first season of Critical Role. Scanlan the bard rocks that shit.
That and the Jack of All Trades bonus is applicable to a roll.
Cast Glibness, and the Final Boss won't be able to cast a Cantrip without your permission.
Per your sending spell question in your video, I suspect the 25 word limit, is a generous allotment of words one can say in the 6 second (one action) casting time. But one can argue that the cantrip message doesn't have a similar restriction spelled out, but I use the 25 word limit for message as well based in sending.
Monks don't get their Ki points back through Catnap, though. It's stated in the PHB that in order to get them back they need to spend at least 30 minutes of the short rest meditating.
Yeah I forgot how oddly specific that is
The only thing I find interesting in this video is that you include "Catnap"... which you have never used... It's a bit odd sounding to me since personally I've hardly ever heard of anyone using it or finding it useful.
Personally I think Catnap would be better if it had a ritual option. I know this would make the short rest take 20 minutes, instead of 10, decreasing its usefulness, but third level spell to get a short rest... maybe not the best unless in a dire situation. In addition, personally, I find it not so great it only affects 3 people, and often parties have more members, so you would often have to cast it more than once to be effective or use a higher level slot, again wasting even more of a spell to get something that would probably not be needed as you could probably take a short rest if no one is coming in to attack you within 10 minutes.
If you have 10 minutes you have an hour. No one uses this spell in any of my games.
You dont want it to effect the whole party. You want someone awake to protect the sleepers. Consider: you can use it whenever you ritual cast detect magic, which most parties get to do as a matter of course. A single level 3 spell slot to significantly heal 3 party members, get your fighter back to full resources, give 2-4 level 3 or higher slots to the warlock and give your cleric their channel divinity? Boss, that is a *BARGAIN*.
don't forget that you can use it on yourself, that means you can arcane recovery.
If a dm is throwing encounters at you for using catnap, but not for ritual casting detect magic (or other rituals) then that is an issue.
@@Rodrik18 I get what you are talking about, and thanks for giving me this perspective. I personally still see it not as effective as you, but that's probably because I've never used it myself.
My point would be that, yes, this would be amazing if you have only 3 player characters or 3 characters in general who need a short rest. But often if you have 3/6 or so out of resources completely, then most others could benefit from a short rest after that tough fight as well. And it is still a 3rd level spell so if you are getting hammered constantly by encounters and need to use this, you could probably still use the slot for something else or could use regaining other spell slots, not just the 3rd you just used to cast it.
But, I see your point, and can now see more situations where it would be useful.
@@PowderKeg3838 Yes I mainly see people take Rope Trick and get the same benefit as catnap with the added protection of the space where no one can be and its a lower level spell so double bonus
@@Rodrik18 I still think that Rope trick is a better spell and its a little lower level
I would remove sending, catnap and haste. (Rope trick is usually better than catnap and haste can be disasterous if you lose concentration) and replace with dispel magic, fly, and hypnotic pattern
I’m surprised revivify didn’t make the list. I’m glad you included some lesser known spells though. Fly would also make a nice honorable mention.
Fly's duration has always bugged me. I feel like it should be an hour
Nerd Immersion good point. An hour duration would give it more out of combat utility.
@@jaredpuwalski8545 yeah I find it gets more use out of combat than in combat because I always feel I have better uses for concentration
So here's a fun little rule nitpick. Catnap would not allow a Monk to regain their Ki. In the Ki section of Monk, it specifies the Monk has to spend 30 minutes of its rest meditating. So unfortunately RAW no Ki for Monks then.
Now would I personally allow Catnap to allow you to recover Ki? Oh yea. But some DMs may not.
Well, that nitpick sent me down a rabbit hole. I am still pretty sure that this requires an overly literal reading of the monk's ki ability.
To each his own, but I can't see passing over Leomund's Tiny Hut (ritual) for a spell slot that still takes as much time to cast as the ritual. ^^
On the same haste bladesinger train! Got 2 levels of Rogue and the mobile feat too, so with haste and bladesong I can dash, dash, dash, and move with 100ft movement for a total of 400ft in a single turn.
Best Homebrew that you have ever seen
Galder's tower was only in one book? It looks like a pretty good, I suggest you make a video just about spells like that. Spells that are lesser-known or were only in one book like that and some of the spells in acquisitions incorporated.
Its semi-official as it was a tribute to a player that died due to cancer. His character Galder was immortalized by WotC... By adding his spells to little known adventure module
Sam Riegal from Critical Role in season 1 made me believe any creation can be absolutely clutch if used right. Bards should have counter spell !
I think Bard didn't get it because it was intended that your Magical Secrets slot will be used for it, as a countermeasure for getting access to any spell on any spell list
I give Druids Spirit Guardians because I don't know why they don't have it already.
I mostly agree with the spell list but I would try to somehow fit: Slow, Beacon of Hope and Hypnotic Pattern, to my top 10 3rd level spells
Wow spirit guardians on a moon druid seems broke AF!
One list that I think you should do is spells that either are Nonverbal and/or a list of spells with have No somatic components as that is in some ways an eye opening topic. Edit: simplification
While it's not particularly interesting or fun, purely from a mechanical viewpoint Revivify has to be one of, if not the, best 3rd level. The first spell that can bring someone back from death and the only way to do so as an action in combat aside from a Wish. Your party should never be without it prepared if possible
Where is hypnotic pattern? have you never seen it in use?
Here is my list
1: Counterspell
2: Revivify (bring back the dead)
3: hypnotic pattern (Make half the enemies stare into empty air)
4: spirit guardians
5: Tiny Hut (you can shoot arrows out, they can't shoot in, this is not just safe rest, it is crazy good to cast in a room, as a ritual, and then lure the enemy into that room)
6: Sending
7: Haste
8: Fireball
9: Blink (Not concentration, and a defensive buff)
10: Mass healing word
Honorable mentions:
Plant growth (Humongous area of extra difficult terrain, that stacks with regular difficult terrain, that you can have pathways through. If your range game is better than the enemies, this can give you 2-4 turns of free shooting.)
Sleet storm (the enemy will stumble out one by one, like lambs to the slaughter)
Protection from energy (situational, but really good when you know what you will go up against, with no concentration)
Yes I also think revivify definitely needs to be there cause of how much it changes the game to be able to being back someone to life. Great list!
Are 300 Diamonds hard to come by?
@@kylethomas9130 yes 300 diamonds are very hard to come by
@@chrisvelo2595 harder than rolling a new character?
@@kylethomas9130 I think you mean a 300 gp diamond and not 300 diamonds but yes harder then rolling for a new character
I would like to see your top 10 spells per level and class. However, I am most interested in seeing your top 10 spells for 4th and 8th level as I find most casters tend to use those slots to up cast other spells rather than cast spells of that level with the exception of a few standouts like banishment, polymorph, and such.
Dont underestimate things like wall of fire, control water and divination
I don't believe it should be posible to counterspell if you was already casting something with somatic component, but you can of course to counterspell counterspell which targets someone else.
I would become a member were I inclined to let YT have any of my money.
I love your content, tho!
I have a Death Cleric Lizardman that uses Spirit Guardians. Basically he casts it and grapples the weakest opponent and bites/grapple/rot them until dead and then repeat.
sending is almost always cast by clerics because they are way more free in what spells they get. they can pick any spell, so when the need for sending arrives they'll just prepare it after a long rest. a wizards has to spend ether one of 2 spells on a level up or have a DM that gives out spells and spend 150 gp AND 6 hours to get it in his spellbook.
and yes, i dislike that wizards are so much more inept at magic then clerics and druids who don't need to do shit for it.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it doesn't say anywhere that you have to SEE a creature casting a spell to use COUNTERSPELL against it. I believe it was made a point in CR, when Caleb (Liam) stopped a control water spell through an opaque wall of fire.
You cast counterspell on the creature casting the spell, not the spell effect. So if you can't see the caster or have no idea they're casting it (i.e. sorcerer subtle spell) you can't counterspell it