Circle of Death: Level the Playing Field

Usable By: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Spell Level: 6

School: Necromancy

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 150 feet

Duration: Instantaneous

Components: V, S, M (the powder of a crushed black pearl worth at least 500 gp)

A sphere of negative energy ripples out in a 60-foot-radius sphere from a point within range. Each creature in that area must make a Constitution saving throw. A target takes 8d6 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the damage increases by 2d6 for each slot level above 6th.

Review by Samuel West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

War crimes are pretty common in D&D. Villains are known for massacring innocents to give rise to an army of undead, mass destruction of cities through raining fire and brimstone, pitting friends against each other with mind control magic, and summoning an impossibly large serpent to eat the sun.

While that last one isn’t technically a war crime, I'm pretty sure the UN would make an exception and prosecute whoever did it to the level of the highest court.

Enter Circle of Death: a 6th level spell that is outperformed by nearly every other damage spell in the game. Functionally, you are getting triple the area of a Fireball for a slot three levels higher.

On paper this might sound great; you can hit triple the creatures Fireball can! Practically, you will nearly never find times where you are going to NEED to hit that many more creatures.

Nobody casts Fireball and thinks "man, if only this could hit literally everyone else in the building". It's area is already massive; increasing the size gives you diminishing returns.

This then begs the question what else does this spell bring to the table? In the hands of a good/neutral character, basically nothing. It requires you spend five-hundred gold just to be able to cast it, and more often than not its area ends up being a downside as it's harder to get your allies to be unaffected. 8d6 damage is embarrassing for a 6th level slot, and that is all the spell does.

The spell justifies its existence to me as a hook for a quest against a villain looking to terrorize a city or large group of people. Some spells seem to be designed for monsters, not players. Circle of death is a prime example.

Picture this; a robbery occurs where the only stolen precious gem is a rare black pearl. It was far from the most valuable gem in the merchant's possession hinting at a nefarious purpose behind the theft. Locate Object fails to find the object; its owner must have access to magic like Nondetection, and deliberately left the more valuable items as means of obfuscating their location from magical detection.

As the party investigates the black market for signs of its sale, they uncover a gemsmith specializing in spell components with the proper tools to safely break down such a rarity murdered. All hints now point the players towards an evil force preparing to cast something dangerous they don't want the world to know they're casting.

It becomes up to the party to stop this monster from murdering the half a block of people at the upcoming celebration when they finally uncover the main purpose of powdered black pearl is casting the legendary spell Circle of Death (duh duh DUH!).

If you're a DM looking for ways to introduce a high level magical opponent, this kind of quest can be the perfect way to integrate them into an adventure made possible by the existence of Circle of Death. If you're a player, the spell is pathetic compared to your comparative options. Only take it if you want to be that horrible villain looking to do a war crime for whatever reason.

5e Spells

Circle of Death: Level the Playing Field