Color Spray: Clown Bukakke
Spell Level: 1
School: Illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (15-foot cone)
Duration: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (a pinch of powder or sand that is colored red, yellow, and blue)
A dazzling array of flashing, colored light springs from your hand. Roll 6d10; the total is how many hit points of creatures this spell can effect. Creatures in a 15-foot cone originating from you are affected in ascending order of their current hit points (ignoring unconscious creatures and creatures that can’t see).
Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points, each creature affected by this spell is blinded until the spell ends. Subtract each creature’s hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for that creature to be affected.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, roll an additional 2d10 for each slot level above 1st.
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Color Spray is tricky. It works in a similar manner to Sleep, a spell I’m all about. You roll a hefty amount of dice, and with no saves allowed, affect a bunch of creatures with a certain amount of HP or less. 6d10 is rocking around 33 hit points of creatures; in the early levels, that can often be five or six small low CR baddies or one moderate threat you’d be hoping to maim. Is a round of blindness worth a first level slot in the early tiers?
Probably not, but it's fine. My initial problem with Color Spray is that Burning Hands exists; If your objective is to incapacitate a bunch of low HP low CR critters, even on failed saves Burning Hands likely kills the creatures you’d otherwise be just blinding. If you want to non-lethally approach said monsters, Sleep gives you an AOE knockout at a way better range and area affected. With Color Spray, because it's just a 15 ft. cone, you may find yourself struggling to get the creatures you want in the area safely.
The upside in the low tiers is also quite minimal. Advantage to one or two attack rolls for a first level slot that asks you to position dangerously and avoid your allies and competes with better options… Yeah, it's not worth it. Guiding Bolt even deals damage, and will provide advantage once. That’s something you can bust out regardless of the enemies’ HP. If you’re in a fight with a 34 HP monster and you happen to only get 33, or worse yet, the big bad you’d like to blind so everyone can beat em up happens to be standing next to a few weaker foes, there's no guarantee it’ll even affect the creatures you want to affect.
While I like this spell's design, the duration, range, and area all come together to make it pretty bad. It's not uncastable by any stretch; some characters who like the dazzling light aesthetic can't get enough out of it for its slot. But if you’re looking for the best spells for your slots, this definitely isn’t one of them.
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