Crown of Stars: Stars and Strikes
Usable By: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Spell Level: 7
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self
Duration: 1 hour
Components: V, S
Seven star-like motes of light appear and orbit your head until the spell ends. You can use a bonus action to send one of the motes streaking toward one creature or object within 120 feet of you. When you do so, make a ranged spell attack. On a hit, the target takes 4d12 radiant damage. Whether you hit or miss, the mote is expended. The spell ends early if you expend the last mote. If you have four or more motes remaining, they shed bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. If you have one to three motes remaining, they shed dim light in a 30-foot radius.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 8th level or higher, the number of motes created increases by two for each slot level above 7th.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Brilliant stars orbiting in a crown shape around a caster’s head is a dazzling image. Burning out your foes with radiant strikes from shooting stars is an EPIC look. Crown of Stars not only talks the talk, it actually offers solid damage for a 7th level slot, and very crucially, can do so without eating your concentration.
Bonus action consuming damage effects are at their best when the damage is solid and you can actively do other powerful things while using them. Crown of Stars checks every box here, and in a way better than a lot of its competition. An hour long duration gives you ample time to get seven rounds of combat in. Having the ability to maintain concentration on another effect simultaneously can let you keep up summoning or powerful status effects alongside the stars, offering you huge amounts of power up at any given time.
If even just half the motes hit, getting 12-16d12 damage out for just bonus actions in combat is exceptional. On top of that, each of these can crit, so with advantage you’re damage output can spike to even bigger numbers. You can build around this kind of effect with Hex and other attack steroids. All in all, everything here is as good as you could ask for for the spell level; it even comes with an 120 foot attack range.
The light effects more often than not are going to be a liability, but by no means hold back the spell. Crown of Stars is getting to the top end fantasy of full-casters, and offers an incredible damage tool for dungeon delving and long fights. This is the kind of damage spell I’d always want prepped in the upper tiers. If you get a shot to burn bright with Crown of Stars, take it.
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