Draconic Transformation: Do You Grow a Cloaca?
Usable By: Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
Spell Level: 7
School: Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S, M (a statuette of a dragon, worth at least 500 gp)
With a roar, you draw on the magic of dragons to transform yourself, taking on draconic features. You gain the following benefits until the spell ends:
Blindsight. You have blindsight with a range of 30 feet. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn’t behind total cover, even if you’re blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an invisible creature, unless the creature successfully hides from you.
Breath Weapon. When you cast this spell, and as a bonus action on subsequent turns for the duration, you can exhale shimmering energy in a 60-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 6d8 force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Wings. Incorporeal wings sprout from your back, giving you a flying speed of 60 feet.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Dungeons & Dragons sells a lot of the game in the dungeons, but not so much on the dragons. At least, not at all tables. Draconic Transformation is here to change that; with a single 7th level spell, you can ensure any druid, sorcerer, or wizard you play will bring the dragon element to Dungeons & Dragons.
Mechanically, you’re getting a 60 ft. fly speed, relatively short blindsight, and a 60 ft. cone 6d8 force damage breath weapon action. The best part? You can spam that as many times as you’d like for the full duration, and because this spell is a bonus action, that includes the round you cast it.
These transformation style effects can be somewhat tricky to use; in games where you’re not expending all of your resources between rests anyway, Draconic Transformation gets a lot worse. Its goal is to offer you a powerful repeatable action alongside bonus movement and observation options; if you’d be getting better damage or combat conditions out of casting other spells with your actions, you absolutely should be doing that instead. Draconic Transformation is something you want to cast to use as a tool for an entire fight, with as few other resources sunk into it as possible. If you want to do something besides fire out a 6d8 cone of force damage, and are only getting two or three breath weapons out of this, you’ll be way better off casting better single instance spells like Fire Storm, Prismatic Spray, or an up-cast high damage spell like Cone of Cold.
If you are running thin on spell slots each time you rest, this can be a phenomenal way to conserve resources while still contributing great damage. Each cone is around the same damage as a 3rd level Fireball; getting up to ten (so long as you maintain concentration) can feel like trading a 7th level slot for a bunch of 3rd level slots. Combined with the Fly effect and blindsense, this is a great deal.
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