Gift of Alacrity: Who’s on First
Usable By: Wizard
Spell Level: 1
School: Divination (dunamancy:chronurgy)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Duration: 8 hours
Components: V, S
You touch a willing creature. For the duration, the target can add 1d8 to its initiative rolls.
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
To start, I’m going to say I really don’t like Gift of Alacrity. This is a spell that arbitrarily powers up wizards late in the game, and is a terrible spell to waste your precious few slots on early in the game. If you’re firing off 5th level + spells, it's really easy to just slip this in your spell book and get what will feel like a permanent +5 to your initiative at next to no cost. Alternatively, if you’re a fresh wizard just coming into the world with two little baby spell slots, +5 to your initiative is a HORRENDOUS deal for a 1st level spell.
This spell's balance is just wildly off. At its most interesting, this is something around levels four or five you have to think about casting, but doesn’t really matter all that much. Initiative order matters primarily for the first round of combat; after that it's just a wheel. Having a higher result doesn’t make you act more; if you don’t kill the creature, it will act, and if it doesn’t kill you, you’ll act. The longer the fight, the less the 1st round probably mattered, and thus the worse initiative bonuses are. If you’re able to kill enemies before they act, though, or otherwise incapacitate them, initiative bonuses can be majorly impactful. That all relies on the initial round when order is first determined.
Low level fights tend to be fairly explosive and lethal. Spending one of your spell slots to get a higher initiative score that you’ll use to cast your other first round of combat means after round one, all of your resources are gone. You’re down to cantrips. In almost all cases, having a second spell slot to use to get an extra Magic Missile, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Hideous Laughter, or really any other effect is going to be better. Mid tier fights and up this will feel like a passive bonus; you’ll go first more often, and more consistently remove threatening creatures with Polymorphs, have better consistency in getting your summons up before you’re in danger, and overall have more flexibility for a slot you don’t really care about.
At least it isn’t strictly stuck to you; wizards can buff the entire party, or at least four members of it, for a possibly very low cost. That can be a nice team buff style of effect, but it has no business being something so easily obtainable. If you’re looking to get more use out of your 1st level spells, this is exceptional in the mid to upper tiers of play, and can feel just like a passive you get after every long rest. If you’re low level, steer clear. This effect is not worth a slot you actively are trying to get damage or more powerful effects out of. It's good after a certain level at most tables, and if you’re looking to power up your wizard in the mid to upper tiers of play, it absolutely can find a home on your sheet. It's just not a well made spell to me, and I wish it didn’t exist.
Thank you for visiting!
If you’d like to support this ongoing project, you can do so by buying my books, getting some sweet C&C merch, or joining my Patreon.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0.
A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.
