Maelstrom: Stuck in the Middle with You
Usable By: Druid
Spell Level: 5
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S, M (paper or leaf in the shape of a funnel)
A mass of 5-foot-deep water appears and swirls in a 30-foot radius centered on a point you can see within range. The point must be on ground or in a body of water. Until the spell ends, that area is difficult terrain, and any creature that starts its turn there must succeed on a Strength saving throw or take 6d6 bludgeoning damage and be pulled 10 feet toward the center.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Difficult terrain in 5e I always say is tricky. Its the kind of effect that doesn’t necessarily give you advantages, but when used in clever locations, it can have a major impact by slowing down advancing baddies. Maelstrom then comes in with its thirty foot radius difficult terrain, 6d6 bludgeoning damage each turn it exists, and ten foot pull to weaponize difficult terrain in a way not a lot of other spells do.
Maelstrom really can be the whole package. It’s great at dealing a bunch of damage at once. It forces creatures to dash away from it, and those that don’t basically don’t get to move while getting beaten to death. While spells like Entangle have a chance to eat actions, this nearly always will. It provides no good options for enemies in the area.
Pair that then with your Thorn Whips, Shoves, and Gusts and we’re looking at a pretty excellent spell. This is the kind of effect druids wanted for the longest time, and thanks to Elemental Evil, they got it. Giant areas of effects dealing large damage AND locking down the battlefield fits so nicely in their toolbox.
This isn’t going to be something you’ll be casting every fight. Flying creatures basically ignore it, and often single large entities won’t care too much about it. This is also one of those spells that doesn’t deal half damage on a failed save; it's all or nothing per creature. That can lead to it feeling somewhat feast or famine, even in spots where it's covering a massive area that a group of baddies need to deal with.
At the end of the day though most tables will love having Maelstrom around. Its a solid druid damage option baked with a massive ground area control tool. Every environment won’t work with it, and some kinds of creatures can mostly ignore the effects. This makes it a great to have spell for some fights, but not something you're routinely casting fight after fight after fight. That’s exactly the kind of spell I like; you should give it a go!
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