Poison Spray: The Exterminator
Usable By: Artificer, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Spell Level: 0 (cantrip)
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 10 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S
You extend your hand toward a creature you can see within range and project a puff of noxious gas from your palm. The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d12 poison damage.
This spell's damage increases by 1d12 when you reach 5th level (2d12), 11th level (3d12), and 17th level (4d12).
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
The d12: a dice so obscure only one weapon in the game, the great-axe, uses it, and so few spells I could probably count them all on one hand. That alone is reason enough to consider Poison Spray. If you got all the fancy dice, and want to use ALL the fancy dice, Poison Spray is a way to incorporate that tricky twelve sided enigma into your everyday skirmish!
If, that is, you don’t mind being right up in the enemies face. With only a 10 foot range, Poison Spray is trading one damage dice size increase for the 110 feet of bonus range Fire Bolt comes with. That is a LARGE difference for just a damage spell. Sure, this has the highest damage scaling out of any cantrip in the game because of its die size, but if your goal is to fire off damage from a distance this obviously comes nowhere close to being usable. Sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards, while they can occasionally dabble in frontline shenanigans, aren’t particularly known for being short ranged. Poison Spray asks you to get up close and personal with your d6 or d8 hit dice, and offers a boost of +1ish average damage over Fire Bolt. Not the tactically best option, to say the least.
I’m actually a huge fan of Poison Spray because of its major range limitations. When other team members are rolling d6s and d8s for damage dice with weapons and adding modifiers, it can be hard to feel like your resource-free attacks can compete. Poison Spray comes closest, with a higher max damage than the classic d6+3 short-sword, and a way lower damage floor of just a measly 1 point of poison damage. This is the definition of high risk high low reward, but man, I’m a sucker for risky characters.
If you’re looking for an excuse to care about your speed, defensive abilities, and d12s, Poison Spray is here for you. If you instead want a reliable ranged damage option, basically every other damaging cantrips with a range of 30 feet or more will do better than this. The martial cantrips added in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide can make this spell feel completely obsolete in this day and age if you’ve got a +2 or better Dex or Str. But I stand firmly on team Poison Spray: roll those d12s, get punched in the face by a gnoll now and then, live a little!
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