Primal Savagery: Manicure Wounds
Usable By: Druid
Spell Level: 0 (cantrip)
School: Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: S
You channel primal magic to cause your teeth or fingernails to sharpen, ready to deliver a corrosive attack. Make a melee spell attack against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 acid damage. After you make the attack, your teeth or fingernails return to normal.
At Higher Levels. The spell’s damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).
Review by Sam West, @CrierKobold
The werewolf as a player character doesn’t really exist in D&D 5e. Primal Savagery sounds like it should aim to offer up that fantasy; half man, half beast, destined for gritty brooding moments and inner monster turmoil, an anti-hero hunter using monstrous claws and fangs to rend evil doers. Mechanically, this spell is bland and off. It's a major miss for delivering on that fantasy.
Out the gate Primal Savagery’s numbers are just kind of meh. 1d10 damage isn’t usually better than 1d6+2 or 1d6+3; a scimitar gets you that, and doesn’t cost you a known cantrip. The range is locked to 5 feet as well; we’re comparing it to spells like Poison Spray, we’re getting less damage with a different type.
What really bugs me about it though is the spell doesn’t deal bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage. This spell deals acid damage. For something called Primal Savagery to deal acid damage is a baffling decision. They were fine with the spell's damage just being worse than an existing spell; why couldn’t its type be a little bit worse, too? Types are marginal in comparison, yet do so much in delivering the fantasy of an option. Narrating hits is a big element of storytelling; having to justify acid where it has no place is just such a bizarre choice to me.
I really don’t get why this spell exists in this state. Sure, it's just a damage cantrip, so it's mostly harmless, but it could have been a major element to sell a desired character archetype. Having it deal bleeding damage to creatures able to bleed would be sweet. It could act more like Shillelagh, giving you a temporary transformation that empowers your unarmed strikes by letting you attack with Wis. Primal Savagery didn’t even need to do anything new or interesting mechanically. It just needed to sell the were-creature fantasy. It failed.
If the acid fangs thing is something that appeals to you, this will end up feeling pretty mediocre. It's a worse Poison Spray; that’s not a great starting point for any spell. Still, that’s a high enough floor if it's your only damage cantrip where you’ll find it's fine. If you’re a moon druid, the main option I’d expect would want this, I wouldn’t ever expect to cast it after wild shapes get reset on short rests, though.
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