Prismatic Spray: A Bookkeeping Nightmare
Spell Level: 7
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (60-foot cone)
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S
Eight multicolored rays of light flash from your hand. Each ray is a different color and has a different power and purpose. Each creature in a 60-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving throw. For each target, roll a d8 to determine which color ray affects it.
1. Red. The target takes 10d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
2. Orange. The target takes 10d6 acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
3. Yellow. The target takes 10d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
4. Green. The target takes 10d6 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
5. Blue. The target takes 10d6 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
6. Indigo. On a failed save, the target is restrained. It must then make a Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If it successfully saves three times, the spell ends. If it fails its save three times, it permanently turns to stone and is subjected to the petrified condition. The successes and failures don’t need to be consecutive; keep track of both until the target collects three of a kind.
7. Violet. On a failed save, the target is blinded. It must then make a Wisdom saving throw at the start of your next turn. A successful save ends the blindness. If it fails that save, the creature is transported to another plane of existence of the GM’s choosing and is no longer blinded. (Typically, a creature that is on a plane that isn’t its home plane is banished home, while other creatures are usually cast into the Astral or Ethereal planes.)
8. Special. The target is struck by two rays. Roll twice more, rerolling any 8.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Cone of Cold is a 60 ft. ranged cone you fire out that deals 8d8 cold damage to creatures that fail the save, half on a success. Prismatic Spray most of the time is dealing 1 less damage, with random damage types, and some chances to restrain a creature or blind then banish a creature. For two spell levels, you’re getting less damage most of the time and otherwise random, sometimes ineffective, sometimes backbreaking, effects.
Is this then worth it to cast? If you’re hitting eight or more enemies, maybe? The best result is actually close between 6 and 8, as restraining a creature for a minimum of three rounds is crazy good, whereas 20d6 damage (the most likely outcome of 8) is great, but not as good as removing an enemy combatant for at least three rounds. 7s are fine; they are Banishment, but slightly better as you don’t have to concentrate to keep the thing banished, granted just the blinded condition is worth very little on its own.
My main problem with Prismatic Spray is most of the time, this spell is just a worse Cone of Cold that asks you to roll an extra five to twelve dice, determine a bunch of individual results for seppearte monsters, and potentially add on subsequent saves for each that differ. If two are blinded and two are restrained, each pair has to make different kinds of saves with different quantities and different status effects determined by rolling randomly while a bunch of other monsters just took some damage. This extra tracking when I’m DMing I find to be a massive pain, so much so that I’m normally tempted to just “auto-fail” the monster to not have to remember it might get banished or petrified in the near future.
The disappointing element to Prismatic Spray, from my perspective as a player, is most of the time this spell that promises cool wild wacky randomness just feels like a big Burning Hands. It doesn’t usually deliver on the randomness prismatic effects are known for with a variety of status. It only really has three outcomes possible: damage, potential petrification, and banishment.
If Prismatic Spray really went for the random powerful conditions and upped the variance to include stuff like paralysis and sleep effects I think the spell would be a lot cooler, albeit still a bear to manage. As is, if you like just a wee bit of randomness and also want to cast a slightly worse damage version of Cone of Cold, I guess Prismatic Spray is for you!
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