Storm of Vengeance: More Like Shartnado

Usable By: Druid

Spell Level: 9

School: Conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Sight

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Components: V, S

A churning storm cloud forms, centered on a point you can see and spreading to a radius of 360 feet. Lightning flashes in the area, thunder booms, and strong winds roar. Each creature under the cloud (no more than 5,000 feet beneath the cloud) when it appears must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d6 thunder damage and becomes deafened for 5 minutes.

Each round you maintain concentration on this spell, the storm produces additional effects on your turn.

Round 2. Acidic rain falls from the cloud. Each creature and object under the cloud takes 1d6 acid damage.

Round 3. You call six bolts of lightning from the cloud to strike six creatures or objects of your choice beneath the cloud. A given creature or object can’t be struck by more than one bolt. A struck creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 10d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Round 4. Hailstones rain down from the cloud. Each creature under the cloud takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage.

Round 5–10. Gusts and freezing rain assail the area under the cloud. The area becomes difficult terrain and is heavily obscured. Each creature there takes 1d6 cold damage. Ranged weapon attacks in the area are impossible. The wind and rain count as a severe distraction for the purposes of maintaining concentration on spells. Finally, gusts of strong wind (ranging from 20 to 50 miles per hour) automatically disperse fog, mists, and similar phenomena in the area, whether mundane or magical.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

Storm of Vengeance does a lot of little things, and no big ones. For a 9th level spell, if you really want it to be worth the slot, you have to get to and want Round 3s effect and round 5-10s effects all while maintaining concentration on the spell. Because the spell itself is really good at breaking concentration, this probably means you need to be at least 360 feet away to use it. There just aren’t actual instances where that will happen. Compared to the other 9th level options, this spell is awful. Compared to most 7th and 8th level spells, this spell is garbage.

For starters, this effect is symmetrical. You take damage if you’re standing in your own Storm of Vengeance. To mitigate this, I recommend being some kind of tiny burrowing creature that can easily get fifteen feet under and just wait out the minute if you’d want to cast this above you. Because it requires sight to start, you do have to pass your own Constitution saving throw on cast if this is the case, though, but if you do, you can just become a little gerbil and hide away from the rest of the effects. Despite the cute image, this is kind of the best case scenario, and that’s not great. Imagine casting Storm of Vengeance in a place affecting monsters around you, only for it to immediately break your own concentration. That sounds pretty bad, huh?

Even if these effects stacked round to round (which they don’t), it’d still just be alright, arguably still just bad. Spending an action to deal 2d6 thunder damage and deafen people is ABYSMAL for a 9th level spell. If something breaks your concentration, that’s all you get. A big old Thunderwave for a 9th level spell slot. The 2nd round effect is BAFFLING bad, at a measly 1d6 acid damage. Round three gives you six 10d6 lighting strikes to single targets, which is around the power of a 3rd level spell, and by this stage we’re not even approaching the power of a 6th or 7th level spell.

Should you get to round 10, you’re dealing (at most) 20d6 damage to up to six targets for a 9th level spell, and a pitiful 10d6 damage to the rest of the creatures under the cloud. If there are more than six creatures you want to damage, and for some reason other better areas of effect damage won’t hit them because they’re spread out over hundreds of feet apart, if you can keep them in place for ten rounds, you’re looking at half of Meteor Swarm. YIKES. Not to mention, once again, the spell affects you, so if you’re within the storm, you’re facing the final disadvantage on maintaining your concentration on the storm itself.

The concept of Storm of Vengeance is sweet; the execution just doesn’t work. Concentration is feast or famine, and you can’t even put this in a place you’re fighting or you’ll break your own concentration on it. In this case, it's really only famine. If you’re planning on terrorizing a town for a minute this can do it, but so can Earthquake, or, hear me out, literally raining meteors from the sky.

If you love the concept enough to try to make it work anyway, burrowing is your friend, as is buying time. If you can scout out enemies ahead of time, and you can keep them within the area, you can potentially kill a lot of creatures with this. That isn’t likely, but will probably be the best use case of this spell that promises so much and wildly fails to deliver.

5e Spells

Storm of Vengeance: More Like Shartnado