Sword Burst: Keep Your Enemies Closer
Usable By: Artificer, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Spell Level: Cantrip
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V
You create a momentary circle of spectral blades that sweep around you. All other creatures within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 force damage.
At Higher Levels. This spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
The core difference between a lot of the play patterns you see between the full casters and martial characters is how they approach monsters. Characters like monks, fighters, and rogues tend to want to deal repetitive quantities of damage to a single target, while wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks get better tools for dealing damage to lots of creatures simultaneously. Obviously this isn’t the case for every character in these classes, but it tends to be the average. Sword Burst is a cantrip that illustrates this distinction quite well, and I’d really love to see it and its counterpart Word of Radiance find homes in the next printing of the Player’s Handbook.
Sword Burst is a really interesting spell to use as a full caster as it asks you some difficult questions like “is risking taking damage worth hitting more creatures?” What I like about these kinds of effects is it encourages you to build to maximize your chances of getting most out of the spell while minimizing the risk. Sword Burst paired with spells like Shield can open up opportunities to wade into huge groups of tiny baddies, spam Sword Burst until your HP starts to run dry, then Shield and get out of there with Misty Step or Expeditious Retreat.
Some characters won’t be built to want to ever be in melee combat, though, and on those characters, this spell is near useless. You don’t want this kind of effect if you’re planning on using it to stave off just one enemy; you want to be hitting three or more creatures fairly regularly for this to feel great, and at least two early for it to feel remotely worth it when compared to things like Acid Splash.
Sword Burst will have clear moments of greatness when used against the twelve tiny fey critters climbing all over you, and other encounters where you’d rather just pull out your quarterstaff and whack the thing. If you’re looking to play a frontline character who wants to kill bunches of baddies at once, Sword Burst can absolutely find a home on your sheet.
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