Weird: Something Weird and it Don’t Look Good
Usable By: Wizard
Spell Level: 9
School: Illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S
Drawing on the deepest fears of a group of creatures, you create illusory creatures in their minds, visible only to them. Each creature in a 30-foot-radius sphere centered on a point of your choice within range must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature becomes frightened for the duration. The illusion calls on the creature’s deepest fears, manifesting its worst nightmares as an implacable threat. At the end of each of the frightened creature’s turns, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take 4d10 psychic damage. On a successful save, the spell ends for that creature.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Fear is a 3rd level spell. It affects creatures in a 30 ft. cone, and forces creatures to both drop what they’re holding and dash away from you while they can see you. Fear doesn’t even offer additional saves while they can see you. Fireball, a 3rd level spell, deals 8d6 fire damage to everything within a 30 ft. area. 4d10 averages to 22 damage, 8d6 averages to 28 damage.
I refuse to believe this spell was ever playtested. I don’t know who can take responsibility for this mistake, but they should feel bad that it exists this way. This 9th level spell requires a Wisdom saving throw to just FRIGHTEN a creature. It doesn’t force them to act in any specific way, and simply does so apparently as the creature's “deepest fear”. It doesn’t force any action, it doesn’t initially even damage the affected creatures. You don’t learn what these fears are, nor do you have any control over these illusions to say or do things that could manipulate the affected creatures. Then they get ANOTHER save to take 4d10 damage or end the effect. If something passes the initial save, this spell does nothing. If they pass the second save, it can do practically nothing.
Frightened, if you were curious, simply imposes disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks while they can see the source of the fear, and prevents them from moving closer to the source of the fear. As the threat is implacable, I’d rule any movement isn’t towards the source of the fear, making literally half this condition invalid. You’re not getting the frightened condition; you’re getting HALF the frightened condition. Even if you rule that “implacable” means they won’t move anywhere as the fear is all around them, we’re still not in the ballpark of a good spell. Making something not move can be done by a 1st level character and a grapple check.
We’re looking at two Wisdom saves to get less damage than a single Fireball, and a worse frightening effect than Fear. This spell would be a bad 4th level spell. This spell would be solid as a 3rd level spell, and even then some characters wouldn’t want this effect. This is a NINTH level spell. NINTH. Some 5th level characters wouldn’t want to cast something that’s supposed to be on the same playing field as Wish.
Don’t you dare take Weird. This spell is a disappointment to everyone, and should not exist in this form. Shame on whoever let this in the PHB. This isn’t a 9th level effect. Weird is competing against Meteor Swarm, Time Stop, Wish, and True Polymorph. Weird may not be the worst spell in the game, as some literally do nothing and this does something, but it EASILY ranks among the worst. Friends don’t let friends take Weird. I’m sorry you read its spell description.
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