By Johnathon Wilson
I was doing some research for another article about my favorite Class Features and noticed something that I felt deserved its own immediate attention. Namely that Spellcasting is far and away the biggest Class Feature in D&D, and that there are quite a few spells that are secretly Class Features.
When I say Class Feature, what I mean is something that is either unique to the class, or a building block of it in some way. That doesn’t mean they’re strictly necessary, mostly just that the feature is either iconic or highly valuable. You could theoretically play a Paladin without ever using Divine Smite, but it would certainly be a deviation from expectations.
Essentially, just a nerd in armor.
That being said, go for it! I’ve played a Warlock without Eldritch Blast and still had a great time with the character. That also being said, this article isn’t about that, so let’s get on with it!
Cantrips:
The big standouts in the Cantrip category are Eldritch Blast for Warlock and Vicious Mockery for Bards. Shillelagh and Thorn Whip both deserve big shout outs as well for Druids, as they’re immensely flavorful and evocative of the magical hermit theme that’s so often associated with Druids. I would also like to note that I’m a big proponent of letting all full spellcasters take their prestidigitation/thamaturgy/druidcraft for free, without expending a cantrip selection. I personally enjoy spellcasters being just a little bit more magical, but that’s just how I do.
“Is THIS your card?”
Eldritch Blast is only on the Warlock spell list, and the subject of so many memes it almost isn’t worth talking about. Almost. It’s also an amazing tool that allows Warlocks to not need to worry about whether they’re useful in combat. For the cost of a cantrip selection, and an Invocation (one of my absolute favorite Class Features), Warlocks can consistently put the hurt on whatever gross zombie is attacking your party this week. A ranged spell attack for 1d10 of force damage, plus your Charisma modifier (scales up to 5 depending on how charming you are) for every shot is pretty excellent. It’s a resource free, long range, inherently magical attack, that frees up the rest of your character resources for flavor and utility.
If you’re going to jerk off a warlock, expect a handful of his Eldritch Blast.
Vicious Mockery is magical bullying, and if you need a magical bully, you need a bard. While most bards are capable of hurting feelings, your bard should be capable of hurting feelings AND bodies with their words. If a creature can hear you, you can force it to make a Wisdom saving throw or take 1d4 (scales up to 4d4 at Character level 17) psychic damage and have disadvantage on their next attack roll before the end of their next turn. So you’re so goddamn mean to something that you hurt its actual brain and make it worse at its job? Well Bards gonna Bard I guess. The low potential damage doesn’t take away from it too much, as the fact that the spell is tied to a Wisdom saving throw AND applies disadvantage on a failure is pretty nice. If you want to build a damage oriented Bard it’s probably not your first choice, but if you’re just looking to ruin a bandits day then it’s right up your alley.
“I’m sorry. Can you say that again without your mother’s balls in your mouth?”
Level 1:
There are a LOT of first level spells, which makes sense given how many first level spell slots an adventuring party can go through. There are also a lot of first level spells that fit the mold of a Class Feature, and while this isn’t meant to be a Class Feature bible, I also don’t want to skip anything that’s particularly relevant. I’m not going to touch on every class, so if I skip your favorite spell or class feel free to shout at me in the comments so I can cover it later.
Bless is a Cleric and Paladin exclusive spell, that allows you to temporarily bolster up to three of your allies in combat. They get to add a d4 to every attack roll and saving throw for the 1 minute duration of the spell, which for a first level spell is fantastic! Not only is it mechanically powerful, but it really emulates that “holy protection in the hour of need” vibe that people associate with the Cleric and Paladin. Almost every Cleric/Paladin I’ve played, and played with, has had Bless in their repertoire, even if you’ll end up being the d4 police since NOBODY REMEMBERS THEIR BLESS.
Find Familiar is Wizard only spell (except for Pact of the Chain Warlocks), that allows you to summon a spirit in the form of a handful of beasts like owls, frogs, ravens and bats. You can communicate telepathically with your Familiar if it’s nearby, and use an action to see through its senses instead of yours. It’s like a pocket druid! Except instead of ragging on your Paladin for their gleaming plate mail, your Familiar is a little best friend that can help with all sorts of things. You can even cast spells with a range of touch through your Familiar, so if you want to Shocking Grasp through the talons of your owl, go for it. The usefulness of this spell are limited only by your creativity, and how quickly your DM starts having all of your enemies target your Familiar. 10g isn’t much to replace, but it never gets easier to see The Fresh Prince of Loviatar skewered on some shitty bandit’s arrow.
“Well done, Mittens. Give it here now.”
Hunter’s Mark is Ranger spell, also available to Oath of Vengeance Paladins. It allows you to magically mark your target, causing them to take an additional 1d6 damage from all of your weapon attacks. It also makes them easier to track, allowing you to have advantage on Survival (Wisdom) checks to find them. This spell represents the supernatural ability of Rangers and Batman-y Paladins to spot weaknesses in their prey, and never lose track of them. It helps Rangers deal solid damage early on, and once you have a magical weapon, becomes superior to the Warlock-only Hex that adds 1d6 of necrotic damage. Necrotic damage can be resisted by some nasty extra-planar beings, but magical weapon damage will almost always get the job done. Until you run into a raging Barbarian anyway. It doesn’t matter how pointy your arrow is when you’re attacking that much beef.
Unless, of course, you two are into that sort of thing.
It turns out that I have more to say than I thought about some of these hidden Class Features, and that there are a lot more of them than I anticipated! I’m going to work my way through all the spell levels, and my second entry is going to open with some more first level selections since there’s too many great choices!
