Thursday 12 April 2018

5e: Six Fire-Themed Spells

Today I present 6 new spells themed around the fire type!

The spells described below belong on the following class spell lists:

Class Spell Lists

Bard Cleric Druid Paladin Ranger Sorcerer Warlock Wizard

Cantrips

Combustible Cones
Combustible Cones
Combustible Cones

3rd-Level

Comforting Ember
Comforting Ember
Comforting Ember
Comforting Ember
Comforting Ember
Fire Flower
Fire Flower
Comforting Ember, Fire Flower

4th-Level

Leaping Flame
Leaping Flame, Scorching Corona
Leaping Flame, Scorching Corona

5th-Level

Flashfire
Flashfire
Flashfire


Stock Art © Brian Brinlee.


Combustible Cones

Transmutation cantrip | Classes: DruidWizard

Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute

You touch one to three cones from a conifer tree, imbuing them with explosive heat. You or someone else can make a ranged spell attack with one of the combustible cones by throwing it or hurling it with a sling. If thrown, it has a range of 60 feet. If someone else attacks with the cone, that attacker adds your spellcasting ability modifier, not the attacker’s, to the attack roll.

On a hit, the target takes fire damage equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier as the cone explodes on impact. If the target is not resistant or immune to fire, they are also set alight. While aflame, a creature takes 1 fire damage at the beginning of each of its turns until the fire goes out. The creature may make a Dexterity saving throw at the end of each of its turns to put out the fire. Alternatively, the fire can be put out automatically at the cost of the target's action or the action of another creature.

Whether the cone hits or misses, the spell then ends on the cone.

If you cast this spell again, the spell ends early on any cones still affected by it.

Comforting Ember

3rd-level evocation | Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (sunstone dust worth 100 gp which the spell consumes)
Duration: Until dispelled

You cause a coal, rock, or gemstone you touch to turn into a glowing ember. The ember gives off dim light out to 20 feet. It is warm to the touch and all creatures within the ember's light feel a cozy warmth whenever the ambient temperature is not already warmer.

For every twenty minutes of an hour that a creature spends in the warmth of the comforting flame while in an environment of extreme cold, the DC of that hour's Constitution saving throw against exhaustion is reduced by 3. If they spend the whole hour within the radius of the flame's warmth, the creature automatically succeeds.

When a creature completes a long rest while within 20 feet of the ember, for the next 8 hours it treats any Hit Die result of 1 or 2 as though it had rolled a 3.

If the magic of the comforting ember is dispelled, such as when it enters an area of antimagic, the ember crumbles into dust.

Fire Flower

3rd-level evocation | Classes: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (30 feet)
Components: V, S, M (a piece of charcoal, the pressed petals of a fraxinella flower)
Duration: 1 minute (concentration)

Lines of crisscrossing flame draw a flat geometric flower design in the air around you. It rapidly spins outward, growing until it fills a 5-foot-tall, 30-foot radius cylinder centered on you. The geometric pattern is denser closer to you, and harder to avoid.

The flower is divided into three concentric rings. From furthest from you to closest, the rings are:
  • 16-30 feet from you is the outer ring, the part of the pattern where a real flower's petals would be.
  • 6-15 feet is the middle ring, the part of the pattern where a real flower's stamens would be.
  • 0-5 feet from you is the inner ring, the part of the pattern where a real flower's carpels would be.
A creature that enters the area of the spell or starts its turn within the area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save the creature takes 1d8 fire damage if it is in the outer ring, 2d8 fire damage in the middle the ring, or 3d8 fire damage in the inner ring.  On a successful save, it takes half that damage. If the creature subsequently moves to a closer ring any time before the beginning of its next turn, it takes 1d8 additional fire damage, or half that if it succeeded at its saving throw on its turn.

A creature does not take additional damage if moving outward through the rings, as it has already taken appropriate damage for the worst ring it occupied during this round.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the initial damage suffered by a creature within the fire flower increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 3rd.

Stock Art © Brett Neufeld.

Flashfire

5th-level evocation | Classes: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (ashes of a dozen different burned plants mixed with the dust of a fire opal)
Duration: Instantaneous

A wall of flame appears on the ground within range, then roars across the earth consuming everything in its path in seconds. The initial size of the wall of 10-foot tall, 15-foot wide, and 5 foot deep, and it must completely manifest within the spell's range. The wall then moves rapidly forward 40 feet, treating either of its wide faces as its "front", before disappearing.

Any creature touched by the flashfire before it disappears must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 8d6 fire damage on a failed saving throw, or half that much on a success.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the spell's damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 5th.

Leaping Flame

4th-level evocation | Classes: Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a scorched wooden charm in the shape of a leaping hart, a strip of bark from a pyrophyte)
Duration: Instantaneous

You create a handful of flame that you hurl toward a target that you can see within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 7d6 fire damage. The flame can then leap to as many as three additional targets one after another, each of which must be no more than 30 feet from the previous target. Compare your initial ranged spell attack roll against the AC of each target. If the leaping flame misses one of its targets, the spell ends immediately.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the flame leaps to one additional target for each slot level above 4th.

Scorching Corona

4th-level evocation | Classes: SorcererWarlockWizard

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a piece of cinnabar, a small burnt stick)
Duration: 1 minute (concentration)

You summon an aura of flame that encompasses the body of a target you can see within range. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d8 fire damage on a failed save or half that on a success. On a failed save, the target is also surrounded by the scorching corona. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your subsequent turns to cause the target to take 2d8 fire damage.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the initial and bonus action damage both increase by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.

Wednesday 4 April 2018

Fifth Edition Fallout News: King's Ransom announced!

A few weeks back when I announced my own stream, The Hunt For Spring-Heeled Jack, I teased another upcoming game. I didn't want to say much more at the time. After all, the group in question had made no announcement of their own. Just a couple of hours ago at the time of writing, they've officially pulled back the curtain!

I can now confirm that the marvellous folks at DumpStatCharisma will start streaming their own Fifth Edition Fallout show! The first episode Of Fallout: King's Ransom airs on their twitch channel, May 1st at 5:30pm PST!



As a point of clarification, other than creating the Fifth Edition Fallout rules they'll be using and answering their questions about said rules, I'm not personally connected to the show. But I'm extremely proud that Fifth Edition Fallout resonated enough with the DumpStatCharisma crew that they've added it to their lineup. I'm very excited, and I can't wait to see what stories these guys tell with the aid of the rules I've written!

Make sure to follow/subscribe on twitch! You can also follow @dumpstatcha on twitter.

Can't wait to get a Fallout fix? Why not watch episode 1 of The Hunt For Spring-Heeled Jack?