D&D 5E Moonbeam, Am I reading it right?

[PnPgamer]

M o o n b e a m
2nd-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (several seeds of any m oonseed
plant and a piece of opalescent feldspar)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
A silvery beam of pale light shines dow n in a 5-footradius, 40-foot-high cylinder centered on a point within
range. Until the spell ends, dim light fills the cylinder.
W hen a creature enters the spell’s area for the first
time on a turn or starts its turn there, it is engulfed
in ghostly flames that cause searing pain, and it must
make a Constitution saving throw. It takes 2d10 radiant
damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
A shapechanger m akes its saving throw with
disadvantage. If it fails, it also instantly reverts to its
original form and can’t assum e a different form until it
leaves the spell’s light.
On each of your turns after you cast this spell, you can
use an action to move the beam 60 feet in any direction.
A t Higher Levels. W hen you cast this spell using a
spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by
1dlO for each slot level above 2nd.

Moonbeam seems very powerful, and to me it means that you can trigger its damage each time on your turn (sweep through the enemies with it) and then just leave it on top of a juicy spot to trigger again on the enemy's turn. Am I reading it right? The spell seems insane to me!

 

[Sacrosanct]

yes and no. It is a great spell, but you do not inflict damage when you move it onto a creature. If a creature starts it's turn in one, or moves into one, then it takes damage. Basically, it will only take damage once per round (unless it's dumb enough to enter leave, enter, leave, enter again). It's also one of those spells that once cast, the enemy targets the caster to break concentration

 

[Gadget]

Just a quick formatting note: Black text on a black background does not make your post very readable. Just use the default font color for those of us who have the traditional theme.

 

[PnPgamer]

Just a quick formatting note: Black text on a black background does not make your post very readable. Just use the default font color for those of us who have the traditional theme.

Oh, I didn't know that this seemed different to some. I changed it, is it better now?

 

[keterys]

Optimal use would probably be a druid and warlock who could ensure that someone got pushed into it during the warlock's turn with eldritch blast, then started their turn there. Still, it's not a lot of damage and it's only a 5-ft radius. That enemy also has a lot of reason to disrupt the druid's concentration.

Seems fine.

If it does seem too good, that's probably more of a reflection on how bad many of the low level area effect spells are.

 

[Tormyr]

Moonbeam and Call Lightning are two of my favorite "low level" nature spells. Can target over several rounds, a little AoE, anf decent damage while staying relatively safe in the back. A couple months ago our half-gnoll paladin used moonbeam to seriously disrupt an attacking group of mimics, reverting many of them to their amorphous forms where they are less deadly.

 

[Joe Liker]

Flaming sphere and cloud of daggers are two other excellent, lasting 2nd-level spells that cause guaranteed damage. Cloud of daggers needs someone to push enemies into it, but it also deals damage that is less swingy and of a type that is almost never resisted.

These are all good spells, all on a par with one another, so I wouldn't say any one of them is overpowered for its level.

 

[keterys]

Moonbeam is much better than both cloud of daggers and flaming sphere.

But that's okay, because cloud of daggers is only useful for blocking corridors and flaming sphere is low damage, high effort, and can actively hinder your group.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Whether or not it's crazy powerful seems to hinge on this phrase:

"When a creature enters the spell’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there."

Depending on DM interpretation, you can deal damage to any creature that you move the moonbeam onto, not only when you move it, but also when the creature starts its turn in the beam. With a movement of 60 ft. for the spell, you could sweep it over the entire enemy party and deal 2d10 (save for half) damage to everything out there. The fact that the damage happens "on a turn" means that wherever the beam stops, that creature needs to save AGAIN or take damage.

The damage level itself isn't crazy high, but it could conceivably wipe out a whole army of low-level biters without much of a problem.

But it is basically a beam of death from the sky that you can harass an entire enemy party with, round after round.

Possibly, this is why it is Concentration -- if the enemies want you to stop that, they just need to figure out how to punch you in the face hard enough.

 

[Saeviomagy]

It's my belief that ether flaming sphere and cloud of daggers should be first level, or moonbeam should be third.