D&D 5E Nystul's Magic Aura

[jgsugden]

This fun little 2nd level spell rarely is discussed, but it has such incredibly powerful potential for impact on a game. I was curious if anyone had any stories they'd like to share about the spell? This spell has made a HUGE difference in some of my campaigns. One prankster has done some serious damage with it.

 

[Stormonu]

I’d like to definately hear more. I carried forward and wrote the spell up for my home brew rules, but I haven’t actually seen it used in the past. It definitely strikes me as a spell that has a lot of potential for mischief - by the DM, not so much the player.

 

[Immoralkickass]

This spell always felt like a 'DM spell' to me. Most players aren't going to bother with it unless they know they will be facing enemies who use Divination spells, which is pretty damn rare. There was one DM that made his enemies scry on our party, but I can't see how this spell would help. Besides that, it was already too late by the time we realise this.
For DMs, its fun to hide fiends disguised as non-threatening humanoids and make the paladin players salty.

 

[el-remmen]

Back in 2E I saw it used by PCs as part of a plan to create a replacement duplicate of a magical item they were stealing.

 

[jgsugden]

Back in 2E I saw it used by PCs as part of a plan to create a replacement duplicate of a magical item they were stealing.

That is how I see PCs use it most often - to make fake items. A wizard in the party created fake potions with it and sold them while in disguise.

However, I have also seen it used to trick magics in a game that required certain types of creatures. I've seen it used by PCs to appear undead to other undead (definitely a DM call). I have a dwarven nation living behind entrances that only open for dwarves... usually. It is usually when the wizard has a chance to prepare the spell.

It tends to be of more use in homebrew games as opposed to the more railroady prepublished modules.

 

[Dausuul]

The trouble with this spell is that it is extremely specialized, but it's not a ritual. So, even if the party has a wizard (no other class gets it), and said wizard has it in their spellbook (far from guaranteed), the odds that they have it prepared when needed are quite low. You have to be able to take a long rest and prepare it before use.

It's a damn shame, because it's the kind of spell that encourages creative solutions to problems, instead of the more common spell effects of "bypass the problem entirely" and "set the problem on fire." I'd like to see it used more often.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

This fun little 2nd level spell rarely is discussed, but it has such incredibly powerful potential for impact on a game. I was curious if anyone had any stories they'd like to share about the spell? This spell has made a HUGE difference in some of my campaigns. One prankster has done some serious damage with it.

I had a rakshasa that used nystul's aura to be recognized as a celestial for the Paladin, leading the party in a trap and killing the Paladin in the encounter.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I feel the spell should have been updated in 5E to better reflect the namesake's aura. Mainly that a target steals a bunch of money from people, breaks promises and couch surfs professionally for the rest of their days.