D&D 5E What Spells Would You Nerf? (and how would you change them...)

[DND_Reborn]

Title says it all.

Obviously this is all subjective, so please respect everyone's choices. If you agree with a choice and want to comment on the nerf, cool, but please don't challenge a choice. If you don't agree with a choice, you aren't contributing in a meaningful way simply by stating the fact. Thank you!

So, for me three spells come to mind for the moment:

Healing Spirit

Yeah, no need to explain this one...

Nerf: Until the spell ends, once each round, whenever you or a creature you can see moves into the spirit's space for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, you can cause the spirit to restore 1d6 hit points to that creature (no action required).

This way the spell still heals a lot, 35 points on average, but it takes a full minute. It is how we've been playing it.

Pass Without Trace

• Lasts a pretty good time
• Can affect a bunch of creatures
• Adds a ridiculous amount to Stealth rolls.

I can live with the first two, but that least one is crazy. You will beat passive perceptions almost all the time. Coupled with Invisibility and you can pretty much walked around undetected.

My nerf would be to reduce the bonus to +5 or maybe grant each creature a bonus d12 to the check or something.

Revivify (and all other "return from death" spells)
No chance of it not working except by the flavor of the game (so no mechanical failure like the old Resurrection Survival Check).

My nerf: the Resurrection Survival Check.
When you are the target of a Revivify, Raise Dead, Reincarnate, Resurrection, or True Resurrection spell, you make a resurrection survival check. Roll a d20 against a DC 10, gaining a bonus equal to the spell level of the spell used. If you succeed, the spell restores you to life. If you fail, your soul is unable to return, and you are dead forever. Nothing short of a Wish or divine favor can restore you to life.

So, Revivify would grant a +3 to the check, making you need a 7 or higher to succeed, or more importantly a 30% chance to fail.

What spells would you want to nerf?

 

[Immoralkickass]

Agree with Healing Spirit, but not the rest.

Pass Without Trace - If they use this and Invisibility, they are using 2 level 2 spell slots. Those are limited resource, so not broken.

Revivify - Mechanic's a little fiddly, and i dont think those Level 5+ versions need a chance of failure. The time limit and material component makes them balanced enough.

 

[Bolares]

I'd go for healing spirit too. In combat it's okay for me, but out of battle it's messed up. I'd probablly change it to having a component cost or something like that, so it's not just free full heals.


About ressurection spells, I see where you are going with it and understand it. But the views on how easy it should be to come back from the dead are so different nowadays that I kinda like that they went the path they went on, living for the DM to restrict or condition ressurection in stories where it makes sense.

 

[cbwjm]

The only spell I think I've nerfed is healing spirit which instead summons a protective spirit that attaches itself to an ally, healing them at the start of their turn. The caster can use a bonus action to move it to someone else.

 

[lall]

Dispel Magic would only remove one spell on a creature, rather than infinity spells on a creature. The target would roll randomly to determine which spell goes away.

 

[Zardnaar]

The only spell I think I've nerfed is healing spirit which instead summons a protective spirit that attaches itself to an ally, healing them at the start of their turn. The caster can use a bonus action to move it to someone else.

Yeah that's good.

I would kind of treat healing spirit as the level 3 paladin spell. You get it 6 levels earlier so it's still good.

 

[Harzel]

Dispel Magic would only remove one spell on a creature, rather than infinity spells on a creature. The target would roll randomly to determine which spell goes away.

Wow, that's realllllly weird. I could have sworn Dispel Magic only removed one effect. I feel like I have just arrived from an alternate reality.

It seems to me that removing (potentially) all effects makes it an enormously potent spell. So, yeah, I'd absolutely adopt that nerf.

OTOH, it seems odd to me to restrict it to dispelling only the effects of spells, so I'd also consider 'unnerfing' it in that regard. Although then you'd need a way to set the 'level' for nonspell effects.

 

[tetrasodium]

• Eldritch blast. Classes with extra attacks don't even combine progress let alone give it to anyone with a one level dip. Make it a warlock class feature that scales with warlock levels rather than a cantrip
• Heat metal. This spell used to be fairly mediocre but now it's just insane as the animated spellbook heat metal episode nicely showed... not really sure how I'd fix it, maybe a low damage dot without concentration
• Tiny hut. That's an absurd debate not worth restarting. It's a magic tent with ac think of or like a glamper's tent.... anything that could damage or destroy a tent will have a similar effect on tiny hut

 

[Shiroiken]

Healing Spirit is the only spell I've ever banned from my game. I think I'll allow it now with the limitation of placing the spirit on an ally, so only 1d6 per round.

I changed Revivify to have the same disadvantages that Raise Dead and Resurrection do. In a high level campaign, it became problematic, because not only does the party want to use a lower level spell slot, but it also has no penalty attached. This made a 3rd level spell much better than two higher level spells, which bugs me.

I've not had an issue with Pass Without Trace, mostly because it doesn't matter if in direct line of sight (you can't hide if seen, regardless of your modifier). If you really want to nerf it I'd limit the effect to only those within range of the caster throughout the duration (once you leave the radius, the spell ends for you). This can make combat a bit tricky, because if the caster maintains concentration throughout the fight, anyone who got too far away is screwed.

 

[Monayuris]

I don't have too many nerfs. I do rein in uses of some spells to more reasonable levels, though (more about interpretation).

For example:

Thaumaturgy can cause an unlocked door to fling open. This means a normal locked household door. This doesn't apply to heavy, stuck dungeon doors.

Mage Hand, likewise, can't force open heavy, stuck, reinforced dungeon doors. It also can't feel texture (it's not an extension of the wizard's body like a real hand would be). My players try to use Mage Hand for a lot of purposes that it shouldn't be intended for.

Light.. I think I want to make this spell a Concentration spell.

Pass Without Trace was traditionally a spell that allows a group to move through the wilderness without showing signs of travel. It's not invisibility. It is a stealth bonus against being tracked in the wilderness, only.