Talk:Precise Strike (5e Spell)

I believe that, despite not following the 5e design philosophy of avoiding round counting, it is justified in this case since the idea is scaling the power in true strike. Using 1 minute would be far too useful, while using turns would allow this spell to give advantage on reactions. Alos, Round is already the duration in some cantrips (such as True Strike and Blade Ward). Anastacio (talk) 05:52, 12 February 2021 (MST)

Anonymous comment

I don't know where I should post this, so I'm just writing it here. This cantrip is quite messy, since it has some errors and contradicting features that make its use and effect unclear.

1- The 30 feet range doesn't make sense if, as stated in the description, you must make a weapon attack as part of the action used to cast this spell. Either the range must be "self" (since you're the only one that can benefit from its effects) or the description should say "The target must make a weapon attack". It could also be the case that the spell only allows your attack to be made against a creature within that 30 feet range, and in that case a better wording may be in the lines of "Choose one creature within range. As part of the action to cast this spell, you must make a weapon attack against that creature". This would make it clear that the attacked creature must be in the "30 feet" range, while the current description, when it says "a weapon attack against a creature within range", seems to imply the creature must be within range of the attack, not within the spell's range. I assume the intended effect is that the caster is the one that makes the attack, but I add the other options in case I'm mistaken. Also, "a weapon attack with a weapon" is redundant. You may either mean "a weapon attack" or "a melee/ranged attack with a weapon".

2- The duration also doesn't make sense according to the spell's description. The description states that "this attack is made at advantage", wich means that ONLY the attack made as part of the action of casting the spell is made with advantage. According to this, the duration should be "Instantaneous", since the effect happens immediately after the spell is cast. Alternatively, the phrase "This attack is made at advantage" should be changed into "For the duration, your first attack each round is made with advantage", since this would make that it doesn't only have an effect on that first attack.

3- According to the description of the cantrip, it only grants advantage on the first attack you make in each round. This makes its duration a bit absurd. As far as I know, Sorcerers, Warlocks and Wizards cannot make more than one attack each turn (with the exception of Blade Pact Warlock). This would mean that the classes that can get access to this cantrip wouldn't really benefit from its duration. I mean, as it is written now, they would be casting it once (making an attack on that turn), and on the following turns making a single attack with advantage, while mantaining concentration on the effect. Alternatively, they could cast it each turn, making a single attack with advantage. So, wether they mantain concentration on this spell or not, they will end up making a single attack with advantage, and thus concentration in this spell is quite useless. The only thing that would change with it is that, if it has concentration, you must stop any spell you're mantaining concentration on in order to cast this.

Ive looked at the Blade Cantrips you say you used as a model and I see that many of these problems come from the fact that you used them as kind of a "template" to create your own. The problem with this is that those cantrips only have a duration because there's a secondary effect with the attack that takes place throughout the round, and your spell lacks any such effect. The Blade Cantrips have a spell range of 5 feet to avoid using them at longer distances, and they specify the attack must be made against a creature "within the spell's range", clarifying that you MUST make the attack against a creature within 5 feet even if your weapon has a greater range. By increasing this 5 feet to 30 feet you also make this limitation quite absurd, since most of the time you won't be attacking at enemies that are more than 30 feet away from you. The component requirement of "a weapon" that is found in the Blade Cantrips is already a bit unnecessary, since you need a weapon to make a weapon attack (unnarmed attacks are not considered weapon attacks since, well, they aren't made with a weapon), and I don't understand why would you change it into "a weapon worth at least 5sp". Almost all weapons are worth more than that, so it's a bit absurd to specify that cost when you're only excluding the Dart, Sling, Quarterstaff, Club and Greatclub.

So, looking at the Blade cantrips, I proppose the following version:

Precise Strike

Divination cantrip
Casting time:	1 action
Range:	5 feet
Components:	V, M (a weapon)
Duration:	Instantaneous

As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a weapon attack against a creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails. This attack is made with advantage.

There's no need in this case to increase the cantrip powers with your level. All the Blade Cantrips do so because all of them make additional damage. Giving yourself one attack with advantage each turn without any drawbacks is quite powerful, and it will be as usefull at lvl1 and at lvl20. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 79.159.52.79 (talk • contribs) . Please sign your posts.