Dec 18

Dec 18 Let's Talk Tactics - Battlefield Control Spells, Part 2

For part one of Battlefield Control Spells click here

Last week we talked about the battlefield control spells that used the four elemental forces (Earth, Wind, Air, and Fire). Today we will take a look at those spells that use plant life to provide you with the upper hand on the field of combat. There are not as many of these spells as there was last week, but the available ones are quite powerful when used correctly.

Here is a list of the spells that we've been using to control the battlefield, with the spells in bold being the one's we shall discuss today:

Cantrips - Create Bonfire, Mold Earth
1st Level - Entangle, Fog Cloud, Grease
2nd - Darkness, Flaming Sphere, Gust of Wind, Moonbeam, Silence, Spike Growth, Web
3rd - Call Lightning, Erupting Earth, Major Image, Plant Growth, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud, Wall of Sand, Wall of Water, Wall of Wind
4th - Control Water, Hallucinatory Terrain, Sickening Radiance, Wall of Fire
5th - Cloudkill, Control Winds, Dawn, Insect Plague, Maelstrom, Transmute Rock, Wall of Force, Wall of Light, Wall of Stone, Wrath of Nature
6th - Blade Barrier, Programmed Illusion, Wall of Ice, Wall of Thorns
7th - Forcecage, Mirage Arcane, Reverse Gravity, Whirlwind
8th - Control Weather, Earthquake, Incendiary Cloud, Tsunami
9th - Prismatic Wall, Storm of Vengeance

Thank goodness there are only four spells because the previous article had nine. The good thing about only having four spells to look at is we can take a closer look at each one. Since we are looking at plant life spells, this is going to be the druid show mostly.

Entangle
Classes - Druid
Spell Level - 1st, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - Restrained
Range/Area - 90 ft. (20 ft. cube), Duration - 1 Minute, Contrentration Required - Yes

If you've ever read the DC comic Swamp Thing, you'll recognize this as one of its original abilities. Once the spell is cast, weeds and vines burst from the ground and try to grab onto your ankles. Now it's only a 1st level spell, so the creatures you target can use their action to make a Strength check against your spell DC to break free. But Strength check doesn’t add their proficiency bonus, so that’s a huge bonus for you. Makes it way harder to break out. Concentration is also required, so laying this spell down properly is the only way to make it work effectively.

What you get for your little 1st level spell is an impressive way to guide that annoying pack of kobolds exactly where you want them to be or slow them down enough to get yourself into position. There is no damage involved, but as we've stated before, any damage is usually a secondary benefit when it comes to battlefield control spells. What you do gain from the spell is two-fold. First, the ground within the 20-foot square becomes difficult terrain. Second, any creature inside the square when you cast it is restrained if they fail their Strength check. This effect is weaker than higher level spells that require you to make a check when you start your turn inside the AoE or enter it for the first time, but it is a 1st level spell so let's not get greedy. Both elements of this spell make it one of the most powerful ways to control combat during your time at those trying lower levels.

As we all know, difficult terrain slows down the enemy by forcing you to move at half speed as moving 1 foot in difficult terrain costs 2 feet of speed. For a creature with a movement speed of 30 feet who decides to go straight through the brambles, it would take them two turns to get through the spell's area of effect. This provides you with a minimum of one round to set up your attacks and allows you to essentially get off a 'free' round of ranged attacks against your foes.

The Restrained condition is a real bitch, and the fact that a 1st level druid can impose it upon several targets at once blows me away. You reduce the restrained foe to 0 speed, your attacks are at advantage, and theirs are at disadvantage, and as the cherry on top, they have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws. Do you ever wonder why every class gets at least a couple of ranged weapons? I honestly think it's in case an evil druid casts the entangle spell. Restrained creatures are target practice, so fire those arrows and hurl those handaxes. And lest we forget about our spellcasters, guess what cantrips and 1st level spells require Dexterity saves? We have acid splash cantrip that does 1d6 acid damage for your artificer, sorcerer, or wizard. The cleric can rain down 1d8 radiant damage with the sacred flame spell. My personal favorite has to be the catapult spell. A full wineskin weighs 5lbs. I never thought my character would inflict 3d8 damage with a sheep’s bladder full of wine, but I guess I wasn't thinking creatively enough.

All of this begs the question, how do I lay the spell down effectively to accomplish any of this? It depends on the environment in which you are fighting as there are two primary ways to use this spell. The first way is as a redirection tool by forcing your enemies to alter their course. In this example, we are fighting out in the open on a grassy plain; our druid drops the spell approximately 20 feet from his location and directly in front of the first two vampire spawn headed our way. Our foes now have a decision to make. Do they veer off to either side or brave the overgrown area. Now vampire spawn are not the most intelligent creatures, but they aren’t stupid either. They realize that going straight through the brambles would take two full rounds while going around would put them on the other side in a single round. Without a ranged attack option, they split their group up to accomplish this, two going left and two going right. (Map #2)

The party now has multiple options available. They can split up and fight two on two, all move and attack one pair before they have an opportunity, or position themselves in any number of other ways. The party decides to move to the right and attack the two vampire spawn there. Realizing they can position themselves so that the two remaining spawn on the left cannot reach all four members, they move into position (see map 3). They now are flanking one of the spawns gaining the benefit from this maneuver if you are using the variant rules. If not, then your two fighters have the option of attacking either creature. Our under-dressed druid has moved to the right of the same spawn and our grey cloaked wizard has moved to stay out of melee range.

When the vampire spawn’s turn rolls around, the two on the left only have limited options on who they are able to reach and attack this round. Our wizard is far safely out of range unless one of the two spawn on the right wants to move to him and be subject to multiple attacks of opportunity. In fact, the wizard could move completely out of everyone’s range if the map was bigger. Either way, he is still able to use any spell with a range of 30 feet or better. The druid is also out of the melee range of the left side spawn, leaving only the two fighters within melee reach after their movement. Now you may say that the spawn could all position themselves in a way to gang up on the white tunic fighter, but this is why we placed the party member who (probably) has the highest armor class and number of hit points there. Finally, the druid has a much higher chance of maintaining concentration with the limited number of attacks that can be made against him, even though he will probably want to drop it.

There are a number of other ways to go with this spell. If your foes have ranged attacks at their disposal, you would want to drop the spell directly on top of them so if they fail their saving throw those attacks are made at disadvantage. Even if they succeed, you can return fire or are close enough to wade into the brambles yourself and reach them in one round. But it’s time to move on to….

Spike Growth
Classes - Druid, Ranger
Spell Level - 2nd, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - 2d4
Range/Area - 150 ft. (20 ft. radius), Duration - 10 Minute, Contrentration Required - Yes

The Spike Growth spell works on the same basic premise but is influential in a different way. The spell’s range now allows you to throw this out there from a much greater distance. It is a nice bump, especially since your wizard is chomping at the bit to cast their fireball, and it too has a range of 150 feet. It lasts 9 minutes longer than entangle, which is useful in certain situations, but you’ll need a little more than a 2nd level spell if combat lasts 100 rounds. We’ll get into how a 20-foot radius is always bigger than you think it is below, but for now, let’s just say it is an improvement over the 20-foot square.

The meat of the spell is threefold. First, that twenty-foot radius that you have turned into a briar patch is camouflaged. A creature that isn’t looking when you cast the spell must make a Wisdom (Perception) check against your spell save DC, with failure resulting in an individual only realizing something is wrong until they enter the spell’s area of effect. While there is no restrained condition involved when your victim moves into the area, it takes 2d4 piercing damage for every 5 feet it travels. Having your movement speed cut in half and feeling like you’re dying from 100 little thorn pricks is a good indication that you’ve just entered into a horrible area of difficult terrain.

With damage replacing the possibility of the restrained condition, how we utilize this spell should be examined differently from our previous briar patch spell. First, let’s talk a little more about that 20-foot radius area of effect. It covers a lot more ground than our small 20-foot square, but using it as a wall type spell presents some different challenges than before. How you lay down the spell can slow down and damage a creature for anywhere from a single round up to the entire length of combat based on how you position the party to trap them inside the area.

When using spike growth, you can either use it as a trap or an attack causing your foes to take instant damage and hopefully scatter. When you use it as a trap, you’ll want to set it where there may be a choke point or at the entrance of a room if you are in a dungeon. Once they discover your trickery, your enemies will have to make a choice. Keep pushing forward slowly and take the damage for a few rounds minimum or back up and use ranged weapons in the narrow area, allowing for a potentially catastrophic AOE spell to be cast their way.

For this example, our party is dungeon diving and has just looted the long-dead king's room, alerting his undead troops. The party realizes what they have done and can hear the skeletons coming down the hallway. The druid steps forward lays down spike growth, and the party gets into position. When the first skeleton reveals the briar patch, the skeletons have a decision to make. Back up and use their bows or plod forward to get within melee range. Our party is a smart bunch and has positioned themselves to limit the skeleton’s line sight, rendering the skeleton’s arrows ineffective. Without any other options (and not being the smartest creatures), they start to move forward. That’s right around the time that the wizard steps out from behind the cauldron, and everyone watches as a bright streak leaps out from his finger and explodes in flames just inside the hallway, turning the skeletons into dust.

Plant Growth
Classes - Bard, Druid, Ranger
Spell Level - 3rd, Casting Time - Special (1 Action), Damage/Effect - 2d4
Range/Area - 150 ft. (100 ft. radius), Duration - Instanteous, Contrentration Required - No

When you cast this spell, you create not just a bramble patch but a densely overgrown area that requires 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot a creature moves. When things get that slow, it’s time to either find a way around or gain a fly speed. The problem with finding a way around it is that the area of effect is a 100-foot radius from a point you choose. That’s huge, making it a great spell for fighting swarms and hordes.

What really makes the spell neat is that you can exclude one or more areas of any size within the newly formed overgrown area. This allows you to set up in the thick, overgrown area and attack with ranged weapons and/or spells. You can arrange your troops so that the short bow archers are closer to the edges and the longbows in the center. Sprinkle a few spell casters throughout to augment the archers, and you are ready to take on the incoming zombie horde.

Here’s another little trick, but you should talk to your DM to make sure it will be allowed. If your opponents aren’t zombies but a battalion of hobgoblins with longbows of their own, you may end up trading arrows. One way to gain the upper hand is to utilize the dense plant life around to provide cover. Since you aren’t planning on going anywhere, after you fire your arrow, drop prone. A solid argument can be made that the spell's effects would provide at least some measure of cover when you’re lying on your back. If all movement is now 4 to 1, one would imagine the plant life is extremely thick and relatively high. If a low wall provides 1/2 cover, I see no reason why the vegetation couldn’t be treated the same way. Next round you can stand right back up, fire your next arrow, and drop prone again, as falling down does not require any movement. Of course, none of this works if your enemies have a fly speed. So that leads us to…

Wrath of Nature
Classes - Druid, Ranger
Spell Level - 5th, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - See Below.
Range/Area - 120 ft. (60 ft. cube), Duration - 1 Minute, Contrentration Required - Yes

Everything in nature is getting into the act, and it is pissed off. Why a cube, you ask? It’s because trees and rocks get to take a swing at you. The ground within the cube is once again difficult terrain, and you can once again be restrained if you fail your Strength saving throw. That said, this is a 5th level spell, so making a save against your spell save DC will be a bit more difficult than it was for a 1st level spell.

Now about those flying creatures. We’ve talked at length about controlling the battlefield with the ground terrain. Let’s discuss how the wrath of nature spell takes it one step further by allowing you to have some influence over those troublesome flying creatures.

For creatures blessed with the ability to fly, the trees and rocks are now their enemies. They won’t be slowed down or restrained but will be subject to attacks. The text states that trees will attack each of your enemies within 10 feet of any tree inside the area of effect. Trees are tall, so flying doesn’t help. The trees automatically attack and their branches deliver 4d6 damage. When we talk about rocks in the cube, you can use your bonus action to fling a rock at a creature you can see in the cube. That includes flying creatures. Rocks hurt, as they do 3d8 damage. Remember how we said it was too bad you couldn’t restrain flying creatures? If you hit a creature with the rock and they fail a Strength saving throw, they are knocked prone. That includes flying creatures.

Next up, the wall spells.