Jan 15

Jan 15 Let's Talk Tactics - Battlefield Control Spells, Part 4

Today, as we move on to the next set of spells that assist you in controlling the landscape and movements of creatures, we will take a look at the weather-based spells. These spells could have been included in the nature-based spells, but I decided to break the two into different categories, so they got to be explained in enough detail to do them justice. I know myself, and after a certain point, I would have half-assed some of the higher levels spells, and I didn’t want to do that.

Once again, let’s review the 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, Wind Wall
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

Not many spells, but the available ones have some useful and deadly effects. Cloud spells make up over half the spells on this list. Let’s dive right in.

Killer Clouds

These clouds aren’t the type you lay in a field and watch float by, imagining them to be whimsical creatures. The cloud spells could have easily appeared in the nature post, but I believe that clouds fit better here. Without clouds, there’s no snow or rain, and as we’ll find out, no killer fog that slowly suffocates you.

Fog Cloud
Classes - Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard
Spell Level - 1st, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - Obscured sight
Range/Area - 120 ft./20 ft. sphere Duration - 1 hour, Concentration Required - Yes

A simple little spell that I’ve found is much more effective indoors than outdoor. A 20-foot radius is nothing to scoff at, and the fog can spread around corners. The entire sphere is heavily obscured, blocking your vision entirely. When you are inside the cloud, you are under the blinded condition, meaning you can't see, automatically fail any ability check that requires sight, grants your attacker advantage on the attack, and puts you at disadvantage on your attacks. If you’ve got blindsight, then you're in great shape, but if not, then you’re out of luck. It requires concentration and a 10 mph or higher wind makes it go goodbye, but those are the minor negatives, especially for a 1st level spell.

You can use the spell in several ways. If you are inside a smaller structure with borders or walls, you can cast the spell to completely block the line of sight between you and the enemy. With a little planning and proper positioning, you’ll be able to get a free attack on your enemy as they emerge from the cloud.

Our wizard casts a fog cloud over the bad guys in the example here, allowing our party to set up for an attack. The party has positioned themselves to get a free melee attack on any creature that makes its way out of the fog. All they have to do is hold their action, with the trigger being something along the lines of “I attack when a creature emerges from the fog. We will say that our friend in the fog has blindsight, who can either attack with advantage anywhere he pleases or can do the same thing above, only inside the fog itself.

Fog cloud can be used in many other ways. If you and the party need to flee to fight another day, drop fog cloud directly on top of yourself and dash out of there. The enemy may follow, but they will have no idea in which direction you went, giving you a substantial head start. The fact that the area of effect makes it an excellent defense mechanism against flying creatures. No more swooping down out of the sky to attack. Would a creature or beast of meager Intelligence, say a stirge or maybe a gargoyle, know where the ground is inside the cloud, and if not, perhaps crash into it if they tried a dive attack? Maybe not, but it is worth asking. A low-level wizard can also hide inside the sphere, avoiding those pesky attacks that break their concentration. It scales extremely well, too, increasing in radius by 20 for every spell slot 2nd and higher. Casting fog cloud at 3rd level makes it much more useful outdoors, where you’ll probably have more terrain you’d like to obscure. All in all, for a 1st level spell that that lasts an hour, you could do far worse than the fog cloud spell.

Stinking Cloud
Classes - Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard
Spell Level - 3rd, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - Poison
Range/Area - 90 ft./20 ft. sphere Duration - 1 minute, Concentration Required - Yes

Same basic concept as the fog cloud spell. The same area of effect, still goes around corners, heavily obscures the area, and still requires concentration. The spell's length is reduced to one minute, and a 10 mph wind will still dissipate the cloud, but now it takes 4 hours to do so. The difference is that you do not want to be inside the cloud unless you don’t have to breathe or are lucky enough to be immune to poison. So unless you’re playing a party of warforged characters, you’ll want to stay out, and here’s why.

If you're completely inside the cloud, it smells. Really, really bad. So bad, in fact, that you’ll need to make a Constitution save versus poison or spend your turn “retching and reeling”. What that means is unclear. When you try to look up “retching and reeling” in any of the rulebooks, you’re going to find nothing, so I assume you’ll be puking your guts out and/or dry heaving as you stumble along, trying to get out from under the cloud.

The stinking cloud spell is more of a ‘stop the enemies’ in their tracks control spell. It forces them to decide whether they want to try and find a way around your puke cloud or try to dash through it. A great many creatures will be hard-pressed not to start at least one turn inside the cloud if they try to move directly through it end to end, even if they dash. A minute in D&D, as we all know, is an eternity, making the stinking cloud spell an excellent defense battlefield control spell. It gives you plenty of time to set up an attack, an ambush, or allow you to run away. With a little proper planning, you can turn the tables and use it to launch a series of attacks on any poor souls trapped inside the cloud.

Let’s say the caster is going last in the initiative order. Even though the area is heavily obscured, the rest of the party, outside the cloud, moves in and tries to find an enemy to attack. If they can, they hold their action, with the trigger being “I attack any creature within 5 feet when the cloud disappears.” They can do this without worrying about vomiting everywhere since the spell is quite clear that you only need to make a Constitution save if you start you turn in the cloud, not when you first enter it. Now the target you’re standing next to will probably get an attack off on you, but they will make theirs with disadvantage. When the wizard’s turn comes up, they can drop concentration, triggering the party’s attacks, which will not be attacking at disadvantage. Hopefully, the wizard can cast a spell at a target or three that may have been hidden in the cloud. Who knows, your Barbarian may be at the top of the order. This lets them get off a series of devastating blows on the poor creature that will finally be able to stop retching violently, either because the cloud is gone, or because they are dead.

Cloudkill
Classes - Sorcerer, Wizard
Spell Level - 5th, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - Obscured sight/poison
Range/Area - 120 ft./20 ft. sphere Duration - 10 minutes, Concentration Required - Yes

Much of the same as stinking cloud, but the few differences are major. First, a creature has to make their Constitution saving throw both if they start their turn inside the cloud, and the first time they enter the spell’s area. Second, a creature cannot hold its breath in an attempt to overcome the cloud’s effects. I never thought of this as an option for the cloud of nausea we just talked about, and it makes me wonder if this would be something a DM would allow you to get away with. If so, it makes the stinking cloud spell much less effective.

Our evil knights are trapped, but things are about to get worse.

Third, the spell moves! Now it only travels 10 feet away from you at the start of your turn. You cannot directly control it, but there is still potential with this new trait. Since the spell has to move away from you, if you position yourself well, you can slowly steer the spell, making it move 10 feet in the direction you wish at the start of each of your turns. You can also slowly back your enemies into a corner if you are in a confined space, eventually forcing them into the cloud one way or another. Fourth, the spell lasts for 10 minutes. Not sure in actual gameplay that I’ve ever used a spell such as this for the full duration in combat, mainly because if I’m in combat for 10 minutes, I’ve probably died a couple of times and should have serious questions about my life choices.

Finally, and most importantly, you do real damage to your targets, not just make them vomit like they partied the night away. On a failed save versus poison, the target will take 5d8 poison damage, half if they are successful. This makes cloudkill both a defense option on the battlefield and an offensive one as well.

Incendiary Cloud
Classes - Sorcerer, Wizard
Spell Level - 8th, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - Fire
Range/Area - 150 ft./20 ft. sphere Duration - 1 minute, Concentration Required - Yes

A little bit more range for our 20-foot sphere of clouds, and still heavily obscures the area, will go around corners, and blows away in a wind of 10 mph or more. This is a spell that you’ll want to drop directly on the bad guys. When you conjure up the cloud, each creature inside it will make a Dexterity save. If they fail, they are looking at 10d8 fire damage. When you enter it for the first time or end your turn inside the cloud, you’ll also be making a Dexterity save, suffering the same damage as above.

Our wizard moved the cloud 10 feet on his turn, enveloping the knights who were trapped by the cloud. Hopefully, the door to the bedroom was closed!

What makes this cloud a bit more fun is it allows you to gain more sway over the battlefield since you have direct control over moving the spell control. The cloud still only moves 10 feet, and you have to move it in a direction away from you, but now you have the ability to change your mind on where to move it based on your enemy’s movements.

The biggest disappointment I have with the incendiary cloud spell is that the damage type is fire, one of the most common resistances and immunities in the game. For an 8th level spell, I’d like to be sure that I’m going to be able to actually hurt the creatures I’m fighting. If you’re not planning on using the spell as a control type spell, you may want to look at different options. If I’m a wizard, I’m probably casting maddening darkness with its 60-foot sphere of complete darkness and 8d8 (9 less average damage) psychic damage or sunburst, which also has a 60-foot radius, does 12d6 radiant damage (2 more average damage), and has the chance of blinding your enemies.

Let’s be Thor

Call Lightning
Classes - Druid
Spell Level - 3rd, Casting Time - 1 Action Damage/Effect - Lightning
Range/Area - 120 ft./60 ft. cylinder Duration - 10 minutes Concentration Required - Yes

A 3rd level spell, call lightning, is an area of effect spell that has an impressive size and duration. As I’ve said before, a 60-foot radius is huge, and it should allow you to target most if not all of your enemies. Ten minutes is a bit excessive, but why argue? More time is always better.

When you cast the spell, you conjure up an angry storm cloud. As long as you can see your target, you can have a bolt of lightning flash down at them from the cloud on each of your turns. You can cast it indoors or outdoors. Everyone within 5 feet of the lightning strike will have to make a Dexterity check or take 3d8 lightning damage, with half the damage on a success. You can keep doing this at the start of every turn as long as you keep concentration. Now is it as powerful as a fireball, everyone’s favorite 3rd level spell? Nope, since even your max damage with this spell will be 4 less than the average of the fireball. But we aren’t talking about instant damage as we are focusing on battlefield control, and call lightning has some good control uses if you cast it correctly.

I’m not a fan of cylinder spells, but it works well here. We won’t be using the spell as a line of defense spell here as we did with Wall spells we discussed in the previous article. For call lightning, you'll want to be inside the cylinder, fighting your enemies where you can do a consistent amount of damage on a target with the lightning strikes. The spell works well when you are fighting a singular target, but you can also use it quite effectively for multiple targets.

In the example here, we have cast the storm cloud over us and engage our enemies. The wizard can call down a streak of lightning in multiple areas but chooses a spot where he can hit multiple targets at once (A). Since the lightning hits all creatures within 5 feet, the wizard drops the bolt behind the targets, keeping their fellow party member out of range. Locations marked “A” will force both targets to make a Dexterity save. “B” locations will only strike a single individual. None of the locations will affect our hero. The bad guys have a decision to make. Group up to attack a single party member with some of them falling victim to the shock of their lives, or engage one-on-one and hope for the best.

The forecast calls for Bad Weather.

Control Weather
Classes - Cleric, Druid, Wizard
Spell Level - 8th, Casting Time - 10 minutes Damage/Effect - see below.
Range/Area - Self/5-mile sphere Duration - 8 hoursConcentration Required - Yes

Unless you’re playing in a mass combat setting, this spell is probably too big for you to use an 8th level spell slot on. If you are fighting on a massive scale, you can force the enemy forces to travel through gale force winds, unbearable heat and a blizzard, just to name a few options available. You’ll need to spend 10 minutes casting the spell, along with 4d4X10 minutes to get to the extreme weather at stage 5 of the spell, so you should probably get started well before the invading army shows up.

Storm of Vengeance
Classes - Druid
Spell Level - 9th, Casting Time - 1 Action, Damage/Effect - Varies.
Range/Area - Sight Duration - 1 minute Contrentration Required - Yes

You’ll be raining down all sorts of bad weather on your enemies with this spell. The range is only limited to how far you can see, and on a clear day, you can see up to 2 miles from your current position. Once you cast the spell, a dark cloud appears and spreads to a 360-foot radius. Anyone under the cloud immediately makes a Constitution saving throw as they are buffeted by powerful winds and can hear booming thunder. The thunder is damn loud, too, for if you fail, you suffer 2d6 thunder damage along with being deafened for 5 minutes. Things only get worse from there.

Assuming you can hold concentration, in the 2nd round, acid rain falls from the skies, doing 1d6 damage to everyone in range. For the 3rd round, you get to call down 6 bolts of lightning to strike a creature or object anywhere under the cloud. They do get a Dexterity save, but failure results in 10d6 lightning damage, or half that on a save. Don’t try and get greedy because you can only hit a single creature per lightning bolt. It starts to hail in the 4th round, and everyone still under the cloud takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage. For the remaining 5-10 rounds, people that, for some reason or another, like being pummelled by the effects of Mother Nature, will suffer 1d6 cold damage, are heavily obscured, cannot make any ranged attack, dispel any fog/mist like spells, and have disadvantage on all concentration checks. If you haven’t left the storm’s radius, it’s probably time to go. Good luck getting out since you can’t see anything.

This spell is good for driving large numbers of forces away from you. If you are storming a castle or such, you can use it to attack one portion of the city while you and your friend lay siege to another location. Or, if you are on a battlefield ala Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards, throw the storm clouds up over the enemy’s forces before they charge into battle. If you can make them travel over half the storm’s radius, maybe they will change their minds and go home.

We are down to just a few spells, and they will be coming soon!

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