Love these spells as a DM. Hate them as a player.

[@SeanSmith23]

“Don’t make it Disintegrate” had me literally spit my coffee laughing. Good advice, Chris.

[@caiusofglantri5513]

Unless they have Death Ward!

[@leodouskyron5671]

This had to be one of your best videos. The idea of what the spells do vs the psychology of the players is truly excellent and I don’t think I have seen that really as clearly discussed around. Very lovely

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@indigoblacksteel1176]

I agree. I hadn't seen anything like this before and it gave me lots of great ideas as a DM.

[@MenschWerdeWesentlich]

Yep!

[@OlorinMayar]

Definitely agree. Loved it!

[@VALUST17]

Hear, hear!

[@Swimavidly]

This is the only in-combat use of true strike I have ever heard of that is actually good.

[@slydoorkeeper4783]

Right, it always seems like a prepare for combat. But outside of pre combat, it does nothing worthwhile in 98% of situations.

[@aeveon4474]

@@slydoorkeeper4783 but the issue is casting it will cause initiative to roll as your targetting them with a spell

[@krisdinkel8915]

Love Cloudkill as a DM. Its like darkness with a cherry on top. As a player: too many creatures are immune to poison. As a DM: these creatures are minions to the caster (undead, fiends, constructs) and can stay inside the cloud indefinitely. Players will no longer get advantage on attack since that is caneled out by the darkness (unseen attacker but also blind target) ans most spells require sight amd no longer work. It does not kill outright or take players out of the fight. Also: the spell is made for evil casters. It is literally called CloudKILL.

[@poilboiler]

Name could imply it's used to slay clouds.

[@archersfriend5900]

I use it and force cage to move the players about.

[@Treblaine]

Yeah. It's not CloudProportionateForceUsedInSelfDefence

[@DukeTrout]

Make the enemy caster a scribes wizard, and they can make Cloudkill do force, cold, psychic, or bludgeoning damage. It’s not Cloudkill, it’s Cloudpunch! Or using the psychic damage from Dream, it could by Cloudnightmare. So much fun to be had!

[@rickfairfax9631]

I do think Bane is underrated. People discount it as “reverse Bless” because Bless always works while Bane allows a CHA save. But there’s more to it than that. Bless might make the different between a weapon hitting or not hitting. Bane can make the difference between being banished/charmed/incapacitated and not having any of those conditions. In other words, Bane’s debuff is far more dangerous to a target than the benefit an attacker gets from Bless when trying to hit that target.

[@joshuaellison6356]

Except that also Bless offers what you've just described for Bane but for your allies and it does it 100% of the time.

[@JugglingAddict]

@@joshuaellison6356 There is 1 difference though (hopefully, depends on party), which is that the saving throw of players can often be better on average than that of monsters add to that potentially being proficient in the saving throw and the difference between saving or failing might be smaller compared to that of the average monster.

[@joshuaellison6356]

@@JugglingAddict Fair point I hadn’t thought about the monsters chances relative to the players. Thank you for highlighting that.

[@defensivekobra3873]

Anything that debuffs saves is automatically the greatest thing since sliced bread

[@defensivekobra3873]

I want to planarly-bind a demon? I want to curse my enemy for the rest of eternity? I want to make sure contagion works? I want to maximize the odds of banishment/ imprisonment working? Just use bane people

[@laurencebernstein1233]

I thought for sure you going to put Tenser’s Transformation on the list. BBEG: Now witness my final form!

[@agilemind6241]

Simulacrum has to be my favourite DM spell. Allows recurring villains without deus ex-machina enabling the villain to escape at the last moment. It also allows tuning the power level of the villain to the party to a degree. I also liked Monty's use of Gate, very interesting and fun. Another interesting one is Find Familiar, creating paranoia that any hawk, rat, or frog could be the BBEG spying on them is very fun.

[@crimfan]

I agree it is a great villain spell. I generally dislike it as a PC spell. It makes a potent spell caster even more potent, potentially breaks the action economy, hogs spotlight time, etc.

[@bonzwah1]

this is so great. In one of my favorite campaigns ever, I used a lich as the primary antagonist, but I had him true polymorphing into regular mortal bodies and he was consistently at odds with the party and kept getting killed and returning. I've been looking for a way to get that "recurring villain" feeling again, but I didn't want to repeat the same exact gimmick. I never thought to use simulacrum for this purpose, but its perfect.

[@aperson9556]

My favourite part about this video was the DM role is described as setting a mood / tone using spells as a mechanic. Really cool perspective.

[@andrewgreeb916]

Gate is a good spell to use if you're not sure what to do for a player's divine intervention. Just gate in a celestial or Angel of reasonable power to assist them. Maybe even have a custom celestial character that gets gated in to assist them.

[@castingincommon1589]

Interesting take on True Strike. Up until now I've always black listed this cantrip but I guess their is a use for it in the right hands of a DM creating suspense or adding something diffferent to a combat round during the monsters turn.

[@ChaosRyzen]

I kinda disagree as it depends on the type of players you have. In the situation he used as an example the creature targeted can just use the dodge action kinda losing the sense of tension and danger. Great though like you said if you wanna give your enemies something else to do to make your players do something other than attack.

[@castingincommon1589]

Ahh, fair enough!

[@dewayner5388]

The only other idea I'd ever come up with was a Bladesinger/Rogue gestalt build: one attack advantage, one attack sneak attack. Rinse, repeat, make your dm bring nothing but tanks

[@37thgungrunts]

@@ChaosRyzen so that means the GM just ate the players action and gets a normal attack

[@ChaosRyzen]

@@37thgungrunts Yea though if you wanna put it that way it means the Giant also had its action eaten up meaning say the 3 other players in the party got a free turn to slap the giant or do something else. Thats why I put it that it at least makes your players do something other than attack in that situation when being targeted and preparing a move for survival. But to reiterate my only disagreement was the "tension" part of doing true strike.

[@8684LYFE]

Nystul's Magic Aura for mystery or subterfuge plots - very good way to turn some of the player's tools against them and throw a curveball. Delayed blast fireball in a hostage situation. Legend Lore (casted by NPCs) to build lore or set-up MacGuffins.

[@andreacristiano5452]

"The lunatic is me..." I laughed at this. I love you! Thanks for the different perspective on bad spells in this video. About to become a DM after 2 ys playing, and this will be very useful to me!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@GLORPDORP]

I gotta give a shout out to the geas spell here, great way to punish players trying make false promises to powerful beings. I also rule that you auto fail the save if you agree with a handshake but that's just me.

[@cmckee42]

Yeah, but Geas doesn't require any agreement. If players get captured, they can get Geased against thier will, and it can be used as the worst form of railroading.

[@Angry-Steel]

@@cmckee42 A DM actually tried that on me when my character didn't like the main NPC, I just said I'd rather you kill the character... I didn't stay for long.

[@agilemind6241]

If imposed against your will, it can be simply Dispelled once you rejoin your party, so it's not really a big deal - most monsters with Charm abilities are way worse than Geas. Plus even if you do go against the Geas it is only 25 damage per day which really isn't a big deal.

[@cmckee42]

@@agilemind6241 it is a big deal to a tier 1 party with no access to dispel magic, and where the damage might drop them unconscious.

[@ZeroKitsune]

@@cmckee42 Your problem isn't the spell. Either it's a plot hook and you should try to find a way out of it while avoiding the damage (a lot of "bad DM" stories are actually bad "hyper entitled player" stories), or the DM actually IS just trying to use it to railroad the story in one direction and you should just stop playing with them.

[@michaelhenman8683]

Bane is absolutely my favourite spell for monsters. I like that it is on the recommended spell list for red dragons in Fizban's.

[@rivenstone7035]

I love Bane as both a player and DM. Been playing in a group for several years where the bard has used this to fantastic effect. I'm playing a conquest paladin and when the Bane lands that almost always mean a frightened effect is landing next. Enemies rolling attacks at disadvantage and -1d4 practically ends encounters against a wide range of enemies. That party's abilities really ended up complementing each other well and it usually starts with the humble Bane.

[@CanaldoGreed]

Witch Bolt is also quite a good spell for a lower level spellcaster minion. I managed to grab the barbarian of my party with it, and it was hilarious to see him tanking the automatic damage while trying to get close to the spellcaster to end his concentration.

[@FlameUser64]

Good use for Witch Bolt: NPC vhuman guards with Sentinel, Polearm Master, and Witch Bolt. so like, they have 4 hit dice. The guards set Witch Bolt on a suspect and then hedge them out with polearms until Witch Bolt damage brings them down.

[@ChocolateFishBrains]

Early on I houseruled True Strike to be a bonus action to cast and never looked back. It's an incredible Cantrip that way, but it has some trade offs. An Arcane Trickster can reliably get off a sneak attack but misses out on a potential off hand attack. A polearm master misses out on their bonus attack. It's not unbalanced.

[@rayzerot]

Automatic advantage every round seems a bit broken to me. Am I missing something?

[@ChocolateFishBrains]

@@rayzerot it's only ONE attack, and you could get a similar result from a Familiar using the help action. Choose an owl to do a flyby so they don't provoke opportunity attacks, get free advantage plus all the other utility that a Familiar provides. Since it's a bonus action you can't use it with two weapon fighting or with polearm master. A sorcerer can't quicken if they are using it. It's good, yes, but hardly broken.

[@Ahvrym]

Ooh, I like this as a start - I still like the impending doom feel of it though so I think I'll make it: bonus action cantrip, pick a target and next round you can have advantage on an attack against it. That way it's not just straight advantage on all your primary attacks and it requires some strategic thinking.

[@guilhermeruzene791]

I think it's a great houserule since it still requires concentration

[@cherry_buzzsaw]

did you houserulled one another thing (because it seems that you do) - True strike gives you advantage on one attack "on your next turn"? so even if character can cast it as a bonus action, he must concentrate till the next turn to get advantage. it looks like rogue's Steady aim optional feature, but caster spends concentration instead of movement. and I assume caster need to concentrate between turns. so for me True strike is still bad cantrip. but if True strike gives advantage on next attack while you concentrate, it can be interesting to combine with Boomingblade or something when combat is not worse to cast leveled spell with concentration..

[@nburo]

This was a great video. I'd love a series about "DM stuff". More "DM spells", "DM monster abilities", "DM traps", etc.

[@geckothegreene]

Aside from comic relief, I like Mordenkainen's Sword as a good spell for BBEG or long-term mini-bosses to use against PCs in early campaign encounters, since it is a visually flashy spell that vets will clock as high-level but is unlikely to outright kill a character above 1st level (less you crti and roll high I guess, but that is true of a lot of things...). Tier I PCs might be random bystanders to a mysterious figure cutting their way into a museum and bisecting guards with a glowing blue blade of force to steal a McGuffin, and assuming the attacker doesn't drop concentration on Mr M's Mighty Sword unless things get dicey, the party would face a memorable encounter which would probably end in retreat, but could force the attacker to retreat with skilled play, and feel like facing a powerful opponent without feeling like the DM is trolling or stunting on the low level characters.

[@GuKingGu]

Speaking of spells that create a mood, nothing will evoke sheer terror from players faster than a spellcaster casting Disintegrate. Obviously it’s not a spell you cast often (unless you’re really sadistic), but for an end-of-tier boss fight, nothing will better communicate “these guys are really serious about killing you, and if you slip up it’s game over” (for the character of course).

[@Treblaine]

DM tip only, players don't read: I don't tell players what the spell is before it takes effect other than the level of the spell, this is ostensibly to stop them metagaming so they don't know when is the best time to use Counterspell (like when failed saves against good spells) but it also means if they save I describe a failed attack by the spell Disintegrate, but if they fail then I have them be targeted by Chain Lightning which is impressive sounding but no more effective than Fireball. As long as you hit them with Disintegrate on a failed dex save once or twice then the loss aversion bias in their brain will block them from noticing the trend.

[@MageLeaderInc]

@@Treblaine my only problem with that is spells have verbal and Symantec components. Another spell caster would know the spell based on those. So it's not necessarily meta gaming of they pick and choose when to counter spell. But if you do want to play it that way I hope you allow your players to just say what spell level they are casting and not tell you the spell till after you decide if you're reacting

[@Treblaine]

​@@MageLeaderInc That's very true but let us consult the holy texts, what does the PHB say on Verbal components. It doesn't actually say that each spell (that has verbal components) has unique verbal components for each distinctly recognisable spell, just that one requirement is "the chanting of mystic words". Harry Potter's universe may suggest that each spell has unique incantations but the D&D rules leave it open to interpretation. This is exactly the sort of thing a DM decides in session-zero. I'd have it be that verbal components you see are analogous to cheat software being run in an online computer game. But there's so many different ways you can write a program to have an aimbot or manipulate the RNG, but you can't tell just by looking at the code exactly what it's going to do until it's finished. Remember, spell slots and spell levels are an abstraction, they're a very "gamey" abstraction of codifying in a clear way how the magic is limited. They are like hit-points, they aren't what the characters experience in the world. So when I tell the players the level of the spell, that is metagaming as spells in the universe probably aren't by such strict levels. The importance is not the metagaming, it's a matter of balance and enjoyment. Counterspell is not only too powerful but boring when you can just shut down the most powerful spells with no risk of wasting it on a casting of Misty Step. It gets players to pay attention to the descriptions, whether I say they are using a spellcasting focus or not, whether they are targeting someone, whether there's verbal components, it's rough power (articulated as the spell slot being used).

[@TherinCreative]

Compare Mordenkainen's sword to crown of stars - same action economy, but crown of stars can be cast outside combat, takes no concentration, and has 6x range, and 4d12 > 3d10. Yeah, there are some odd balance choices by the D&D team.

[@MinariCapore]

Crown of Stars also lasts an hour, so it can potentially be used in multiple encounters.

[@crimfan]

Mordenkainen's Sword has always sucked in pretty much every edition. Spiritual Weapon is pretty much better in all ways in 5E.

[@AvangionQ]

Mordenkainen's Sword is terrible, needs a couple major buffs to be worthwhile. Remove the concentration and bonus action requirements, might be good enough.

[@Dinodudematt]

I think this spell is intentionally designed to be bad. The high cost for low reward makes me think this spell isn’t meant to be taken seriously.

[@anders630]

I think they weren't designed, more likely just moved over from prev editions without anyone even considering balance.

[@mattgopack7395]

Definitely one of my favorite videos of yours - lots of very useful tips/thoughts here! Interesting point on true strike - it's got a lot of mood for low levels, but could also potentially be fairly thematic/interesting at higher levels vs an enemy spellcaster (eg, the party knows they're high level, and True Strike -> [Insert attack roll spell that can deal a lot of damage] could be fairly threatening. Bane is another interesting one - for players, I've never been impressed by it (it's *fine*, but just never impressed me). But as a DM, it's true it's an excellent debuff that doesn't take player characters entirely out of a fight. I'll have to add it to my arsenal for sure! The others are all some I'll have to throw in sometime!

[@Apocolyps6]

Love this video as GM advice. Both because people tend to evaluate spells once from the POV of a player and never re-evaluate, and because of the emphasis on the GM's goal being to create an experience rather than just to provide a suitable combat.

[@NeoSamurai13]

Wow, this video is an amazing resource for GMs! I would love more videos with these types of ideas, because they seem like they're great to have in your back pocket. Thanks for the video!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Thank you! Will do!

[@Cl0ne66]

Gaseous form; the BBEG goes through a keyhole to a door. The door is trapped and he’s there waiting with a Readied cantrip to cast at a different player that didn’t trigger the trapped door.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Nice!

[@carlcramer9269]

An anecdote on this theme: In PF1, I played a Banshee wrong. Insteadof having the death-scream require a full round to use, I treated it as a full-round casting spell. This the PCs knew that on the banshee's next turn, they would have to save or die. Such a scramble to get away! This was a lot more fun than the RAW version,where the PCs would have to save or die. As played, it affected the PCs actions but in the end no-one actually needed to save. Much more fun and scary.

[@philwalsworth4085]

Yay! Thanks for everything Chris! I still wouldn't understand the rules of spells if I hadnt found your channel! Years of content and I appreciate it a lot!

[@billturner5908]

Yeah, big kudos to @Treantmonk . It boggles my mind how this channel does not have 5 times the subscribers. There are many good D&D channels, but only a handful of great ones. This is one of the great ones. Keep it up, Chris. Thank you.

[@dadadajasper]

BBEG uses Legendary Action right before the start of the BBEG's turn Cast cantrip: True Strike

[@ovbrook3057]

That's about how I assumed you would use true strike. The enemy that spends turns charging up a powerful attack is a common trope in RPG boss fights. I'd probably homebrew an attack onto the hypothetical monster that can only be used while the monster has advantage, some sort of all out two handed strike similar in flavor to GWM

[@bringitonbatman]

Ooh I like this. I always love the idea of the video game boss charging their attack, especially when they're a huge creature with a ton of hit points and a heavy weapon. 10/10 will be using true strike as a DM

[@braddalrymple8615]

This is such a great tips for DM kind of thing ! I love the idea of using true strike to arrive fear into a players heart and get the players moving! And yes whe you said -2xD4s to a saving throw I immediately thought "like disintegrate🤔" keep it up these are great. He first o was liw Subtle "how not to tick off your DM" but this one is full blown "here is a spell book to give your casters for maximum fun and entertainment "

[@VileScarMind]

Your comment on the sense of foreboding for True Strike is very valid. Great used before combat by the DM too - forces the players to react and think rather than just diving in!

[@justinschmelzel8806]

I wanted to say I LOVE that you brought up bane and talked about the tactical miss labelling of the spell. I have been using it and I absolutely love it specifically for its reduction in later saves. That combined with the reduction in attacks and another battle field controller makes for a powerful first level defensive spell. Yes it isn't likely to work on ALL of your opponents but just getting 1 or 2 is pretty huge. Just an example, 1 person fails it and then one of your other party members casts "blindness/deafness" and now that target is basically taken out of the fight swinging at -d4 and disadvantage. If you have something like vicious mockery it makes it easier to land the mockery and he gets disadvantage and -d4 to attack rolls, Frost bite does it too. There are so many ways to take the fact that he has a -d4 to his attack roll AND saves to just stack negatives on this guy. I hit the 3 guys with this 2 failed, one of which was the biggest most powerful dude in the group. Then the next player cast Mind Sliver on him stacking negative saves and then the next Save/or suck took him out of the fight completely with his -2d4 on save. The extra guy that was just swinging at -d4 later got save or damage spells levied against him. Bane is very under-rated. Also I do like Dream when I play as an elf player. Because while others need 8 hours I only need 4 so I can cast a couple dream spells on the recurring big bad and give him nightmares during our rest and do that day in and day out until he takes levels of exhaustion before we face him.

[@mitchc6059]

Guards and wards leaps immediately to mind.

[@Elkay_J]

Love hearing you talk about the feeling and flavor of the game! And how mechanics can contribute to that!

[@MegaVergan]

Here is my list, I intentionally chose different spells even though I agree with all your choices. Cantrip: Poison Spray - Bad range and damage type for players but good for enemies to use as most PC's don't have poison resistance or immunity, especially good if it is a higher level enemy caster. 1st level: Arms of Hadar - Being a spell unique to Warlocks, it scales pretty well for an enemy Warlock to use against players, plus an enemy warlock may not care about friendly fire. 2nd level: Skywrite - This will add suspense if used by the BBEG. 3rd level: Erupting Earth - A good way to cause difficult terrain for your players while dealing a little damage. 4th level: Phantasmal Killer - Could be terrifying when you use it against a player. 5th level: Enervation - Your villain can continuously harm a player and heal themselves. 6th level: Otto's Irresistible Dance - Not that reliable for players but I had a blast as a DM casting it against one of my players. I played "Everybody Dance Now," while the spell was in effect. 7th level: Finger of Death - A good way to terrify your players by threatening to turn them into zombies. 8th level: Power Word Stun - Especially good if used against tier 2 players. The stun won't last but a lot of damage can be done. 9th lvl: Blade of Disaster - For players this spell would be good if it was 8th level. But because it is 9th level, it is not a good choice for players imo, compared to Wish or True Polymorph, and you only get one 9th level spell slot. But this is an effective spell when in use, especially if used by the BBEG.

[@jonathanhaynes9914]

Like just for arms of hadar

[@zoologybites6841]

Great video! I did find use for gaseous form as a player, but i totally get how situational it is. As a 500 pound 6’3 Tortle, the spell proved valuable for exploration challenges our DM would throw at us. (Such as crossing a frozen lake or stealth missions)

[@FlameUser64]

Control Weather thought: you _can_ use it for more than creating a mood. Party is just enjoying their time in a big city, taking a bit of a break. The wind starts to pick up… agonizingly slowly, over the course of the next 40 to 160 minutes (so, 40 minutes to _2 hours_ and 40 minutes), the wind picks up…! A Survival or Nature check with an increasingly easy DC reveals the weather to be unnatural - there's no way a storm could build in place this fast! It must be a magical effect. The party has _some_ length of time - maybe 20 minutes, maybe an hour and a half - to find the caster and disrupt their concentration before the wind builds into a hurricane that tears buildings apart and visits death and destruction on the city.

[@Eric-rr3zd]

Dude you are a way better DM than me I think. I am stealing so many of these and my players are going to love this SO much.

[@79AlienFinger79]

I actually just ran an encounter in a wrestling tournament where the two enemy luchadora each had a cantrip as a legendary action; one of them had Vicious Mockery, the other True Strike. It was classic WWE-esque shenanigans, and I couldn't recommend it more highly.

[@Draakhart_961]

Gaseous Form and I have some fun history: I was once running a Ravnica Game where a train metro system had been put into place, so this individual used the spell. As the battlefield was what was moving, it triggered no opportunity attacks and the players could choose to either let go, or jump and risk taking damage. Was a damn good moment, and somewhat improvised too. Many divination or long time spells are pretty damn useful, even if it's just roleplay. A Bard villain, casting Plant Growth to feed the village his own forces raided? Is now heralded as their hero once the crops are about - and the players cannot quite just go burn the fields... if they care about their lives.

[@lennart_glimpsel]

I think i would enjoy more videos of this type since it's one of the most helpful videos I've encountered on DMing.

[@ChristomirRackov]

Man, your videos are so informative and offer SUCH great analysis and advice for DnD players and DMs! I don't understand why you don't have way more views and subscribers o_O

[@ThomasPercy]

Best episode so far

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

30:16 I could see making Gate more interesting by making it a 9th Level _ritual_ that consumes the material spell component and takes 8 hours to cast. That way, as a Wizard at least, you can get this spell in your book without having to worry about missing out on other 9th level spells you could have learned instead, and can even cast it without expending a slot, but it still has drawbacks by consuming the material component and needing a safe place to concentrate and successfully carry out the ritual in order for it to work.

[@Scottishstorm]

I think this is one of you best videos, and I've seen nearly all of them!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Thank you!

[@Nikotheos]

Absolutely great set of videos! Love these!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Thanks so much!

[@andrewmcdonald3607]

I’d definitely like to see more videos for DMs. This is brilliant food for thought

[@PlanetOfTheApes999]

I love videos like these. They give people a brand new perspective.

[@goose6752]

I saw this video, and its companion vid, back when they first came out, and have been repeatedly thinking about them since. I've figured out why. There's a fair small bit of DM advice videos out there, but there all general and minimal in topic and content (10 things good DM's do, and the like). What you've done here is really drill down on the topic and provide a lot of very specific and detailed examples. I really love these 2 vids of yours and hope to see more good DM Optimancy from you. 👍

[@tscoff]

Control Weather is awesome as a DM! I gave a Buehr Hag an artifact made of ice that expanded the radius of Control Weather by 5 feet every consecutive day that Control Weather was cast. She was turning the land into an icy wasteland until the PCs found and defeated her. Then her artifact melted on them when it got warm!

[@joshuatran6526]

True Strike actually functions really well on a creature like a Lich or a Skull Lord that can cast cantrips as a Legendary Action, changes things from a constant stream of chill touches and burns any LA leftover.

[@benH215]

Awesome video. Not something that other content creators have really done before either so very unique. Please do another one of these videos! I'd love to hear your insight on other spells from a DMs perspective.

[@utkarshgaur1942]

I love the spell Bones of the Earth. It's good for players and great for DMs. It turns any boring open-field combat arena into a dynamic battlefield. When in an open field, I wouldn't hesitate to cast it on a party of any level - 1 to 20. Dream truly is great to inject some tension into the campaign. Used it my Dragon Heist game once my players were getting too comfortable. And now I'm excited to try Crown of Madness and all these other spells against my players!

[@secretlyditto7716]

You know what'd be mean... bane, causing worry in the players. They don't want to fail they're saves. They cast counter spell way more than they should., draining their resources and setting them up for capture. Escape from jail plots are hard to force because you never really know how things will pan out, but I do love a good heist.

[@SofaKingDead]

Wow, dream is a back breaking spell. It made me cackle as a DM.

[@xaviertherisen2851]

I love how much info you give in all your videos, any time I have a question in dnd the first thing I do is look for an explainer video on your channel. Thank you for everything

[@sufficientlyadvancedplagiarism]

Excellent video. I especially liked finding a good DM-based use for True Strike...and in the process, I thought of another extreme-niche case for using it as a player.

[@ZarHakkar]

You gonna share?

[@channelremoved32]

one important thing about bane is that it's easier to take advantage of. if you have +1d4 to saving throws, a lot of the time an enemy can just avoid using saving throws against you, or target another party member instead. but if you give an enemy -1d4 to saving throws, they can't really do anything to avoid you targeting them with saving throws.

[@anders630]

I liked these two videos, great focus on the difference in usage of spells and highlights the different roles of DM vs Players.

[@tempestuous6724]

Slow is a good spell for a Player. But is really good for DM, not gonna lie.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Yep, there are spells that didn't make this list because although I like them as a DM, I also like them as a player.

[@zackglenn2847]

Excellent video. I'm can already see how I could use Dream to terrorize my players.

[@maybevoldemort8995]

Love this video- I kind of have a view in some subclasses being a DM subclass. I wouldn’t advocate a player being an assassin, but an npc or a bbeg being one? Really coll

[@KaelinGoff]

Great video. Glad you covered the high lvl spells too, since players probably see high level npcs more often than actually being high level.

[@lord6617]

A DM using flesh-to-stone was an instance that made my Arcane Cleric feel pretty epic. I reached out, upcast Mass Cure Wounds, and smote flesh to stone and other bad effects off of my whole group in one fell swoop.

[@topleveldnd]

100% loved this video. please make another part of this :D

[@adamcauble3674]

Awesome video. I’m a newish DM and you gave me some great ideas :) thanks Chris!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Welcome!

[@Lionbug]

EXCELLENT Video for DMs! Thank you:D

[@TreantmonksTemple]

You're very welcome!

[@cfalkner1012]

Looks like my big bad’s spell portfolio just became more diversified.

[@CasaiAgicap]

This isn't a combat option, but for 7th level I'm a huge fan of Mirage Arcane. It's not something you can use often or your players will suspect something, but the idea of taking a landscape and making it look entirely different, potentially making it a trap without it even appearing to be one, is absolutely brilliant for setting the stage for some encounters. It's situational, but it's great.

[@SamFinklestein]

I'll add Mislead to the list, in the same function as Gaseous Form. As a player, it's just a very expensive single-use mirror image. But as a GM, it lets you create recurring villains in a way that still give players a chance to disrupt their escape mechanism when they figure out what's going on. Also, seeing an enemy cast a spell with no apparent effect can really set their minds racing. I'll add my voice to the chorus of commenters saying this is a really interesting approach to spell use as a GM.

[@kurga9790]

Great vid! Thank you this is invaluable for a DM!

[@pistolshr1mp]

These videos were great. It conveyed to me that sometimes it's not that the tool is poor but its just not being used by the right person or for the right process. Great insight here. Thanks!

[@thenatetful]

Great perspective, really unique content.

[@foolwise4703]

I think this is a very valuable perspective which is not considered enough in discussing spells.

[@dcyphermanplays8233]

Hey nice video. I like the idea behind a lot of these and since I just saw GATE in the game you were playing in, I know exactly what you mean. Thanks

[@DrLongWang]

I love the idea of elemental bane. Seeing your tiefling fighter get ripped apart by the big bad guy with flame tongue and hellish rebuke is scary. Especially if the dm incorporate fire damage commonly and the character starts to build an identity around not being scared of fire. Then when you finally beat the big bad and your tiefling gets to field the firepower that wrecked it it feels all the better. Plus it makes the magic item look really strong when the enemy uses it while not being broken after the players get it, since it was only stronger because of a condition the players don’t want to replicate.

[@jthompson7175]

Dream is one of those spells I don't think I'd ever prepare or learn, but I think I would grab a couple of spell scrolls for it. As mentioned, long range communication that can convey more than Sending. I think there are some creative applications, though. And the players can potentially use it if a BBEG or their heavy escapes after a large battle.

[@Ciberbuster]

Great uses for these spells, love the True Strike one in particular! Other uses for spells as DM's are spells that rely on location like symbols or glyphs, one I love to use is Danse Macabre in a field with dead bodies like a graveyard.

[@VALUST17]

Really enjoyed this one. Great insights.

[@McCrappy]

Wonderful content, I'm definitely going to use these. Kudos

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Awesome, thank you!

[@FlameUser64]

Honestly Gate seems like it would be really fun to use on the player's side as a DM, too! As the DM, you have the opportunity to give the _party_ powerful allies, or set them up to recruit those allies. Maybe you need to appeal to heavenly forces to gain the favour of a celestial army (or at least a celestial A-team) to assault the BBEG's stronghold. Or maybe a player character is eladrin nobility, and the party arranges to Gate in the armies of a fey court from the Feywild to aid in defeating the BBEG.

[@dot0verdrive]

Such a good list, and a great vid! More plz!

[@sessione2]

Wonderful video. I'd like to see more of this kind of videos where you discuss spells from the POV of the DM

[@bravghede]

I love this video. Already got half a dozen new ideas for my campaign! More DM advice, please!

[@thomasgeithus3996]

Dream can be really easy to deal with. Leomund's Tiny Hut. That's the whole counter. It states that "Spells and other magical effects can't extend through the dome or be cast through it" and Dream is a spell, so it can't pass.

[@TheDeerInTheHeadligh]

gate might not be a great spell for a player but when your dm sets you up for it, it can make for some memorable moments. i'll never forget at the end of a campaign when my priestess character called her goddess through a gate to help up fight a reawakened primordial evil

[@Spyger9]

This is fantastic. I'll definitely be brewing up more spells for badies that change the rules of engagement in interesting ways, rather than do things that players tend to do: pure damage or hard CC

[@misterbxiv]

Something you missed on mordenkainens sword: it’s an action to cast it, and it does the attack when you cast the spel, then it’s a bonus action to do the attack on your turns. But it doesn’t say SUBSEQUENT or FUTURE turns. So, you cast the spell, make the attack, the bonus action to do it again. Turn 1 it’s 6d10 force, then 3d10 after.

[@deathtoexistance]

This video was very interesting. A lot of these spells I've thought I'll just homebrew buff them to make them more on par for their level, but this did make me think twice. In the end I think I'd still buff them, as usually the ways they are made effective for a dm is circumstantial rather than mechanical, and for cases like mordenkainens sword I could always use the original version to show how bad the mage is. I also think the flavour of a spell can be kept while buffing it, I've thought of making true strike make the next attack guaranteed to hit, or maybe even crit, and that wouldn't change the usage here. I have recently used the dream spell as a basis for a plot point for a character, but word of warning my player was new and didn't understand the consequences of exhaustion and almost let the problem kill her character without informing her friends. That said I think for most groups it's perfectly good for a narrative reason, even if it isn't a spellcaster bad guy but a magical effect that they know how to stop. Great job thanks for the suggestions.

[@onojajohn9829]

*Doctor Orissa* I really want to thank him for his wonderful works..

[@r.downgrade5836]

I like the idea of a giant pointing at you then casting 'True Strike'. That sounded immensely intimidating, but my first thought was of a chubby Hill Giant doing this with their baseball bat, errr, I mean club and then pointing at the horizon after.

[@LordZeebee]

Gaseous Form would be really cinematic to use just as the players have cornered the bigbad against a door or cracked window of some kind! "The bigbad backs up, back against the locked iron door. But instead of dread you see a knowing smirk spread across their lips. With a subtle flick of their wand and a mumble under their breath their form seperates into a million tiny, dust-like specks as they seep away into the cracks of the door. What do you do?"

[@AgentForest]

I think Bane really shines in that it makes enemy saving throws worse. Bless is great, but few spells do this, which opens up great combos for your teammates. If you have a caster with save-based area concentration moves like Black Tentacles or even just a fighter with a weapon of Wounding, you could make it far easier to trap the enemy in that effect, or make it harder for them to shrug off the bleeding wounds.

[@Stormer13]

Ok, I absolutely love that use for True Strike.

[@CraigAWSellars]

Although not a useless spell as a player, I think Sickening Radiance is a great DM spell at level 4 as well. Exhaustion accumulating on enemies that will die in that fight, meh. Accumulate a few levels on players though and that is a gift that keeps giving for storytelling.

[@secretlyditto7716]

Ahhh I'm running dnd for the first time. Things keep changing as the players level up and idk what I'm doing. Videos like these are helpful. :)

[@johngleeman8347]

Mordenkainen's Sword; so bad it generates a surfeit of mirth when cast by the enemy! XD

[@Blck0Knght]

On Bane (versus Bless), I think there's a big difference depending on the party size. For a conventional party with around four members, Bless is probably better, since you can put it on all the allies who are likely to attack (and sometimes yourself or another spell caster, who may only need it for saves). But if the party is much bigger, you probably can't Bless everyone who you might wish to, and debuffs like Bane gets better in comparison. While theoretically the DM might be deploying proportionally larger groups of enemies, a lot of the time they'll just increase the power of a modest number of enemies, since running hordes is slow and fiddly. Even if there's a lot of minions or other "chaff" enemies supporting some bigger guys, there are probably few enough important targets so that you can bane them all (and then maybe ignore them for a turn or two while you mop up the chaff). Slow versus Haste has a similar balance situation. Slow is amazing in a big party. So much so that after I used it a whole bunch while playing a Wizard in a 6-player campaign, the DM banned it in the followup campaign (after we TPKed). I'm surprised that Summon Greater Demon didn't make it into the list. I think it is mostly intended for DMs. Other summoning spells are a lot more player-oriented, as they are a lot safer for the summoner. Having a NPC cultist summon a demon and then promptly lose control of could be great fun. The cult might not have been much of a match for the party of PCs, and a demon might be too hard for the PCs if it was exclusively focused on them. But if the demon is more interested in murdering the cultists (for their arrogance in summoning it), and the PCs are more interested in killing the demon (because maybe some of the cultists are sympathetic), then you can have a dynamic three-sided fight where everyone has different motivations.

[@paytonmiller768]

Very late to this video, but a cool DM idea for Gaseous Form is a group of secret society wizards who travel as a fog to initiate new members.