Flavoring Spells in D&D With Meagan and Todd

[@DragonKingZero]

Fire spells change colors based on damage rolled (red->orange->yellow->white -- crits are blue).

[@40yearoldninja61]

My 5 year old wanted to be Ironman in our campaign so I made him a warforged wizard. Magic missiles come from a small wrist mounted missile launcher, feather fall shoots rocket thrusters that attach to allies, and chromatic orb is a multi barrelled gun mounted on his shoulder. He loves it, and it fits his theme.

[@nickd7935]

You should check out the Armorer subclass from Tasha’s!

[@WeShallLoveOn]

I have a divination wizard and it's pretty surprising how many spells you can reflavor as "seeing the future" or divining in some way. So for instance Shield is just her stepping out of the way of an attack she knows is coming. Synaptic Static/mind whip are giving the targets horrible visions of the future. Haste gives her friends helpful visions of the future. Misty step "freezes time" so she can walk away and appear to teleport somewhere else. Disintegrate propels the target through time to where they turn to dust. Reflavoring spells is one of my favorite things to do. It also makes a great way to play something like a summoner without only having to take "summoning spells"(notoriously hated by DMs everywhere). Because you can just reflavor your fireball to be summoning a fire elemental, or Fly as you actually just summoning a bird that picks you up and makes you fly.

[@YaBoiAshX]

"Haste gives her friends helpful visions of the future" I don't think future sight makes somebody faster or able to attack twice lol, but hey gud flavor non the less.

[@gigglydude]

My favorite flavoring was my Grung circle of Spores druid that discovers he has a special new tongue that could shoot out 120 ft to wrap around an enemy & do necrotic damage (chill touch)

[@heykak]

Artificer is the supreme class for flavouring spells. I had a battlesmith that used a repeating heavy crossbow. his faerie fire was a special sparkle grenade I loaded into the gun. that artificer changed into an armourer once tasha's came out. I do the standard magic missile gauntlet shot (ala ironman) but absorb elements channels the magic to open glass panels on my suit (which will get more use when i reach 9th level). but i also have the aberrant dragonmark, with shield, and i make a specific point that when i cast shield, it doesnt actually come from my suit, and the dragonmark on my neck glows and expands until the next short rest. I love flavouring spells

[@beastmasterbrax4747]

Reflavoring is so great! I played a Dwarven Abjuration Wizard in a one shot who used a revolver as a spell focus. Prepping spells was him creating his bullets every night. It was great imagining Counter Spell as me shooting the spell out of the air. My water genasi pirate Tempest Cleric of Umberlee Spirit Guardians was spectral sharks, the party always called it my Sharknado. My Sacred Flame was a bolt of lightning instead of flame, and my Shatter spell sounded like a ships cannon. I smeared a drop of salt water on a party members forehead and said a prayer to cast Death Ward, and my healing spells made them feel and smell the sea air. Oh yeah and my Inflict Wounds was me drawing all the moisture from their bodies. I loved all the flavor Meagan brought for her spells in Silver and Steel!

[@facetankhank]

I absolutely love flavouring. It adds so much! My group are all new to the game, while I have played since 3.0. I'm slowly opening up the world to them. Our party druid (shepherd) chose for her elf form to have purple hair. Then she changed into a hyena and was worried I would relay it to the party so they would attack her, not having seen this creature before. Then I said "What if you have a purple mohawk?" And then she realised what could make something her own in our world. One of the NPC's they have encountered is a paladin. He's a BIG dude. His sheet says he wields a hammer, but that just a stat I use for his fist. He punches stuff very hard with a holy fist of fury.

[@aoiyuureisuru7656]

Batshit and sulpher was used to make gunpowder and Bowstrings used to be made of intestines! Love the real world connections the components have to these spells

[@draco949]

I love these. Keep them coming. I like how you look at each other rather than the camera. Gives a "my friends are chatting about D&D while I am in the room" feel.

[@TheAllAroundG]

I had a Thief/Sorcerer who stole a crystal dagger, and used it for physical attacks, cantrips and even higher level stuff. He threw the dagger and it was a firebolt, or it split into magic missile, it spun around really fast for shield, it duplicated and hovered around as dancing lights, that kinda thing

[@Aligariusful]

I think this is the great thing about 5e - it let's you play up flavoring spells like this as much or as little as possible. It allows you to tell the story how you want.

[@TheNewOcMuse]

I once played a Kenku bard whose spells were all flavored as different instrument noises. (Thunderwave sounded like the loud boom of a bass drum, each hit of a magic missile would sound like little plucks on a lyre string, etc)

[@Hyodorio]

I'm loving this format with you two! Also, flavoring spells must be one of my favourite things in D&D, my shepherd druid player loved to flavor his spells as tiny spirits that delivered the magic effect

[@GramGramAnimations]

I played a wizard in Dragon Heist and in one of the early sessions found a gun on an enemy. 2 campaigns later my old lady wizard gnome still uses it as her focus for spells like magic Missile, fireball, Frost Ray, and any spell I can possibly flavor it with. The gun has since been bejeweled with her jewelers tools proficiency.

[@raicantgame6634]

oh man, that comment about how an artillerist can't beat out a wizard hit me right in the chest because I'm literally playing an artillerist whose backstory is that he wanted nothing more than to be a wizard, but due to unfortunate circumstances he wasn't able to and turned to artificing as a second option and is consumed with regret. So you said that and I'm like "... OW?!" I do love flavoring spells though, it is fantastic and adds so much character to your abilities.

[@thebridgeninja]

My ranger has a robot dragonling pet we made up. To use it in combat, I cast summon beast on it. Also a wizard in our group has a spell revolver that he casts his spells through.

[@ticozayas6430]

I love reflavoring spells, one of my favorites was changing my eldritch blast "beams" into spectral throwing knives/daggers for my hexblade, the blades would emerge from my palms and hover in front of me waiting to be grabbed and "thrown"

[@Battleguild]

Re-flavoring Eldritch Blast as spectral arrows that you fire from your bow is also fun way to flavor a Warlock's "Extra Attack" without having to take the Invocation. It makes those Eldritch Smite shots feel special when you fire that one big one.

[@ScarletWyvern631]

My changeling’s guiding bolt is a flaming cupcake because he loves to bake things for people and his cure wounds is the favorite dessert of whoever he’s healing

[@SimonAshworthWood]

Flavouring spells with Meagan and Todd? I prefer to use Nutmeg and Cinnamon, myself.

[@mooxim]

My all-time favourite was when I had a high level diviner with a bunch of natural disaster themed spells. Rather than creating the magical effects, I played it as though he just knew when and where they were about to happen and had manipulated the battlefield so that the enemy was in the right place at the right time.

[@WardNightstone]

first character i had with flavor to their casting was a Druid Sorcerer who's arcane magic was "tainted" by their druid magic (was actually an old DM's idea when i was stuck on a character idea for our new game at the time) so Magic Missle looked like Pine cones Fireball looked like a pile of leaves Acid arrow smells of pine needes ETC. my Teifling warlock comes from a infernal realm without color (like the first 2 episodes of wandavision) so all of his spells tend to get more colorful the more he sees of the material plane

[@callmeb.o.b.824]

I really want to play a Triton Oath of the Ancients Paladin. When casting Channel Divinity: Nature's Wrath have a shallow puddle of water appear under the enemy and spectral water sharks rise up and clamp down on them to hold them in place. Love the content, channel, and everything y'all do. Thank you so much and hope everyone has a blessed day!

[@knightghaleon]

With my sorclock build, I went pact of the blade with the improved pact weapon. It says you can use a short bow/long now and the weapon becomes a spell focus. So my sorcerer became a magic archer who twins his tricked out eldritch arrows and can even use his “explosive arrow” which is just a fireball spell. And he gets away by transmuting his thunder step spell into a fire spell to make “step out of hell”. I also took some levels of paladin for better armor access. So being able to spell sling through a bow has been fun. I’ve done the fireball into an ice ball thing before by saying I summon a giant ice flail that I swing down on the enemies.

[@AfroditeBell]

This is exactly why I’m excited for Undead Warlock! Reflavoring damage spells as necrotic. I’m thinking of taking shocking grasp, and flavoring the debuff (target can’t take reactions for turn) as a vitality drain instead of a shock/stun.

[@AislingESullivan]

"a mcdonalds chicken sandwich worth"... Real

[@cameronpearce5943]

I had a thought about how material created with magic seems to either decay very quickly or vanish after a time or when it leaves a space unless it’s been incorporated in to something else. Like how food from Magnificent Mansion doesn’t stop nourishing you after you eat it. I’ve always wondered about the rules of magic surrounding that and how maybe realness can infect magical creations and illusions

[@summersw1rl]

I love Meagan so much! Please have her on more talks!

[@eerebidae]

Great video! I'm happy that flavoring spells finally got a bit of a spotlight in Tasha's, there are so many ways to give spells more character

[@talscorner3696]

Had a dwarven cleric of war, once, and flavored his Inflict Wounds as a bash with the rim of the shield as the Rune of Spite and Hatred flashes

[@talscorner3696]

I play paladins most often, though, and use warhammer purity seals for their spells

[@zombiemage1451]

i had a caster in 3.5 that i had flavored all of her offensive spell effects with birds. magic missle? a swarm of spectral or elemental sparrows or ravens flying at the target. fireball? a tiny phoenix flies out and explodes cone of cold? a flap of icy wings causing a missive gust of cold wind

[@kookiefear6724]

I really enjoy hearing the things you bring in flavour and semantic, I am a relative new dm and a player thats a bit longer, never been really a spell slinger as a player, as a DM I enjoy the cinematic. Keep up the work.

[@UKHaiku]

Another good video, thank you. I’ve been a big fan of using signature colours ever since I heard you ask B Dave what colour Freely’s Eldritch Blast was.. :-)

[@BrentDnD]

Thank you so much for this video! I'm playing a primary caster for the first time right now and I've been struggling with this very thing.

[@soulisthegoal96]

Please tell Meagan that her eye make-up looks incredible in this episode. Loved all your suggestions and ideas around flavouring spells.

[@joemaison1993]

On top of flavoring spells I allow my players to change the damage type of the spell to any type they prefer (excluding force and psychic) but once they lock it into a type they're stuck with that damage type until they're able to change spells out for new ones.

[@MaskedNozza]

This was really cool to hear about. I need to use my imagination way more than I thought. Also I'm really glad to see what you're both up to now, and I'm super happy to see you're doing well!

[@AllenChildersArts]

That collection of Dragons and creatures are fantastic!!!

[@bryangibbs7191]

Whereas I as a wizard will just shrug & say "oops" when I throw a fireball & party members are in it

[@sidnewell8724]

I have a Deep Gnome Genie Warlock that calls Fireball, Magma Storm.

[@LeeCarlson]

Bat guano (potassium nitrate) plus sulfur produces a fireball. Who would have thought?

[@nLinggod]

I like chocolate spells

[@simonfernandes6809]

This series should be called Meagan and Mordenkainen. Because, seriously, Todd IS Mordenkainen.

[@sheepdogoutdoors2181]

This was thoroughly enjoyable.

[@fireharp2353]

I love to flavor sleep as if I’m blowing a feather to them.

[@prixal]

I have a warlock who uses guns to do his spells.

[@moritzborchardt2262]

Am I the only one who is more than comfortable with flavouring/describing things during battle as a player, but keeps losing track of the descriptive side of things as a DM? Thanks for the reminder, Todd and Meagan!

[@icywinterof88]

...I need those dragons....also you guys are a cute couple, keep up all the good work.

[@btashjian]

I've noticed a trend; they are never on screen together. Are they even in the same room? Maybe each one has to be the cameraman(woman) for the other.

[@KeithCarmichaelInFL]

First! Never been first before!

[@callmeb.o.b.824]

Blue Spiked Turtle Shell

[@foxtoxic9722]

@@callmeb.o.b.824 harsh.