DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: ARCANA UNLEASHED Spells, Explained Jess Harshbarger | usagoldmines.com

They Really Are Unleashing That Arcana, Huh?

One of the primary reasons players are rushing to pick up Arcana Unleashed is because of the hefty amount of new spells in the sourcebook. There’s dozens, with wildly varying utility. Let’s take a glance at the 33 spells in Arcana Unleashed, 26 of which are exclusive to the new sourcebook. We’ll go by level.

2nd Level Spells

• Battle Familiar: So, Arcana Unleashed loves its Familiars! With five Familiar-based feats, and the new Vestige Patron Warlock subclass, it’s now easier than ever to make a character build based around having a little buddy with you. Allow me to introduce Battle Familiar, a 2nd level Conjuration spell available to Druids, Warlocks, and Wizards. This spell turns your familiar into a Combat Familiar, giving your pal the Combat Familiar stat-block, complete with its own initiative rolls and combat turn. If you don’t have your own Familiar, you can still use the spell. It’ll give you a choice of whether to summon a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend Familiar.
• Disruptive Tune (AKA the bard annoys everyone spell): This Level 2 Abjuration spell is available to Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards, though I’m confident it will see the most use from Bards. Disruptive Tune fills the 20ft radius around the caster with a ‘distracting melody’ that forces a Constitution saving throw from any creature caught in the radius. Particularly useful against other spell-casters, as a failed saving throw in this case results in a loss of Concentration, and then disadvantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain Concentration for the duration of the spell. Hard to cast Fireball when Rebecca Black’s “Friday” is blasting at full volume in your ear.
• Dueling Ground (AKA the Pokémon spell): This 2nd Level Abjuration spell is available to Artificers, Bards, Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Rangers, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Sorry Fighters and Rogues, you’re the only ones getting left out of this particular party. Is Dueling Ground the most useful spell on this list? No, and it doesn’t even come close. BUT, I think the right tables could have a lot of fun with the ability to create a magical dueling ground for willing creatures. And don’t worry—just like with Pokémon, when a creature hits 0 HP (or is targeted by some kind of insta-kill ability), they are knocked unconscious and teleported out of the Dueling Ground. Does this have a practical use? Not really, but who cares?
• Uncertain Footing: This 2nd Level Illusion Spell allows Artificers, Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards to create illusions of obstacles to confuse and trip up enemies within 120ft of the caster. Prepare for some prat falls and physical comedy, if your DM is in the mood.
• Wither and Bloom: A 2nd Level Necromancy spell available to Druids, Sorcerers, and Wizards. Wither and Bloom allows the caster to inflict Necrotic damage on enemies within a 10ft radius. In addition, the caster can select a creature in that radius to roll an unexpended Hit Point die. Wither and Bloom, life and death. Get it? Wither and Bloom is far from a new spell, but comes with a nice buff in Arcana Unleashed: it now does 3d6 Necrotic damage as opposed to the 2d6 of its 2014 iteration.

3rd Level Spells

• Catnap (AKA the sleepy baby spell): This is a 3rd Level Enchantment spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards. It allows the caster to select three willing creatures within a range of 30 feet to give the Unconscious condition. Once it wears off, they’ll have gained all the benefits of having taken a short rest!
• Inflict Doubt: Another 3rd Level Enchantment spell, available to Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards. I wonder who keeps casting this on me every morning before work? With this spell, you can target a creature within 120ft of you and force them into a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they’ll have disadvantage on all d20 tests for the remainder of the encounter.

4th Level Spells

• Distorted Distance: This impressive 4th Level Illusion spell allows for Artificers, Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards to create a 60ft Sphere centered on a point within a 120ft range. The caster can then either choose the Dizzying Elongation effect or the Shortened Space effect. We’re talking full spatial dilation here, folks. Dizzying Elongation will force your target to make an Intelligence saving throw, and they’ll eat 2d10 Psychic damage if they fail it. Yikes! Shortened Space is the ‘nice’ version, allowing the target within to gain an additional 20ft to their speed until the end of its next turn. Plenty of possibilities with this one!
• Festering Blast (AKA the Taco Bell farts spell): A 4th Level Necromancy spell available to Druids, Warlocks, and Wizards, Festering Blast is a pretty brutal spell. It allows the caster to shoot out a blast of miasma in the direction of their choosing, 10 feet wide and 60 feet long. If creatures within the miasma blast fail their Constitution saving throw, they’ll take 4d10 Necrotic damage and have the Poisoned effect for the spell’s duration. At the start of each turn, targets will take another 2d10 of Poison damage. You know, just to add insult to injury.
• Zone of Amicability: Can’t we all just get along? Zone of Amicability is a 4th Level Enchantment spell available to Bards and Warlocks that basically makes you radiate good vibes. When you try to influence a creature in the 60ft radius around you, you can treat a d20 roll of nine or below as a ten. As someone with routinely terrible dice luck, this sounds like a treat.

5th Level Spells

• Enervation: This is a 5th Level Necromancy spell available to Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. A perfect visual creep-out if you’re playing a character who is Like That, this spell causes an ‘inky tendril of darkness’ to reach out from the caster’s body and drain the life force of another creature within a 60ft radius. If you want, you can also take a Bonus Action to deal an automatic 2d8 Necrotic damage to your target.
• Grave Ground (AKA the spooky scary skeletons spell): Man, there’s a lot of material for Necromancers in Arcana Unleashed! And we love to see it. Grave Ground is a 5th Level Necromancy spell available to Clerics, Warlocks, and Wizards. It allows the caster to raise skeletal hands up from the dirt in four separate 10ft squares. This will add the Difficult Terrain modifier, slowing down your enemies. When the spell is initially cast, creatures within the radius will need to make a Strength saving throw. If they fail, they take 6d6 Necrotic damage, and until the next turn, will have to deduct 1d6 from all of their damage rolls. If you save one of your higher level spell slots for this, it can be a board wipe with the right rolls.
• Mordenkainen’s Lucubration: Gary Gygax’s 50-year-old player character Mordenkainen continues to haunt our spell books! And what the f*ck does lucubration mean? Well, it means laborious thought or study. This 5th Level Divination spell allows you to recover up to two expended spell slots. It’s an instantaneous action, so I feel like the ‘laborious’ bit might be an exaggeration…
• Negative Energy Flood (AKA the ‘you’re not welcome in this vegan cafe spell): Negative Energy Flood is a 5th Level Necromancy spell only available to Warlocks and Wizards. It allows the caster to select a target within 60ft range and, well…flood them with negative energy. On a scale of Mordenkainen’s Lucubration to Negative Energy Flood, how direct is your spell name? Your target will have to make a Constitution saving throw, taking 3d10 + 25 Necrotic damage upon failure. If you kill a human with this spell, they’ll rise the next turn as a Zombie under your control! My desire to play a Necromancer Tank grows…
• Spirit Lantern: Hey look! Another 5th Level Necromancy spell! This one is available to Artificers, Clerics, Warlocks, and Wizards. Spirit Lantern allows the caster to a conjure a floating black lantern over their head, shedding Dim Light within a 60ft radius. Now, if an enemy dies within the lantern’s radius, a shard of its soul will get sucked into the Spirit Lantern. You can hold a number of soul fragments equal to your spellcasting ability modifier. If you expend one of your soul fragments, you can use it to Drain Life, Repair Undead, or Ward Ally.
• Summon Plant: What it says on the tin. This 5th Level Conjuration spell is available to Druids and Rangers only, and allows the caster to summon the spirit of an animated plant. It will adopt the Plant Spirit stat-block. You can also choose whether your plant spirit is a fungus, tree, or a vine. So, if a Familiar is too noisy for you, you can summon a nice plant buddy instead to fight at your side!
• Waves of Exhaustion: I feel like a broken record here, but, this 5th Level Necromancy spell allows Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards to emit gray light within a 60-foot cone. If creatures in the radius fail the ensuing Constitution save, they’ll gain an exhaustion level for their trouble.

6th Level Spells

• Summon Dinosaur (AKA the childhood dream come true spell): Now THIS is what I’m f*cking talking about! This Druid-only 6th Level Conjuration spell allows the caster to summon a Dinosaur Spirit to fight alongside them in combat. You can choose from an Ankylosaur, a Triceratops, or a Tyrannosaur. The creature shares your initiative roll, taking its turn immediately after yours. Hey, combine this with Dueling Ground, and you could have your own Dinosaur throwdown…

7th Level Spells

• Aura of Evasion: A 7th Level Abjuration spell available to Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards that allows the caster to give advantage on Dexterity saving throws to allies within a 30-foot radius. Not fancy, but it sure can be useful.
• Fractured Awareness (AKA a spell for your local sadist): This is one of the first spells from Arcana Unleashed that really caught my eye. Make of that what you will. Fractured Awareness is a 7th Level Divination Spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. It allows the caster to inflict visions of multiple futures on a target within a 120ft radius. If the target fails their Intelligence saving throw, they take 12d10 Psychic damage. While the spell doesn’t specify that these futures will be nightmarish, I have a funny feeling that’s how it’ll play out in most games.
• Power Word: Pain (AKA an even better spell for your local sadist): You’re not gonna believe what this one does! Power Word: Pain is a 7th Level Enchantment spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. You can pick a creature within 60ft to inflict agony upon. If the poor thing has less than 100 hit points, it takes 6d8 Force damage and has the Charmed condition for the spell’s duration. Over 100 hit points, it just takes the nasty hit of Force damage. Simple, brutal, and effective.
• Reweave Fate: This is a 7th Level Divination spell available to Bards, Clerics, Warlocks, and Wizards. This is a straightforward but incredibly helpful spell. It allows the caster to give themselves or another party member a chance to reroll a failed d20 test, this time with advantage, which can make all the difference in the world.
• Transfix: A 7th Level Enchantment spell available to Bards, Warlocks, and Wizards, casting Transfix will make you *otherworldly* and *alluring* to other creatures. You can target one particular creature within 60ft of you, and if they fail their Charisma saving throw, they’ll gain the Charmed and Incapacitated condition. If said Charmed creature gets within 5ft of you, or ends a turn within 5ft of you, they take 4d8 Psychic damage. A little something-something for Charisma mains to chew on!

8th Level Spells

• Entrancing Mirrors: We’re really getting up into the high level spells, now. Entrancing Mirrors is an 8th Level Illusion spell that creates dozens of illusory mirrors, and can confuse up to three creatures of your choosing within 90ft. Provided your targets fail their Intelligence saving throws, they’ll take 7d6 Psychic damage and become inflicted with the Stunned condition.
• Illusory Dragon: First dinosaurs, now dragons! This Wizard-only 8th Level Illusion spell creates a giant shadowy dragon. The dragon’s appearance forces a Wisdom saving throw on any creature that can see it. If the saving throw is failed, they gain the Frightened condition and drop whatever it is they might be holding. You can already see how the spell has its uses. Now, if you have a Bonus Action to spare, you can also control the dragon, allowing movement up to 60ft. This also gives you the chance to have the dragon exhale a blast of damage in a 60ft cone. You can choose between Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Necrotic, or Poison damage. So many options!
• Iron Body: One of the only Transmutation spells in Arcana Unleashed, Iron Body is an 8th Level spell castable by Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Iron Body is a touch spell with the cost of 250gp worth of diamond dust, and with Concentration, can be kept up for an hour. The spell transmutes a creature of your choice into living metal for the spell’s duration. LOTS of uses for this baby. The target can’t be Poisoned, Paralyzed, or Petrified in this state, and they become resistant to Piercing, Bludgeoning, Fire, and Slashing damage.
• Lightning Ring: Love me some elemental spells! This 8th Level Evocation spell can be cast by Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. This spell is as useful as it is flashy. It projects a 10ft Emanation around the caster, and anybody dumb enough to try to get close to you has to make a Constitution saving throw or get seriously zapped. 3d6 Lightning damage and 3d6 Thunder damage is no joke! If you take a Magic action during the course of the spell, it’ll also let you send out massive bolts of lightning, reaching as far as 60ft away from you.
• Moment of Prescience (AKA the ‘actually, no’ spell): This is an 8th Level Divination spell exclusively for Wizards. Moment of Prescience is a pretty simple reaction spell. You can cast it after an enemy rolls for damage, or after you roll for damage on one of your own attacks. You can turn your roll into a beautiful unnatural 20, or your enemy’s roll into a big ‘ol crit-failing 1.

9th Level Spells

• Detonate: Okay, so, I’m a Detonate apologist. Logically, I understand that this is an objective downgrade in terms of damage to Meteor Swarm. BUT…the vibes. The chaos. I’m compelled! Anywho, Detonate is a 9th Level Evocation spell that allows you to select a target and nail them with 10d10 Fire damage if they fail their Constitution saving throw, and half as much damage upon a successful throw. Which is still a sh*tload of damage. It ain’t 9th level for nothing. The best part is, the target then starts emanating explosions from itself. The original target doesn’t take any damage, but every creature in a 60ft radius now gets that nice 10d10 Fire damage to the face.
• Hindsight (AKA the ‘hopefully your DM isn’t too tired’ spell): This is another Divination spell just for Wizards, and this time it’s 9th Level, so even more rad. Hindsight has the most application in terms of story, in my opinion. Within a 500ft range, the caster can see the past ten years of history for the location. One day passes per second, but you can pause, slow, rewind, and fast-forward at any time. DMs running high-level tables will likely have fun with this one.
• Invulnerability: Kind of self-explanatory. Wizards can use this 9th Level Abjuration spell to become immune to all damage for the spell’s duration, which can last up to ten minutes. It’s as powerful as it is straightforward.
• Vision of Elapsing Eons (AKA the ‘f*ck your sanity’ spell): This 9th Level Illusion spell is Fractured Awareness on steroids. The target will see itself and its surroundings crumbling away, eaten by time that passes in moments instead of, you know, eons. For the spell’s duration, the target will be Paralyzed and receive 10d12 Psychic damage to their gray matter.
• Wail of the Banshee (AKA the ‘local death metal band’s first show’ spell): Rounding out the list is this 9th Level Necromancy spell for Warlocks, Wizards, and Sorcerers. It gives the caster the power to let out a bloodcurdling scream that can literally kill those who hear it. We’re not messing around any longer—it’s murder time. You can choose up to ten creatures in a 60ft range to hear your—or rather their—swan song. Each target with 50 hit points or fewer straight-up dies. Targets with more than 50 hit points get to make a Constitution saving throw. If they fail, they won’t die, but they’ll take 12d10 Psychic damage, which may just kill them anyway.

Pick Up Arcana Unleashed to Learn More!

Obviously this is just an overview of the spell list, and you’ll want to pick up the sourcebook for the full details, but hopefully this gives you an idea of what you might want to do in the realm of Arcana Unleashed, or maybe just some new spells and concepts to add to your existing campaign. Whether you’re creating a new character or playing one you’ve had for years, there’s a wealth of magic to delve into with Arcana Unleashed.

The post DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: ARCANA UNLEASHED Spells, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak

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