Cantrip Upcasting Cantrips Are the Bread and Butter of Spellcasting

Cantrip Upcasting Cantrips are the bread and butter of spellcasting. For an experienced spellcaster, conjuring a cantrip is as simple as Changing Damage tying boot laces. Cantrips are the most basic form of spells, This one is pretty simple. Any spellcaster worth their salt is and the opportunity cost for choosing them is high. going to be familiar with different types of magical damage, channeling them into their most well practiced spells should So why not upcast them? It makes sense that a storm be easy. sorcerer who favors the Gust cantrip might want to give it more oomph. It makes sense that a wizard might want to For a level 1 spell slot, you can upcast a cantrip to change stretch the power of Prestidigitation. So why not just let its damage type to Cold, Fire, Lightning or Poison. them? For a level 2 spell slot, you can upcast a cantrip to change This quick and dirty one page guide covers the concept of its damage type to Acid, Necrotic, Psychic or Thunder. allowing your players to upcast their cantrips. With quick For a level 3 spell slot, you can upcast a cantrip to change guides for how to rule it on the fly. its damage type to Force or Radiant. Focus and Control A Note on Upcasting The most interesting reason to upcast a cantrip! When your Upcast spells are, as a general rule, not as powerful player wants to take their most practiced spells, twist, bend as their counterparts native to that spell level. and break them. If you're deeply into using homebrew in your games, this might even be a way for your spellcasters to Keep this in mind. Upcast cantrips are not meant to prototype their own new spells. be as powerful as normal spells, they are meant to be a fun alternative for players who enjoy the At the cost of a spell slot, consider allowing your players to theme of their cantrips. make interesting boosts and refinements to their cantrips. Consider what sorts of spells give similar effects and pitch the spell slot cost around there. Increasing Damage Your cleric wants to cast a Light cantrip and have the The first thought for most when it comes to upcasting: Can I light only be seen by themselves? Darkvision is a level 2 deal more damage? spell, and although it lasts 8 hours, your cleric wouldn't Damaging cantrips already scale according to character normally be able to prepare it. A second level spell slot seems level, keeping them roughly on pace with weapons. So we fair here. should be careful about over-tuning them when upcasting. The druid wants to focus their Gust cantrip at a target's legs to knock them Prone? Sapping Sting (from Explorer's Save for Half Guide to Wildemount) can knock a target prone, so a first If the cantrip you're casting is a 'save or suck' spell that has level slot is probably fine here. This one will need a save no effect on a succesful save, add 'or half as much damage on attached to it, so let's call it a Strength save vs the druid's a succesful save' in exchange for a first level spell slot. spell save DC. The Eldritch Knight wants to spice up their Booming Add Dice Blade, having it deafen their foe to prevent them The safest way to add damage on upcasting is to only change following the captain's orders? Blindness/Deafness is a the initial damage caused by the spell. Add 1d6 extra damage second level spell... but that's probably because Blindness is to the cantrip for each level of the spell slot used to upcast. quite debilitating. Let's say the booming effect is centered around the target's ears to deafen them instead of dealing Cantrip Adept damage when they move. A constitution save on cast and at When you upcast a cantrip with a leveled spell slot, you may the end of each turn seems good for a first level spell slot. treat rolls of less than the level of the slot as that spell level. If you don't have the levels and effects of every spell ever (e.g. If you cast Firebolt with a level 3 spell slot, treat rolls of made memorised (because you're a human being and not 2 or lower as 3.) some sort of superhuman mega-dungeon-master), go with whatever seems right in the moment. Scribble down what the effect was and look it up between sessions. If you decide you made the right call in the moment, great. If you decide that the effect should be cheaper or more expensive, let your player know at the beginning of the next Samplesession. file DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by DarkAbyssKeeper and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild..

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