New Spell: Slash the Weave
PDF Link | D&D Beyond: Slash the Weave
Art Credit: https://www.artofmtg.com/art/doom-blade/
If you saw the force strike cantrip from our first compendium and thought “I wish it were higher-level” or “It’d be nice to have an area effect version,” then today’s new spell preview, the 9th-level slash the Weave, might be exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Whether you’re a bladesinger looking for a new weapon-themed 9th-level spell, you just want to damage enemies at the same time that you dispel them, or you want a powerful cone-based damaging spell, this slicing spell is for you.
To gauge its power, slash the Weave is best compared to two other 9th-level spells: meteor swarm (from the base rules) and obliteration beam (another D&D Unleashed spell). Though the spells affect similarly-sized but differently-shaped areas, unlike both of the other spells, slash the Weave only deals its full damage to one creature. This allows the spell to have a fair bit more utility, and that utility comes in the form of its anti-magic effects. Though it isn’t technically an abjuration, this 9th-level spell doubles as an offensive dispel magic effect, enabling it to remove spells from the simple shield or absorb elements to the more powerful telepathy, holy aura, or storm god’s haste (a 7th-level D&D Unleashed spell). That doesn’t make it a slam-dunk against strong casters like a Lich, though, since (like the default Lich statistics) they might be rocking a counterspell, and hitting them with the melee attack of slash the Weave ensures that you’ll be within counterspell’s range.
Even if the spell misses and the enemies all succeed on their saving throws, slash the Weave can still change the course of a fight thanks to its final effect. Cutting open the Weave is an act with inevitable consequences, no matter how quickly the cut heals. The spell renders the area surrounding the caster unstable to magic, making it difficult for other creatures to cast for 1 round (and making it more difficult for the caster to use reaction spells, too). Because this affects allied creatures as well as enemies, it can easily be a downside instead of an upside for a caster that doesn’t consider the needs and positioning of their own group. Against a group of enemy spellcasters, such as a group of hags in a coven, however, this portion of the spell can almost be more powerful than the area damage itself!
Slash the Weave is a Gladimancy spell, which means that it appears on the spell list for the Gladimancer feat, one of the spellcasting specialization feats that will appear in Legends of Prestige and Prowess. Just like the elemental specialization feats in The Elements & Beyond, our first released compendium, the Gladimancer feat allows a character to specialize in a type of spell that doesn’t have a single school of spell or damage type to mechanically unify it. For Gladimancy, the theme is weapons, shields, and especially blades, such as swords and knives. Gladimancers use their magic to conjure, control, infuse, and ward against swords and other weapons. Not all of them engage in weapon combat, but many do. This theme often fits gishes such as bladesinger wizards, hexblade warlocks, and valor bards. It’s another example of how D&D Unleashed homebrew lets you expand your D&D game and more effectively build the specific kinds of characters that you desire!
PDF Link | D&D Beyond: Slash the Weave
