New Spells: Major Geomancies II
This content can now be found at its most updated version in The Elements and Beyond, a free 246-page compendium that you can download right here, filled with 23 subclasses, 8 spellcasting feats, 134 spells, 213 spell variants, 85 monsters, 30 magic items, 4 races plus 12 new subraces each with racial feats, and even more goodies for both players and DMs!
We've got two new major geomancies today! Being a geomancy spell means that a spell appears on the spell list for the new Geomancer feat, one of many spellcaster specialization feats available in The Elements and Beyond. These feats have special abilities that activate when the spellcaster casts a spell from the feat's spell list, as well as slight passive boosts to those spells. There's a cost to specialization, but just like a fighter specializing in Great Weapons through a feat, there are benefits too! And they let you live the flavor of an earth mage, water mage, etc. without compromising your spell lists with non-thematic spells.
Art Credit: https://www.deviantart.com/samburley/art/MTG-Magmaquake-332069921
Burrow is the last of the new travel spells in D&D Unleashed modeled after fly. We saw glide, swoop, and soar before, as well as the aquatic dive spell. Burrow, however, does exactly what the name says! The spell is given to rangers as a powerful capstone spell, since the ability to burrow up from the ground, make ranged attacks, and burrow back down in a turn is very powerful and often forces enemies to use the Ready action to menace the ranger. The other classes can make use of this to a slightly more limited degree, but they also have access to the spell's action-ability if their cantrips aren't very impressive and they don't want to use a spell slot. Out of combat this spell can have vast utility for its level, much like the fly spell it was based on. Just don't get interrupted while you're underground, or you'll suffer a living burial.
(Note that burrow, like fly, doesn't actually dictate how you make use of this new speed. You might just be earthbending around yourself, but you could also be doing something as silly as swimming in the ground. It's up to you!)
And if your enemies are giving you too much trouble with the burrow spell, you can always crush them with the ground itself! Seismic Jaws is a potentially devastating geomancy spell that has trouble with some enemies, but can punish closely grouped enemies if they're on (or especially in) the ground. The damage for this spell is low for 6th-level and its nonmagical, but the ability to stun and knock prone a group of enemies should be well worth it, given that the stunned condition prevents them from immediately standing up! It's a perfect higher-level spell to set up some devastating gravelslides or terra spikes.
PDF Link | D&D Beyond Links: Burrow, Seismic Jaws
