Conversion Kit: Spellsword

Kit Overview

• Investment Type: Spell Selection and/or Feat.

• Minimum Investment: As above. If you aren’t a spellcaster with access to the spells, multiclass into one, or take the Magic Initiate feat.

• Overall Impact: You use spells, not to supplant martial skill, but to enhance it.

Investment

Your investment here is heavily determined by your existing class.

Artificers, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks have the most variety- but Clerics, Druids, and Bards have access to a few choice spells too. Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters share the wizard’s spell list. For any of these classes, Feats or multiclassing might be attractive to get at additional spells, but you have access to enough spells to develop a combat style out of the gate.

If you’re a non-caster, a Paladin, or a Ranger, you’re going to have to work for it a bit more. Multiclassing is an option, as is the Magic Initiate feat. We’ll discuss methods below.

Multiclassing, as always, requires a 13 in a specific Ability Score. (Intelligence for Artificers and Wizards; Charisma for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Bards; or Wisdom for Druids and Clerics)

I advocate for minimum investment, so I would advise using the following rules to decide how you’ll get at your spells:

• If you’re a full caster, one level of multiclassing is easy unless you’re lacking in the appropriate ability score. In that case, select the magic initiate feat.

• If you’re a Ranger, then multiclassing into Druid or Cleric is painless, since they all key off of Wisdom.

• If you're a Paladin, then multiclassing into Sorcerer or Warlock is similarly painless, since these classes key off of charisma. (Shoutout to Tumblr user yogsothothsfavecultist for catching an error here- I originally lumped the Paladin in with the Ranger as a Wisdom based caster.)

• If you’re a non-caster, I have to advocate for Magic Initiate. You don’t have nearly as much to gain from multi-classing as a character who can already cast spells.

Now’s a good time to discuss scope. This article aims to blend magic and martial combat. If you’re a full caster, you won’t want to do this all the time. If you’re looking to bolt a toolbox of spells onto the side of your fighter chassis, this isn’t the article for you. We want your spells and attacks to be (roughly) equal parts of a cohesive combat style. For this reason, we will be focusing on Cantrips.

Narrative Impact

The narrative impact here can be fairly varied, based on what you want to do with the kit, your class, and whether you multiclassed to get to the spells you’re using. For full casters, consider how you wound up on the front lines. Elves are known for mixing their traditions (Bladesingers, anyone?) and Dwarves are quite hardy. Abjurers and War Mages have good reason to stick close to their comrades, while many Clerics stay close to provide healing.

This is a conversion kit where the narrative impact can sometimes be minimal, but considering it can certainly help you define your character. Certain Artificer and Bard archetypes lean into frontline battle, and Druids might simply stick close for their wildshape. If your archetype assumes you’ll be getting up close and personal, then by all means skip to the mechanical impact section for advice on getting the most out of your cantrip choices.

For everyone else, this can be much more exciting.

If your primary class isn't magic-based then it’s quite special that your otherwise mundane character has a smattering of magic. Players and Characters alike will wonder how you came by it- and the explanation can be quite telling.

Whether you multiclassed or utilized magic initiate, an excellent starting point is to look at the existing classes and swipe the fundamentals of their narrative. You could choose the class you plucked your spells from, but you don’t necessarily have to.

Sorcerers have latent magical power, but you're not a Sorcerer. Why not? Is your magical bloodline weak, distant, or recently manifested? Is your innate magic perhaps the result of recent events instead? You might even detest or mistrust your bloodline.

Have you studied magic as a Wizard? Who taught you the few tricks you know? Were there others alongside you? Were you satisfied with what you learned, or do you thirst for further knowledge? If you’re a High Elf, the study of magic may be culturally important. If, like an Artificer or Bard, your magic stems from study of a craft, you might wish to answer similar questions about your narrative.

Did you recieve your magic from a patron, similar to a Warlock? Perhaps your magic was a gift meant to tempt you, and you have resisted that tempation. Did you serve willingly? Or disappoint your patron in some way? Perhaps there is a broken pact in your history, or you simply did not prove yourself to the being who gave you your power and took a new path.

If your magic is Divine, like a cleric, when and how did you find your faith? Do you serve or venerate any particular god? What separates you from clerics and paladins? Do you lack devotion, or do you simply believe that your path will serve your god just as well as any other?

Power that stems from nature like that of the druids is much more difficult to pin down. Have you always had a kinship with nature? How did this kinship develop, and what do you make of it? Do you have other skills or knowledge as a result? Were you taught secrets by a member of a drudic order? Have you formally joined them? Do you serve any particular role, if so? Do they resent you for having those secrets?

Don't be afraid to interrogate your character here, the answer you get is bound to be more interesting than "I took a feat".

Mechanical Impact

Because we have a very specific goal with this kit, we will focus on a specific selection of cantrips. I have deliberately left out most ranged attack cantrips- you don’t need me to tell you that ranged, magical damage is a good thing to have. You’ve either already chosen a few or have a different means of dealing damage lined up. If you’re here, you want something interesting.

I’ll divide the cantrips by category, listing the relevant cantrips and the class lists these spells are available to after each header.

Area of Effect

• Available to: Everyone

• Spell Options: Green-Flame Blade, Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance.

These are good for damaging or clearing out multiple nearby enemies. I want to stick to interesting cantrips that do something besides damage, however AoE damage is one of the hardest things for martial characters to get.

Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance are functionally just different aesthetics for the same effect: xd6 damage to all adjacent characters (if they fail a save).

The save and damage types vary slightly, but you really only need one of these.

Green-Flame Blade is unique in that it has two effects: First, it magically enhances your melee damage, making it useful for even single targets. Second, it only damages one other target, but the damage is guaranteed if you hit the first target with a melee attack. You might be able to justify taking two AoE spells in this case.

Debuff

• Available to: Artificer, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

• Spell Options: Frostbite and Vicious Mockery.

Much like the area of effect spells, these are different spells that achieve the same end. Stick to one or the other.

(There is a slight difference; Vicious Mockery affects all attacks while Frostbite calls out weapon attacks specifically. This makes Mockery slightly better, but it’s only available to Bards.)

These spells impose disadvantage on a single attack roll. It’s not a huge edge, and not something you want to use for yourself. This spell is for casting on an enemy that you just can’t peel off of an ally to grant them some breathing room. Truthfully, I have to recommend that you choose a spell from the following category instead, if you can.

Disable

• Available to: Sorcerers, Wizard.

• Spell Options: Sapping Sting and Shocking Grasp.

These are two wildly different spells, but they can still serve somewhat similar purposes.

Shocking Grasp is a melee only spell that denies enemies their reaction. This can help allies get out of a threatened area, but it also denies other useful reactions such as shield spells and parries if it hits.

Sapping Sting might be hard to get depending on your DM, but is a ranged spell that forces foes prone. This can be useful for keeping foes at bay, helping allies flee dangerous melee opponents, or setting up your own melee attackers.

Sapping Sting is more versatile, but Shocking Grasp just works when the appropriate scenario comes up. This is one category where you can justify picking both.

Drag

• Available to: Artificers, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards.

• Spell Options: Gust, Lightning Lure, and Thorn Whip.

Drags allow you to consistently manipulate enemy positions. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip pull enemies toward you, placing them at risk of Opportunity Attacks from you, while Gust allows you to push enemies away from your allies (so it’s not quite a drag, sue me).

You really only need one of these. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip are valuable if you’re ‘sticky’ and can keep enemies nearby, while Gust has a longer range and might be a better choice if the enemies will just move back into position anyway.

Keep in mind that Lightning Lure and Gust contest strength saves, while Thorn Whip relies on an attack roll.

Lockdown

• Available to: Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.

• Spell Options: Booming Blade.

There’s only one Cantrip that fills this role, and it’s the king of it. Booming Blade.

You’re losing out on very little damage thanks to its initial damage, and it deals heavy damage to anyone who tries to move after being struck. This alone can make you quite sticky and makes drags more attractive.

This one benefits more heavily than others from the right support, so be sure to check out that section if this spell interests you.

‘Traps’

• Available to: 7th Level Eldritch Knights

• Spell Options: Blade Ward and True Strike

The ‘available to’ section above surely looks a little odd if you’ve been playing 5e for a while. But seriously, these spells eat your entire turn for minimal benefit. However, Eldritch Knights can sometimes sneak some use out of them thanks to their 7th level war magic feature.

True Strike can be used to set up in advance for a big hit on your next turn, and Blade Ward lets you heavily tank up against humanoid foes where necessary- but they only somewhat work for Eldritch Knights because they can still attack while using them. This is a little too niche for me to go into detail, but it didn’t seem right not to mention it at all.

Choosing your Cantrips

Whether you’re a full caster setting aside one or two cantrips for mixing it up in melee, or a magic initiate with only two slots to fill, you’ll want to make your choices count.

By pairing your cantrips into a cohesive strategy, you can maximize their impact. Pairing Area of Effect spells with Drags will let you ensure you have at least two targets to work, while pairing a Drag with a Lockdown allows you to force foes to duel you. Taking a Disable and a Drag allows your allies to move freely while foes are driven out of position.

If you aren’t sure what else to do, grab one AoE spell for groups and either Booming Blade or Green-flame Blade. (The latter spells are useful for single target damage even if you don’t use their secondary effect).

Kit Support

War Caster is an old standby for melee spellcasters, and for good reason. All of its benefits are useful, but we’re interested in the ability to cast a single target spell in place of an opportunity attack.

This really opens up your ability to combo your cantrips together. You might consider using Booming Blade as a reaction to prevent foes from fleeing, or a disable or debuff to take the pressure off of the enemy’s next target. Any damaging cantrip is more punishing than a single attack, and using drags can force enemies to into position for this strategy. Keep in mind that this doesn’t work with AoE spells.

In all honesty, I think letting your reaction be the bulk of your spellcasting while you otherwise strike with weapon attacks is the best way to use this kit- it allows both aspects of your character to shine without competing with one another.

If you want to push this further, Polearm Master allows you to severely punish foes who attempt to close with you when combined with the previous feat, since it allows you to make opportunity attacks against foes who enter your reach. Keep in mind you’re casting a spell, in place of an opportunity attack, not as an opportunity attack, so we can’t further combo with Sentinel to stop them in their tracks.

While slightly more niche, Mobile plays well with Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade- if you hit, your enemies don’t get to attack you when you move away. This is nice for Green-flame Blade, but devastating when used with Booming Blade since enemies who pursue you will suffer extra damage. This feat also allows squishier characters to skirmish without taking extra damage from opportunity attacks.

Pitfalls

If you are a full spellcaster, you might struggle to survive in melee. The feats that grant armor proficiency can grant some reprieve, and mage armor exists for a reason. Consider adopting hit and run tactics using the mobile feat if those don’t appeal to you.

You can also multiclass into Cleric- many Domains offer Heavy Armor proficiency as a benefit. You may well have already multiclassed cleric to get your cantrips in the first place. (Shoutout again to YogsothothsFaveCultist on Tumblr for pointing out this last strategy.)

The ‘canned’ spellswords don’t suffer from being out of place nearly as much- Eldritch Knights, Bladesingers, Moon Druids, Valor or Sword College Bards, and most Clerics have the armor or skills to fight on the front lines- as do Mountain Dwarves.

There is, of course, the usual risk of investing in this strategy and proceeding not to use it at all. The best way to mitigate this risk is to make sure that your spell choices aren’t both shut down by the same things. Pick spells that target different saves and serve different purposes, and you should use at least one in most fights.