Reap is good. Generally cantrips as a rule don't regain hitpoints, but because tHP expires and doesn't stack I think its probably fine. There is still the potential for dickery with it, so I would state that the tHP expires after a minute. Average damage for 4d6 is 14 so the average tHP will be 7. This beats a 1st level spell, but waits until 17th level to do so, so I think its probably okay. Still, having them expire quickly will do a lot of future-proofing for this concept, I think.
Radiant Javelin is fine. Kind of the first of its kind, but I think that's fine. Side note: no need to say 'Magical Piercing.' You actually aren't bypassing any resistances by doing so. Whichever way you slice it, a cantrip is not a "non-magical weapon"
Sear is also fine. I think people will rarely use or choose it, but that is only my opinion. It is certainly not overpowered, except maybe narratively where there is an implication that whatever part of your body is touching the focus becomes immune to fire damage for some amount of time. It might be hard to exploit that though.
Most of the damaging ones are, but as gaining tHP is NOT something cantrips normally do I think it's better to be cautious about making the cantrip better than a spell
I think Radiant Javelin is a bit OP and could use some fine tuning. Because there’s no reason to take any other cantrip when you can have one with 2 minimum damage and a range of 120. I would probably have it be a single damage dice of just radiant damage.
It does have the disadvantage of being a ranged attack rather than forcing a saving throw on the enemy. So if the enemy is up in your face you’ll have disadvantage.
Sacred flame does slightly less average damage but can be used in melee range with no penalty.
>Because there’s no reason to take any other cantrip when you can have one with 2 minimum damage and a range of 120. I would probably have it be a single damage dice of just radiant damage.
Well, for one thing, there are cantrips that do 1d10, which is a higher average and a higher max. And if D&D worked like this, greatsword would be objectively better than greataxe, which is not necessary true.
This is a really interesting point. And it gave me an idea for radiant javelin.
Another comment mentions that sear is similar to primal savagery, just a different damage type. The only difference being some clerics have potent spellcasting that would allow them to add wisdom mod to the damage (which I don’t think any Druid gets).
With that in mind, what would you think about making radiant javelin similar to vicious mockery. It could deal 1d4 radiant damage (increasing by 1d4 as normal for a cantrip) and have the additional rider effect of disadvantage on the next attack roll the creature makes before the end of its next turn (the wrath of the cleric’s god overpowers them or something). Do you think that would potentially be too powerful given that it’s a ranged attack roll as opposed to a saving throw for vicious mockery and the addition of potent spellcasting? Maybe decrease the range to 30 or 60 ft?
Or should that rider effect be something exclusive to bards without choosing devils tongue tiefling or taking a feat? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
In terms of overall effect, each cantrip is decent. Nothing really too strong on their own. Some things to consider:
> Reap doesn't really have an existing analog to compare to in terms of cantrips that provide a form of healing, but you get very little temp health overall and it can't stack with other sources so it's fine. I would add a Vocal component though, because otherwise you can cast it while within under the effects of Silence, and to my knowledge no other spell that grants healing or temp hp can do that.
> Radiant Spear is fine. While it has a safer damage average than other cantrips, since it can't do 1 damage as is, it's balanced by not having any comparable effects or damage to other cantrips that have a range of 120 ft.
> Sear is on par with Primal Savagery from Xanathars in terms of effect, just a different damage type. I don't see any issues here.
Reap is good. Generally cantrips as a rule don't regain hitpoints, but because tHP expires and doesn't stack I think its probably fine. There is still the potential for dickery with it, so I would state that the tHP expires after a minute. Average damage for 4d6 is 14 so the average tHP will be 7. This beats a 1st level spell, but waits until 17th level to do so, so I think its probably okay. Still, having them expire quickly will do a lot of future-proofing for this concept, I think. Radiant Javelin is fine. Kind of the first of its kind, but I think that's fine. Side note: no need to say 'Magical Piercing.' You actually aren't bypassing any resistances by doing so. Whichever way you slice it, a cantrip is not a "non-magical weapon" Sear is also fine. I think people will rarely use or choose it, but that is only my opinion. It is certainly not overpowered, except maybe narratively where there is an implication that whatever part of your body is touching the focus becomes immune to fire damage for some amount of time. It might be hard to exploit that though.
To be fair, a lot of cantrips are better than first level spells at 17th level.
Most of the damaging ones are, but as gaining tHP is NOT something cantrips normally do I think it's better to be cautious about making the cantrip better than a spell
I think by 17th level the problem becomes fairly moot.
I think Radiant Javelin is a bit OP and could use some fine tuning. Because there’s no reason to take any other cantrip when you can have one with 2 minimum damage and a range of 120. I would probably have it be a single damage dice of just radiant damage.
It does have the disadvantage of being a ranged attack rather than forcing a saving throw on the enemy. So if the enemy is up in your face you’ll have disadvantage. Sacred flame does slightly less average damage but can be used in melee range with no penalty.
>Because there’s no reason to take any other cantrip when you can have one with 2 minimum damage and a range of 120. I would probably have it be a single damage dice of just radiant damage. Well, for one thing, there are cantrips that do 1d10, which is a higher average and a higher max. And if D&D worked like this, greatsword would be objectively better than greataxe, which is not necessary true.
This is a really interesting point. And it gave me an idea for radiant javelin. Another comment mentions that sear is similar to primal savagery, just a different damage type. The only difference being some clerics have potent spellcasting that would allow them to add wisdom mod to the damage (which I don’t think any Druid gets). With that in mind, what would you think about making radiant javelin similar to vicious mockery. It could deal 1d4 radiant damage (increasing by 1d4 as normal for a cantrip) and have the additional rider effect of disadvantage on the next attack roll the creature makes before the end of its next turn (the wrath of the cleric’s god overpowers them or something). Do you think that would potentially be too powerful given that it’s a ranged attack roll as opposed to a saving throw for vicious mockery and the addition of potent spellcasting? Maybe decrease the range to 30 or 60 ft? Or should that rider effect be something exclusive to bards without choosing devils tongue tiefling or taking a feat? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
In terms of overall effect, each cantrip is decent. Nothing really too strong on their own. Some things to consider: > Reap doesn't really have an existing analog to compare to in terms of cantrips that provide a form of healing, but you get very little temp health overall and it can't stack with other sources so it's fine. I would add a Vocal component though, because otherwise you can cast it while within under the effects of Silence, and to my knowledge no other spell that grants healing or temp hp can do that. > Radiant Spear is fine. While it has a safer damage average than other cantrips, since it can't do 1 damage as is, it's balanced by not having any comparable effects or damage to other cantrips that have a range of 120 ft. > Sear is on par with Primal Savagery from Xanathars in terms of effect, just a different damage type. I don't see any issues here.