Hi all,
I have a Fighter/Eldritch Archer with Sorcery FA. Let's say I chose to use a sorcery spell slot to cast Shocking Grasp with my Eldritch Shot ability. My reading is that the use of Shocking Grasp in this scenario doesn't trigger Dangerous Sorcery and thus I don't add extra damage should my Eldritch Shot it because the cast a spell action is a subordinate action of Eldritch Shot. Is this correct?
Many thanks for your help.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dangerous Sorcery applying is basically a quad-binary. That is, you must fulfill four specific Yes/No conditions for it's effect to take place. The quad-binary checks are for the Cast a Spell activity, if the spell you're benefitting is from your Spell Slots, if the spell deals Damage, and if it does not have a duration. So, let's compare it to whether Eldritch Shot works with it:
1. Are you using the Cast a Spell activity? Obviously yes. Eldritch Shot specifies that you "Cast a Spell that takes 1 or 2 Actions and requires a Spell Attack Roll." Sure, it only works with a specific subset of spells, but it still calls out the Cast a Spell Activity in particular, and is not a limitation of Dangerous Sorcery, so this clause checks out.
2. Is the spell from your Spell Slots? Also (probably) yes, especially with the example spell you provided (Shocking Grasp). If the spell was from a Focus Pool, or from an item (such as a Wand, Scroll, etc.), then Dangerous Sorcery's clause of it being from Spell Slots only would deny this benefit, but given that Eldritch Shot requires a Bow, you probably will not be able to utilize a Wand, Staff, or Scroll (barring specific circumstances), meaning the odds of this issue coming up in this particular instance is corner-case at best.
3. Does the spell deal damage? Using the example spell, yes. It calls out Electricity damage as part of its effect. This would also work with effects like Harm, Chill Touch, etc. Basically, if the spell says it "deals XdY Z(type) damage," it deals damage. Enemies being immune to a type of damage doesn't mean the spell doesn't deal damage, it just means it has no effect on that enemy in particular.
4. Does the spell not have a duration? Again, example spell points to yes, since it lacks a "Duration" entry in the spell's stat block. Even if we target an enemy made of metal or wearing metal armor, Persistent Damage is a condition applied that is an effect with a duration separate from the spell itself, so it's still applicable.
So, it should be fairly obvious that Dangerous Sorcery would buff Eldritch Shot's Spell damage component in this example. However, because Dangerous Sorcery is a Status Bonus, it does not stack with other Status Bonuses to Damage (such as from Inspire Courage), so if you're running a Bard in your party, make sure you don't double-dip those bonuses.
**EDIT** Fixed confusing statements.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Thank you Guntermunch and Darksol. I realize I was also reading Dangerous Sorcery incorrectly and erroneously inserting the "if your next action is cast a spell" clause. But since it's much simpler with just "when you cast a spell from your spell slots" it's exactly as Darksol described