Play Your Next 5E D&D Game as a Spell Savant

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted took on a request to create the ultimate cantrip master for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons as the Spell Savant character build. The concept behind this 5E D&D character build is getting as many cantrips as possible without just simply multiclassing into every spellcasting class — bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock and wizard — plus acquiring as much variety as possible in damage types and effects. Let’s get into it.

Behind the CBG — Spell Savant

Every CBG we create considers the journey as much as the final outcome. We aim to present a guide suitable for any level of 5E D&D play whether you’re pursuing an epic campaign from start to finish, starting beyond 1st level or choosing a character for a one shot. Then we take those concepts and develop an NPC or creature version of the character build for DMs to incorporate into their games. All of this gets packaged up and laid out in a PDF you can find over at Dungeon Master’s Guild. We’ve got dozens of pay what you want products at DMG, many of them best sellers so if you want to check those out start with the Spell Savant here.

All about the character story

Each CBG starts with a character concept sticking to a particular schtick, from the Mind Breaker’s psyche crushing smites to the Spell Savant’s artful weaving of magical energy. Sometimes puns and pop culture references instigate the creation of a CBG too. At every step of the way we considered options for manipulating different energy types or causing different environmental effects.

For us it’s important to consider who these characters are as individuals and why they follow these particular paths. One special thing to note with this CBG is while we always aim to make the journey to 20th level as practical as possible — none of these characters “come online” after an awkward slog through many levels — the Spell Savant’s repertoire includes just about every cantrip on our list by 9th level. This one is a bit of a late bloomer for our CBGs though because the sweet spot comes at 14th level when they get the Potent Cantrip feature.

In the time since we first put this CBG together a little over two years ago there’s been more cantrips added to 5E D&D from official sources and a whole lot of other character options too. But the core concept of the character remains and where the Spell Savant’s strength really lies is conservation. Because cantrips can be cast unlimited numbers of times without expending any resources this frees the character up to use their spell slots for a huge variety of effects. After writing so many Top 10 homebrew spell posts one of the things I notice is how often homebrew cantrips incorporate scaling, multiple choices for effects and similar versatility almost certainly based on this reasoning.

“This character recognized early on the power of even the most basic magics. Secluding themselves, they dove deep into the mysteries of magic. They seek to gain power and knowledge like any mage, but their focus in the broad application of cantrip magic moreso than manipulating the mighty energies of high-level spells.”

Spell Savant NPC for 5E D&D

Full disclosure — the NPCs and creatures we make in CBGs are some of my favorite bits of 5E D&D content to create. We step back and look at the character build to find the standout features that feel like signature abilities. The juice! From there we consider what sort of person or people would possess or gain these abilities and build a stat block around them. More often than not the section of a CBG For Dungeon Masters presents a generic creature.

Despite the length of time between creating the Spell Savant NPC and writing this post I recall spending most of the time mulling over how to represent this concept in a fun and streamlined way without bogging down a stat block with nearly two dozen cantrips and a hot mess of related spellcasting. The approach I took removes all trace of player character style spellcasting in favor of an individual whose grasp of magical manipulation sets them apart. Instead these generalist NPC magician’s summon raw magical energy and sculpt it to their needs from moment to moment.

Along with toggling the damage type of their magical assaults to fit any scenario the Spell Savant includes a menu of effects to incorporate with their assault, which I pulled straight from a selection of cantrips. Shocking grasp, chill touch, vicious mockery, ray of frost, lightning lure and thornwhip all include an additional effect on top of dealing damage. The Spell Savant chooses to apply any of these effects from The Craft trait to their basic attack called The Art.

Back to the Basics. This spellcaster focuses on mastering the basics. They believe the mysteries of the very universe can be unlocked by mastering fundamental principles of magic.

“The Art. Ranged spell attack: +8 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (3d8 +5) damage (acid, cold, fire, force lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder, chosen when the attack is made). In addition, the target is affected by The Craft effect.”

If your next 5E D&D game needs a character who makes the most of cantrips — whether you’re the DM or a player — check out the Spell Savant Character Build Guide here.

*Featured image — Shocking Grasp from Magic: The Gathering’s Dungeons & Dragons Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion set might not capture the 5E D&D spell effect perfectly but nevertheless as a huge fan of both D&D and MTG it’s awesome to see the crossover! [Art by Jason Felix]

New videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here