

In other words, it has a value of at least 1 sp, making it eligible for Green-Flame Blade’s material component. Because, as Jeremy Crawford points out in this Sage Advice thread, the Pact of the Blade weapon “has the value indicated in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook.” You can use Green-Flame Blade with Warlock’s Pact of the Blade feature.
#5E SHADOW BLADE SPELL FREE#
Since Green-Flame Blade’s somatic element is the weapon itself, you’re fine to use it with a two-handed weapon - no free hand necessary. The material component section of the rules reads that “a spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components - or to hold a spellcasting focus - but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.” (PHB 203). You can use a two-handed weapon with Green-Flame Blade. You cannot deal negative damage in Dungeons and Dragons (PHB 196).Ī negative spell modifier will, however, reduce the damage of the 1d8 damage rolls for Green-Flame Blade at higher levels. If you have a negative spellcasting modifier, Green-Flame Blade’s jumping fire damage will deal 0 damage (before you’re 5th level). Green-Flame Blade can deal 0 damage, but not negative damage. Because they’re not classified as “melee weapons.” DMs are, of course, free to ignore this rules-as-written interpretation. Green-Flame Blade cannot be used with natural weapons, unarmed strikes, or improvised weapons. Sorry everyone - there’s no way to cast GFB or Booming Blade on a target more than 5 feet away, rules as written. Here’s Sage Advice confirmation that GFB’s range is “intentionally” limited to 5 feet.Īs for the Spell Sniper feat, well - GFB’s spell description itself, rather than the “Range” entry of its block, specifies that the target must be within 5 feet of the caster. Green-Flame Blade cannot be used with Reach weapons or the Spell Sniper feat. Of course, the fire damage portion of GFB’s effect is magical. Green-Flame Blade’s melee attack is not magical unless the weapon itself is magical. A Sage Advice thread confirmed that War Caster does in fact work with Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade.Ĭounterspell prevents all of Green-Flame Blade.

The exception to this is the War Caster feat, which allows for a player to cast a spell as an opportunity attack (PHB 170). For the same reason as above - it’s Casting a Spell, not using the Attack action, which the rules for opportunity attacks clearly specify (PHB 195, SAC 18). Green-Flame Blade can’t be used on an opportunity attack. The exception to this is Bladesinging Wizards, whose Extra Attack feature does allow for them to cast cantrips in place of one of their attacks (TCoE 77). Because it requires a Cast a Spell action rather than the Attack action, it is not eligible for the Extra Attack feature (confirmed in the Sage Advice Compendium, pg. Green-Flame Blade doesn’t work with Extra Attack. The rules for Green-Flame Blade in DnD 5e are as follows:

What Are the Rules for Green-Flame Blade in 5e? Both of these damage rolls increase by another 1d8 at 11th and 17th level. Once a character is 5th level, Green-Flame Blade also causes an instant 1d8 fire damage to the initial target, as well as an additional 1d8 + spellcasting modifier fire damage to the secondary target. If the attack hits, the target suffers all the normal weapon effects (damage, extra magical effects on the weapon, etc.) and the caster can choose to cause an additional 1d8 (4.5 average) fire damage to a different creature within 5 feet of the initial target equal to their spellcasting modifier (Intelligence for Artificers and Wizards, Charisma for Sorcerers and Warlocks). That means the caster will be using Strength or Dexterity for those rolls in most cases. Green-Flame Blade is a Cast a Spell action during which the caster makes a normal melee attack, using normal attack and damage modifiers (as opposed to spellcasting modifiers). No subclasses get Green-Flame Blade for free. The following classes have Green-Flame Blade on their spell list: There’s also a whole heap of rules questions around Green-Flame Blade, which we’ll also tackle. Green-Flame Blade originally came to DnD 5e in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide back in 2015 and was later updated and reprinted in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything in 2020.īut ever since its release, players have been theorycrafting about where exactly this melee-ranged cantrip fits into a character build.
