Compelled Duel: Come at Me, Bruh

Usable By: Paladin

Spell Level: 1

School: Enchantment

Casting Time: 1 bonus action

Range: 30 feet

Duration: Concentration up to 1 minute

Components: V

You attempt to compel a creature into a duel. One creature that you can see within range must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is drawn to you, compelled by your divine demand. For the duration, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you, and must make a Wisdom saving throw each time it attempts to move to a space that is more than 30 feet away from you; if it succeeds on this saving throw, this spell doesn’t restrict the target’s movement for that turn.

The spell ends if you attack any other creature, if you cast a spell that targets a hostile creature other than the target, if a creature friendly to you damages the target or casts a harmful spell on it, or if you end your turn more than 30 feet away from the target.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

MMORPGs have forever altered RPG spaces. Group composition, the role of healers, DPS, and tanks, and a ton of the language we use today to discuss the games come from games like World of Warcraft. Compelled Duel was an experiment to bring the taunt and aggro mechanic to D&D, and while I think it was a noble effort, man, this spell SUCKS.

Compelled Duel asks a paladin first to have a high spell save DC. As a character dedicated to taking and dealing damage, Charisma is usually your third or fourth ability score you’re prioritizing which leaves your save DC a bit worse for wear. Should they pass the save against your weak DC, the spell does nothing. Huzzah! If they fail, well, then you have to get something good to risk potentially doing nothing, right?

It just makes it kind of want to attack you, and somewhat hinders it from leaving. Plus, it prevents you from moving away or hitting other things, making the effect symmetrical. If the creature you compel was already going to attack you, you’ve cast a spell as a bonus action that potentially limits you and another creature's movement over two saves. OOF that's bad.

The concept is noble; the implementation is just garbage. The funniest part to me is because the spell requires concentration, the intended goal of having the target attack you helps end the spell. You cast a spell with the express goal of getting people to hit you to end the spell. That doesn’t seem like it's worth a spell slot to me, coach.

If you’re coming from the MMO world and are looking for the taunt equivalent, it's not in the rules or spell description; it's verbally taunting your foes. Positioning, tactics, and RP are how you’re going to get the enemies you want to hit you to hit you; trying to use the built in spells like this to attempt to facilitate that experience will likely just leave you frustrated and disappointed that you ever spent spell slots on this garbage.

5e Spells

Compelled Duel: Come at Me, Bruh