Compulsion: Cha-Cha Slayed

Usable By: Bard

Spell Level: 4

School: Enchantment

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 30 feet

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Components: V, S

Creatures of your choice that you can see within range and that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. A target automatically succeeds on this saving throw if it can't be charmed. On a failed save, a target is affected by this spell. Until the spell ends, you can use a bonus action on each of your turns to designate a direction that is horizontal to you. Each affected target must use as much of its movement as possible to move in that direction on its next turn. It can take its action before it moves. After moving in this way, it can make another Wisdom saving to try to end the effect.

A target isn't compelled to move into an obviously deadly hazard, such as a fire or pit, but it will provoke opportunity attacks to move in the designated direction.

Review by Samuel West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

The infectious call of the cha-cha slide; we all must heed the call.

Compulsion is the D&D version, and lives up to the reputation of every wedding reception dance number we know and love. What makes compulsion such a fantastic spell highlights something I find frustrating with 5e; teamwork.

For a cooperative game, so few features and spells promote coordination with your friends. The effect alone can be useful at deter enemies, stirring up chaos, and getting enemies just where you want them. Where the spell steps up its game is when you coordinate with your teammates to empower them to their fullest by maximizing the number of attacks of opportunity they get to make.

At its best, every melee ally you’ve got can get free hits on creatures that fail the save, and can keep getting attacks of opportunity if they can keep pace with your movement commands. Triggering attacks of opportunity otherwise can be rare. Compulsion gives you the means of opening up huge quantities of them, notably giving the rogues and paladins bonus opportunities for sneak attacks and divine smites respectively.

It excels when paired with melee centric groups, meaning the spell isn’t going to work at every table. The repeated save nature of the spell makes recurring instances of attacks rare, but sometimes a lucky failed save for you will get you an extra move or two out of it.

Another real cost is how it can eat your bonus actions. Bardic inspiration is already something bards want to be using their bonus action on, and melee bard builds that would also be able to take advantage of attacks of opportunity frequently dual-wield meaning you could be missing out on off-hand attacks. In the hands of an order domain cleric or oath of glory paladin you might find these builds feeling more cohesive, but bards can still get a good amount of mileage here if the stars align.

This won’t be a spell you are falling back on every fight, and may take three to four sessions for a moment to offer itself up as just right for its use. You might find a few more niche cases where getting a group to run amok is valuable, and as a bard spell there are plenty of crazy ways to get a crowd going at the local tavern with it.

This won’t wildly change how every table plays, but you’ll absolutely get some “hell yeahs!” and high fives out of it if you’ve got a fighter, paladin, and monk friend eager to make some sweet extra attacks.

5e Spells

Compulsion: Cha-Cha Slayed