Enthrall: A Cry for Attention
Spell Level: 2
School: Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 1 minute
Components: V, S
You weave a distracting string of words, causing creatures of your choice that you can see within range and that can hear you to make a Wisdom saving throw. Any creature that can’t be charmed succeeds on this saving throw automatically, and if you or your companions are fighting a creature, it has advantage on the save. On a failed save, the target has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to perceive any creature other than you until the spell ends or until the target can no longer hear you. The spell ends if you are incapacitated or can no longer speak.
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Obviously bards are all about being the center of attention. It's their thing. They’re the performers, the show-boaters, the center of their own universe with too much charm for their own good. Enthrall exists as an in game way to bring that vision to life. Here’s my issue; why can’t bards just do this without spending a spell slot?
Mechanically all Enthrall is bringing to the table is imposing disadvantage on perception checks to a bunch of people. I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a crowded tap room with a performer rocking out with the speakers on blast, I have a pretty bad time perceiving what the person across from me is saying, let alone anything else happening. That to me, this is disadvantage. Now you’re telling me the performer is a magically charming individual with unnatural, heroic levels of performance the likes of which I’ve probably never seen? You bet your ass I’m focused on them and not the shady figure in the corner pilfering something. This could just be an in game mechanic attached to a performance check. I don’t get why you’d want to spend a 2nd level spell on this.
Moreover, imposing disadvantage on perception checks is not worth a 2nd level spell slot. It's just not. Heavily obscurity can come from Fog Cloud and Darkness, both of which are equal or lower level. Invisibility is a 2nd level spell that will often do leagues more than Enthrall will when it comes to getting people to not see something. Disguise Self, Suggestion, and Charm Person are going to have plenty of applicable scenarios where you’ll get something out of them you otherwise couldn’t with just ability checks. For Enthrall? Not so much.
If you’re a bard, you don’t need this. If you’re a warlock, you can’t afford to cast this. Enthrall is for nobody, a spell that could very easily just be done mundanely. It's got way too steep competition to even be considered. Don’t waste your time with this.
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