Analysing the Spells from Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt for D&D 2024 (5.5e)

Analysing whether the spells are any good, how you can use them and which you should take.

About the spells

Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt gifts 62 brand new spells suitable for dark fantasy campaigns. It includes a healthy dose of osteomancy to facilitate the bone magic possessed by some of the characters and creatures of the world. There’s also plenty of gravitational magic too.

You’ll find spells for all spell levels, though levels 8 and 9 only get 1 spell each. But are these spells worth taking? Check out my ratings below to see.

Cantrips

• Bestial roar (4/5) – No damage, but push and prone can be a handy tactical option. It could be enough to help you escape a crowd or give allies an advantage on attack rolls. It could also be used to push enemies into danger or other AoEs. Some of the classes with access to this might even want to get themselves in the midst of enemies (like the symbiosis druid).
• Brittle bone throw (4/5) – Decent damage and a chance the attack isn’t completely wasted on a miss. I think in terms of odds and damage, this works out a little better than a firebolt (which is slightly higher damage).
• Cosmic eye (3/5) – A better damage type than firebolt, but worse damage. A critical hit will guarantee a solid damage score, but this will only affect about 5% of your attack rolls. OK, but nothing special.
• Gravity spike (3/5) – Lower damage than most cantrips (the same as mind sliver), but it will cause prone and forces a dexterity saving throw rather than a spell attack which can be helpful against sluggish creatures. It won’t affect flying creatures though. Not as good as mind sliver, but still decent.
• Gravity whip (3/5) – Low damage and quite a vulnerable place to be (especially for wizards and sorcerers) making this tricky to recommend. The push and slow are decent though, especially as you gain levels. Technically decent and situationally quite good, but hard to engineer.

Level 1 spells

• Bone claws (5/5) – Bonus action boost to unarmed strikes. Chances are you’ll be buffing someone else here as none of these classes are suited to unarmed strikes. This could be quite substantial on a monk that will quickly be landing quite a lot of unarmed strikes each turn. Even with 3 of these per turn, that’s an average of +7.5 damage per turn which is in a similar region to hunter’s mark, but without the limitations on target or having to use a bonus action to swap targets. This is limited to unarmed strikes though, but if you have an unarmed ally, that’s no problem. This can also be upcast and will be stronger at lower levels (on a monk at least as opposed to a ranger) and scales better too. The main challenge is whether you can afford to spend concentration on it. At lower levels, probably, at higher levels, you might want to be using other spells.
• Bone shield (4/5) – A shield spell alternative as you can use your reaction to reduce incoming damage. Shield is better defensively. It can often completely prevent damage and works for the rest of the round. This will reduce one attack’s damage by an average of 6.5 and it will damage back so use it against melee attacks to make it worthwhile. Melee spellcasters like the symbiosis druid or torturer conclave ranger will appreciate this. I’d still prefer shield, but this is good too.
• Electrify (5/5) – There’s a small risk of this being wasted as you need to cast it first then rely on hitting with an attack roll with your action this turn (or potentially with an opportunity attack). This makes it best from level 5 when a ranger at least will have 2 attacks. It will work for spells attacks, but they must be melee spell attacks which are little good for wizards and sorcerers. The stun condition is what makes the risk here worthwhile though. Try and grab advantage on those attacks and this can become a big problem for enemies.
• Fall (2/5) – This could easily cause more harm than good if not thought through. You’ll need to avoid hitting anything for starters. I could see this used to move yourself quickly to another location that’s further than any teleport spell of lower levels. Just fall side ways and when the spell stops, you fall 5ft to the ground all safe. For the purposes of opportunity attacks, I don’t think this will trigger it as you aren’t using your own movement to move, you’re falling instead so it’s technically forced movement even though you inflict it on yourself. You could also propel yourself over obstacles or onto buildings, but getting the trajectory right may be tricky and chances are, with a fixed height, you’ll still end up with fall damage. If that just sounds like fun though, then go ahead with this. Ultimately, I think this ends up being too situational to be pragmatic, but perhaps a lot of fun.
• Fractured shell (4/5) – Great on a tank that may be drawing a lot of attacks. Of course attacks may shift to another target and the effectiveness of this spell is reliant on plenty of melee attacks being made against the target which may not always end up being the case. Still, it won’t take a lot of attacks to make the damage from this worthwhile. The concentration cost is a challenge, especially as you progress in levels.
• Gravity leap (2/5) – This is kind of like the jump spell, but different in important ways. Crucially, it doesn’t expend less movement so unlike jump, you can’t move further as a result. It also requires an action to cast rather than a bonus action. Instead you can jump further (very situationally useful) and can knock creatures prone when jumping away from being right next to them. Crucially, this means they may have a chance at an opportunity attack so this becomes risky business. I’m just not sure this is nearly useful enough and has some serious drawbacks.
• Gravity well (3/5) – Like spellfire flare but slightly lower damage and won’t ignore cover. The pull mechanic could be useful, but it depends on what you’re pulling. You may be able to pull into spell effects or range of allies, but likely don’t want to pull melee creatures towards yourself. It doesn’t upcast nearly as well as spellfire flare which gets a whole extra beam.
• Phalangeal shot (4/5) – I’d probably favour this over gravity well purely for the potential of striking multiple creatures. The hard part is lining creatures up and the range. It’s only 30ft. Still, this is a level 1 spell with AoE which is rare and has potential for some strong damage.
• Silvered shell (3/5) – This is very similar to divine favor but it’s accessible to rangers, has a slightly better damage type but only works on a single weapon (so no weapon swapping or dual wielding). It can be upcast for a longer duration. This becomes better once extra attack kicks in, it can also be used with hunter’s mark, but they both compete for your bonus action. If you cast it at level 2+ though, you can cast it ahead of combat.
• Spectral slash (2/5) – Kind of a weak bonus action attack that then allows you to move an extra 20ft. Decent if you need to move further to reach your target, but not worth it as a damage boosting spell. You’ll be better off using something like divine smite or silvered shell for that. Occasionally decent, but often not great.

Level 2 spells

• Arm cannon (4/5) – A little weaker than scorching ray with only one target, but the push is good, and smashing the target into a wall means restrained for a turn which is even better. Indoors, this can easily be very effective, outdoors it becomes more situational.
• Blind ambush (3/5) – The damage is kind of low for the level and knocking prone is OK, but made worse by the fact that the target becomes prone on their own turn, this means they may be able to stand up with their remaining movement. Knocking prone on your own turn tends to be better as they remain prone (for advantage on melee attacks) and still have reduced movement on their next turn. You also have to predict where creatures will go. What makes this decent is that it works without a spell attack or saving throw.
• Bludgeoning horror (1/5) – This is half the damage of scorching ray with much shorter range and only 1 target. The only buff is stunned, but only on a critical hit so 5% of the time. That’s poor odds for such a big damage drop.
• Bone cocoon (1/5) – Most creatures when they knock a creature down to 0HP will simply move onto the next target. This isn’t the case all the time, and some creatures may try to make sure your character really is dead. That’s where bone cocoon comes in. It also enhances your death saving throws. In many cases though, healing word is enough to protect even more from the effects of death and does so more profoundly. This might protect from follow up attacks but it’s rare this will be more useful. I wouldn’t mind too much, but it also demands your concentration. That makes this hard to recommend.
• Calcified memories (2/5) – Interesting investigative spell. Technically situational as many situations can deduct similar things by simply inspecting the body, but it’s a ritual, so kind on spell slots and has interesting roleplay value. OK in a high investigation campaign, less useful in most other campaigns.
• Graviturgic smite (4/5) – Limiting creatures to 10ft movement can be really problematic for some creatures. There are no subsequent saves either. Solid smite against the right enemy, just be aware of the concentration demands. Note that this follows the pattern of 2014 smite spells where you cast the spell and then wait to hit a creature before activating the benefits. I’d be inclined to let players use the 2024 format for smites which lets you use the bonus action immediately after a hit.
• Gravity storm (4/5) – Shatter deals 3d8 damage with half the area, doesn’t cause prone and only works on one round. This will get you about half the damage spread across 2 rounds and knock prone. The trouble is, keeping creatures in the same spot for 2 rounds. What you’ll probably end up with is more creatures hit, but less damage each. Creatures at the centre of the area or funnelled into one space are likely to be affected a second round, especially as prone will consume half their movement getting out of the area. I’d be inclined to think this is a little better than shatter.
• Lightning charged (3/5) – This is quite slow burn damage. Scorching ray will deal this in a single round. There’s also the danger that all the charges are not used. I guess the approach with a 10 minute duration is to cast this before combat starts. Because of this, I guess it becomes extra damage that’s kind on your action economy which elevates this, but only with prep time.
• Otherworldly gaze (3/5) – some of the buffs are quite situational, like sensing eldritch creatures. Perception advantage is good, but the short period of time means you may get little benefit from it. You can maybe end the effects of the blinded condition. There’s maybe enough here to justify it’s place in your spell list, like a more versatile divine sense.
• Pressure cage (3/5) – Making it hard for creatures to move could be useful, especially when you’re trying to stay at range. It’ll be better in enclosed spaces but is it worth your concentration? Maybe at lower levels, but once you grab hypnotic pattern at level 5, something like that is just going to be better. I guess it’s alright.
• Rolling bones (3/5) – Interesting way of learning if there’s imminent danger. It’s not exactly reliable as things can change quickly, but it doesn’t cost a spell slot as it’s a ritual. I guess the advantage here means you know better when to prepare for combat or operate a bit more cautiously.
• Rupturing curse (3/5) – The damage is decent for the level. Achieving 5 x constitution modifier in damage isn’t too unlikely. Average damage will be 16.5 which will beat a constitution modifier of 3. Many creatures, especially at this level, will likely have even lower constitution modifiers than this too. So on the face of it, quite good for the level. The problem is the concentration cost. It’s fine at level 3/4, but a poor option after that when level 3 spells kick in. Warlocks may do better with this with their innate upcasting of spells.
• Skeletal tail (4/5) – Easy reaction attacks, no concentration and cast with a bonus action makes this really handy on a melee build. Many rangers and some druids are exactly this, especially the torturer conclave and the circle of symbiosis.

Level 3 spells

• Astral barrage (4/5) – This is a generous spell on your spell slots as you can continuously land high damage attacks. The problem is, you will be restricted to blasting this spell each turn. It’s just slightly less than a fireball, but for a single target so you’ll want to use this when there aren’t any crowds to blast. You’ll also want to use it when you want to save spell slots and won’t be needing to move much.
• Dampen gravity (3/5) – Increased speed is quite nice in a big area. The other benefits are perhaps more situational, but might solve certain problems. This one is useful both in and out of combat, but it’s whether it’s worth a level 3 spells slot. I think I’d rather spend these on other spells, but it is a long period and no concentration so maybe it’s just about worthwhile.
• Displacing maw (4/5) – Like a vortex warp that also causes damage. Great for shifting enemies out of the way or next to your party tank and a particularly nice option on a warlock with upcasting.
• Malicious rancor (3/5) – This one requires a lot of dice rolls which is mechanically clunky. We can compare it to fireball which averages 28 damage per target, this is 12.5 but should cause a second bout of damage bringing that up to 25. One target will also get another 1d10 damage. However, this is very much a poor man’s fireball as the sphere is half the size and your point of origin must be a creature which is more limiting. Technically, creatures could be harmed by this by walking into the area, but I think that will be rare for a 1 round spell.
• Osseous cage (4/5) – There are a few use cases for this. One would be to keep a creature (or a few) trapped inside for a while as the party deals with other enemies. It could also form protection for some party members. It’s no good if you intend to make attack rolls as it’ll be harder to hit, but if you’re casting saving throw spells like toll the dead or even fireball, then there’s no restriction here. You will be stuck in place though (at least if you want to keep the benefits).
• Osseous impalement (5/5) – While not as high damage or having the potential to hit as many targets as an AoE spell like fireball, this will work great when you need to tackle multiple creatures while allies are in the way of AoE spells. The restrained condition makes this an even better option.
• Radiant bell (5/5) – Kind of like a multi-target lesser restoration with different conditions affected. Really good if the party is affected by multiple conditions.
• Radiant slaughter (4/5) – 3d6 less damage than fireball, but a larger area and you knock creatures prone. You will have to get in the middle of your enemies (and preferably, far from allies) which makes this a tad awkward (and dangerous) in practice. At least paladins and to a lesser extent, clerics and warlocks, can be capable in melee range.
• Rubber bones (2/5) – This is mostly a combat spell, even if it has some utility features. The buffs are solid, but each of them a bit situational (other than the extended reach which will always be helpful for melee builds). You’re not unlikely to benefit from these in combat, but you are unlikely to benefit from all of them and perhaps not loads. Considering this takes up your concentration, it can be a high price for the benefits.
• Spectral fury (4/5) – Better than scorching ray, even when upcast and you get some increased movement and an attack with a bonus action too. Quite nice on paladins and rangers.

Level 4 spells

• Dread scarecrow (5/5) – Frightened with 0 speed and prone is quite problematic for melee creatures and spellcasters will also face some problems, though they have saving throw options to launch at characters (which won’t be affected by being prone like an attack roll will). The fact creatures can only repeat the save if damaged, not on each turn, is even more challenging.
• Fling (4/5) – The damage here is alright and it gets even better if you can flick through other creatures, especially if dealing with creatures of varying sizes. What’s more, that 120ft range could be pulling some creatures out of the battle for a couple of turns which is often very useful too.
• Gravitational distortion (5/5) – Like radiant slaughter with a bit more damage and pushing 30ft instead of knocking prone. This is probably a bit safer to activate than radiant slaughter as you basically clear enemies away from you. The push range is quite large here too and you can choose the direction (it’s not just away from you). This means knocking off bridges, towers and the like is probably quite easy.
• Gravity barrier (4/5) – Basically a wall spell that can deal damage. Great for separating creatures away, or making it hard or painful to get at the party.
• Jumping jolt (4/5) – This is a lot of jolts and will work well in crowds, even ones with allies in the mix. The challenge is failing that first attack roll makes this a bit pathetic, but hitting a few times makes this quite strong. Innate sorcery or simply gaining advantage will all help this spell out.
• Maiden of bones (5/5) – Like a concentration-less banishment in terms of effects. It can be escaped on subsequent saves (unlike banishment), but it does also deal damage. Save or suck spells like blindness and this can be excellent when using your concentration on other things and this is certainly an upgrade on blindness.
• Marrow transplant (5/5) – Kind of like revivify, but you can damage and heal by more than 1HP. A really good alternative to revivify.
• Vanishing step (5/5) – Great spell for hit and run tactics and simply moving around the battlefield without incurring opportunity attacks. A reaction to dodge away from an attack or spell is great too. Just be aware of the concentration cost.
• World breaker (4/5) – Cone of cold is one spell level higher and deals an average of 36 damage per target (Vs the 22 this causes) and has a cone that’s double the size of this. However, this lets you launch a cone at range (rather than being nearer to your targets) and it pushes creatures 15ft. That’s pretty good, if less harmful.

Level 5 spells

• Ancestral bond (1/5) – The kind of spell that leaves DMs flustering to make up additional information about NPCs like living relatives. It’s already kind of niche and just problematic for DMs. Not really a fan of this one.
• Chisel skull (4/5) – An average of 8 more damage than blight and it causes the paralyzed condition. It’s good against a single, nasty foe you need disabling for a turn.
• Divine order: reveal (2/5) – You’ll want to save this for creatures that are really tough and worth adapting tactics for (like a BBEG), but that is a turn and a slot you can’t use for blasting that BBEG to smithereens. It’s alright if you really need to know how to confront a creature, but I’m not sure I’d want to spend a 5th level spell slot on it.
• Forest of dread (4/5) – A great place to hide out and blast at creatures with both protection and a disincentive to creatures trying to reach you.
• Starfall (3/5) – It’s not a lot of damage per target, but the emanation is big and it’s basically bonus action damage each turn that could add up to something substantial. My issue is that it’s an emanation so sorcerers and wizards probably aren’t maximising on targets enough to justify using their concentration (as they won’t want to be that close to enemies). Druids might though, especially something like a moon or symbiosis druid.

Level 6 spells

• Erupting lightning (3/5) – A bit less damage per target than chain lightning, but the potential for more targets. Unfortunately, hitting so many with the restrictions on placement of the lightning is tricky and it’s possible you’d end up with more targets if you’d just used chain lightning. I’m inclined to prefer chain lightning as more flexible and likely more powerful. This is still decent though.
• Unbound chamber (2/5) – Flying for the whole party is great, but you grant it to enemies too. It also requires prep time so you have to anticipate your enemy arriving. This could be great, but it’s too limiting and buffs your enemies the same way it buffs you.
• Void walk (5/5) – You get fly at level 3 which roughly doubles flight speed. This lasts much longer and doesn’t require concentration. If you want flight and to concentrate on other things and use it all day, this is great, even for an extra 3 spell levels.
• Wall of bones (5/5) – Like wall of thorns at the same level. It deals less damage, but produces minotaur skeletons that go out and attack creatures. Minotaur skeletons aren’t great at this level, but enough to be a nuisance and they can go out to damage creatures rather than waiting for creatures to come to them (as other wall spells do).

Level 7 spells

• Amputate (4/5) – This is a big damage spell that’s going to be best against creatures that rely on carrying things in their arms or using certain limbs to perform certain actions. Shield carrying foes or those wielding 2 weapons should beware.
• Boneyard (2/5) – Most of this is a bit situational, but the big one is using a reaction to take control of an enemy creature for a turn after they die. With tough creatures, this could be a lot of damage or problems you cause with that turn. However, it would be easy to just finish it off with just 1HP left if there are enemy turns in between your reaction and your turn. It also requires considerable preparation time which may be rare. Fun if you can land it, but easy to foil and very situational.
• Crush (4/5) – Better damage than amputate and the effect (stunned) is more reliably useful (but less permanently problematic).
• Divine order: transcend (1/5) – This seems great for big encounters, but it requires a setup turn and the saving throw you need to take is nasty for the classes with access to this spell. A DC18 intelligence saving throw is brutal for a bard, cleric or warlock, none of whom will have a strong intelligence. That means there’s a good chance you’ll cast one 5th level spell with this buff before the spell ends and you gain a madness and a bunch of psychic damage. I’m not sure the math is mathing on this one.

Level 8 spells

• Bury (5/5) – Devastating for flying creatures and a big problem for everyone else (other than those with teleportation). Flying creatures will take fall damage that could be quite large too. Being prone and the extra movement cost here means that crawling out of the area may not be a realistic option.

Level 9 spells

• Aspect of death (4/5) – Some really strong resilience here that’s great for spellcasters that like to jump into melee. Osteomancy spellcasters will do best with the extra buffs to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing spells (osteomancy deals more of this damage type than other spells schools).

Are the spells any good?

Yeah, most of these spells are great and largely do something different or vary the usual approach to spells up nicely. Wall of bones for instance is like a typical wall spell, but it produces skeletal minotaurs to harry your enemies. Vanishing step is a unique take on the far more basic misty step with defensive capabilities while fling is just a great way to get pesky enemies out of the way.

There are also some suitably macabre options too, especially for osteomancy spells. Maiden of bones literally traps creatures in an iron maiden of bones for instance.

Not all the spells land perfectly. Divine order: transcend just seems like it’s likely to be more of a detriment than a boost. Ancestral bond also just feels like it was demanding the DM make up family trees on the fly without much real benefit. But largely, these feel like balanced, fun and useful spells and I’d hazard that this is one of the better 3rd party spell lists I’ve come across.

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