Gems in D&D 5th's Twitter FAQ (aka fun finds faq edition)

[SorO_Lost]

Exactly at the title suggests.
And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, Jeremy Crawford is the official Sage of 5th and he plus his co-authors (including Mike Mearls) are in charge of a Twitter-based FAQ article. Some of these entries are awesome; like confirmation that in 5th you can use the Sorcerer's Empower on your Cleric Spells

LINK


I'll start.

Does Twinned Spell make two spell instances (I.E., can't Concentrate on both spells) or change one spell instance to 2 targets?
"One spell instance, two targets." ~JC

Can magic missile or scorched ray be twinned if caster only targets a single creature?
"The Twinned Spell feature is intended to work on spells that can normally target only one creature." ~JC
"I'd say it's ok, but be leery for any other spells that it might cause issues with." ~MM

Little contradictory but that is a direct yes from Mike.

Enter Twinned Extended Witch Bolt which uses a 1st level slot & 2 SP. There is only one instance to Concentrate on and Mike-supported to hit the same creature twice so you can deal up to 2d12+Cha per round. That's 360 damage per casting making it currently most efficient damage from a spell slot in the game. And Mike will let you use Empower too.

You just need a higher Speed than your opponent when you use it

[sambojin]

Extended Call Lightning? 3d10 lightning damage each round, for 20 minutes (200 rounds). Kind of blows away Witch Bolt, but at a lvl 3 slot and 1 sorcery point. Empower it if you want.

But so does Extended Conjure Animals. With Raven Swarms you're potentially looking at 8x 2d6, +3 to-hit attacks, for two whole hours (1200 rounds). More with AoO's. Level 3 slot and 1 sorcery point. More Raven Swarms for higher slots. Pretty damn efficient in theory, if not really in gameplay.

Their answers do also lend weight to the Hex/Eldritch Blast (or Scorching Ray) controversy, on the side that these are single target if used against one target, therefore the +d6 necrotic damage is given against the hexed target, even if you twin them.

There is also nothing stopping you twinning Hex on the same target by these rules, targeting two creatures at first, then bouncing them both onto a single creature once at least one of the the original targets are dead. But can you give disadvantage on two different attribute checks with this? And do you get +2d6 of necrotic for any of your attacks, or just +d6? Do they stack?

A can of worms indeed, this whole single target debate.

[SorO_Lost]

Extended Call Lightning? 3d10 lightning damage each round, for 20 minutes (200 rounds).

Genius! There is combining that Cleric/Sorcerer ruling to good use

A can of worms indeed, this whole single target debate.

Hey, Mearls is talking there. Of course w/e he says is controversial.

Mike Schley @schley
#DnD spoiler alert! Princes of the Apocalypse: Encounters is out & I’ve got some maps for ya! http://mikeschley.zenfolio.com/p763166286  Please RT!

PotA's maps don't load up for me, says the gallery is empty, but he has a ton of other maps up if you're interested in them.

[sambojin]

The problem being,  Call Lightning uses your action every round,  whilst Witch Bolt just does it's thing.

Twinned Hex + Eldritch Blast would give it a run for its money on actual slots "used" as well at higher levels.  4x(1d10+2d6+charisma damage),  maybe with push and range. But again uses actions to get the bonus damage.

Since the sages seem to be pretty loose on the single target idea,  I wonder how loose they are on the single soul idea?  Because Clone only targets one thing.  Two coffins, cubes of flesh and diamonds,  one target twice with a Twinned Clone?  Hilarity ensues. Or 2x1up. Who knows?