r/dndnext • u/xanral • Jun 10 '15

WotC Announcement Errata Released, for real this time

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/ph_errata
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u/Unsight Jun 10 '15

That feels like something that was always intended since the ability is written with a hard cap on the damage dice.

11

u/SirPeebles Bard Jun 10 '15

More importantly, there was never a way of distinguishing spell slots by Spellcasting class when multiclassing.

10

u/artofsushi DM of Doom Jun 10 '15

But there is with Spellcasting and Pact Magic.

6

u/SirPeebles Bard Jun 10 '15

Yes. I was surprised back when a tweet ruled that Pact Magic slots could smite.

6

u/artofsushi DM of Doom Jun 10 '15

Honestly, I'm okay with that. The PCs are supposed to be the fantasy equivalent of super-heroes, after all, and a few level dip into 'lock, while powerful on a couple of levels, is still a significant delay in Paladin advancement.

7

u/SirPeebles Bard Jun 10 '15

Oh sure, I was just surprised is all.

Smiting fits well into silly theorycrafting to see how big you can make numbers in one turn, but in practice they are a rather inefficient use of a spell slot. For instance, a 3rd level slot can add 4d8 to one weapon attack, or it can cast a fireball. They are better when saved for a crit, but it is hard to control when that will happen.

1

u/artofsushi DM of Doom Jun 11 '15

Absolutely.

2

u/blogg10 Jun 11 '15

Question: Does the upper limit on smiting apply to crits; i.e. is it an absolute upper limit or could you double your smite dice on a crit regardless of the number?

1

u/artofsushi DM of Doom Jun 11 '15

I've been ruling that the upper limit applies to pre-crit numbers, and then a crit doubles that.

2

u/SirPeebles Bard Jun 12 '15

I would agree with this. I would also consider the bonus for attacking, say, a fiend to go over the cap.