D&D Spell Focus: Blade Ward and Resistance

There are only two cantrips in the 2024 PHB that hail from the school of Abjuration, and both have had some decent changes from 2014, making them better value for your action economy, but sadly still bearing a fatal flaw, which we’ll examine in a moment. The two spells in question today are Blade Ward and Resistance. As Abjuration spells, both of these cantrips are defensive options, with Blade Ward focusing on physical damage and Resistance on saving throws. Let’s get physical first! 

I don’t know what I am missing, but 2014 Blade Ward would have to be up there with the worst spells in the game. It took a whole action, and the only thing it did was give you resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, for one turn. Just one. So instead of attacking, or dashing, or disengaging, you stood there, did nothing, and got slightly less pommelled than you otherwise would have. It basically gave you a taste of being a raging barbarian without the HP to take the blows or the ability to return them in favour. I mean, maybe if you were surrounded by 5 or 6 melee foes as an Eldritch Knight? But yeah, nah, there are so many better things to do, I would be surprised if in the 2014 rules this spell was ever used. Terrible action economy.

The new version starts off MUCH better. Now, it lasts a full minute with concentration, so you are getting the benefit of using your action for up to 10 rounds… already a 10x improvement. The mechanics are vastly improved, too, as instead of a crappy barbarian, you now have a personal “Bane” field. In 2024, Blade Ward subtracts 1d4 from any attack roll made against you. Or another way you think of it, it gives you +1d4 to your AC vs each incoming blow. That is MUCH better. Now our low-level Eldritch Knight can run into a big group of foes, shield and plate armour ready, and tank it up just that little bit harder as long as they keep concentration, which is easier as they will get hit less. Effectively, you are resisting physical attacks… which makes the next paragraph rather confusing.

Blade Ward has been Beefed Up! (It needed it!)

In 2014, the Resistance Spell gave a target you touched a 1-minute window to gain a 1d4 buff to a Saving Throw. The best part was that you could choose to roll the buff after seeing your d20 result, meaning if you passed or failed by more than 4, you didn’t waste the minor boon. This could come in clutch and wasn’t a bad little cantrip, especially cast before a fight breaks out if you had the opportunity. Come to think of it, 2024 Blade Ward also falls into that category for instigator-type scenarios.

2024 Resistance is also best cast pre-battle if possible, as it is also a concentration spell that can last for up to a minute, but the mechanics have completely changed. Instead of focusing on saving throws, you now need to pre-choose a type of damage, and once per turn, your target ally can then -1d4 from incoming damage of that type. You can’t choose Force or Psychic but can choose Bludgeon, Piecing OR slashing at which point your should have just cast Blade Ward, cause yeah. Honestly, I think this is actually much WORSE than the 2014 version. Granted, if you are in a battle where you know you’ll be facing a lot of Fire damage, for example, 2024 Resistance might save an average of 2HP per turn. But turning just one failed saving throw into a success could be a lot more valuable and Blade Ward works on any incoming attack roll regardless of type, so yeah, Resistance is too situational and another fairly poor cantrip choice.

Let's fix these Abjuration Spells to make them usable!

Worse of all, and I can’t understand why, is that they each could be so much better. Cast as a Level 1 Newbie Adventurer or a Level 18 near-demigod, both still do exactly the same thing. Why the Abjuration hate D&D?! Luckily, there is a very simple way to homebrew fix it and actually keep these cantrips as relevant options past tier 1 low-level play and make them as attractive as their damage-dealing buddies. Look at almost any cantrip from the School of Evocation, and at 5th Level, the damage dice doubles, triples at 11^th level, and quadruples at 17^th. So why in the name of Tyr and all things game balance don’t the abjuration spells do the same? 2d4 averages to 5, 3d4 to 7 and 4d4 to 10. Now THAT’S a great Blade Ward or reasonable fire damage soak and in-line with the power boosts offensive spells get. Now, while yes, the rare time your get +16 to your armour class for a single attack off a cantrip makes “Shield” look more like a paper mâché, remember it could just as easily be only +4, and monsters at the CR you’d be fighting as a Level 18 Abjuration wizard often have Hit Modifers in the teens so… not that OP really. The same goes for Resistance. Wiping off 4d4 ice damage sounds nice, but when that adult white dragon is dishing out 12d8 frostyness, it is still cantrip worthy. Remember this blocks the user from casting other Concentration spells, so there is another price to pay. If you are really concerned, instead of upping the number of d4 dice, try making it a d6, then a d8 and finally a d10 at Levels 5/11/17, respectively.

So in a world focused on death and destruction, why not give these defensive options a boost and open up real tactical choices at your table? To make that even easier, this week, not only am I going to give you the spell cards for the official version of the spells for free over on my Patreon, paid members will also get a second version with these Homebrew updates included, so you can ask your DM to play nice with the much maligned Abjuration cantrips. Complete spell card sets that contain these spells can be found in over at the ZG Store.