Gravity Fissure 5E Guide

The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemont granted access to the immense power of Dunamancy, the magic of the planet’s forces, lost to time. Other than Chronurgy Magic, or time magic, the forces of Gravity are now under the control of Wizards. Graviturgy Wizards gain access to a few new tools unavailable to any other wizards, all focused on controlling the battlefield and devastating foes. Let’s explore one such option. This spell is normally only available to the Graviturgy subclass. Talk to your GM if you’d want this magic to be in a different type of Wizard spellbook. Let’s dig into the Gravity Fissure 5E Guide!

Spell Level: 6th
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 100 ft Line
Components: V, S, M (A Fistful of Iron Filings)
Duration: Instant
Class: Wizard (Graviturgy)

The line that originates from yourself deals 8d8 force damage to all creatures on the fissure who fail a Constitution save. Anything within 10 ft of the line also needs to make the saving throw, or they take 8d8 force damage and are pulled toward the line, until they are on it. It scales by 1d8 damage per spell slot above 6th.

That’s quite a lot of force damage, and in a massive area of effect as well. Let’s unpack it.

Pros

100 ft of force damage in – what is effectively – a 10-15 ft radius around the center of the line? That’s pretty fantastic. It’s a huge area of effect that deals a rather potent damage type; Force damage is barely resisted in the base Monster Manual, with only one creature having immunity. And 8d8 is nothing to sneeze at.

And that’s not mentioning the crowd control. It’s a 10 ft pull towards the center of this large area of effect. That can combo well into other spells, like Lightning Bolt. Or, if there are smaller areas of effect that you want to use, like Burning Hands, this can make those spells more useful.

It’s a spell that your entire team’s strategy can… Orbit… Around.

Cons

Similar to that horrible gravity pun, this spell damages everything nearby. It’s awfully particular that every creature within the line gets pulled towards it… And noticeably, as written, you aren’t ignored by it, either. For a Wizard, Con saves are hard to make. And, as written above… 8d8 damage is nothing to sneeze at.

Especially since most Wizards can be taken out by a sneeze.

But alright, maybe your GM is merciful, and you don’t take any damage from this spell. This is still a 120 x 25 ft Area of Effect that damages and messes with your party’s positioning. That stings a lot, and restricts what this spell is able to accomplish.

And, while 8d8 damage is good… It’s not too much damage. By level 6, a Lightning Bolt deals 11d6 damage. So does a Fireball. The damage isn’t really the reason to use this spell, since there are much more potent spells.

When Should You Use Gravity Fissure?

When should you use this 120 x 25 ft rectangle that groups up enemies and deals a pretty powerful damage type…?

There might not be many better ways to start a fight in the game. This is a massive area of effect that is a perfect combo tool for your allies. It can pull enemies out of cover, reveal enemies that were on the ceiling – if the ceiling is low – and might deal enough damage to defeat cannon fodder.

Depending on how confident you are in your ability to survive, you can use this in the surprise round, having your party stand far away from you so they aren’t affected by the spell. And then the enemies are in a rather difficult situation… Especially if you aren’t the only spellcaster.

When Better Options are Available

As mentioned above, this is not your damaging spell. Fireball and Lightning Bolt deal somewhat more damage, and their area of effect is easier to use without hurting party members. Chain Lightning does strictly more damage, and targets a pretty good selection of 3 enemies in a fight. So, if your goal is to hurt people in an area of effect, there are better spells.

In terms of crowd control, this spell is hard to beat. You may want to start a fight with other, hard crowd control spells, like Mass Suggestion or Otto’s Irresistible Dance, if you want to be a little bit safer with your areas of effect.

This spell fills out a nice niche between hard crowd control or hard damage. If there’s enough room for your party to stay safe, you’ll find that this is a quite potent starter, or even a finisher.

Gravity Fissure 5E Guide | Wildemount Graviturgy Spell