A Dungeons and Dragons fan on Reddit has suggested a truly silly character build combo based on the new 2024 rules. Kanbaru-fan shared their ‘Divine Lawnmower’ build with the social media site on August 5. The concept is fairly simple: get a Cleric on a mount, have them cast Spirit Guardians with a high-level spell slot, and let them charge across the battlefield like a magical Beyblade.
Kanbaru-fan explains that players occasionally attempted this in fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons, but the rules for Spirit Guardians didn’t allow it. “Naturally this didn’t work RAW, because enemies took damage at the start of their turn”, they say in Monday’s post.
“Well, now it does work. With the new emanation keyword spells like Spirit Guardians now deal damage as soon as a creature enters the emanation area, or “whenever the emanation enters a creature’s space”.” Given that Spirit Guardians is a 15-foot emanation spell, “they don’t even have to get within 10ft of anyone unless the terrain demands it, so no Opportunity Attacks”.
‘DnD 2024 Cleric on a horse’ is a fun but not overly impressive character build. However, Kanbaru-fan says that, if the rest of the party is on board, things can get even more explosive. A Wizard could cast Haste on the mount to give the Cleric additional speed, for example.
An even more ridiculous suggestion is that another mounted party member could grapple the Cleric and carry them around the battlefield. If they have the Grappler DnD 2024 feat, doing so imposes no speed penalty. And since Spirit Guardians can only deal damage once per turn, the Cleric can deal damage with the spell on their turn and on the grappling party member’s turn.
“Personally I find this quite dumb, but RAW this is clearly possible”, Kanbaru-fan says in the Reddit post. “Granted, enemies can only take this damage 1/turn, but with sufficient speed, this combo seems quite reliable to pull off.”
We’re not convinced this DnD character build is going to be a game-changer, as there are too many variable factors to consider. The shape of the battlefield could subject the Cleric and their mount to multiple DnD opportunity attacks, and the Cleric and their fellow spellcasters could lose concentration on their spells.
Still, just like the Spike Growth Cheese Grater, the Divine Lawnmower is a fun concept that’d be even more fun to pull off. And if the entire party is working towards pulling it off, it’s a great team-building experience, too.
For more on the new rules, check out our full 2024 Player’s Handbook review. Or, for character options you can use right now, here’s everything you need to know about DnD classes and DnD races.
Source: Wargamer
