An Alternative to 5e's Worst Spell

It's no surprise that every GM and their uncle has homebrewed True Strike. The RAW version of this spell in 5e is by far the worst in the arcane roster.

Here is my alternative:

True Strike

Divination Cantrip

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• Casting Time: 1 action
• Range/Area: Self
• Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp that you are proficient with)
• Duration: Concentration, up to 1 round

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You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee weapon attack with it against a target within the weapon's reach which you can see. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes marked by a glowing aura of divination magic until the end of your next turn. If an attack targets the creature before then, add 1d4 to the attack roll, after which the spell ends.

This spell adds damage when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the initial attack you make as part of casting this spell deals an extra 1d8 force damage to the target on a hit, which increases by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8) and 17th level (3d8).

My rendition of True Strike stands on the shoulders of previous efforts from the r/DnDHomebrew community, particularly the work of r/Mythmaker5e. If you haven't already, do visit the Mythmaker for more fantastic homebrew!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.