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I am making a character whose concept is that if you get within 5/10/15 feet of him, his aura hits you and you take damage. It only needs to work once per long rest though more is obviously better. To that end, I am looking for spells, class/racial abilities, and magic items that create an aura that moves with the character, and ideally stack together.
I am using the WotC official rules only, not including Unearthed Arcana.

Note: the idea is to have AoE damage over time that moves with you. Single-use spells with no duration like fireball don't count.


Here is what I have so far; please help add and correct anything that does not work. My hope is to create a solid list to pick and choose from.

Scourge Aasimar

Radiant Consumption
Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself...... at the end of each of your turns, you and each creature within 10 feet of you take radiant damage equal to half your level (rounded up).

Ranger-Hunter Level 11

Whirlwind Attack
You can use your action to make a melee attack against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target.

Druid-Circle of Spores Level 2

Halo of Spores
When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage to that creature unless it succeeds on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC.

Symbiotic Entity
When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, roll the damage die a second time and add it to the total. Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target they hit. These benefits last for 10 minutes

Spirit Guardians

You call forth spirits to protect you. They flit around you to a distance of 15 feet for the duration.....An affected creature's speed is halved in the area, and when the creature enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d8 radiant damage (if you are good or neutral) or 3d8 necrotic damage (if you are evil). On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.

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    \$\begingroup\$ +1 interesting question. In the spirit of AoE cantrips that deal damage to any creature within a raduis of the caster, there is also Word of Radiance XGE p.171 and Sword Burst TCE p.115. You can add these if it makes sense to do so. :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Senmurv
    Jun 15, 2021 at 20:38

1 Answer 1

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Racial Traits

Scourge Aasimar

Radiant Consumption Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself...... at the end of each of your turns, you and each creature within 10 feet of you take radiant damage equal to half your level (rounded up).

Class Features

Ranger-Hunter Level 11

Whirlwind Attack You can use your action to make a melee attack against any number of creatures within 5 feet of you, with a separate attack roll for each target.

Druid-Circle of Spores Level 2

Halo of Spores When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage to that creature unless it succeeds on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC.

Symbiotic Entity When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, roll the damage die a second time and add it to the total. Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target they hit. These benefits last for 10 minutes

Warlock Invocation XGtE

Cloak of Flies As a bonus action, you can surround yourself with a magical aura that looks like buzzing flies. The aura extends 5 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover. It lasts until you're incapacitated or you dismiss it as a bonus action. The aura grants you advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks but disadvantage on all other Charisma checks. Any other creature that starts its turn in the aura takes poison damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 0 damage). Once you use this invocation, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Barbarian-Storm Herald from Xanathar's Guide to Everything, level 3

Storm Aura Starting at 3rd level, you emanate a stormy, magical aura while you rage. The aura extends 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover.

Your aura has an effect that activates when you enter your rage, and you can activate the effect again on each of your turns as a bonus action. [...]

Desert When this effect is activated, all other creatures in your aura take 2 fire damage each. The damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3 at 5th level, 4 at 10th level, 5 at 15th level, and 6 at 20th level.

Paladin-Conquest from Xanathar's Guide to Everything, level 7

Aura of Conquest Starting at 7th level, you constantly emanate a menacing aura while you’re not incapacitated. The aura extends 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover.

If a creature is frightened of you, its speed is reduced to 0 while in the aura, and that creature takes psychic damage equal to half your paladin level if it starts its turn there.

Spells

Spirit Guardians

You call forth spirits to protect you. They flit around you to a distance of 15 feet for the duration.....An affected creature's speed is halved in the area, and when the creature enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d8 radiant damage (if you are good or neutral) or 3d8 necrotic damage (if you are evil). On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.

Sword Burst

You create a momentary circle of spectral blades that sweep around you. All other creatures within 5 feet of you must each succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 force damage.

This spell's damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 5th level (2d6), 1 1th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).

Misc.

Elder Evil Blessings: Cult of Tyranthraxus the Flamed One

Radiant Flames (1/Day). Multihued flame surrounds the cultist for 1 minute, until the cultist is incapacitated or dies, or until the cultist extinguishes the flame {no action required). While inflamed, the cultist has telepathy with a range of 30 feet, and it can teleport as a bonus action up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see. In addition, every creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of the cultist must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 16 (3d10) radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It’s the same thing I did on your last list question. Instead of having as many answer as there are features, I started a community wiki answer so people can just add features to as they find them. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 15, 2021 at 2:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ Not sure if we should add all the self-target area spells to the list, they might not be interesting for this build. Otherwise, there are more. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 15, 2021 at 5:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thunderwave is not an aoe so it doesn't qualify as an aura. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 15, 2021 at 6:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ Christofer Weber. The point here is consistent damage over time. Single use spells with no duration that are not cantrips don't really apply to the situation. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 15, 2021 at 6:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SamLacrumb That's what I figured, but was confused since SB and AoH was in there. And Thunderwave is as much an AOE as Arms of Hadar. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 15, 2021 at 6:23

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