Everyone wants to have it all. Often when players first start with Dungeons and Dragons, they have grand ideas about their character. The DM will say, “the sky is the limit,” only to shoot you down when you ask if you can have a magical fighter that shoots fire from their fists.
Some classes use magic, and some don’t unless you choose the Magic Initiate feat in 5e DnD.
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What is Magic Initiate 5e?
The text for the feat from the Player’s Handbook reads: “Choose a class: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard. You learn two cantrips of your choice from that class’s spell list.
In addition, choose one 1st-level spell to learn from that same list. Using this feat, you can cast the spell once at its lowest level, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it in this way again.
Your spellcasting ability for these spells depends on the class you chose: Charisma for Bard, Sorcerer, or Warlock; Wisdom for Cleric or Druid; or Intelligence for Wizard.“
How Does Magic Initiate Work?
The Magic Initiate feat is a bit of flair that you can add to your non-magical charter to give it a touch of the supernatural. It might not provide fire fists, but it can allow for a little magical pep in your step.
The player picks a magical class from the list above. Then the player chooses two cantrips from the spell list. Once you’ve chosen your two cantrips, you may also choose one level 1 spell. You can cast this spell at its lowest level once per long rest.
Players base their spellcasting ability bonus on the class they choose. Bards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks use charisma. Clerics and Druids use wisdom, and Wizards use Intelligence as their spellcasting ability modifiers.
Is Magic Initiate Good?
Yes! It can be a great way to round out a character, especially a Fighter, Rogue, or Sorcerer. Magic Initiate can give an occult boost to a character that wants to incorporate a little bit of magic into their build.
Which Classes Make are Best for Magic Initiate?
A magic user can benefit from this feat. Since Sorcerers get their magic from within, they have a limited number of known spells. By choosing Magical Initiate, Sorcerers can add a spell to their list without using any available spell slots. They can use that level on a spell in their spell slot.
Fighters can also benefit from the addition of a few spells. Fighters have a lot of ability score improvement (ASI) opportunities. Fighters are more likely to be single-ability score dependent (SAD), or they only need to be good at one ability to be functional as a class. All that means is that fighters can pick up Magic Initiate without worrying too much about losing out on other Fighter benefits.
Rogues can also benefit from the Magic Initiate feat. Rogues are also SAD. They mostly use the dexterity ability, which means it’s easier for them to take this feat than in other classes. Rogues can use Magic Initiate to increase the damage they deal or grab a protective spell.
Which Classes are Worst for Magic Initiate?
It would not be a good idea for Barbarians or Monks to choose the Magic Initiate feat in 5e. In 5e, the opposite of SAD is MAD, a multiple ability score dependant class. For example, the Monk class needs to utilize around four abilities to function to their full potential. Therefore, the opportunity cost for MAD classes to choose Magic Initiate is high.
Jillian started learning Dungeons & Dragons in 2014. After being encouraged by a friend to make a character, she became fully involved in character creation and later became an awesome Dungeon Master. Jillian strives to use her creativity to spread her knowledge of DnD and interpret the ruleset.