Why DMs Are Banning Silvery Barbs

Silvery Barbs was an Unearthed Arcana subclass feature that was playtested for the Strixhaven setting. After class-variable subclasses were abandoned, the feature was converted to a level 1 enchantment spell for bards, sorcerers, and wizards. This spell is published in D&D’s new book, Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos.

Spell Mechanics

The spell works like this:

As a reaction, you can force a reroll (take lower) on an attack, check, or save.

Then, you hand out a bonus inspiration that can be used for 1 minute.

Reroll Mechanic

The core mechanic is not based on disadvantage. It’s a forced reroll after the fact. That’s not only better for conserving spell slots and action economy, it allows Silvery Barbs to be stacked with disadvantage from other sources, and other strong reroll mechanics like the Lucky feat.

Casting Time

Reaction spells immediately throw up a red flag for power creep. There aren’t…