Can the Great Weapon Master feat's “Power Attack” apply to attacks from the Spiritual Weapon spell? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Is a melee spell attack also a melee attack?How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?Does Spiritual Weapon use my own action to attack during combat?Can spiritual weapon fly?Does Spiritual Weapon count as an adjacent enemy for Sneak Attack?Can I Combine Shield Master and Great Weapon Master?Is there a way to make the Elven Accuracy feat work with the second benefit of Great Weapon Master?Can the Polearm Master 1d4 bonus attack be used with Great Weapon Fighter/Master?Does the extra attack from Great Weapon Master apply to all melee weapons?How does the Great Weapon Master feat's bonus-action attack work against a zombie that survives thanks to Undead Fortitude?How does a Spiritual Weapon interact with illusions of creatures when it is moved?Can a spiritual weapon be moved through walls?

Hangman Game with C++

Does the Weapon Master feat grant you a fighting style?

Did Krishna say in Bhagavad Gita "I am in every living being"

Is there any word for a place full of confusion?

How fail-safe is nr as stop bytes?

How does light 'choose' between wave and particle behaviour?

Drawing without replacement: why is the order of draw irrelevant?

How to write the following sign?

Why do we need to use the builder design pattern when we can do the same thing with setters?

The code below, is it ill-formed NDR or is it well formed?

Central Vacuuming: Is it worth it, and how does it compare to normal vacuuming?

Why does it sometimes sound good to play a grace note as a lead in to a note in a melody?

Localisation of Category

What does it mean that physics no longer uses mechanical models to describe phenomena?

How could we fake a moon landing now?

Denied boarding although I have proper visa and documentation. To whom should I make a complaint?

Chebyshev inequality in terms of RMS

How to compare two different files line by line in unix?

How do I use the new nonlinear finite element in Mathematica 12 for this equation?

Is it fair for a professor to grade us on the possession of past papers?

Why is Nikon 1.4g better when Nikon 1.8g is sharper?

Crossing US/Canada Border for less than 24 hours

Can an alien society believe that their star system is the universe?

Performance gap between vector<bool> and array



Can the Great Weapon Master feat's “Power Attack” apply to attacks from the Spiritual Weapon spell?



Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)Is a melee spell attack also a melee attack?How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?Does Spiritual Weapon use my own action to attack during combat?Can spiritual weapon fly?Does Spiritual Weapon count as an adjacent enemy for Sneak Attack?Can I Combine Shield Master and Great Weapon Master?Is there a way to make the Elven Accuracy feat work with the second benefit of Great Weapon Master?Can the Polearm Master 1d4 bonus attack be used with Great Weapon Fighter/Master?Does the extra attack from Great Weapon Master apply to all melee weapons?How does the Great Weapon Master feat's bonus-action attack work against a zombie that survives thanks to Undead Fortitude?How does a Spiritual Weapon interact with illusions of creatures when it is moved?Can a spiritual weapon be moved through walls?



.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








2












$begingroup$


The Great Weapon Master feat (PHB, p. 167) says:




  • Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage.



The Spiritual Weapon spell description reads:




You create a floating, spectral weapon within range that lasts for the duration or until you cast this spell again. When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. [...] The weapon can take whatever form you choose.




Does the form determine the stats of the weapon (and therefore grant the Heavy attribute that allows the listed GWM benefit to be used), or is it just a cosmetic decision?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$











  • $begingroup$
    Related: How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?, Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?, Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    43 mins ago


















2












$begingroup$


The Great Weapon Master feat (PHB, p. 167) says:




  • Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage.



The Spiritual Weapon spell description reads:




You create a floating, spectral weapon within range that lasts for the duration or until you cast this spell again. When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. [...] The weapon can take whatever form you choose.




Does the form determine the stats of the weapon (and therefore grant the Heavy attribute that allows the listed GWM benefit to be used), or is it just a cosmetic decision?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$











  • $begingroup$
    Related: How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?, Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?, Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    43 mins ago














2












2








2





$begingroup$


The Great Weapon Master feat (PHB, p. 167) says:




  • Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage.



The Spiritual Weapon spell description reads:




You create a floating, spectral weapon within range that lasts for the duration or until you cast this spell again. When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. [...] The weapon can take whatever form you choose.




Does the form determine the stats of the weapon (and therefore grant the Heavy attribute that allows the listed GWM benefit to be used), or is it just a cosmetic decision?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




The Great Weapon Master feat (PHB, p. 167) says:




  • Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack's damage.



The Spiritual Weapon spell description reads:




You create a floating, spectral weapon within range that lasts for the duration or until you cast this spell again. When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. [...] The weapon can take whatever form you choose.




Does the form determine the stats of the weapon (and therefore grant the Heavy attribute that allows the listed GWM benefit to be used), or is it just a cosmetic decision?







dnd-5e spells feats weapons attack






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 49 mins ago









V2Blast

27.5k597167




27.5k597167










asked 1 hour ago









RykaraRykara

5,6011647




5,6011647











  • $begingroup$
    Related: How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?, Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?, Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    43 mins ago

















  • $begingroup$
    Related: How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?, Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?, Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    43 mins ago
















$begingroup$
Related: How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?, Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?, Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
43 mins ago





$begingroup$
Related: How does the Spiritual Weapon spell work?, Would it be possible to grab my Spiritual Weapon and make a melee attack with it?, Can you pick up an ally's Spiritual Weapon and use it as your own?
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
43 mins ago











2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















4












$begingroup$

No



Unfortunately, Spiritual Weapon only takes the form of a weapon, not its statistics. So the spiritual weapon does not gain attributes like Heavy, Reach, etc. It just looks like whatever weapon you choose. (Note that the damage dice are independent of the original weapon as well.)






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
    $endgroup$
    – Rykara
    1 hour ago











  • $begingroup$
    @Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    49 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    47 mins ago






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    40 mins ago


















-1












$begingroup$

The Attack of Spiritual Weapon is not a "Melee Attack", it's a "Melee Spell Attack"



This difference might seem semantic, but it's important for this situation. When you use the Bonus Action conferred by Spiritual Weapon, it doesn't call for a Melee Attack, but a Melee Spell Attack:




[...] When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.



Spiritual Weapon, Player's Handbook, pg. 278




The counter example is something like Green Flame Blade, which expressly says that the caster makes a Melee Attack as part of the Action:




As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails.



Green Flame Blade, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, pg. 143




With a spell like Green Flame Blade, if used with a Heavy weapon, it would qualify for this kind of use of the Great Weapon Mastery feat.



So because Spiritual Weapon calls for a different kind of attack, it does not qualify for this feat.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 4




    $begingroup$
    A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    52 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
    $endgroup$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    46 mins ago











Your Answer








StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "122"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);

else
createEditor();

);

function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);



);













draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f145436%2fcan-the-great-weapon-master-feats-power-attack-apply-to-attacks-from-the-spir%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









4












$begingroup$

No



Unfortunately, Spiritual Weapon only takes the form of a weapon, not its statistics. So the spiritual weapon does not gain attributes like Heavy, Reach, etc. It just looks like whatever weapon you choose. (Note that the damage dice are independent of the original weapon as well.)






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
    $endgroup$
    – Rykara
    1 hour ago











  • $begingroup$
    @Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    49 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    47 mins ago






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    40 mins ago















4












$begingroup$

No



Unfortunately, Spiritual Weapon only takes the form of a weapon, not its statistics. So the spiritual weapon does not gain attributes like Heavy, Reach, etc. It just looks like whatever weapon you choose. (Note that the damage dice are independent of the original weapon as well.)






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
    $endgroup$
    – Rykara
    1 hour ago











  • $begingroup$
    @Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    49 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    47 mins ago






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    40 mins ago













4












4








4





$begingroup$

No



Unfortunately, Spiritual Weapon only takes the form of a weapon, not its statistics. So the spiritual weapon does not gain attributes like Heavy, Reach, etc. It just looks like whatever weapon you choose. (Note that the damage dice are independent of the original weapon as well.)






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$



No



Unfortunately, Spiritual Weapon only takes the form of a weapon, not its statistics. So the spiritual weapon does not gain attributes like Heavy, Reach, etc. It just looks like whatever weapon you choose. (Note that the damage dice are independent of the original weapon as well.)







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 1 hour ago









Nicolas BudigNicolas Budig

73837




73837







  • 1




    $begingroup$
    That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
    $endgroup$
    – Rykara
    1 hour ago











  • $begingroup$
    @Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    49 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    47 mins ago






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    40 mins ago












  • 1




    $begingroup$
    That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
    $endgroup$
    – Rykara
    1 hour ago











  • $begingroup$
    @Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    49 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    47 mins ago






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
    $endgroup$
    – V2Blast
    40 mins ago







1




1




$begingroup$
That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
$endgroup$
– Rykara
1 hour ago





$begingroup$
That was a thought I had, too, but I realized that Warlock's Pact of the Blade says " You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it." It never explicitly calls out stats either, but the implication is that the stats would match the chosen form. One would assume the two summoned weapons would be treated in the same way, barring an explicit rule that contradicts this assumption.
$endgroup$
– Rykara
1 hour ago













$begingroup$
@Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
$endgroup$
– Chris Starnes
49 mins ago




$begingroup$
@Rykara The intent is clearly that spiritual weapon would not work with GWM, but you bring up an intriguing point there.
$endgroup$
– Chris Starnes
49 mins ago




1




1




$begingroup$
@Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
47 mins ago




$begingroup$
@Rykara: The key might be that the details of the weapons are only given in the weapons table/section, so the stats of those weapons must be there; in contrast, spiritual weapon tells you the damage it does and how it works, overruling any specific stats regarding such weapons.
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
47 mins ago




2




2




$begingroup$
Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
40 mins ago




$begingroup$
Oh, and this answer might be improved by citing the last paragraph of the spell description: "The weapon can take whatever form you choose. Clerics of deities who are associated with a particular weapon (as St. Cuthbert is known for his mace and Thor for his hammer) make this spell's effect resemble that weapon." This makes it clear that the spell's effect is not a weapon - it just resembles one.
$endgroup$
– V2Blast
40 mins ago













-1












$begingroup$

The Attack of Spiritual Weapon is not a "Melee Attack", it's a "Melee Spell Attack"



This difference might seem semantic, but it's important for this situation. When you use the Bonus Action conferred by Spiritual Weapon, it doesn't call for a Melee Attack, but a Melee Spell Attack:




[...] When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.



Spiritual Weapon, Player's Handbook, pg. 278




The counter example is something like Green Flame Blade, which expressly says that the caster makes a Melee Attack as part of the Action:




As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails.



Green Flame Blade, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, pg. 143




With a spell like Green Flame Blade, if used with a Heavy weapon, it would qualify for this kind of use of the Great Weapon Mastery feat.



So because Spiritual Weapon calls for a different kind of attack, it does not qualify for this feat.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 4




    $begingroup$
    A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    52 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
    $endgroup$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    46 mins ago















-1












$begingroup$

The Attack of Spiritual Weapon is not a "Melee Attack", it's a "Melee Spell Attack"



This difference might seem semantic, but it's important for this situation. When you use the Bonus Action conferred by Spiritual Weapon, it doesn't call for a Melee Attack, but a Melee Spell Attack:




[...] When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.



Spiritual Weapon, Player's Handbook, pg. 278




The counter example is something like Green Flame Blade, which expressly says that the caster makes a Melee Attack as part of the Action:




As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails.



Green Flame Blade, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, pg. 143




With a spell like Green Flame Blade, if used with a Heavy weapon, it would qualify for this kind of use of the Great Weapon Mastery feat.



So because Spiritual Weapon calls for a different kind of attack, it does not qualify for this feat.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$








  • 4




    $begingroup$
    A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    52 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
    $endgroup$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    46 mins ago













-1












-1








-1





$begingroup$

The Attack of Spiritual Weapon is not a "Melee Attack", it's a "Melee Spell Attack"



This difference might seem semantic, but it's important for this situation. When you use the Bonus Action conferred by Spiritual Weapon, it doesn't call for a Melee Attack, but a Melee Spell Attack:




[...] When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.



Spiritual Weapon, Player's Handbook, pg. 278




The counter example is something like Green Flame Blade, which expressly says that the caster makes a Melee Attack as part of the Action:




As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails.



Green Flame Blade, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, pg. 143




With a spell like Green Flame Blade, if used with a Heavy weapon, it would qualify for this kind of use of the Great Weapon Mastery feat.



So because Spiritual Weapon calls for a different kind of attack, it does not qualify for this feat.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$



The Attack of Spiritual Weapon is not a "Melee Attack", it's a "Melee Spell Attack"



This difference might seem semantic, but it's important for this situation. When you use the Bonus Action conferred by Spiritual Weapon, it doesn't call for a Melee Attack, but a Melee Spell Attack:




[...] When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. On a hit, the target takes force damage equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier.



Spiritual Weapon, Player's Handbook, pg. 278




The counter example is something like Green Flame Blade, which expressly says that the caster makes a Melee Attack as part of the Action:




As part of the action used to cast this spell, you must make a melee attack with a weapon against one creature within the spell's range, otherwise the spell fails.



Green Flame Blade, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, pg. 143




With a spell like Green Flame Blade, if used with a Heavy weapon, it would qualify for this kind of use of the Great Weapon Mastery feat.



So because Spiritual Weapon calls for a different kind of attack, it does not qualify for this feat.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 1 hour ago









XiremaXirema

24.4k269144




24.4k269144







  • 4




    $begingroup$
    A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    52 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
    $endgroup$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    46 mins ago












  • 4




    $begingroup$
    A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
    $endgroup$
    – Chris Starnes
    52 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
    $endgroup$
    – Gandalfmeansme
    46 mins ago







4




4




$begingroup$
A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
$endgroup$
– Chris Starnes
52 mins ago




$begingroup$
A melee spell attack is a melee attack.
$endgroup$
– Chris Starnes
52 mins ago




1




1




$begingroup$
I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
$endgroup$
– Gandalfmeansme
46 mins ago




$begingroup$
I agree. This is a melee attack. But it is not a melee attack with a weapon (the same way a wizard who casts mage armor on himself isn't wearing armor).
$endgroup$
– Gandalfmeansme
46 mins ago

















draft saved

draft discarded
















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Role-playing Games Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid


  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f145436%2fcan-the-great-weapon-master-feats-power-attack-apply-to-attacks-from-the-spir%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Are there any comparative studies done between Ashtavakra Gita and Buddhim?How is it wrong to believe that a self exists, or that it doesn't?Can you criticise or improve Ven. Bodhi's description of MahayanaWas the doctrine of 'Anatta', accepted as doctrine by modern Buddhism, actually taught by the Buddha?Relationship between Buddhism, Hinduism and Yoga?Comparison of Nirvana, Tao and Brahman/AtmaIs there a distinction between “ego identity” and “craving/hating”?Are there many differences between Taoism and Buddhism?Loss of “faith” in buddhismSimilarity between creation in Abrahamic religions and beginning of life in Earth mentioned Agganna Sutta?Are there studies about the difference between meditating in the morning versus in the evening?Can one follow Hinduism and Buddhism at the same time?Are there any prohibitions on participating in other religion's practices?Psychology of 'flow'

fallocate: fallocate failed: Text file busy in Ubuntu 17.04? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)defragmenting and increasing performance of old lubuntu system with swap partitionIssue with increasing the root partition from the swapthis /usr/bin/dpkg returned error || ubuntu-16.04, 64bitDefault 17.04 swap file locationHow to Resize Ubuntu 17.04 Zesty Swap file size?Ubuntu freezes from online formsMy Laptop is not starting after upgrade ubuntu 16.04 (Kernel 4.8.0-38 to 04.10.0-36)hcp: ERROR: FALLOCATE FAILED!Not sure my swap is being usedWine 3.0 asking for more virtual free swap

Where else does the Shulchan Aruch quote an authority by name?Parashat Metzora+HagadolPesach/PassoverShulchan Aruch UTF-8Anonymous glosses in the Shulchan AruchWhy is the Shulchan Aruch definitive?Siman 32, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch: UntranslatedLitvaks/Yeshivish and Shulchan AruchBuying a Shulchan AruchEnglish version of SHULCHAN ARUCHIs there any place where Shulchan Aruch rules with the Rosh against the Rif and Rambam?Are there practices where Sepharadim do not hold by Shulchan Aruch?5th part of the shulchan aruch