Searching Ray
4th-level evocation (Sorcerer, Wizard)
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 120 feet
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Instantaneous
You fire off a beam of magical force that seeks out a target rather than being aimed by the caster. Make a ranged spell attack against a Small or larger creature that the ray can reach in the lowest distance travelled (not necessarily the creature closest to you). You do not need line of sight for this attack as long as there is a path that the ray can travel between you and the target, bending around corners until the ray reaches the target. On a hit, the target takes 6d8 force damage. On a miss, the ray searches for a different target within 120 feet of you, and you make the same ranged spell attack against the new target.
The ray continues to search for targets within 120 feet of you until it has missed against three different targets or there are no more targets left to attack, at which point the ray fades away to nothingness. You are aware if the ray has found a target though you do not receive any knowledge other than the target’s location relative to where you are.
If you use both an action and a bonus action while casting this spell, you can set restrictions on what creatures can be attacked by the beam, such as whether creatures are familiar to you or hostile or belong to a specific race(s).
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 4th.