Hey Guys,

A question came up in a discussion I was having regarding the new Green-Flame Blade cantrip in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. We weren't able to determine if the additional damage caused to a secondary target is optional. For instance, if the party is attacking a single creature, and the only eligible targets for the secondary damage were your own party members. Or, God forbid, if you were standing next to a creature by yourself, would you have to target yourself for the damage.

The relevant portion of the spell is:

On hit the target suffers from the attack's normal effects, and the green fire leaps from the target to a different creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of it.

I tried to find another spell that uses a similar jumping mechanic, but couldn't find one (only had the Basic Rules pdf on hand, there might be a better example in the full version). Everything else I could think of produced an AOE effect instead (Ice Knife).

I also read the entire Spellcasting section, and the most applicable piece I could find was:

If a spell targets a creature of your choice, you can choose yourself, unless the creature must be hostile or specifically a creature other than you. If you are in the area of effect of a spell you cast, you can target yourself

Which basically just says that you are an eligible target of your own spells. I couldn't find anything that would allow you to choose to "fizzle" your spell if you don't like your eligible targets.

I guess the interpretation hinges on the "the green fire leaps from the target to a different creature". If it said "the green fire can leap" or "the green fire may leap" or "You choose if the green fire leaps", I would interpret the additional damage as optional. From the way it's written, without any additional info (let me know if you find that part in the Spellcasting chapter), I don't think the damage is optional.

What are your thoughts, and how do you plan on treating this at your tables whenever some conniving Swashbuckler Rogue/Warlock tries to add some extra fire damage to his solo sneak attack on the creature he's "handling by himself"?