I would also like to reiterate, running two league Hexblade characters myself, that the lack of the blade cantrips seriously undermine their potential.@mikemearls @JeremyECrawford Is there a chance to get some kind of errata or non +1 addition to make them part of XGE? https://t.co/TZQ8cLmHSi
— Sabre Runner (@SabreRunner) June 18, 2018
No chance. Those spells weren’t meant for any book other than the SCAG.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) June 18, 2018
So even if the blade singer was reprinted those spells wouldn’t be?
Also I still don’t understand why they weren’t deemed a good fit for hexblades. (since you said it was a thematic reason not mechanical balance one to not include them )1. If we decide to reprint Bladesinging, we'll determine at that time what to do with the SCAG spells.2. We designed the SCAG spells to be niche. They are a fine fit for the sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards who do use them.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) June 18, 2018
Unfortunately this is one reason why players move from adventurers league to home brews because the phb +1 doesn’t go with their character concept. However I do agree and would like to see an errata making all spells exempt from the +1 rules please If you have feedback about the rules of Adventurers League, make sure to reach out to @DnD_AdvLeague. I set the rules of the game, not the league.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) June 19, 2018
“We designed the SCAG spells to be niche. They are a fine fit for the sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards who do use them.”
This strikes me as an incredibly bizarre thing to say, since these cantrips are phenomenally useful for nearly every class, and I am struggling to see how anyone with a proper understanding of their potential could find them to be “niche” options, rather than so optimal and powerful as to be almost mandatory.
They are a -flat upgrade- for any character which lacks Extra Attack, most notably Rogues, Clerics, and Druids, but also certain builds of Rangers, Bards, Barbarians, and Paladins. The only class with particularly strong anti-synergy is the Monk – every other class has some worthwhile usage for these cantrips.
There’s no reason NOT to take one of the Blade cantrips if you can only make one attack per turn. There is virtually no downside or tradeoff to using them over a standard Attack action. The only things to consider are the opportunity cost of spending a feat on Magic Initiate, and the rare class or feat ability that is worded to specifically require an Attack action, rather than just an attack.