Close, but not quite!
As stated in the Playtest Packet, every call should be in this format:
# Qualifier Effect
There's 2 exceptions to this: weapon swings (which may omit the Weapon qualifier if they have a damage number and don't use Strike), and spell incants (which don't include the qualifier at all, and where the number and effect may not be in order as expected).
When activating a magic item, the "Activate" keyword is used to show that you're triggering some magic item effect, but then you use the same pattern you would anywhere else: # Qualifier Effect. So in this case,
Activate 5 Spell Flame
is the correct call
A couple of additional comments:
- "Bolt" is not an effect. It should never be used anywhere except in spell incants (which have lots of other extraneous words in them as well). It's like how you wouldn't use the words "Binding Force" when swinging a weapon for a "Spell Strike Bind" - the extra parts of the incant aren't used when just calling the effect.
- The full list of effects can be found in the Playtest Packet (the existing ARB has a list too!). As a rule of thumb, if you're not sure, look up if the effect you're trying to call is in the full effect list. If it's not, you're probably not calling the right effect. For example, "Cure Wounds" is not an effect. "Healing" is. "Create Wounds" is similarly not an effect, but "Chaos" is.
- As you've probably figured out by now, signature spells are a little funky in that they're a spell that is different depending on how you choose to manifest it. At the end of the day, Evocation Bolt produces one of four (five, if you have the right Ritual) effects: Flame, Ice, Stone, Lightning, or Magic. Create/Cure Wounds produces one of two effects: Healing or Chaos. If you're not speaking a full incant, you should
always call the underlying effect.
- Some additional examples: Combined Strike will always produce Flame, Ice, Stone, Lightning, Healing, or Chaos. It will never produce a "Bolt" nor will it "Cure Wounds" or "Create Wounds", because those aren't effects - they're just part of the incant. A Signature Spell put into a Spell Store, and then Activated back out, will similarly always use the underlying effect.
-Bryan Gregory
ARC