Will's Retribution (Spoilers! Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 4)

Seriously, spoilers for Stranger Things S05E04!

A Stranger Things Demogorgon. Not pictured, a D&D Demogorgon.

Stranger Things has had something of a symbiotic relationship with Dungeons & Dragons since it's debut in 2016, with the kids at the heart of the show using D&D as a way to make sense of the crazy and sometimes horrific stuff they've encountered. Many credit the show for playing huge part in introducing people to the game.  I myself played my first TTRPG one-shot (D&D) and my first TTPG campaign (the Stranger Things-esque Tales from The Loop) in 2018, after watching the first two seasons of Stranger Things; you bet it had influenced me to give it a try.

Even now, as season five brings the show to an end, D&D is still being used as a framework to make sense of the fantastical elements of the show. And with Stranger Things Season 5 episode 4, "Sorcerer", they did it again, maybe more potently than ever before.

Last chance to turn back.

In Episode 4 of the latest season, Mike suggests that Will's connection to Vecna, the Upside Down and the Hivemind might grant him some kind of power to combat the evil they are facing. A counter-Vecna if you will, though Mike makes the distinction that Will wouldn't be a Wizard, who studies to learn their power, but a Sorcerer, whose magical power is innate.*

By episode's end we see that is precisely what happens, as Will either high-jacking Vecna's power, or tapping into something of his own, seizes control of the Demogorgon's sent to kill his loved ones and utterly destroys them.

Will drops to his knees in the middle of the burning battlefield. Mike and Joyce look on, speechless. Will slowly unclenches his fists and peels open his eyes. His eyes are back to normal, only they now reveal a new sense of calm and strength. He is now in control. He is a Sorcerer. As a trail of blood slips from his nose, we end Volume 1.
(Excerpt from Stranger Things Season 5 Episode 4: Sorcerer)

It was a hell of a moment, earned across the 5 seasons (and 9 years) of the show's history, to see Will step into his own power and fight back against the forces that had plagued him, hunted him, since Season 1 Episode 1.

And in that vein, I decided to make Will's new found ability into a D&D spell, because why not?
Is it play tested? No. Is it balanced? Who can say? But in the spirit of D&D and the show, I present to you Will's Retribution.

Text version below.

WILL'S RETRIBUTION
Level 8 Transmutation (Sorcerer, Warlock - Great Old One Patron, Wizard)

Casting Time: Action
Range: 1 mile
Components: S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute.

All Fiends within range must make a Wisdom Saving Throw. On a failure they are Paralyzed and levitated 10 feet into the air. If they take damage whilst held by this spell, they can retake their Saving Throw to break free.

On subsequent turns the caster can release the spell (no action required) or bring the spell to an end as a Magic Action, whereby all Fiends still caught in the spell have their bodies wracked by telekinetic force that twists and snaps their forms (10d10 bludgeoning damage) before dropping them to the ground (1d6 bludgeoning damage). As blood runs from the caster’s nose, the spell then ends and the caster suffers 1d4 piercing damage.

*Some commentary has been made that the Sorcerer class as we know it today didn't debut in D&D until 3rd edition in 2000, so wouldn't be known to the characters from the 1980s set show. But honestly, in a show about psychic children and monsters from other dimensions, it's not that big of a deal.