Is Leomund's Tiny Turret of Sneak Attacks feasible?

Question

Leomund's hut states that (srd link):

Creatures and Objects within the dome when you cast this spell can move through it freely. [...]

The dome is opaque from the outside, [...]

So, caster and his eight rogue friends, everyone loaded with ammunition get into a tiny hut.

Since the ammunition was inside the hut when the spell was cast, it can be shot outside freely.

so, since there are 12 spaces inside the hut, can all the rogues sneak attack targets outside the hut? The dome is opaque, so the rogues should have advantage on their attacks.

Answer 1

Yes, with some clarifications. Maximum occupancy is 10 -- caster and 9 friends of M size or less. It takes a minute to cast, and is not movable once cast, and the caster cannot leave without ending the spell. So under the right conditions, and with some preparation, yes, this can be done.

Answer 2

Yes.

As much as I think that this usage is quite overpowered, I couldn't find a reason to disallow it based on the spell text.

Answer 3

Can all the rogues sneak attack? No — at least not if your rogues are small or medium creatures.

The spell creates a "10-foot-radius immobile dome of force". It can fit ten medium or small creatures, but that doesn't mean they have room to act freely in combat. In fact, it's going to be rather cramped if you try to get in the maximum. This is fine for hanging out, but it isn't sufficient for fighting. From the Combat chapter, "A creature's space also reflects the area it needs to fight effectively."

The "range" description specifically says "10-foot-radius hemisphere". One can only fit seven complete 5×5" squares in this space, and some of those would be right up against the edge where the "ceiling" gets low. If you want to be charitable and play with 4E-style "circles are actually squares, and spheres are cubes" rules, maybe more — but going with natural geometry (and in line with all 5E written rules), the edges are going to be quite cramped. Really, I think you only have four spaces in the middle with free enough movement to avoid squeezing — and while squeezing, you have disadvantage on attack roles, canceling out any advantage and preventing sneak attacks.

In other words, if you're doing the battle-mat thing and using:

as your template, only the center four squares are free for non-squeezed combat, not all twelve. That's because the template is just a handy tool for quick estimation, not the rule for how geometry works in the universe as it seemed to be in 4E. In 5E, spells do what they say they do, and this spell says it creates a hemisphere, and there's not room in a 10-foot-radius hemisphere to fit clear 5x5 squares at the edges.

That seems to work, but I'm not sure it's really exciting in most situations given the limitations of casting time and mobility.

Answer 4

Possibly

There are two things to unpack here:

1. Can all the rogues fit in the hut and act in combat effectively?
2. Can the Rogues Sneak Attack people outside of the hut?

I'll deal with each of these questions separately.

If they all fit in the hut, and are combat effective in the hut, and they can all get Sneak Attacks on their targets.

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Can all the rogues fit in the hut and act in combat effectively?

To determine if Leomund's Tiny Hut is suitable for use in combat when it is full.

The spells range is:

Range: Self (10-foot-radius hemisphere)

Depending on which rules we are using the number of grid spaces available for us in combat varies.

Theatre of the Mind

If we are using theatre of the mind, then we can just use the spells description, which says:

Nine creatures of Medium size or smaller can fit inside the dome with you.

To determine effectiveness in combat though we can use the guidance provided in the "Adjudicating Areas Of Effect" portion of the Combat section in the DMG (page 249). Which states:

The easiest way to address such uncertainty is to go with your gut and make a call.

If you would like more guidance, consider using the Targets in Areas of Effect table.

This table provides us with this guideline:

Sphere or circle: \$\frac{Radius}{5}\$ (round up)

with the option for the DM to:

Consider rolling 1d3 to determine the amount to add or subtract.

So at a max in combat we should expect 5 creatures to be effective in combat within this dome: \$\frac{10}{5} + 3 = 5\$

So under this guidance we wouldn't expect a full hut to be very combat effective in the situation you describe.

As a result the answer in this situation is likely No.

Using a grid (Standard rules presented in the PHB)

The PHB gives us rules for measuring distances and calculating movement. On pg 192 the PHB states (in the "Variant: Playing on a Grid" rules, emphasis mine):

If you play out a combat using a square grid and miniatures or other tokens, follow these rules.

It also sets out the following, relevant rules:

Squares. Each square on the grid represents 5 feet.

Entering a Square. To enter a square, you must have at least 1 square of movement left, even if the square is diagonally adjacent to the square you're in. (The rule for diagonal movement sacrifices realism for the sake of smooth play. The Dungeon Master's Guide provides guidance on using a more realistic approach.)

Ranges. To determine the range on a grid between two things—whether creatures or objects—start counting squares from a square adjacent to one of them and stop counting in the space of the other one. Count by the shortest route.

So, using these rules we can map out the grid. Assuming the caster takes up a single square in the middle of a grid, then the area enclosed by Leomund's Tiny Hut is shown in this picture:

(The yellow square is the caster, the red and grey squares are within the hut, at 5ft and 10ft respectively).

This grid layout is supported by the text in the PHB on Page 191 relating to space (emphasis mine):

A creature's space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in combat, not an expression of its physical dimensions.

...

A creature's space also reflects the area it needs to fight effectively. For that reason, there's a limit to the number of creatures that can surround another creature in combat. Assuming Medium combatants, eight creatures can fit in a 5-foot radius around another one.

In this arrangement we have more than enough space to contain all of our combatants. Assuming that all the creatures in the hut are friendly to one another then we can use the following rule (PHB pg 191 "Moving Around Other Creatures"):

You can move through a nonhostile creature's space.

We can now say that Yes all of your rogues within the hut would be act effectively in combat. At least 8 (plus the caster) of them are definitely covered by the dome standing up (in the grey squares), and the additional one can be covered by the dome crouching down in one of the red squares.

Using a grid (Optional Diagonals rules presented in the DMG)

The method used in the PHB is imprecise, and leads to potential errors the larger we scale up the range rules. As a result there is an optional rule presented in the DMG (on pg 252) called "Diagonals". This rule acknowledges the imprecise nature of the PHB rule.

...

This optional rule provides more realism, but it requires more effort during combat.

When measuring range or moving diagonally on a grid, the first diagonal square counts as 5 feet, but the second diagonal square counts as 10 feet. This pattern of 5 feet and then 10 feet continues whenever you're counting diagonally, even if you move horizontally or vertically between different bits of diagonal movement.

...

Using this rule we get the following grid:

(In this grid white squares are not within the hut)

Again, combining this rule with the space rules mentioned above we can have 8 rogues standing up in space they control, and be effective in combat. We can also have one additional rogue crouching down and still be covered by the hut.

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Can the Rogues Sneak Attack people outside of the hut?

Maybe.

There are three potential rules we can use for sneak attack:

1. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. (PHB pg 96)
2. You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll. (PHB pg 96)
3. In addition, you don't need advantage on your attack roll to use your Sneak Attack if no creature other than your target is within 5 feet of you. All the other rules for the Sneak Attack class feature still apply to you. (SCAG Pg 136)

Item 1 requires our Rogues to somehow all have advantage on their targets, which seems unlikely that it will happen (i.e. the enemies know where the hut is, so the Rogues are not Hidden).

The main option Rogues use to gain advantage is this rule (PHB pg 195):

When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it.

Due to the hut being described as:

The dome is opaque from the outside, of any color you choose, but it is transparent from the inside.

it would seem like you should get the advantage you want, however there is a caveats to this. Specifically this would likely only be good for one round because of:

If you are hidden — both unseen and unheard — when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses.

Meaning after the first attack/round of attacks it's likely that the attacks will look to either:

• become unseen by you (thus putting disadvantage on attack rolls). Potentially by throwing something heavy in front of the hut
• run away and fall prone (also giving disadvatage on ranged attack rolls)
• or run away beyond your normal ranged attack range (which also gives disadvantage to ranged attacks)

Another possibility is for all of the Rogues to have had Foresight cast on them before this situation happens, which gives:

advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.

Item 2 allows for the situation where all of our Rogues have allies on the field harrying enemies. In that situation then yes, they can sneak attack each turn.

Item 3 doesn't apply, unless our Rogues are Swashbucklers, and each of our Swashbuckler Rogues run out of the hut to attack an isolated enemy and then runs back into the hut. In this situation then yes our Swashbuckler Rogues would all get Sneak Attack.