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How do you move a creature encased in Otiluke's Resilient Sphere? Would an attack action like grapple-move or shove be legal? Can the creature inside even challenge the grapple or shove?

Or do you have to use the object lifting/pushing rules?

Lifting and Carrying

Your Strength score determines the amount of weight you can bear. The following terms define what you can lift or carry. Carrying Capacity.

Your carrying capacity is your Strength score multiplied by 15. This is the weight (in pounds) that you can carry, which is high enough that most characters don't usually have to worry about it.

Push, Drag, or Lift. You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying capacity (or 30 times your Strength score). While pushing or dragging weight in excess of your carrying capacity, your speed drops to 5 feet.

The problem with that is most monsters in 5e don't have listed weights and it doesn't account for the fact that pushing a sphere is easier than a block.

If there's no clear ruling I might home rule it so that a creature can push/pull an ORS of the same size or smaller but incur a 1/2 speed for every size larger.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Why did you tag this house-rules and rules-as-written? They are (pretty much) mutually exclusive and I think neither applies here if you're just asking whether you can push the sphere around. \$\endgroup\$
    – Erik
    Dec 20, 2017 at 9:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ I wanted to know if there is a clear RAW interpretation, otherwise what house rule would most elegantly solve this \$\endgroup\$
    – Bacon Hero
    Dec 20, 2017 at 10:01
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    \$\begingroup\$ I would be very surprised if there was a RAW answer to this question. But now I am curious what would happen if you cast it on a target while they are on a hill, either to roll an enemy away or possibly as a safe(?) way down a mountain. \$\endgroup\$
    – SeriousBri
    Dec 20, 2017 at 14:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ @BaconHero: When that's the type of answer you're looking for, you don't need any special tags to indicate that, as that's the basic mode the site operates in. \$\endgroup\$
    – user17995
    Dec 20, 2017 at 17:07

2 Answers 2

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Relevant spell RAW is:

An enclosed creature can use its action to push against the sphere's walls and thus roll the Sphere at up to half the creature's speed. Similarly, the globe can be picked up and moved by other creatures.

Relevant phb RAW is on pg 193:

Your character can do things not covered by the actions in this chapter, such as breaking down doors

When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the DM tells you weather the action is possible and what kind of roll you need to make, if any

So the sphere can be moved by pushing. A door or other movable object could also be moved by pushing. If on the other side of the door, or sphere in this case, is an enemy, you're pushing against an active agent with a strength or athletics score. Just like in a friendly game of tug of war, it's your check against theirs.

If the enemy in the sphere is incapacitated, then you're pushing against a lump of mass. Then the sphere is a convenient protected cart of sorts. That's when your push/pull/drag rules are going to come into play.

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    \$\begingroup\$ This seems sensible, but the creature inside the sphere would have much less leverage than the creature outside. Then after checks are resolved how would this "tug of war" be resolved in distance moved? It's simple for a door, it either opens or remains closed, but when moving another creature there are other rules that apply. Should this move emulate a 5ft shove? Or a grapple move? Or a normal push/pull/drag? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bacon Hero
    Dec 21, 2017 at 2:44
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    \$\begingroup\$ A player is trying to move a target in opposition to how it wants to move. The ability and opportunity are present, keeping the success roll simple expedites game play. Alternatively, resolving the lifting of the sphere as a grapple seems reasonable. The contained creature can certainly make it difficult by moving the sphere in a fashion that makes lifting it more difficult to accomplish. It just makes it a bit more complex to resolve as the contained creature could then use acrobatics. \$\endgroup\$
    – GcL
    Dec 21, 2017 at 18:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ I like your answer quite a lot @Grosscol . I'll use the grapple check should this come up in my games again, but with an additional house rule because it's easier to push something contained in a sphere: You may move a creature encased in ORS that you're grappling at your speed if it is the same size or smaller than you, otherwise you receive a 1/2 speed penalty for each size category larger \$\endgroup\$
    – Bacon Hero
    Dec 22, 2017 at 5:03
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    \$\begingroup\$ @BaconHero I like that house rule. It makes the sphere a useful, albeit expensive, prison cart. \$\endgroup\$
    – GcL
    Dec 22, 2017 at 15:00
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The spell description indicated that if you are inside the sphere, you can push the walls to roll the sphere. If you are outside the sphere, it must be lifted and carried.

An enclosed creature can use its action to push against the sphere's walls and thus roll the Sphere at up to half the creature's speed. Similarly, the globe can be picked up and moved by other creatures

While admittedly the word similarly muddies the water a little, two "similar" but different methods to move the sphere are indicated, separated by relative location to the sphere (in vs out).

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    \$\begingroup\$ "Can be" does not indicate "must be", I think it merely shows another option of moving the sphere. The word "similarly" really confuses the hell out of this paragraph since it can reference two separate points the previous sentence: Is it similar to mean creatures outside can "use an action to push against the sphere's wall and thus roll it?" This is problematic because of the lack of weight stats and greater ease of rolling spheres than cubes. If it means outside "creatures can roll the sphere at half their speed" does it mean Sprites can roll an Ettin around?` \$\endgroup\$
    – Bacon Hero
    Dec 21, 2017 at 2:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ Without similarly, "The globe can be picked up and moved by other creatures." I would not interpret the moving of the sphere to be predicated on picking it up. If that were the case, I would expect the wording, "picked up and then moved". The term similarly indicates that the mechanism is as previously described as opposed to being moved by command word or some other mechanism like a floating disk. \$\endgroup\$
    – GcL
    Dec 21, 2017 at 18:45

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