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If a wizard had a collection of holy water flasks and cast Animate Objects on them, would the objects be able to splash their own contents on a target without breaking in the first round and attack regularly like a tiny object in the following rounds?

If that is possible, and since the object is itself, would it still be an improvised attack (following the holy water's language for application), or would it use the tiny object attack modifier from Animate Objects?

If it's still improvised, what is the appropriate modifier in that case?

I'm not at the level to cast the spell yet, but I figured hoarding them for the right occasion would be fun and figured this would be a bad time for an undead big bad.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Holy water costs almost nothing, relative to standard character wealth, by the time you're capable of casting 5th level spells. No need to hoard ahead of time. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 5 at 0:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ As much as I'd typically agree, the limitations of the economy in the current campaign setting along with the use of the "Sane Pricing" pdf makes this something I'm planning for. \$\endgroup\$
    – JJMar
    Commented Aug 5 at 12:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ Just to be clear, the Sane Magical Prices PDF doesn't change the cost of holy water. Holy water isn't a magic item, and even if it was, the price shouldn't change. The Xanathar's spell, Ceremony, is a 1st level ritual for Clerics and Paladins that lets you directly convert 25 GP worth of powdered silver, plus a vial of plain water, into holy water. All it takes is money and time, and a single spell prep slot, it doesn't even cost spell slots for Clerics (ritual casting). If you can't get that much money, or you can't find a cleric to do it, okay, but hoarding is usually pointless. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 5 at 19:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, I was referring to the cost of all things in the economy with our limited gold supply. I think we could only do two runs of 10 with the party treasure accumulated. \$\endgroup\$
    – JJMar
    Commented Aug 5 at 21:02

1 Answer 1

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You should be able to do what you want


The Animate Objects spell allows your PC to use a bonus action to mentally command the animated flasks to take an action. It also specifies that:

You decide what action the creature will take...

This means that you may command the creature—in this case, an animated construct—to take the Use an Object action, or even to take

an action that you improvise.

In this particular case, using the item requires an attack. Fortunately, the object is capable of making an attack:

If you command an object to attack, it can make a single melee attack against a creature within 5 feet of it.

The can in the above clause does not necessarily mean the attack can only be a single melee attack. Therefore, the flasks should be able to splash their own contents "onto a creature within 5 feet of" themselves according to the normal Use an Object and Holy Water rules. Since the flask only "shatters on impact" if thrown, you should be able to command them to attack on subsequent turns.

Since Holy Water defines the attack as both ranged and improvised, you would use the animated construct's Dexterity (c.f. this discussion), which in this case would be 18, according to the chart provided in the spell.

Furthermore, since the flasks have a flying speed of 30, it might be reasonable to command them to improvise an action by hovering upside down over the target in order to spill their contents on it. However, your DM may need to adjudicate this, as detailed in the rules:

IMPROVISING AN ACTION

Your character can do things not covered by the actions in this section, such as breaking down doors, intimidating enemies, sensing weaknesses in magical defenses, or calling for a parley with a foe. The only limits to the actions you can attempt are your imagination and your character’s ability scores. See the descriptions of the ability scores in the Using Ability Scores section for inspiration as you improvise.

When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the DM tells you whether that action is possible and what kind of roll you need to make, if any, to determine success or failure.

In this case, it would be reasonable to use the parameters for attacking with an improvised weapon, such as a range of 20/40.

Interestingly, the rules for holy water seem to omit the clause "on a hit..." Compare this to the wording for a vial of acid:

On a hit, the target takes 2d6 acid damage.

This omission was almost certainly an oversight on the designer's part. You likely will need to hit with the ranged, improvised attack in order to deal the 2d6 radiant damage.

Finally, you may consider a similar approach with other objects, e.g., vials of acid or alchemist's fire, for non-undead (i.e., living) targets.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I am not sure that, per description, this works: commanding an attack consists in making the object doing the slam attack. While I would totally agree with a DM allowing this, I believe that strictly & blindingly following the rules this is not allowed. \$\endgroup\$
    – Eddymage
    Commented Aug 5 at 10:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ The "You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn" text is where I figured you would have the ability to say, "empty yourself on your foe before attacking". I just wasn't sure what statistical aspect you would use in execution. \$\endgroup\$
    – JJMar
    Commented Aug 5 at 12:48
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    \$\begingroup\$ You might wish to link to Does Holy Water deal damage on a failed attack roll? \$\endgroup\$
    – Kirt
    Commented Aug 5 at 15:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ "Strictly and blindingly" total cover requires concealment or an explicit exception in writing. Don't be that guy, @Eddymage. \$\endgroup\$
    – nonymous
    Commented Aug 5 at 16:34
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Kirt Fiat is fiat and rules are rules. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael W.
    Commented Aug 5 at 20:00

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