83
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Accepted
My DM insists on rolling a single save for groups affected by AoE save spells. How does this affect my odds of successfully affecting the enemy?
TL;DR
A GM shouldn't roll all-or-none saves. If reduced rolling is necessary, instead they should figure the expected number of saves, then add a d4 and subtract a d4. Below are pictured the results ...
- 102k
70
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My DM insists on rolling a single save for groups affected by AoE save spells. How does this affect my odds of successfully affecting the enemy?
Overall, this will make area/multi-target spells less reliable, but more potent.
Numbers
The chance of a single individual to save is not affected by this change. The number of individuals affected ...
- 61.9k
57
votes
What does "within 5 feet" mean in the description of the Call Lightning spell?
It means 5 foot radius.
You pick a point (If you're using a grid, that would be a grid intersection)
All creatures within 5 feet (ie, squares surrounding the grid intersection) are affected.
If it ...
- 28.7k
46
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My DM insists on rolling a single save for groups affected by AoE save spells. How does this affect my odds of successfully affecting the enemy?
This would be a great change if you were in a fight where you were almost certainly going to lose.
Imagine a spell that defeats 1/2 of the creatures it targets. You use it on 2000 creatures. If ...
- 16.4k
46
votes
Does the spell "Silence" affect the caster?
The Sorcerer is indeed Silenced by their own spell.
Nothing in the spell description excludes the Sorcerer from the spell. The only way to get around this is if the Sorcerer also has the Subtle Spell ...
- 32.2k
41
votes
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Would a Fireball cast by a Pixie/Human/Dragon of the same level have the same power?
Magic is unaffected by creature size. Creatures can have benefits for particular types of magic (it’s easy to imagine a dragon getting bonuses on fireball—after all, their descendants do—or a pixie ...
- 361k
40
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What's the best way to resolve a paradox created when a mage shapeshifted into a larger creature enters an antimagic field, but its true form doesn't?
If you maintain creature positions, the effect is simply suppressed and the druid remains in its typical form
The druid can't take the Brass Dragon form when some portion of that form would intersect ...
- 21.9k
38
votes
Casting wall of fire in a T-shaped corridor
You do not need line of sight at all
Spells will tell you the requirements to cast them. All spells require (unless indicated otherwise), a clear path to the target, but line of sight is not a general ...
- 95.6k
37
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Accepted
Can an AoE spell crit an unconscious creature?
A fireball or a similar AoE spell would not crit
The Unconscious condition does state that (from the SRD p. 359, emphasis mine):
Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker ...
- 36.6k
33
votes
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What are the permitted shapes of a Wall of Fire?
It's probably a straight line (or a ring).
There are many wall of- spells in D&D 5e. Regarding shape of the wall, many use this formula:
You can make the wall up to X feet long, Y feet high, and ...
- 154k
32
votes
Does the Fireball spell ignore total cover?
RAW Fireball appears to ignore full cover, if there is a path fully within range of the effect that can reach the target, as this spell specifically travels around corners.
If there are no corners ...
- 6,465
31
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Accepted
Can you be affected by your own area of effect spells?
Yes, a caster is affected by their own AOE unless the spell or ability states otherwise
Cloudkill says:
When a creature enters the spell’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, ...
- 95.6k
31
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Would a Fireball cast by a Pixie/Human/Dragon of the same level have the same power?
They would be equally powerful, as magic effects aren't affected by caster size, only by spell level. The description of fireball says:
Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point ...
- 1,551
31
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Can I create an upright 7-foot × 5-foot wall with the Minor Illusion spell?
Yes, though a DM might not want to deal with abnormal spell positioning
In the Sage Advice compendium, a similar question was asked about the spell Cloud of Daggers:
Using 5-foot squares, does cloud ...
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30
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My DM insists on rolling a single save for groups affected by AoE save spells. How does this affect my odds of successfully affecting the enemy?
This is very bad for you, and your whole party
This is not so much the question of mathematics, as what makes a game interesting.
Extreme examples
Banishment
3 Fire Giants charge your level 11 ...
- 65.9k
30
votes
Accepted
Does flying or hovering make creatures immune to the Earth Tremor spell?
Your players are right
It affects “the ground within range” (10 feet) causing damage to creatures “in that area”. It does not affect the air.
- 216k
29
votes
Accepted
Can you cast the Fireball spell to target a point such that its area affects an opponent next to you but not yourself?
The Rules
The description of Fireball on D&D Beyond clearly says to choose a point within range. It makes no requirement for hitting a hard surface - it makes no requirement at all, other than ...
- 49k
29
votes
Will the effects of light shine through glass?
Because we are exploring line of effect, it is important to note what, exactly, the effect is. If the effect of light, for example, is to create light centered on the object, the transparent container ...
- 9,995
29
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Accepted
How do I target the Moonbeam spell, using a grid?
It originates from a corner
DMG 251:
Choose an intersection of squares or hexes as the point of origin of an area of effect, then follow its rules as normal. If an area of effect is circular and ...
- 65.9k
29
votes
Is Burning Hands’ area of effect a “thin sheet of flame” or is it a cone?
The rules text say it is both. So it is both.
I can think of two reasonable ways to be both a cone and be a thin sheet.
First, a cone whose surface is a thin sheet of flames matches both ...
- 16.4k
28
votes
Does activating the Instant Fortress magic item always harm the activator due to being in the area where the fortress appears?
The fortress is probably not designed to kill its user
You are correct that the text is ambiguous, in that it doesn't specify how or in what direction it expands from a 1-inch cube into a fortress 20 ...
- 64.2k
27
votes
Casting a spell in a smaller space than the spell itself?
The answer is implicit in the section of the spellcasting rules on areas of effect (Player's Handbook, Chapter 10):
A spell's effect expands in straight lines from the point of origin. If no ...
- 54.2k
27
votes
What space does the spell Cloud of Daggers fill?
Cloud of daggers fills one 5-foot square.
Neither of the options that you show are correct. The spell description states that it takes up:
a cube 5 feet on each side
Since one square is five feet ...
- 48.9k
27
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Accepted
Does Bless Require Line of Sight?
You are targeting each creature
The spell, as quoted in your question, refers to each creature as a target (PHB 219, emphasis mine):
You bless up to three creatures of your choice within range. ...
- 5,782
26
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Does activating the Instant Fortress magic item always harm the activator due to being in the area where the fortress appears?
The design intent is for the fortress to expand next to the user, with the user safely out of the way. Earlier editions were a bit more explicit about that; for example, in 3.5, the rules said
The ...
- 583
26
votes
Accepted
Does a Bugbear PC take damage when holding an enemy on the other side of a Wall of Fire with Grapple?
A bugbear cannot mantain a grapple with a target 10 feet away.
The Long-Limbed trait of the bugbear in Volo's Guide to Monsters states (VGM, 119):
When you make a melee attack on your turn, your ...
- 4,820
26
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Accepted
Does Cloud of Daggers affect the caster?
You are a creature.
Cloud of daggers states:
A creature takes 4d4 slashing damage when it enters the spell’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there.
You are a creature, so you ...
- 154k
25
votes
If a paladin becomes Large, at what point does the paladin's aura originate?
Paladin auras "originate" from their entire space, so the radius extends from the edge of their space
In this case, Mike Mearls' interpretation in your second link is incorrect, in addition ...
- 50.3k
25
votes
Accepted
The Gust of Wind spell creates a 10-foot-wide line of wind originating from the caster; how do I center it on a 5-foot grid?
Choose an intersection as the point of origin.
The rules for areas of effect on a grid require that you choose an intersection of squares or hexes as the point of origin. From the Dungeon Master’s ...
- 154k
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