251
votes
How can I explain to my player that Alchemist's Fire is safe to carry?
It is probably possible to come up with in-game reasoning, but to my ears they sound contrived and might have adverse effects on the rest of your game, so I won't bother. ("But wait, if that's true, ...
- 37.9k
125
votes
Accepted
Where do adventurers keep all their stuff?
Assuming, as you've requested, that "that's boring, don't track it" is off the table, then yes, your intuition is right: this is a logistics problem. And to the contrary, it is the bread and ...
- 240k
81
votes
What's the point of quivers?
They answer the question of “where did you put your arrows such that they’re easily accessible?” If you tell me, as DM, that you have 20 arrows but no quiver, then I’m wondering where the arrows are ...
- 323k
80
votes
Accepted
What is the use of a little bag of sand?
Sand is one thing used by scribes to blot ink, so that a document can be handled or moved soon after working on it, without dripping or smearing. You can assume it sees use as a matter of course while ...
- 240k
72
votes
Accepted
How to reward players that come prepared for non-combat, non-RP situations? I.e., real life
What you're experiencing is a mismatch in what you all expect the actual game to be. As such, a boon will likely not make up for the confusion — at best it will be inexplicably ineffective at altering ...
- 240k
72
votes
Accepted
Do you have to have thieves' tools in order to pick a lock?
The Short Answer (TL;DR)
You need Thieves' Tools to pick a lock but you don't need to be proficient with them.
The Long(er) Answer
You (usually) need Thieves' Tools to pick a lock or disarm a trap ...
- 2,613
71
votes
Accepted
What is the point of a shield proficiency?
The disadvantages are the same as wearing regular armor you lack proficiency with
(Note, I used the basic rules pg.44 as a reference, but the information should be the same as in the PHB, pg. 144)
You ...
- 25.9k
66
votes
Accepted
Are purchasable animals overpowered?
The part you're missing is
(ignoring story consequences).
I've played with a party who were really amused about the idea that they could buy an Elephant, and then did (and named it Bongo) and ...
- 77.9k
63
votes
Accepted
What benefits does a tent give a character?
It does what a tent does: provides temporary shelter from rain, snow, wind, cold, sunlight, and so on. Depending on the severity of these conditions, the lack of such shelter could create a situation ...
- 3,510
62
votes
What is the point of lowering the hood on a hooded lantern?
There's very little point in an open field, but in a dungeon reducing the light radius to 5ft can easily be enough to make sure it doesn't shine across the next corner.
- 77.9k
62
votes
Would a centaur benefit from snowshoes?
First, the rules for snowshoes don't actually exclude their use by horses or centaurs; the rules make no mention of needing to have humanoid feet to wear them. I personally feel it would be poor DMing ...
- 63.5k
61
votes
Can the arcane/druidic focus staff double as quarterstaff?
I asked Mike Mearls:
Can the arcane/druidic focus staff double as a quarterstaff?
And received the following response:
yes
- 5,258
61
votes
Do rations contain loose salt?
In this specific instance, I'd think the question is moot. The effect of a handful of salt on an ordinary slug is devastating because the slug is so small. The effect of a handful of salt on anything ...
61
votes
Do rations contain loose salt?
Theoretically, they could be included, but it's incredibly unlikely that rations would contain any type of additional seasoning for a couple reasons.
As a preface, this answer applies to the standard ...
- 11.7k
59
votes
Accepted
What's the starting wealth for higher levels?
Starting Equipment at higher levels
Page 38 of the DMG provides a table for starting wealth and equipment at various levels.
- 1,506
58
votes
Can clerics create holy water?
Under "Chapter 5: Equipment" in the Player's Basic Rules and Player's Handbook:
A cleric or paladin may create holy water by performing a special ritual. The ritual takes 1 hour to perform, uses 25 ...
- 7,394
58
votes
How can I explain to my player that Alchemist's Fire is safe to carry?
Why not let them play their character authentically?
That's a great personality trait to use as part of a plot development. Their hyper vigilance and over-concern for minor issues can be a great ...
- 8,293
57
votes
Accepted
Can Mage Hand pour out a vial of acid?
Mage hand can pour out a vial of acid.
Pouring a vial of acid in this way will (generally) not damage an enemy.
It's exactly as the rules you quoted say. You can pour out the contents of a vial. Per ...
- 98.8k
57
votes
Accepted
Does splashing a flask of Holy Water consume it?
The contents means "what's in the flask"
you can splash the contents of this flask onto a creature within 5
feet of you
The contents, not modified by "some of" or "a fraction of" implies all of ...
- 139k
56
votes
Can the arcane/druidic focus staff double as quarterstaff?
Any Staff, magical or otherwise, can be used as a simple melee weapon in an identical manner as an ordinary Quarterstaff.
DMG page 140 states this regarding magic staves:
Unless a staff's ...
- 14.4k
56
votes
Accepted
What is the point of lowering the hood on a hooded lantern?
I realized my comments were better suited as their own answer.
You are absolutely correct that a hooded lantern would be visible in the dark from any distance. Assuming you had direct line of sight ...
- 61k
52
votes
How do I incentivize my players to fight and upgrade their weapons/armors?
Have a Session 0
Seriously, have a session 0 and discuss what kind of game you're wanting to run versus what kind of game they're wanting to play. There's a clear stylistic mismatch between you and ...
- 7,034
52
votes
Accepted
How to destroy a spellbook when the wizard dies?
Thanks to the resources of his organization, this wizard has a contingent fireball cast upon the spellbook. (This makes use of the 6th level contingency spell). The contingency spell is keyed to go ...
- 552
52
votes
Accepted
In Out of the Abyss, one character requires an item yet starts with it confiscated. What should I do?
There are quite a few things that the Cleric can do ...
This cleric requires his holy symbol to really do anything.
That's not quite true.
What cantrips does the cleric have?
The following ...
- 139k
52
votes
Accepted
Is the Healer feat overpowered?
No, it's not overpowered
Healing in the game isn't expensive. In fact, most of the time, it's entirely free - a long rest will completely restore all your lost hit points, a short rest will usually ...
- 62.9k
50
votes
Accepted
How much does a day's ration really weigh, one or two pounds?
A ration weighs two pounds, but a character only needs to consume one pound (half a ration) per day.
The key word in this case is need and how this is very different from should. A character, at a ...
- 676
49
votes
How to handle inventory and story of a player leaving
To me the problem seems to be that the other players think that they gained treasure as a team and divided it up according to some measure of 'fairness' and 'need.' So when one player leaves, they ...
- 1,116
46
votes
Do wizards' spells gained per level just appear in their spellbook?
Yes, as soon as the wizard levels up, those two spells are found in one of his spellbooks and he can prepare them the next time he prepares his spells. They do not require time or money to scribe, ...
- 323k
45
votes
Accepted
What do a minotaur's rations consist of, and can a dragonborn eat them?
As far as I'm aware, there are no official rules regarding the diet of either of these two creatures. As such, it would depend on the DM, as usual. However:
If you insist on using real world logic, ...
- 7,608
45
votes
Accepted
Does a druid starting with a bow start with no arrows?
By a literal reading of the rules, then no you do not start with ammunition (possibly just because Druids aren't really associated with ranged weapons).
Compare with the Ranger starting equipment ...
- 26.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible