105
votes
Accepted
Is a pregnant creature considered a single entity for spells such as Banishment?
This kind of situation is up to the DM.
D&D 5E isn't designed to handle these sort of situations. The system doesn't have any built-in mechanics for pregnancy, or whether pregnant creatures can ...
- 31.4k
83
votes
Can a creature take turns as normal if they are inside an Antimagic Field while another creature casts Time Stop?
Tim does not get to take turns
The key here is that time stop has
Range: self
Which means that the one under a spell here is the caster, not everyone else. If they remain outside of the antimagic ...
- 61.4k
80
votes
Is a pregnant creature considered a single entity for spells such as Banishment?
Let's set pregnancy aside for a moment and consider some other aspects of this issue.
If you have harmful microbes in your body, does this spell leave them behind? If so, then it's effectively a ...
67
votes
Accepted
Can a 6th level monk choose to not deal magical damage with unarmed strikes?
Ki-Empowered Strikes aren't magical attacks to begin with!
Ki-Empowered Strikes state this explicitly:
your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity ...
- 65.5k
64
votes
Can you run D&D 5e in a post-modern setting without magic?
You're trying to force a round peg into a square hole
Could you play in a post-modern setting with D&D by just using non-caster classes, non-magical feats, and redefining some of the other classes'...
62
votes
How do I know if an ability is magical?
Until recently, the answer has been very much the province of the DM's judgement. Some things are very obvious, like a fireball or a magic missile. Some things are not, like ki-powered effects or a ...
- 32k
54
votes
Accepted
How are spells made permanent in 5e?
Make it a Downtime Activity
More on less on par with Crafting a Magic Item.
This is how I approach permanency in the Eberron game that I run, and my players have been happy with it so far.
The initial ...
- 64.8k
53
votes
Accepted
How can an NPC replace some pages of a book with different pages, without leaving a trace of manipulation?
Re-bind the book
If your NPC cuts the page from the book and joins it this might be quite obvious. However, if they pull the book apart, remove the entire signature (which will usually be several ...
- 207k
52
votes
Is a pregnant creature considered a single entity for spells such as Banishment?
The pregnant creature and its unborn progeny remain together because as DMs, we strive to keep our games Humane
There are a number of questions that we would be forced to ask and resolve if we ...
- 52.3k
52
votes
Accepted
What's the "magic similar to the Knock spell" referenced in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure?
It's referencing any spell, item, class feature, monster ability, or effect that allows you to magically unlock a door.
In part, this is future-proofing -- you don't want some spell or magic item ...
- 72.8k
50
votes
Does ki count as magic for the purpose of an antimagic field, or is it only fluff?
"Magical Effects" and "multiverse" are keywords / themes to resolve this
Short Answer: Ki creates magical effects that are subject to Antimagic Field's effects.
Discussion
In the boxed section ...
- 142k
50
votes
If a creature has advantage against spells and magical effects, is it resistant to magical attacks?
Resistance and advantage are two separate mechanics
Advantage has to do with rolling the dice, resistance has to do with reducing damage in half.
Easy illustrative example is a Dwarf
Dwarven ...
- 142k
49
votes
Accepted
How to handle a warlock with the detect magic invocation?
Eldritch Sight (PHB 110) allows you
cast detect magic without expending a spell slot
An illusion is magic, so they will detect its presence automatically within 30', and will also be able to use ...
- 5,277
49
votes
Accepted
Does hitting a creature with a magical creature count as magical damage?
Sadly, this wouldn't work RAW
Taking your quote (from the Couatl stat block; MM, pg. 43):
Magic Weapons: The couatl's weapon attacks are magical.
It only says that the weapon attacks made by the ...
- 78.6k
48
votes
Are there any magical contraceptive birth control options available?
There aren't any
DnD 5e is a high-fantasy tabletop game with its roots deep in the wargaming scene. The bulk of its rules concern combat and adventuring. It's not a simulator of any realistic world ...
- 53.9k
47
votes
Does Forgotten Realms setting count as “High magic”?
The primary question here, to me, is, what exactly constitutes “high magic”? D&D itself supplies a definition—but I don’t think it’s a good one, it doesn’t capture, to me, what people mean when ...
- 346k
46
votes
How can I make crime meaningful for rich players?
Resurrection doesn't absolve anyone of a murder already committed
I may be getting a little close to real world religion here, but absolution comes from without, from the agency of another, not from ...
- 142k
46
votes
Accepted
What happens if you get over 20 on a death save?
You get a success and nothing more
Only rolling a natural 20 or a natural 1 has any predetermined effect when making a death save throw. When one of those is rolled, you follow the rule below:
When ...
- 124k
45
votes
Do teleportation spells conserve momentum?
There is no velocity in D&D 5e and therefore no acceleration, momentum or kinetic energy.
"Speed" is a resource you expend to change your position and "movement" is the act of doing this. If you ...
- 207k
45
votes
Accepted
Is future technology that is almost indistinguishable from magic considered a "Magical Effect"?
Technology is not considered to be a magical effect unless it is powered by magic
A player's perception of what appears to be magical or not has no bearing on the rules for whether it actually is ...
- 94k
45
votes
Accepted
Are Warlocks Arcane or Divine?
5th Edition doesn't have a [mechanical] distinction between Arcane and Divine spellcasting
Each spellcasting class has different rules regarding what is allowed to be used as their spellcasting focus, ...
- 52.3k
45
votes
Is there a functional reason for wizards to live in towers so often?
There is no functional reason, it's a trope
You have tagged your question specifically for dnd-5e and dungeons-and-dragons. 5e does not have any functional rules mechanics (that I am aware of) that ...
43
votes
Player using charm spells on party players
If you are not enjoying the game, stop playing.
On the surface this seems like some bullying enabled by the DM. It may not be though, and the DM and players simply like a bit of player-vs-player ...
- 15k
43
votes
Accepted
What are the official opposing schools of magic?
It changes between Editions
But the standard idea of "Opposed Schools of Magic" only exists in 2E. Let's walk through them...
First Edition
In 1E, there were no restrictions on schools of ...
- 64.8k
42
votes
Accepted
Are there any spells or magic items that allow for making of ‘logic gates or wires’?
Your main tool is the 2nd level Ritual Spell, Magic Mouth
I'm going to borrow the basics from The Arcane Programmer Guide, but I highly recommend reading the whole thing if you want some properly ...
- 52.3k
41
votes
Accepted
Is there a one-word replacement for resistance to magic?
Resistance is a perfectly fine word by itself, so long as you do not end up with other types of resistance (energy resistance, for instance).
Willpower would work if your magic is primarily mental, ...
- 15.7k
41
votes
How are spells made permanent in 5e?
This is how 3.5 broke
We even had a term for it: CoDzilla
The fundamental premise of such builds was that they were powerful because they could stack an insane number of magical buffs on top of each ...
- 7,096
41
votes
What if a revenant (monster) gains fire resistance?
Nothing changes, except that the Revenant takes half damage from fire.
The Regeneration trait states:
If the revenant takes fire or radiant damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the ...
- 26k
40
votes
Accepted
Do teleportation spells conserve momentum?
The answer here is "it depends, but likely no."
This is a little philosophical, but the answer here depends on how you interpret the role of the rules. Using something like the threefold ...
- 11k
39
votes
How are spells made permanent in 5e?
Challenging the frame; 5e has an App for this
Based on the question, the discussions in chat, and your reservations with what wish and some other tools can do, I recommend that you not try to ...
- 142k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible