123
votes
Accepted
My Wizard is conjuring a piece of the sun. How will this affect my setting?
This could go a number of ways, depending on how you rule it. I'll address the problems first.
What is an Object?
First and foremost, you have to consider what the definition of an Object is. The ...
- 62k
121
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of the Evocation wizard's Sculpt Spells feature?
Sculpt Spells exists so you do not hurt your friends
When you cast a spell with an area of effect, everyone in the area is affected, including your friends / allies. Sculpt Spells lets you create &...
- 36.1k
88
votes
Accepted
How many copper coins fit inside a cubic foot?
You can only transmute one coin at a time
Other answers have given you good estimates of the number of coins that will fit in a cubic foot, but that doesn't matter for your purposes, because you're ...
- 59.1k
85
votes
Can one enter Leomund's Tiny Hut from below?
Right now it has a floor
RAW is undefined, because dome is undefined
Dome and hemisphere are not defined in the spellcasting section (PHB p201), unlike cone and sphere. A hemisphere might be something ...
- 58.3k
80
votes
Accepted
I picked the wrong spells as a wizard, how do I recover?
Change how you play your wizard so those are the right spells
With the spells you've listed you can play an effective wizard but it will likely require changing up your play style. Let's look at some ...
- 13.2k
78
votes
How are Fighters Linear but Wizards Quadratic?
Breadth of Option
Unexpected monster rears out of the darkness, clearly well beyond the battered party's ability to handle?
Wizard teleports home. Fighter manages to kill the thing half to death ...
- 29k
69
votes
Accepted
Counterspelling a counterspell
Is there any defense against this?
There are several, but none of them are great:
Bring more wizards.
Put yourself within range of the first wizard, but out of range of the second.
Make them want to ...
- 44.6k
62
votes
Accepted
Can a paralyzed creature targeted by an Evocation Wizard's Sculpt Spells feature actually succeed a Dex save?
While these are two contrary rules exceptions, and therefore ambiguous, from a story perspective, Sculpt Spell is intended to represent the evoker guiding their damaging spell to avoid the target, so ...
- 70.1k
62
votes
Accepted
Can a Wizard cast a Ritual Spell as many times as they want during the day?
The limit is 142 times
Each ritual adds 10 minutes and most spells take 6 seconds1, there are 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day so 144 lots of 10 minutes, lose just under 15 minutes for the ...
- 200k
62
votes
Accepted
Is there an in-universe reason why each wizard uses different notation in their spellbook?
It’s how real-world alchemists did things
Which is likely something that Gygax—and Vance, assuming Vance’s novels also including writing spells down—would have known.
There are famous alchemists. ...
- 335k
59
votes
Accepted
Will allowing a wizard to cast spell without preparation be unbalanced?
Yes, this is overpowered
Your instinct to suggest the Sorcerer Class was a good one. This ability is going to give the Wizard so much versatility there will be almost no situation he cannot solve ...
- 29k
54
votes
What is the purpose of the Evocation wizard's Potent Cantrip feature?
The Feature does not only apply to Evocation Spells
The feature you are talking about says the following:
Starting at 6th level, your damaging cantrips affect even creatures that avoid the brunt of ...
- 62k
53
votes
How are Fighters Linear but Wizards Quadratic?
Strictly speaking, it’s not actually true
The terms “linear” and “quadratic” come from mathematics.
Linear growth is one in which the rate of change is constant. Notably, this means that no one level ...
- 335k
52
votes
Accepted
Can a wizard use spells from his spellbook without preparing them?
Only if it is a ritual, and is cast as one
A wizard must prepare a list of spells they have available to cast. Available spells do not depend on being in or out of combat, but are simply the spells ...
- 37.7k
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
51
votes
Does a Wizard's Familiar grant advantage on every roll?
Not exactly. The rules on Working Together in order to give advantage are as follows:
A character can only provide help if the task is one that
he or she could attempt alone. For example, trying ...
- 143k
50
votes
Potent Cantrip with Toll the Dead vs Evasion
The Rogue and Monk would take half damage
Your argument seems sound. Since the Evasion feature specifies Dexterity saving throws, but Toll the Dead requires a Wisdom saving throw, Evasion simply doesn'...
- 77.7k
50
votes
Why does the Starter Set wizard have six spells in their spellbook?
While this might not be the case in the Starter Set you are looking at, in the official rules (the full Player's Handbook), 1st-level wizards (PHB 114) are granted a spellbook containing 6 spells. ...
- 4,679
49
votes
Accepted
To What Extent Can The Keen Mind Feat Replace a Wizard's Spellbook?
Things you can do, by the book: Everything you listed except scribe a new spell.
Source: PHB pg. 114
That actually requires you to write down the spell, and has a material cost associated with it ...
- 31.8k
49
votes
How can I curtail abuse of the Illusion wizard's Illusory Reality feature?
When you cast an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose one inanimate, nonmagical object that is part of the illusion and make that object real. You can do this on your turn as a bonus ...
- 6,957
48
votes
Accepted
Does a resurrected wizard remember their prepared spells?
There are no hidden rules
The rules for dying don’t say you lose your prepared spells. The rules for Resurrection don’t say it either. So you don’t lose them; those spells stay prepared.
- 200k
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, ...
- 335k
45
votes
Accepted
Does a Wizard copying a spell count as one of their two new spells for a level?
Copied spells and the two free spells are separate
Note the full wording1 of the Learning Spells of 1st Level and Higher section (emphasis mine):
Each time you gain a wizard level, you can add two ...
- 36.1k
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 ...
44
votes
How can I help/encourage a wizard player with their bookkeeping?
Use Spell Cards.
The primary bookkeeping issues with Wizards are knowing what your spells do, knowing which spells you have prepared, and knowing which spells you know.
Physical cards with the ...
- 63.1k
44
votes
Accepted
If a Wizard fails to copy a spell from a Spellbook, when can they try again?
A wizard can never fail, he copies exactly what he means to.
The rules for copying spells from sources other than spell scrolls say:
When you find a wizard spell of 1st level or higher, you can add ...
- 135k
43
votes
Accepted
Can a kenku wizard use Expert Forgery when copying a spell scroll into their spellbook?
Your ruling is unlikely to break anything. However, the rules on their own (and the underlying fictional significance of the rules) appear to answer this with a No.
The surface rules difficulty is ...
- 241k
43
votes
Accepted
Should a high elf wizard use weapons instead of cantrips?
You don’t give us a criterion for “should”
If your criterion is damage potential - maybe. The long bow has a higher average damage on a hit than a Fire Bolt (6.5 vs 5.5). However, if her Intelligence ...
- 200k
42
votes
Accepted
Can a Legendary monster ignore a Divination wizard's Portent feature and choose to pass the save anyway?
Excellent question. Yes the legendary creature can still force a success.
How this works is portent needs to make the Legendary creature use the roll from itself before the roll is actually made, ...
- 815
41
votes
Accepted
Can the wizard in our group prepare a spell from the spellbook of an NPC wizard?
This makes it sounds like a wizard would have a really hard time to prepare a spell from another's spellbook. Is that the case?
That is correct.
As you quoted, each wizard's spellbook notation is ...
- 28k
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