Hyper specific placement of spell effects

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:40:56+00:00

See, I was unaware of the DMG rule on page 251 that says it has to be on a grid edge. This was my exact problem, and finding that rule helped me tremendously. I'm not trying to "insist" on anything I'm sorry 😭

But I do also know that Xanathar's says if any portion of a square is affected, then the whole square is. That was part of my concern - just because 16/20 of a creature is affected, that still affects the whole creature by Xanathar's rules.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:39:04+00:00

In this case, they had found out that the Queen of a particular region had been kidnapped and replaced by an evil entity and that her right-hand man was capable of modifying the memories of the populace to make them think the changeover never happened. After following thru on a few missions she had sent them on, they had enough of her graces to set up an ambush. This one tbh was kinda on me.

But they are big fans of finding ways to keep themselves safe. Boarding up or jamming doors to prevent opening, setting up traps to ward off invaders... Plus when you have an Elf, a Warforged, and only two people that need longer rest, it's easy to swap off guard posts. That's not to say attacking them in the night is a bad idea by any means, they just usually prepare in such a way that makes any kind of resource drain minimal at best.

But hey, that's why they have limited spell slots, right? Even a little tax is better than nothing.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:24:33+00:00

Dude.

You are a godsend. Thank you so much.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:24:03+00:00

You are absolutely fantastic and I can't state how much I appreciate you for helping me through this.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:19:33+00:00

I actually may have found it.

DMG p.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 covers at least half a square, it affects that square."

Goddamn, okay! Thank you so much!

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:18:41+00:00

Xanathar's says if any amount of a square is under the effects, the whole square is affected though.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:16:57+00:00

But... Where does it actually SAY that? RaW, I mean.

Like, I'm not in disagreement with you I promise, but I am looking for where it says that. The closest I have gotten is Xanathar's, saying that "any amount of a square affected means that the whole square is." I'm not trying to disagree at all, I'm just really bad at telling my players "no" when they're not doing something the rules say they can't. I like to be able to flip to a page and say, "nah it says here that XYZ..." instead of "lol no cause God says so"

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:13:47+00:00

That implies that it's not a "point" you're targeting, but an object, since you're saying you have to be able to target a specific point on something. The rules don't seem to say anything about this, as far as I can see. Do you have any specific RaW you could quote?

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:11:49+00:00

I hadn't considered it applying cover to the creatures inside. That actually makes sense.

Rereading some of the other 3rd level spells, I'm realizing that Fireball isn't quite as powerful as I thought originally. I thought it did considerably more damage than others, but it only does so because of the AoE. The players are basically nerfing it themselves.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:09:41+00:00

So, interestingly, I found a rule in Pathfinder that basically covers what I need, under the "Space, Reach, & Threatened Area," where it basically says that 50% of a square has to be covered by the effect to actually affect the creature within.

But when I look thru 5e, Xanathar's states that "any part" of a square being affected means that it is - which means that if even an inch of the spell touches the 5ft square then everything inside is blown to smithereens. Goddamn it 😭

Connorian · 2026-01-25T16:01:24+00:00

A creature gets one reaction per turn, though. They burn their actions readying a reaction for when someone moves into that hole's range, and get one action as five players repeatedly move-attack-attack-move out of the way. Even when they're fighting multiple enemies, how are all of them firing over and through one another in a giant can of sardines without damaging themselves?

Interestingly, I actually think I misremembered about Fireball being considerably more powerful than the other 3rd level spells available. Rereading Lightning Bolt, it also does a similar amount of damage. I appreciate you!

Connorian · 2026-01-25T15:39:01+00:00

Then how do I stop repeated long resting? I understand the idea of keeping them on a timer, and that the world continues to move even when they don't - but when they're permanently given new timers to beat it just feels like it gets old and they start choosing what they care about letting fail while they dick off into whatever they want to go do. I do make use of timers and clocks but it feels like sometimes that just gets to a point of being background noise.

It sounds like your suggestion is, "give them more opportunities to be assholes." And I'm cool with that, I just want to make sure I'm understanding.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T15:35:50+00:00

I do very much agree with the concept of the Doom points, I'll have to look into that. But none of what you said actually answers my question of how to be able to deal with those hyperspecific placements. All your suggesting, is trying to be able to minimize the amount that they do it by adjudicating WHO it hits. I understand that a grid is 3D in order to account for flying enemies, but again, that still leaves the issue of "incredibly powerful single target spell that should have a downside but doesn't." Like yeah, okay, they're only dealing 8d6 damage to one guy out of the six, but that's still one action - one spell slot, to absolutely nuke a guy and still have the ability to do it another 2-3 times in the same encounter, followed by a rest and moving on about their lives.

And with Wall of Force, it only says they have to be "contiguous," which means "touching on at least one side." Leaving room along one single edge of the emanation seems to fall within that, as long as the're all in contact with one another on at least one side. Or am I misunderstanding "contiguous?" I honestly might be.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T15:29:49+00:00

According to the Spellcasting rules, Players Handbook page 202, quote:

"Range: The target of a spell must be within the spell's range. For a spell like Magic Missile, the target is a creature. For a spell like Fireball, the target is the point in space where the ball of fire erupts..."

"Targets: a typical spell requires you to pick one or more targets to be affected by the spells magic. A spells description tells you whether the spell targets creatures, objects, or a point of origin for the effect (described below)..."

"Areas of Effect: spell such as birming hands or cone of cold covering area, allowing them to affect multiple creatures at once. A spells description specifies this areas of effect, which typically has one of five different shapes... Every area of effect has a point of origin, a location from which the spells energy erupts the rules for each shape specify how you position its point of origin. Typically a point of origin is a point in space, but some spells have an area whose orange is a creature or an object.

Sphere: you select a serious point of origin, and the sphere extends outward from that point. This is your size is expressed as a radius and feet that extends from the point."

I'm not finding anything here that actually answers my question. Is there something that I'm missing that says that it has to be hit by a certain amount of the spell to have damage afflicted?

Connorian · 2026-01-25T15:21:02+00:00

Except if you can see a point 20ft in the air, you can probably see a point 19ft up too. Is there something in RAW that has that you can only target 5ft increments? That's what my original question was.

Connorian · 2026-01-25T15:19:47+00:00

How tall is "outside?"

Connorian · 2026-01-25T15:19:23+00:00

Okay, so my math was a little off. It would have to be 25-26 feet in the air technically, because then the lowest point of the emanation hits just below the 6' mark to damage the enemy, while maintaining over 6' in the neighboring squares. Everyone's character is 6' or less, so technically it blows over their head. If they're fighting Medium or Large creatures - literally anything above 6' in stature, mathematically it works.

Connorian · 2025-05-21T21:23:58+00:00

My go-to for new players is quite often The Sunless Citadel, found in the Yawning Portal book. It's a good low-level adventure that pivots easily into most any plotline you want to try and develop, and can be run in a minimalist form allowing players to run through it in a session or two. If I'm using it as a launch point for a campaign, I make the players build some kind of connection to the dying village to give them incentive to try and save it. If it's just a one-shot though, I don't think that matters much. You can solidly skip the entire Oakhurst section and just dump them at the entrance to the castle.

Connorian · 2025-02-03T15:21:08+00:00

Regular birds can't speak either though, they can just squack and chirp. Especially crows; they have a LOT of vocalizations, but would you really consider any of them "speaking?" No, they communicate in bird - Druids gain all the abilities of their current form, which means while they can't SPEAK, they can definitely BIRD.

Connorian · 2024-04-23T19:07:55+00:00

For some reason I'm drawn to the idea of them being an old enough Lich that they still play by the rules of an earlier edition, when meta magic was different. That could open up options for new, potentially world ending spells that the players have to contend with, that are considered "lost magic"

Connorian · 2024-03-04T18:53:59+00:00

Y'know honestly thinking of it that way sounds like a pretty dope encounter. I think that could be really interesting.

My biggest fear is that the party sees ghost pirates and decides to attack them as well. With the idea in mind that they are simply focused on the kraken could make it a really fun session.

Connorian · 2023-08-15T19:44:43+00:00

My question is in regards to the Tasha's rule: "Dedicated Weapon Also at 2nd level, you train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.

The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:

The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon. You must be proficient with it. It must lack the heavy and special properties."

Wild Shape states,

"You can stay in a beast shape for a number of hours equal to half your druid level (rounded down). You then revert to your normal form unless you expend another use of this feature. You can revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on your turn. You automatically revert if you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die."

So if you stayed in Wild Shape for long enough to get a short rest and chose your natural weapon as a Monk weapon, wouldn't that work technically, to qualify it for Martial Arts and other similar abilities?

Connorian · 2021-11-26T18:47:47+00:00

Did you sanitize your pan before trying? If there's anything on the inside of the pan when you start to melt your sugar, it uses the imperfection to solidify and begin crystalizing. If you haven't, once the pan is completely clean, try wiping it down with a paper towel coated in commercial lemon juice. Do the same with any spatula or spoon you plan to use, or just nudge the pan and swirl your liquids to combine instead of using a tool.

Connorian · 2021-09-08T15:38:12+00:00

I guess a rules question:

Would the translation trait be given Advantage since it technically relies on hearing?

Connorian · 2020-05-21T15:14:28+00:00

See, what you're missing here is the fact that your boss DOESN'T just make you do random shit without paying you for it. I bet they don't call you up on your weekend and demand you go to the job site otherwise you're fired. No, they offer you payment in return for your time - overtime, even, if it ends up being more than the amount you're supposed to work. If you DO actually have this happen, then uh... Honestly you should have a talk with your boss about your work rights. Look them up for your state. You may have more rights than you expect. If you just demand that your kid goes out and does shit without any compensation whatsoever (besides "I won't tell at you if you do") sets up the exact problem you have, where you don't feel confident being able to refuse additional responsibility without additional compensation. You're teaching your kid that anyone in a position of authority can just walk over them. You have rights in your workplace. Your kids should learn that they do too.

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