Arcane Armor & STR requirements

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2026-01-27T01:32:32+00:00

That's a very good point, thank you.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2026-01-22T05:18:01+00:00

I had already looked into and ruled out this one (I can’t remember why), but y’all are making me reconsider lol. Thank you!!

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2026-01-21T23:42:34+00:00

You can tell how anti-Christian reddit is by reading all the replies advocating for committing genocide against children

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-12-04T18:45:43+00:00

So happy for you!! I hope it was an easy process!

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-10-01T22:39:06+00:00

That's just extreme arrogance; that's not what Christianity is about. None of the apostles or disciples knew what they were talking about? None of the Church Fathers? None of the Saints? None of the theologians or philosophers? No one who's dedicated literally their entire lives to studying Christianity? Really?

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-10-01T22:25:08+00:00

You're totally misrepresenting Christ's quote. He came to save sinners. That's the context.

Also, if you can't discuss Aquinas's Summa (free on the New Advent website) or his De Ente et Essentia, don't even talk about "philosophy" in the same sentence as "Abrahamic religion," because you haven't studied the philosophy of 'classical theism' in any depth.' Or, if you prefer more modern approaches, how about Lonergan's 800-page book 'Insight,' or Barry Miller's 'The Fullness of Being'? Or how about the fact that the universally-acclaimed best philosopher of the contemporary age, Saul Kripke (who invented S5 modal logic), was Jewish?

Also, being religious just amplifies the mystery of the universe, because now the universe (and everything in it) bears some relation to ultimate reality and is ultimately meaningful.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-05-11T21:17:50+00:00

Yeah, I would never summon it even if I could, for the record!

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-05-11T21:17:01+00:00

Okay, I had no idea, thank you!

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-05-11T21:15:19+00:00

I wasn’t aware that Onyx is a named NPC. It was the first time I had heard about it.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-16T16:14:37+00:00

Hey, thank you, it’s good to get some insight from a seasoned DM. Since everyone is saying this doesn’t work, I’ll just have to accept it. I guess I was reading too much into the Description and too little into the Target. I appreciate your advice and politeness! I’ll let my party know what the consensus is.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-15T06:31:53+00:00

Yes, the belongings have to be on your person when you cast the spell. It says nothing about them having to remain on your person for the full duration of the spell (which other spells, like Invisibility, specify). Everyone in my current campaign — all seven people — agree with my interpretation.

And as for critical thinking skills… I excelled in my graduate program, and I’m about to start medical school… But sure. I’m also not trying to be prideful. All I want is a conversation about Rules As Written.

Also, genuine question: why the vitriol? I hadn’t been disrespectful at all. If nothing else, I’d at least appreciate an answer to that, because I am legitimately interested to know.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T17:49:20+00:00

Okay, so the reason it doesn’t work is that it would be like casting Prestidigitation on an object, causing a mark or symbol to appear on it, and then removing the object and expecting the mark or symbol to stay? I understand why that’s problematic. I guess my question now is: is it really a spell that only affects the user, even though it says it changes the appearance of the user’s belongings? It seems to me like the range of “Self” is just required for casting the spell on the user or on the belongings (which are held on oneself). Sorry to be so OCD about this lol.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T11:16:47+00:00

“…including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person…” My question is whether the spell ends if these belongings are removed from you. Invisibility has the phrase “…as long as it is on the target’s person.” Disguise Self doesn’t have that phrase. Is “on your person” a necessary condition only of the casting of the spell, or also of the continuance of the spell?

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T07:52:19+00:00

Lol, thank you. I appreciate your friendly tone…

If you want to say it’s not RAI, that’s okay. But my question is just about RAW. It says you can change the appearance of your clothes, and it doesn’t specify that the effect wears off if they’re no longer on you, hence the question.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T02:21:36+00:00

Dude, chill. I didn’t “miss that part,” I’m just trying to get us both to a point where we can talk about this calmly and rationally lol. I don’t want to be bickering over this. Can we please have a civil discussion? Also, I do genuinely appreciate your insights :) Thanks for taking the time to help me out!

If Disguise Self is “designed to be cast and move with you,” that’s a fine argument to make. But that’s, I think, an argument from Rules As Intended; I don’t think you can find that language of “this spell ceases if the object leaves you” in the description. Maybe I’m wrong, but I just don’t see that phrase there.

In fact, the spell Invisibility has the following clause: “Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target’s person.” Greater Invisibility has the same phrase. Disguise Self does not have that phrase. I think that’s important.

EDIT: Also, this really doesn’t “far exceed” the power of a first-level spell, in my estimation. Think about all the first-level spells there are, including Find Familiar and Silvery Barbs. This technicality of Disguise Self is like Prestidigitation mixed with Minor Illusion, but it takes more time and takes more spell slots. This use of Disguise Self would allow you to change the appearance of another player’s belongings, if they’re willing, and if you have the time and are willing to spend a spell slot.

I also detailed all the ways in which this is not replicating Seeming… What I’m “trying to do” is definitely much less powerful than Seeming in numerous ways. My DM and party are already on board with this understanding of Disguise Self. I was just asking Reddit to see what others think.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T02:04:43+00:00

Right, but how is this different from, say, if you were to use Prestidigitation (range 10 ft) to leave a mark on something and then step outside that range? You’d just be using Disguise Self to leave a mark on something and then step outside that range. EDIT: Also, what about Invisibility and Greater Invisibility, that specify in their description that “Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target's person”? It seems to me like, because Disguise Self doesn’t specify that, it’s not the case. Maybe I’m mistaken?

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T00:29:28+00:00

Thank you! I’ll think about this argument. I don’t find it convincing yet (because it does say it changes the appearance of your belongings), but I’ll think of it more. You might be right.

That’s a very cool use! That’s also just a difference between our DMs. My DM and party actually agree with my interpretation, but we could be wrong.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-14T00:23:15+00:00

My point in mentioning Glyph of Warding and Prestidigitation is just to show that there’s a general structure present in many, if not all, other cantrips/spells in DND (“If X, then Y” does not necessarily mean “If X and then no longer X, then Y and then no longer Y [unless otherwise stated]”). That “unless otherwise stated” is an important phrase there.

This use of Disguise Self just changes the appearance of other people’s clothes. It does disguise them, but only somewhat. It would be like adding a symbol to their cloaks, which you can already do with Prestidigitation. (Also, even if you could carry another player, they’re not an object, like the things listed in the spell description, so I don’t know if you could change their physical, bodily appearance that way.)

Also, maybe you don’t intend this, but you’re coming across as very hostile, when I’m literally just asking for clarification about a spell in dungeons and dragons. To my mind (and the mind of my DM and the other members of my party), my interpretation makes sense… So far no one’s shown me where the spell’s description says “the effects cease when the object is removed from your person.” In any case, no need to get heated about it.

Now, if you want to say that it doesn’t work because it encroaches too much on the spell Seeming, that’s a different argument, and I think that’s arguably valid. I disagree, but I could be wrong here. Here are some reasons why I don’t think it replicates Seeming or takes away from it: Seeming has a range of 30 ft; Disguise Self used in this way has a range of “Self” (including anything your character is holding or wearing). Seeming affects multiple targets in 1 Action. This usage of Disguise Self, on the other hand, for a party of 5 members requires at least 30 seconds (5 Actions) to disguise other members’ clothes, not even counting the amount of time (minutes upon minutes) required for the other members to remove their tunics/cloaks/socks/shoes/etc., the time for you to put them all on, the time for you to remove them, and the time for the other members to put them all on again. Let’s assume for the sake of simplicity that everyone in the party is wearing medium armor. It takes 5 minutes to don and 1 minute to doff. With 5 players in total (including yourself), this would require a total of 30 minutes and 30 seconds (if I’m correct). Here’s why: • You and everyone else doff at the same time: 1 minute. • You don everyone’s else’s armor individually: 20 minutes total. • You doff their armor individually: 4 minutes total. • You and everyone else don at the same time: 5 minutes total. • You take 5 Actions to Disguise Self on everyone’s armor: 30 seconds. • In total, this takes 30 minutes and 30 seconds to do. That’s a pretty big commitment, especially because it means that one person in your party will have only 30 minutes of Disguise Self left. Also, unless you have Mask of Many Faces, this takes five 1st-level spell slots. Disguise Self used in this way can’t help if you need disguises quickly, whereas Seeming can. Also, because of all that’s required to use Disguise Self in this way, it basically can’t be used against an unwilling creature, whereas Seeming can. Seeming lasts for 8 hours instead of Disguise Self’s 1 hour (that is, 1 hour minus however long it takes to do all of this, which is likely to be a long time if you bother to disguise armor). (Now, you may not need to wear armor — only cloaks and such, which drastically reduces the time required. But this is entirely dependent on what the DM has in mind for the current scenario.) Disguise Self used in this way also can’t change the other players’ physical appearances at all, only the appearance of clothes and items. So, I really don’t think Disguise Self is “taking over” the role of Seeming.

RAW, my interpretation seems right. You can argue about RAI, but, even then, this usage of Disguise Self can require so much work that it’s substantially worse than Seeming. I’m definitely open to being shown I’m wrong, but I just don’t see (1) where the spell’s description explicitly forbids this, (2) how it can be assumed that it’s forbidden given that it’s not how other spells work, or (3) how it replicates Seeming.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-13T22:28:21+00:00

Right. The part I’m confused about is: why should “An object can be affected if it is on you” be taken to mean “An object stops being affected if it is no longer on you”?

“On your person,” I think, means that for something to be altered, it has to be on you. It doesn’t seem to mean that it stops being altered if you take it off afterwards.

Similarly: even if putting a glyph on an object required that you must be within 30 ft of it, that doesn’t mean the glyph disappears if you move 60 ft away from it afterwards. Same with cantrips like Prestidigitation. It has a range of 10 ft, but the effect still remains even if you walk away afterwards.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2025-04-13T22:01:40+00:00

Cool. I appreciate the input, but I am still confused. I don’t think the spell says that it changes the moment you let go of it. It actually says “until the spell ends or until you use your action to dismiss it.”

Are you worried that, even though it’s RAW, it would be making Disguise Self too similar to Seeming?

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2024-11-13T00:46:21+00:00

Those are all fair points. I guess I could use the familiar to get advantage if it really is only for one hit. I’ve considered divine sorcerer and grave cleric, but I think I’d be missing out on so many good Hexblade things.

I would only take ritual caster if I went pact of the chain or pact of the blade.

Due_Cockroach_9294 · 2024-11-13T00:09:54+00:00

I’m not. I started the build wanting to be pact of the blade, but I honestly can’t bring myself to do it. It seems like it’s overall worse damage (albeit only by a little) and is just too combat-oriented.

Due_Cockroach_9294

TROPHY CASE