Two Questions about the Staff of Swarming Insects

Two questions about the Staff of Swarming Insects:

1. Can the Insect Cloud feature be dispelled? Since they are actually insects, I'm ruling this the same way as Animate Dead or a conjured creature and cannot be dispelled. Is this correct or no?


2. Since they're actual insects, can Truesight see through them? I'm currently ruling that Truesight cannot see through creatures (and a swarm is a creature). Am I right in this or no?


"Insect Cloud: While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 1 charge to cause a swarm of harmless flying insects to spread out in a 30-foot radius from you. The insects remain for 10 minutes, making the area heavily obscured for creatures other than you. The swarm moves with you, remaining centered on you. A wind of at least 10 miles per hour disperses the swarm and ends the effect."

1. Barring an ability that says otherwise, Dispel Magic only works on spells. The insect cloud is not a spell. Ergo, it can't be dispelled. (Though in response to your example, Dispel Magic can end conjuration spells just as it can any other spell, so you can dispel an elemental summoned by Conjure Elemental, or any individual animal summoned by Conjure Animals. Animate Dead is instantaneous, however, so you probably can't dispel that, but that's more of a gray area.)
2. Truesight does not see through heavy obscurement that isn't caused by darkness or illusions. It can't see through insect clouds for the same reason it doesn't see through Fog Clouds or a natural fog. I would hesitate on calling the insects creatures, however. The staff doesn't give them HP, stats, or actions, and the only thing that gets rid of them is wind (as opposed to Fireball). It's best to just treat them as a continuous magical effect that causes heavy obscurement.

NeverLucky said:

1. Barring an ability that says otherwise, Dispel Magic only works on spells. The insect cloud is not a spell. Ergo, it can't be dispelled.

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Agreed. The Giant Insect and Insect Plague spells cast through the staff clearly are spells, though that's not in dispute.

Animate Dead is instantaneous, however, so you probably can't dispel that, but that's more of a gray area.)

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Note that Animate Dead does grant control over the animated creature for 24 hours, and requires that the spell be cast again to reassert control -- for this reason, I'd rule that Dispel Magic would remove control of undead creatures created by the spell, since it is an effect of the spell (and Animate Dead specifically says you must cast the spell "on the creature" to reassert control, which satisfies Dispel Magic's text that any spell "on the target" ends).

2. Truesight does not see through heavy obscurement that isn't caused by darkness or illusions. It can't see through insect clouds for the same reason it doesn't see through Fog Clouds or a natural fog.

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Agreed.

I would hesitate on calling the insects creatures, however. The staff doesn't give them HP, stats, or actions, and the only thing that gets rid of them is wind (as opposed to Fireball). It's best to just treat them as a continuous magical effect that causes heavy obscurement.

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You could rule this way as DM, but given that the staff's description describes the Insect Cloud as "a swarm of harmless flying insects", I think it would be justified for other effects not listed in the description to remove the swarm, if a DM ruled it as such -- for instance, if the entire area of the swarm is within the area of effect of a Cone of Cold, it would be reasonable (IMO) for a DM to rule that all the insects in the swarm fall to the earth, frozen solid, and the obscurement effect ends, even though this is not specifically an effect that would end the effect as per the staff's description.

This won't be a big deal at a 'regular' table; your players will get the idea as to whether you as a DM are a rules literalist or a more flexible adjudicator and will adjust their expectations accordingly. It might be a bigger deal at a convention table or other 'one-shot' experience, though, so that would be one of the things I'd mention as part of my DM introduction spiel.

--
Pauper

JPDG said:

Two questions about the Staff of Swarming Insects:

1. Can the Insect Cloud feature be dispelled? Since they are actually insects, I'm ruling this the same way as Animate Dead or a conjured creature and cannot be dispelled. Is this correct or no?


2. Since they're actual insects, can Truesight see through them? I'm currently ruling that Truesight cannot see through creatures (and a swarm is a creature). Am I right in this or no?


"Insect Cloud: While holding the staff, you can use an action and expend 1 charge to cause a swarm of harmless flying insects to spread out in a 30-foot radius from you. The insects remain for 10 minutes, making the area heavily obscured for creatures other than you. The swarm moves with you, remaining centered on you. A wind of at least 10 miles per hour disperses the swarm and ends the effect."

Note: I play a monk/rogue/cleric that has this item. If you do the math, 10 miles per hour = 88 feet per round. There's nothing in the ability that says you can drop the bugs whenever you want to, but I can simply double-dash to over 10 miles per hour to get the wind speed, since the bugs try to keep up with me.

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Another question that you might consider... "Does blindsight see through it?"
If it's specifically echolocation, no - since sonar would be blocked in the same way light would.
Other forms of blindsight... the buzzing of that many bugs densely packed (hearing). and the scent/pheromones that those bugs give off (smell). I'd say maybe not, but debatable.

Also, it would block lifesense, since the obstruction is living. Only one that I can think of that would see through it without question would be x-ray vision.

Note: I play a rogue/cleric that has this item. If you do the math, 10 miles per hour = 88 feet per round. I can double-dash and move more than 88 feet in a round if I ever want the bugs to go away. Fun little trick.

nswanson27 said:

Another question that you might consider... "Does blindsight see through it?"
If it's specifically echolocation, no - since sonar would be blocked in the same way light would.
Other forms of blindsight... the buzzing of that many bugs densely packed (hearing). and the scent/pheromones that those bugs give off (smell). I'd say maybe not, but debatable.

Also, it would block lifesense, since the obstruction is living. Only one that I can think of that would see through it without question would be x-ray vision.

Note: I play a rogue/cleric that has this item. If you do the math, 10 miles per hour = 88 feet per round. I can double-dash and move more than 88 feet in a round if I ever want the bugs to go away. Fun little trick.

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I believe tremorsense would see through it, as the bugs aren't affecting the ground (but presumably the holder of the staff is, unless they're flying). But that's about it.

That dash trick is fantastic. Unfortunately my sorcerer doesn't have a way of moving that fast, unless I have her take expeditious retreat and burn a 1st-level slot on it. Probably worth it.

Pauper said:

This won't be a big deal at a 'regular' table; your players will get the idea as to whether you as a DM are a rules literalist or a more flexible adjudicator and will adjust their expectations accordingly. It might be a bigger deal at a convention table or other 'one-shot' experience, though, so that would be one of the things I'd mention as part of my DM introduction spiel.

--
Pauper

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I would love to DM at your convention, if only to say I'm a four on the rules literalist to flexible adjucator scale!

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Zene said:

I believe tremorsense would see through it, as the bugs aren't affecting the ground (but presumably the holder of the staff is, unless they're flying). But that's about it.

That dash trick is fantastic. Unfortunately my sorcerer doesn't have a way of moving that fast, unless I have her take expeditious retreat and burn a 1st-level slot on it. Probably worth it.

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Ahh yes. Forgot about that one.

nswanson27 said:

Note: I play a rogue/cleric that has this item. If you do the math, 10 miles per hour = 88 feet per round. I can double-dash and move more than 88 feet in a round if I ever want the bugs to go away. Fun little trick.

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Checking the math:

10 miles/1 hour * 5280 ft/1 mile * 1 hour/60 min * 1 min/10 rounds =
10*5280/60*10 =
exactly 88 ft/round

Nice!

As DM, though, I can always rule that a freak gust of wind catches you in the direction of your movement, causing the net wind speed going past you to be less than 10mph, if for some reason I want to keep the bugs in play... ; )

--
Pauper

Pauper said:

Checking the math:

10 miles/1 hour * 5280 ft/1 mile * 1 hour/60 min * 1 min/10 rounds =
10*5280/60*10 =
exactly 88 ft/round

Nice!

As DM, though, I can always rule that a freak gust of wind catches you in the direction of your movement, causing the net wind speed going past you to be less than 10mph, if for some reason I want to keep the bugs in play... ; )

--
Pauper

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Indeed. Probably even worse would be a random gust blowing the bugs away when players don't want them to go away.
"HEHEHEHE......oh uh...."

nswanson27 said:

Indeed. Probably even worse would be a random gust blowing the bugs away when players don't want them to go away.
"HEHEHEHE......oh uh...."

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True, but that might be a bit harder to justify -- after all, if a player moves 90 feet in a round, it only takes a tiny gust at his back to make the effective wind speed going past him only 87 feet per round, which is less than the 10mph required to dismiss the cloud.

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Pauper