D&D 5E Rules Quiz


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CapnZapp

Legend
I knew the spoiler tag didn't work on desktop, since I originally used those and previewed the post before posting and saw they didn't work.

I'll try using both sblock and spoiler tags -- let me know how that works.

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Pauper
That should work everywhere. Thanks. And thanks for such a sneaky quiz.

Comments:

3. You conclude your level 15 character can pull off 6 attacks (and that is correct). In comparison, a hasted Fighter/Ranger can, already at 14th level, pull off 9 attacks: 3+3 (three attacks for being a 11th level fighter doubled by Action Surge) +1 (two-weapon fighting bonus action) +1 (haste extra action) +1 (Horde Breaker for being a 3rd level Hunter Ranger) simply by making a different build choice. Has no direct relevance on your example; just thought you would find it interesting! :)

Actually, if that character is a Half-Orc with the Orcish Fury XGE feat, we can assume it is possible to engineer a situation where you take damage on your own turn (perhaps the target is protected by a Fire Shield). If you have 1 hp at that moment, you can use your reaction (on your turn) to add another attack, for 7 total (in your case) or 10 (in my case).

7. Good call on finding a spell whose "forced" movement requires the use of a (re)action, thereby making it "unforced". Actually, the previous sentence is very sloppy, but is based on the preconception "forced movement doesn't trigger OAs". When, in reality, OAs are not triggered for movement done to you without your active expenditure of your (re)action (as you know).

I would however personally recommend against involving the timing of the wall's formation in the discussion, since it is irrelevant. Even if, for some reason, the wall forms first, the foe can still warp to its other side. Why? Because the spell says it can. Drawing real-world conclusions will sooner or later lead the reader astray, so i feel it's best not to teach him to evaluate the "logical" sequence of any magic spell. Perhaps the wall is built, stone by stone, "around" the foe, and then he's bumped out. What do I know? Magic happens... because magic. That's really all there is to say.

In this case: answer c) is fine, since it teaches the reader that OA happens before the movement that triggers it can complete (otherwise OAs would be worthless since the creature will have left your reach).

But the reason B is most correct has nothing to do with the wall's formation and everything to do with the fact that the creature's movement wasn't "forced" (technically (again), that it used an action or reaction to make it). Even if the wall was in place (never mind how the creature moved through it), and it provides total cover, you could still do your OA, since the creature is still on your side the wall when you make it. (Hint: you could probably do an entire series of questions all about you, an enemy and a Darkness spell :) )

8. I realize you're exploiting this here, but really, wouldn't the rules be better off formalizing "looking out for danger" as one of the jobs you can take during a travel? It would wreck your question ;) but it would really help beginners understand that you either take that job, and get a chance to detect Stealth, or you take some other job, and don't.

That's fair -- though my experience is that sometimes players assume certain things in the rules and thus get them wrong unless the DM specifically looks them up to confirm. Best example is #9 -- the player may well remember that the Vicious weapon gets bonus damage 'on a crit' and won't remember that the roll has to also be a natural 20 for that to be true.
Though in all fairness, your question leads the reader on here. (I'm talking about knowing that this particular item does not, in fact, require attunement)

Personally I prefer quizzes where the quizmaster isn't actively trying to set you up. Also, I prefer quizzes that does not require you to look up mundane facts (a question that doesn't depend on whether Vicious weapons require attunement, or better yet, one that tells you straight up it doesn't)

10. A 7th level human Arcane Trickster rogue possesses a Ring of Jumping and a Strength score of 10. If the character casts Haste on himself at the start of his turn, what is the farthest distance he can move in that turn?

a) 180 feet.
b) 210 feet.
c) 360 feet.
Since 7th level Arcane Tricksters has access only to 2nd level spells, and Haste is a 3rd level spell, my answer is:

d) 1,000,000 miles

Why? He just Teleports to where he wants to be, since if he's using magic items, allies, or cheats - why stop at Haste? ;)
 

jbOKgamer

Villager
8. A four-person party is playing an Adventurers League adventure where the group is pursuing unseen opponents across a wilderness. A group of goblins is hiding in the path the party is travelling. The ranger (passive Perception 16) is tracking the unseen opponents, the cleric (passive Perception 14) is foraging for food, the fighter (passive perception 12) is looking for hidden enemies, and the wizard (passive Perception 10) is driving a wagon containing his personal gear. The DM rolls a 15 for the goblins' Dexterity (Stealth) check. What happens when the party reaches the goblins?

a) Combat begins. The ranger is not surprised, but the fighter, cleric, and wizard are surprised.
b) Combat begins. The ranger is not surprised, and thus can warn the rest of the party so they are not surprised.
c) Combat begins. All PCs are surprised.


A point to this question is if "wilderness" area in question is the favored terrain of Ranger, then Natural Explorer feature states that Ranger can track (or other activities) and remains alert to danger. So if Ranger is in favored terrain answer would be A. If not favored terrain then answer be C as stated in first post.
 

Pauper

That guy, who does that thing.
I would however personally recommend against involving the timing of the wall's formation in the discussion, since it is irrelevant.

Well, it's mentioned solely due to the one answer referencing 'full cover', which actually doesn't appear in the rules for opportunity attacks (and the cover rules actually use the term 'total cover'), so this is one of those situations where I was trying to catch people relying on the terminology of older editions (specifically Third Edition, where melee cover did prevent opportunity attacks).

Even if, for some reason, the wall forms first, the foe can still warp to its other side. Why? Because the spell says it can. Drawing real-world conclusions will sooner or later lead the reader astray

In theory, I agree with you, but in practice, there is no actual explanation of 'why' the creature making a Dex save allows it to escape being surrounded by the wall, and the mechanics and timing may be significant for other things (for example, another character in the party is using an effect similar to Spirit Guardians that makes terrain difficult for enemies, but is blocked by total cover).

Magic happens... because magic. That's really all there is to say.

If it's magic, then why doesn't magical fire deal full damage underwater? See, there's always going to be a point where the game breaks down -- the goal is to try to push that point so far from the events at the table that nobody notices it. ; )

I can edit the discussion in the answer to point out the 'non-forced' movement, though, as that will help it make more sense.

8. I realize you're exploiting this here, but really, wouldn't the rules be better off formalizing "looking out for danger" as one of the jobs you can take during a travel?

They would, in fact, but they don't. (If I wanted to go an a rant about the underlying lazy design of Fifth Edition, this would be one of the points I'd make -- they want to be able to define the things they find interesting without realizing that they either also need to define the uninteresting things that also can have an impact on their rule (thus falling into the 'we have too many rules' trap of Third Edition), or they need to simply let the entire thing be DM's discretion.)

It would wreck your question ;) but it would really help beginners understand that you either take that job, and get a chance to detect Stealth, or you take some other job, and don't.

Agreed, and a good note for DMs.

Though in all fairness, your question leads the reader on here. (I'm talking about knowing that this particular item does not, in fact, require attunement)

Actually, a number of answers do that -- as I mentioned above, a number of the listed answers are designed to trip up a reader who is relying on memory and doesn't look up a borderline rule. Some of these, like answer 4B, are explicitly meant to trip up folks who don't have a strong firewall between Fifth Edition rules and prior edition rules, while others, like 1B and, as you note, 9B, are meant to trip up people who misremember small details from the rules that most people likely wouldn't remember anyway, thus confirming that, if you're guessing, just go ahead and look it up -- the time you spend is worth getting the ruling right and not having to relitigate the situation later.

Also, I prefer quizzes that does not require you to look up mundane facts (a question that doesn't depend on whether Vicious weapons require attunement, or better yet, one that tells you straight up it doesn't)

Well, by that time I was running out of decent questions and fitting answers that I didn't feel were 'gimme' answers. This devising of devious questions isn't as easy as it looks! Seriously -- the Haste question originally involved a dwarf in an area that was both difficult terrain and would cause damage if the dwarf ended its turn, so could it cast Haste and still escape the region? The permutations got very challenging, so I just dumped that question and turned it into a straight-forward 'how far can this go?' question.


Since 7th level Arcane Tricksters has access only to 2nd level spells, and Haste is a 3rd level spell, my answer is:

d) 1,000,000 miles

Why? He just Teleports to where he wants to be, since if he's using magic items, allies, or cheats - why stop at Haste? ;)

Heh. I'll change it to 13th level, then.

--
Pauper
 

Pauper

That guy, who does that thing.
A point to this question is if "wilderness" area in question is the favored terrain of Ranger, then Natural Explorer feature states that Ranger can track (or other activities) and remains alert to danger. So if Ranger is in favored terrain answer would be A. If not favored terrain then answer be C as stated in first post.

Good catch! I'll note the point in the question.

--
Pauper
 

Pauper

That guy, who does that thing.
In theory, I agree with you, but in practice, there is no actual explanation of 'why' the creature making a Dex save allows it to escape being surrounded by the wall, and the mechanics and timing may be significant for other things (for example, another character in the party is using an effect similar to Spirit Guardians that makes terrain difficult for enemies, but is blocked by total cover).

Realized on reviewing the rules for reactions that there is a better interpretation -- the DMG contains a rule (referenced in the Sage Advice Compendium) that, if a reaction does not have a specific timing noted, the presumption is that the reaction takes place after the event that triggered it. It's a complicated chain of events here, but the key is not the reaction used for the opportunity attack (which by rule occurs just before the creature leaves the attacker's reach, BR, p.73) but the one for the creature's movement. The Wall of Stone spell does not specify when the reaction for movement takes place, so by the rule in the DMG it happens after the event that triggered it. A DM could rule that this is the casting of the spell, which can result in the following chain of events:

cast Wall of Stone -> saving throw -> successful saving throw allows movement -> move triggers opportunity attack -> wall forms

However, a DM could also rule that the triggering event is the formation of the wall, since the creature doesn't get a saving throw if the wall wouldn't cause it to be "surrounded", resulting in the following chain of events:

cast Wall of Stone -> wall forms -> wall would surround creature -> creature gets saving throw -> successful save allows movement -> movement triggers opportunity attack

If the creature and the caster begin adjacent to the wall, the creature would be fully "in the wall" before it leaves the caster's reach (this is true regardless of the size of the creature -- use a grid and miniatures to demonstrate this for yourself if you like), and a creature inside of a wall would arguably have total cover from the caster and thus not be eligible to be attacked ("A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or spell..." (BR, p.74)).

Since the caster does not have to shape the wall in such a way as to allow the enemy an adjacent wall square in which to 'escape', I've left the answer to the question the same, but it would be a lot simpler to simply declare that the reaction that allows the creature to move occurs before the wall actually forms, eliminating this weird corner-case.

--
Pauper
 

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