D&D 5E Details of how the "Reverse Gravity" spell works

[Ebony Dragon]

Reverse Gravity seems to leave a lot up to interpretation as for what happens in the rounds following the initial casting of the spell. Obviously, anyone failing the save falls upwards and anything making the save is able to hold onto something and keep from falling... but what happens next, especially to creatures that made the save?

My presumption is anyone who makes the save is now dangling "upside down" while desperately clutching onto whatever fixed object they grabbed, but how exactly does this condition effect their actions in combat? Can they still cast somatic spells while holding on for dear life? If so does it require some kind of ability check to maintain hold with only one hand? Can they crawl/move? How quickly? Could they shoot a bow and arrow (I can see this coming up a lot as everyone who failed the save is now 100' away floating in the sky)? Does that require a check to maintain hold on to the ground with just your legs, and if so how difficult is that check?

Basically, I see this spell being kind of a mess that requires a ton of GM interpretation as to how it actually works beyond the very basic initial effect that happens the moment it's cast, and I wonder how best to handle these things, and what to expect as a sorcerer player who is thinking about learning it.

 

[jaelis]

I guess that yes, what you can do while clinging to the "ceiling" will depend on the exact situation, and therefore require DM interpretation. A simple ruling would be that you need to use one hand to hang on, and the other hand is free to fight or cast or whatever. (Shooting a bow requires two hands.) Movement would be handled via the climbing rules.

 

[Ebony Dragon]

I guess that yes, what you can do while clinging to the "ceiling" will depend on the exact situation, and therefore require DM interpretation. A simple ruling would be that you need to use one hand to hang on, and the other hand is free to fight or cast or whatever. (Shooting a bow requires two hands.) Movement would be handled via the climbing rules.

Thanks for the suggestion! The climbing rules are a good place to start for ideas. There doesn't seem to be any mention of climbing while hanging from a ceiling though (which is essentially what being a reverse gravity area is) or anything similar except under the description of the Spider Climb spell, and a couple of monsters who duplicate the effects of that spell.

Climbing rules seem to be tailored for vertical surfaces. I imagine a horizontal upside down surface would be quite a lot harder to climb than something vertical since you can't effectively use your legs to support your weight under such conditions.

 

[MarkB]

Yeah, climbing across a 'ceiling' would be pretty much impossible without something to adhere you there, though someone could make very slow progress using ropes and pitons.

Another option is using Athletics checks to leap from one anchored object to another - for instance, if the spell were cast in a dense forest, one could leap from treetrunk to treetrunk.

A person near the edge might try to leap clear of the field, hoping to exit it before being carried high enough to take serious damage coming back down.

 

[Saeviomagy]

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/ng-adventure/adv-beyond-the-edge-sharma

I mean sure, he's got a rope so he doesn't fall to his death and he's not wearing armor, and he obviously fails a few checks, but he's basically crawling along a surface that matches most outdoor or dungeon environments almost completely upside down.

So...

If you're happy with the warrior facing down an elephant sized flying fire breathing lizard, why wouldn't you be happy with him doing this?

 

[Ebony Dragon]

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/ng-adventure/adv-beyond-the-edge-sharma

I mean sure, he's got a rope so he doesn't fall to his death and he's not wearing armor, and he obviously fails a few checks, but he's basically crawling along a surface that matches most outdoor or dungeon environments almost completely upside down.

So...

If you're happy with the warrior facing down an elephant sized flying fire breathing lizard, why wouldn't you be happy with him doing this?

I have no problem with someone doing that! I just want a decent interpretation from the rules that accurately represents how much more difficult moving and fighting under such conditions are compared to doing so under normal conditions. Simply moving at 1/2 speed (as per climbing rules) and having one hand free to fight with feels like a bit of a lack-luster interpretation, don't you think?

Watching the guy from that video work makes me think: both hands occupied, and only can move 5 feet per round with a successful athletics check" is a bit more realistic.

 

[xynthoros]

That's all well and good, but what happens when this spell is cast in the middle of the ocean?

 

[Ebony Dragon]

That's all well and good, but what happens when this spell is cast in the middle of the ocean?

Easy, just take a quick pause in the game while someone breaks out the fluid dynamics math.

 

[hastur_nz]

I think he spell is pretty clear, and concise, as long as you can get your head around gravity 'going up' in the area.

You can't realistically grab the ground, and grabbing anything with your legs depends on DM judgement. If you do grab something, you are in reverse gravity so you are effectively hanging 'up' from it (in reverse i.e.upside down) - just think of the area they are in as upside down, and rule as you would normally from there.

If you 'fall' to the ceiling, you could effectively just stand up, upside down - proceed as above.

If you fail the save, and don't hit anything (like the ceiling), you are effectively 'floating' in space, where the gravity goes from one direction to the other; potentially it's disorienting, but the spell doesn't say so, the main thing would be how does one move around and so on if there's nothing to push against. Up to you, but I'd say imposing the Restrained condition wouldn't be unreasonable for someone stuck floating in space... (unless it has a fly speed, of course)

 

[Saeviomagy]

I have no problem with someone doing that!

Great! But there's still posters in this thread saying things like "it's impossible to hang onto the ground"...

I just want a decent interpretation from the rules that accurately represents how much more difficult moving and fighting under such conditions are compared to doing so under normal conditions. Simply moving at 1/2 speed (as per climbing rules) and having one hand free to fight with feels like a bit of a lack-luster interpretation, don't you think?

1/2 D&D walking speed is 0.7 meters per second. That doesn't actually seem all that unreasonable looking at the video.

I would probably say that simply requiring a climb check for each attack, a climb check for your bonus action, plus one for movement would be enough: It's like super-disadvantage. The only issue would be if you have someone who can succeed at that check 100% of the time, like an 11th level rogue with expertise in climbing (assuming the check is hard or very hard, which seems right) and maxed out strength. I don't see that as a big problem though: the guy is basically a superhero climber even if he doesn't take the thief archetype.