D&D 5E How many goodberries?

[Harzel]

Since this seems like an obvious question, if it has been asked and answered before, I apologize, but googling doesn't show me any answers. The Goodberry spell description says that "Up to 10 berries appear..." All the discussion that I see seems to assume that this means 10. Period. Rather than, for instance, d10. If that's true, what is the point of saying "up to 10"?
Thanks.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

One could say there isn't a point because, being able to choose, the caster would always choose 10.

However, a particular campaign might create some circumstances in which having more berries on hand than you actually use is an undesirable state - such as if there is an eater of magic around that will attack the party in order to devour the enchantment upon the berries, or if druidic magic is outlawed and thus the berries are evidence of criminal act.

 

[Oofta]

Some druids may not want to abuse the power they've been granted by creating more berries than necessary. If the intent was that 1d10 berries appeared, the spell would say 1d10 berries appear.

At least, that's always the way we've read it.

 

[User_Undefined]

10 is the maximum amount of berries the spell can make in one casting. The phrase "up to 10" means that if you want to, you could make 8 or 3 or any other number between 0 and 10. Why you'd want to do that is another question entirely. They last a day and can be used to instantly stabilize someone, so why not make 10 and keep any leftover in your pouch?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I'd say it depends on how many berrys are available. But since the material component is a sprog of mistletoe that is wrong...

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

You might want to create less than ten berries so that, like an obnoxious kindergartener, you can ostentatiously eat them in front of the rest of the party without having enough to share.

That's all I've got.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

One goodberry provides nourishment for a day, so if you regularly eat two or more daily you'll be getting fat in short order. I would also assume that goodberries are quite tasty, so if you have a couple extra in your pouch it might be tempting to snack on them. If your character has poor impulse control then he or she might be better off only making exactly one berry per party member if they want to stay slim.

 

[Tormyr]

10 is the maximum amount of berries the spell can make in one casting. The phrase "up to 10" means that if you want to, you could make 8 or 3 or any other number between 0 and 10. Why you'd want to do that is another question entirely. They last a day and can be used to instantly stabilize someone, so why not make 10 and keep any leftover in your pouch?

They cannot be used to stabilize a creature as the creature has to use its action to eat the goodberry.

As a side note, I like to think of goodberries like lembas:
Elf[FONT=&quot]: Goodberries. Just one is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man![/FONT]
Halfling 1[FONT=&quot]: How many did you eat?[/FONT]
Halfling 2[FONT=&quot]: Four.[/FONT]

 

[Staccat0]

They cannot be used to stabilize a creature as the creature has to use its action to eat the goodberry.

As a side note, I like to think of goodberries like lembas:
Elf: Goodberries. Just one is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man!
Halfling 1: How many did you eat?
Halfling 2: Four.

Eh, I'll let my players squeeze one into someone's mouth. Stlll costs someone an action. I'd actually assume that is RAI, but I could obviously be wrong.

 

[User_Undefined]

The one who's down couldn't eat the berry, but that doesn't mean one couldn't be fed to them. I'd say that's a DM call since it also takes an action to drink a potion and most would allow that to count as stabilizing. The "how" of the berry's healing isn't explained, so it's possible that simply swallowing it without chewing is good enough.