D&D 5E Symbol of Ouch

[LordEntrails]

Well, yeah. It says so right there in the spell text. I'm surprised anybody even felt the need to ask Mearls about it.

But it still came up as an idea in this thread didn't it?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

But it still came up as an idea in this thread didn't it?

Sure. People make mistakes. I'm just surprised that it wasn't settled simply by re-reading the rules text. It's not like people have to ask Mike Mearls what the range is of a Fireball, for instance, or whether Mirror Image takes your concentration--or whether Symbol's effect repeats every round. They make mistakes about those things (hence this thread--I'd been reading Symbol wrong), but they don't usually have to ask Mike Mearls about it, so I'm surprised that they did in that case.

 

[Phazonfish]

I know I often need reminding that you can cast spells while moving. Especially helpful to remember when you have a lot of rituals that you want to keep active. Personally I think the scenario you presented is more of a testament to the potency of Wall of Force rather than Symbol, but I believe you stated that wasn't the intent of your post anyway.

 

[jaelis]

In the particular case of symbol, I would rule that you need to be within range of the target object or place for the whole casting time. That lines up better with what I think is the intent of the spell and with the idea of spending a minute scribing the symbol onto the object.

But still if you combine a symbol trap with an immobilizing method, it would be pretty nasty. Like a chute trap that dumps you into a 10x10 room with a symbol of death.

The repeating nature is also weird for something like a symbol of stunning. If fail the save once, you're stuck in the area so you'd have to pass your save the next 10 rounds before you could get up and try to move away. Nasty if the DM lets a symbol of death and symbol of stunning overlap

 

[Gwarok]

I believe their was a thread or twitter discussion on this that included Mearls (?). Basically the ruling is this spell can't be used to make a grenade, that is not the intent of it.

As a DM, I would not allow players to turn it into a grenade either.

Agreed, making it into a grenade does seem to be not only unbalancing but against the spirit of the spell as well. That being said, if the PC's have an HQ of some type no reason not to put one in a "Safe Room" or bolt hole to lure invaders to in a pinch.

 

[LordEntrails]

Agreed, making it into a grenade does seem to be not only unbalancing but against the spirit of the spell as well. That being said, if the PC's have an HQ of some type no reason not to put one in a "Safe Room" or bolt hole to lure invaders to in a pinch.

Of course,that's using it as a trap, imo that's the intent of the spell