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D&D 5E Warlock, Hex, and Short Rests: The Bag of Rats Problem


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jasper

Rotten DM
The bag of rats hex training was ruled just a bad idea at the WWC MCDXCII. Also at Warlock World Con 1492 a 100,000 PP bounty was put on the head of Mr. Piper of Hamelin. Furthermore WWC judges rule it was lawful to murder non warlocks if the non-warlocks possess pipes of the sewers.
Plus the last words spoken by the Warlock King Richard were not “My kingdom for a rat!” But he was found guilty of two counts of murder.
King “ Eye Hats spell caster” has declared any one whom shell have of a bag of rats in their possession whom has not been or is an official rat catcher shall be put to death by tickling.
…RAW says that concentration is less or equally strenuous to "eating, reading, Have you tried cutting Elly Mae’s porkchops? Shoot you going need a sword of sharpness and a long rest.

…the rules of Mazes and Mice…. And the Great Mickey said “if thou has taken two right turns and spied no cheese. Thou say take the next left.”

And the great rodent god said on to the world, “That bad of rats tricks is just not kosher!” And hence forth all rodents attack warlocks with bag of rats with advantage, all rodents have a favorite enemy warlocks, and all persons with the name or nickname rat are now were rats. And ratskinner was tea off.
 


doctorbadwolf

Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Again, I am not adding it to the conversation. You asked who thought it was necessary (the Bag of Rats). I gave you an example.

There are people (not me) who believe that certain, um, optimal builds are the best way to play the game. Many of these individuals gravitate, when playing or "dipping" Warlock, to EB+Hex. So that Hex, as part of that optimal build, is a necessary part.

As should be clear, I am not one of those people, and I am not adding it to the conversation, and you may argue your strongly held belief with someone else. You are welcome to go back in the thread and refresh your recollection, and/or play as you wish.

That is such an enormous stretch. In the parlance of the youth, I can't even.
 



Arial Black

Adventurer
"Quantum physics is weird. Really weird. It seems....just....silly! Events either happen, or they don't! They cannot both happen and 'not happen' at the same time. Pick a lane!

However, the universe really, really works this way; noticeable at the small scale but drowned out by other factors at the large scale. Oh well.

Wait, you want to build a 'quantum computer' that will exploit this fact of the universe in order to increase computing power at geometric rates!

You....you...you DIRTY rules exploiter! How dare you exploit the fact of the universe for your own gain by doing something that could only possibly happen if quantum physics is the reality! And it is."

Does this seem like a strange response to someone adapting to their environment? Y'know, just like every species ever!!!

In 5E, Pact Magic slots are recovered after a short rest. Spells last for their duration. Even concentration spells last until one of the conditions which break concentration occurs. A spell may be cast by expending the appropriate slot, but once that spell is cast there is no continuing connection between that expended slot and the duration of the spell such that you cannot refresh a spell slot until the duration of the spell it powered has expired: there is no such rule in the game (and this is a complete set of rules for spellcasting).

These are game mechanics, yes, but they also represent the internal reality of the worlds governed by the 5E rules. That's how magic in those worlds works.

You can certainly engage in reductio ad absurdum to come up with the ridiculous 'bag of rats', but the very fact that it is possible to exploit the reality to do something silly in no way causes reality to change to avoid silliness! The universe doesn't have some kind of anti-silly safety valve which literally changes the laws of the universe in response to creatures within it exploiting its laws in ways which may or may not be perceived as 'silly'.

TL;DR: the fact that the world works in such a way that 'bagorats' works does not change the way the world works.

If 'bagorats' offends you, put realistic consequences in play: the rats escape/fight/starve/whatever realistic things could happen when you try to travel around with an actual bag full of actual rats.

But-and this is the crucial part-the laws of the universe do not change because someone carries that bag of rats!

Pact Magic slots will still refresh after a short rest, slots may still be refreshed even if a spell is still running, concentrating on a spell is still not strenuous activity.

The world works like it works. Creatures adapt their behaviour to take advantage of the way it works.

People who try will soon discover that 'bagorats' is not the most efficient way to exploit reality; there are simply too many realistic logistical drawbacks to that method (no change in the laws of magic required!). People will soon realise that having a live animal killed for breakfast is completely practical (it's how creatures have lived ever since there were creatures!), and that casting hex/hunter's mark on breakfast just before killing it doesn't alter how breakfast works either!

Also, since both spells have non-damaging effects (tracking/jinxing) neither spell has ever required a target that is trying to hurt you.
 

ThePolarBear

First Post
People will soon realise that having a live animal killed for breakfast is completely practical (it's how creatures have lived ever since there were creatures!), and that casting hex/hunter's mark on breakfast just before killing it doesn't alter how breakfast works either!

I dunno if i would eat something that has died in part due to necrotic damage :p
 


zaratan

First Post
Today I saw something worse than bag of rats.
Imp can carry 45lbs, kobolds can have only 15lbs. Anything that imp carry is invisible and keep invisible while imp doesn't attack.
Now we have a invisible flying kobold warlock (maybe with a bag of rats).


Enviado de meu SM-G900MD usando Tapatalk
 

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