Underwater Spellcasting

Sacrosanct · Jun 21, 2019

Li Shenron said:
It's also an assumption, and just as flawed, that that there MUST be a penalty.
.

Not working normally =/= must be a penalty. Those are two completely different things. If you look earlier as my post on how I did them, sometimes it is less effective, and sometimes it’s more effective, and sometimes it’s just different beingnneither better or worse, depending on what you’re wanting to do.

Also, I think this falls into the “reasonable expectation” category, much like how it’s used in court. What would a reasonable person do in the situation. Like my parchment example. MUST there be a difference in how writing on parchment underwater differs from writing on in on a dry desk? Well, no, but it’s a reasonable expectation that it will be different based on how we apply real world logic to scenarios where there are no rules explicit for it.

Li Shenron · Jun 21, 2019

20 years of ENWorld and we still haven't learned to answer the darn question...

The OP asked what are the rules and clearly referred to the books. I gave the answer to the question. I should have stopped there already, my mistake to add anything else.

Dausuul · Jun 21, 2019

TBeholder said:
All of the above, however, could also be said about magma.

Sure. You can cast spells just fine in magma. 20d6 points of fire damage per round makes for a nasty concentration save, though.

quislet · Jan 31, 2024

Sacrosanct said:
Sorry for the large images, but if you wanted to use them, feel free. The are from an adventure I did called Lost City of Ssrall Mak. Of course not every spell is listed, because this is a few years old when only the PHB was out, and these were the only spells available that would have been affected. IF this helps get you off a starting point, great!

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Is Lost City of Ssrall Mak still available anywhere? I can't find it on DMs Guild anymore.

Sacrosanct · Jan 31, 2024

quislet said:
Is Lost City of Ssrall Mak still available anywhere? I can't find it on DMs Guild anymore.

Huh. It was set to private, but I have no idea why I did that or when I did that. It's back up

Ssrall Mak - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Ssrall Mak - The treasure of the fabled lizardfolk clans has long been buried deep underwater in a vast underground cavern. You've

www.dmsguild.com

el-remmen · Jan 31, 2024

Tony Vargas said:
Seriously, though, if they have water breathing, verbal components should be OK

EDIT: Oops! I didn't realized this was a necro until right now.

I guess I am tough. When my group had an underwater adventure in the previous campaign, spells with verbal components did not work, even if you could breathe water, because you need air, not water, to speak. Of course, a couple of the PCs did have magical items that allowed them to vocalize underwater.

I assume creatures acclimated to that environment that have a language use some kind of vibrating air bladder to converse and/or have air-filled underwater chambers for regular talking. In my setting I have aquatic elves use a combination of sign language when submerged and normal "air" talking in their air-filled structures where they keep books and other written records (which also don't work well underwater for different reasons).

Then again, my rules for fighting underwater were pretty tough too - but again they had some spells and items that helped - though often for only limited periods of time.

I guess it all depends on the kind of game you want and your preferences for degree of convenience.