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

[doctorbadwolf]

No. It isn't contentious.

I don't see anyone arguing that "eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds" breaks a spellcaster's concentration. Have you seen anyone at all argue this? Even a single person?

The entire crux of the controversy is whether concentrating on a spell is more or less strenuous than "eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds."

Reread the thread, maybe? Because yes, it has been a point of contention. People have argued, in this thread, that you cannot maintain Concentration through a short rest. Within he last few pages, I'm fairly certain.

And you've moved the goalposts, again, instead of just admiring you were wrong the first and second time.

 

[Ganymede81]

And you've moved the goalposts, again, instead of just admiring you were wrong the first and second time.

Actually, I suspect you were just trying to save face by switching from an incorrect argument (It is RAW that concentrating on a spell is no more strenuous than "eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds") to an irrelevant and non-contentious argument (It is RAW that "eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds" does not break a spellcaster's concentration).

I mean, I'll admit that it is possible that you were referring to the second argument the whole time, but it strains credulity why someone would clog up an already massive thread with something so irrelevant and non-contentious. That's why I'm not willing to give you the benefit of the doubt here.

But anyways, this was a fun diversion. Let's get back on track, though.

 

[Barolo]

(...)

But anyways, this was a fun diversion. Let's get back on track, though.

Awesome, so far we seem to have agreed that RAW can be unprocessed and RAI can be an Italian broadcasting company. Also, we have learnt that the word "can" is dangerous, but now I *might* be already going too far off topic. The rulebooks are written in a natural language to be interpreted as it best fits each table and if the whole bag of rats "flies" wherever you (the general you) play then power to you, if it is "grounded", power to you too. Something else should be added?

 

[Waterbizkit]

So I've got my own opinions on this whole thing, as my groups DM I sort of have to don't I? I'm not going to state those opinions because between this thread and the last one I know roughly which side of this discussion I fall on and I have neither the interest nor the the energy to defend my position from those who disagree. My rulings are for my table, not yours so in the end it doesn't matter.

So that said I'm going to switch gears here a little bit and ask something mostly out of curiosity: has anyone actually ever encountered this, or something like it, in their own games? Every time something like this comes up it almost feels like an urban legend of D&D... you know, something you've never seen personally but you've read about it on the Internet or your friends-brothers-cousin once knew a guy who said it happened in a game he didn't actually play in but watched at someone else's house. Basically, setting the theoretical rulings aside, have any of you run into this and what were the specifics of it? Looking for stories essentially.

 

[Caliban]

So that said I'm going to switch gears here a little bit and ask something mostly out of curiosity: has anyone actually ever encountered this, or something like it, in their own games? Every time something like this comes up it almost feels like an urban legend of D&D... you know, something you've never seen personally but you've read about it on the Internet or your friends-brothers-cousin once knew a guy who said it happened in a game he didn't actually play in but watched at someone else's house. Basically, setting the theoretical rulings aside, have any of you run into this and what were the specifics of it? Looking for stories essentially.

I play Adventure League, which means I may play under several different DM's. This kind of thing falls under "expect table variation". I have a couple of warlocks I play and I've done this - not with a literal bag of rats (that's gross and smelly), but I have asked the DM if I can get a free casting of Hex in while we travel by targeting a squirrel or other small woodland creature and then taking a short rest. Sometimes they say yes, sometimes they say no. I accept their answer and we get on with the game.

 

[jasper]

I play Adventure League, which means I may play under several different DM's. This kind of thing falls under "expect table variation". I have a couple of warlocks I play and I've done this - not with a literal bag of rats (that's gross and smelly), but I have asked the DM if I can get a free casting of Hex in while we travel by targeting a squirrel or other small woodland creature and then taking a short rest. Sometimes they say yes, sometimes they say no. I accept their answer and we get on with the game.

As I AL dm, I would allow you to do this but. 1. Most of the rest of gamers must agree to the short rest. 2. If there a time limit in play, the short rest affects the time limit. Ex. If the big boss at end is casting a ritual of ten rounds, I will change to 7 or 8 rounds.

 

[Caliban]

As I AL dm, I would allow you to do this but. 1. Most of the rest of gamers must agree to the short rest. 2. If there a time limit in play, the short rest affects the time limit. Ex. If the big boss at end is casting a ritual of ten rounds, I will change to 7 or 8 rounds.

If there's a time limit I generally wouldn't try it. But I fail to see how an hour rest on my part shortens a ritual cast by the bad guy by a couple of rounds. That's just DM metagaming, in a bad way. Either it doesn't affect it at all, or the bad guy finished it 59 minutes ago because we took a short rest.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[MrHotter]

By RAW I would also think that you could keep a Hex active even during a long rest. There is no need to sleep during a long rest.

If it were not for the ability for warlocks to get back all spells slots on a short rest and always use the highest level spell slots for any spell, we would not even be discussing this as an 'issue'.

The Ranger seems fine with the Hunter's Mark spell. If they want to cast a long duration Hunter's Mark they need to give up a high-level spell slot until a long rest. They also need to be level 9 for the 8 hour version or level 17 for the 24 hour version.

 

[Arial Black]

The DM dictates when you can rest.

Wait, what?

Players: Okay DM, we sit around doing nothing much for an hour.

DM: No you don't. You decide to strenuously chop logs or something instead.

Players: ....????

WTF?