D&D 5E Telekinesis damage?

[Thurmas]

I think the suggestion several people have had of comparing the damage to other 5th level spells is the way to go. Just a few examples:

Cone of Cold - 8d8 (36)
5th level fireball - 10d6 (35)
Destructive Wave - 10d6 (35)

All of these do damage to multiple creatures.

The only single target 5th level spell I saw after a quick glance was immolation, arguably not a great spell, at 7d6 damage.

Perhaps animate objects, at potentially 10d4+40 (Tiny)?

I think what any of these show is that the damage potential shouldn't be small. After all, even gently setting a 1000lb boulder on top of something would do tremendous amounts of damage, never mind flinging it at them.

I would probably make it an attack roll or dex saving throw, that deals around 5d12 (32) damage. I would also not allow the same boulder to be used twice, having it shatter on impact, wedge itself into the ground, roll out of range, etc to limit the nature of repeating the same thing round after round. You could have a pile of boulders handy if you want, though.

 

[Oofta]

I generally use the guidelines in Page 284 of the DMG which gives damage per level for custom spells for this kind of thing.

A 5th level spell is 8d10 if it targets a single individual, or 8d6 if you're thinking it would target multiple people and probably dexterity save for 1/2 damage. If you add other aftereffects like stunning you may want to drop the damage a bit.

 

[snickersnax]

A 1000lb boulder my not be as big as you think http://www.delawarequarries.com/landscape/boulders/boulderwt.html

If it is just dropping, I'd probably make it a single target (2'x2'x2' = 1200lbs).

 

[Satyrn]

Oh man. I think I'd handle this differently. It looks more lika an attack on the ship to me, and one that wouod just work. But I'd have the players spot the caster a round or 2 before he looses the boulder - give them a chance to prevent the attack however they might, but if they aren't real quick about it the boulder gets flung at the ship. Here, I'd give them another chance - one round - to stop/deflect the boulder. Failing that, the ship is hit, damaged, and begins taking on water.

So now, if they failed to act against the attack, they have a minute to deal with a sinking ship.

 

[Rhenny]

You could make it more interesting by doing damage 6d6, plus chance to pin PCs under it. Since the telekinesis pretty much directs it to where it is going, have the PCs make Dex saves to try to avoid it. If they fail, they can be pinned (restrained) until they wriggle out with an additional dexterity check or pull themselves out with strength check. I'd even have them take 1/2 damage on a save, but no pinning.

 

[Stalker0]

Resurrecting this thread as I am curious myself on this one.

A lot of people are comparing it to other spells, but seem to be forgetting that Telekinesis can be used over and over again.

Any new guidelines in the time since this was last discussed on what appropriate damage would be?

 

[ad_hoc]

Resurrecting this thread as I am curious myself on this one.

A lot of people are comparing it to other spells, but seem to be forgetting that Telekinesis can be used over and over again.

Any new guidelines in the time since this was last discussed on what appropriate damage would be?

Giants throw such things so should use them as a baseline.

Ranged Spell Attack - 4d10+spellcasting modifier bludgeoning.

Boulder selection will probably be limited. Some will be 2d10, 3d10, or too heavy to lift.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

So when I first answered this, I had assumed the caster was a player character and not an enemy NPC. Given that, I don't think a DM needs to follow any kind of specific rule or raw. As I see them, rules are meant for players' characters to be balanced against one another (to equalize share of the spotlight and fun) and to effectively provide a framework to understand what a player is capable of and their relative chance for success on a given attempt of some discrete action.

Things work differently for the DM. Rules for a DM act as a guide and give an impression of what might be an appropriate challenge for the players within a given context or scenario. A DM can choose to follow or ignore the rules, and they are given this ability due to the trust of their players to curate a fun and challenging experience/story.

So I would change my answer to whatever is appropriate for the players and the situation. Maybe the ship starts sinking and the players avoid any damage, creating a challenge for the players to deal with in addition to any combat on deck. Maybe they see the boulder coming and have an opportunity to react to either get out of the way or redirect it with their powers/abilities to save the ship or hurt their opponents. Maybe they take enough damage to weaken them and make the combat more difficult with no other side effect.

The answer changes if this is a player character using telekinesis in this way. But for a DM, I don't think its much of an issue.

 

[Stalker0]

So flaming sphere can do 5d6 damage per round (when its weaved up to 5th level), dex save for half. Now that is to multiple targets and with a bonus action (on subsequent rounds), but on the other hand its purely a damage spell.

Immolation does 8d6, dex save half on the first round...but only 4d6 future rounds (and dex ends). However, this one doesn't consume future actions. And generally that is considered a crappy 5th level spell.

Right now I'm leaning towards 7d6, dex save half. That's roughly in line with the 4d10+stat boulder idea from earlier, its a middle ground between flaming sphere and immolation. Considering the other utility uses for telekinesis, it seems a reasonable value.