D&D 5E Bead of Force - And Green Dragon Breath attack - poisonous gas

[Stormonu]

A propos of nothing, but... does it float?

Float or not, once it pops, you're going under...

 

[MarkB]

A propos of nothing, but... does it float?

With that ratio of mass to surface area, water should support it. If the people inside can run fast enough, they might even get it moving across the surface.

 

[J.Quondam]

With that ratio of mass to surface area, water should support it. If the people inside can run fast enough, they might even get it moving across the surface.

Ooh... Now I'm imagining a new sort of tourney competition, with knights tilting at each other in big transparent force balls!

 

[Tonguez]

Dragon could still roll you downhill into something unpleasant to get out of - a river, over a cliff, etc. Or bat you around with its tail. I don't imagine bouncing around inside the globe would be all too pleasant, especially if it comes to an abrupt halt.

<Edit> With it being mentioned it's a 20-foot sphere, it might be possible to catch the dragon in it, though you'd have to be damn lucky or somehow immobilize it first so it would automatically fail the Dex save.

now Im wondering what happens to the other PCs when a 20ft force bubble goes rolling across the battlefield.
Is only the caster trapped inside or are the other party members inside the bubble too?
Can people (and dragons) hide behind the bubble for cover?
If its propelled by the force of a dragons tail is a 1lb giant balloon big enough to knock a person prone?

 

[Umbran]

20 feet across - it has a 10 foot radius.

Mind you, a 20 foot sphere weighing only 1 pound is pretty much in scale with a party balloon in terms of size-to-weight ratio - maybe even lighter. The dragon should be able to punt that thing fifty feet up with one talon swipe, and then just keep on blowing it further upwards with wing buffets.

Hm. Well, now things get really dicey.
At standard temperature and pressure, air has a density of about 0.075 lb/ft³.

A sphere of 10 foot radius has a volume of 4,188 cubic feet. So, a sphere of air of that size weighs over 314 lbs. The thing has a density somewhere in the neighborhood of hard vacuum. The only way this at all sensible is that we frantically wave out hands at physics in an attempt to confuse them and get them to look the other way.

So, trying to be... reasonable? I have a basketball. I just weighed it - it comes in a 1 lb 2.4 oz, a close enough analog...

If I hucked a basketball hard enough to just go as far as across a basketball court, and it happened to hit you (generic, not you MarkB) in the face, it could easily break your nose. I've seen it happen.

Ergo, hucking a one pound weight hard enough to go even 15 yards is enough force to do damage - so it is effectively an attack, and the sphere is immune to attacks, so if you tried it, the sphere would ignore the attempt. You can lift and carry the sphere, presumably by getting under it, because at that radius you can't grip the darned thing, but cannot impart any signficant momentum to it in short timeframes (in physics terms, it negates high impulses).

 

[Nefermandias]

Not necessarily.

A readied action is not based on the opponent taking an action, but on a "perceivable circumstance". So, arguably, "If the dragon takes a big inhale (the common depiction is a big inhale, and then an exhale of breath weapon), I set off a bead of force on myself" is probably an acceptable readied action, but at the point where it is too late for the dragon to call off his breath.



It can be picked up, but the bubble is 10 feet across. You have to be BIG to have that kind of arm span. A gargantuan dragon might do it, but a large one probably cannot, and a huge one might not.

More importantly, as the dragon takes off with the bubble, it provokes attacks of opportunity.

That depends on the DM really. Xanathar's makes it clear that readied actions happens AFTER the triggering condition is resolved.
I don't think I would allow "when the dragon takes a big inhale" as a valid trigger in the first place.

 

[J.Quondam]

Grr! Physics!!

* shakes fist *

Grr! D&D!!

* shakes fist again *

Why can't you two just get along??!?

 

[Umbran]

Xanathar's makes it clear that readied actions happens AFTER the triggering condition is resolved.

I'm going to need a quote or at least a cite for what section of the book that is in. I don't see it.

"Ready
Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn, which lets you act using your reaction before the start of your next turn.

First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction...."
(Emphasis mine)

In the most simple of terms, consider a hidden character with a crossbow ready to act as a sniper: "I ready my action to shoot at anyone who comes in the door." Certianly, the target doesn't get to complete their entire declared movement before that shot goes off, does it? And movement isn't even an action!

 

[posineg]

Sorry to burst your bubble(BoF), poison gas is still breathable air.

 

[Nefermandias]

I'm going to need a quote or at least a cite for what section of the book that is in. I don't see it.

"Ready
Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn, which lets you act using your reaction before the start of your next turn.

First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction...."
(Emphasis mine)

In the most simple of terms, consider a hidden character with a crossbow ready to act as a sniper: "I ready my action to shoot at anyone who comes in the door." Certianly, the target doesn't get to complete their entire declared movement before that shot goes off, does it? And movement isn't even an action!

XGtE Page 5

Reaction Timing

Certain game features let you take a special action, called a reaction, in response to some event. Making opportunity attacks and casting the shield spell are two typical uses of reactions. If you're unsure when a reaction occurs in relation to its trigger, here's the rule: the reaction happens after its trigger completes, unless the description of the reaction explicitly says otherwise.