D&D 5E (2014) Command and spike growth

[plisnithus8]

If they don't move then they will be peppered to death by spells and arrows eventually.

That would be an indirect harm and would not cause the Command to fail.

 

[Charlaquin]

Also, the creature could try a standing long jump to flee with minimal damage.

So far this is the best answer as far as I’m concerned,

 

[Pickaxe]

Thanks for lots of interesting replies. I’ll note that Crawford has said that creatures Commanded to flee would provoke OAs (not disengage and move), which adds another wrinkle to parsing “direct harm.”

Assuming the target has to be aware of the harm, and that Spike Growth does represent direct harm, how would a creature in Spike Growth that was unaware of the spell act when Commanded to flee? Would it move as far as possible through the spell area, taking full damage, or would it move 5 feet, take damage, realize the danger, and either stop or resort to something like a long jump?

 

[plisnithus8]

So far this is the best answer as far as I’m concerned,

That option violates the Command spell’s “direct harm” restriction. Doing nothing does not. The spell does not weigh potential long term harm against mitigated immediate harm.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Thanks for lots of interesting replies. I’ll note that Crawford has said that creatures Commanded to flee would provoke OAs (not disengage and move), which adds another wrinkle to parsing “direct harm.”

Assuming the target has to be aware of the harm, and that Spike Growth does represent direct harm, how would a creature in Spike Growth that was unaware of the spell act when Commanded to flee? Would it move as far as possible through the spell area, taking full damage, or would it move 5 feet, take damage, realize the danger, and either stop or resort to something like a long jump?

I'd say the latter.

 

[Guest 7030100]

Command: “The spell has no Effect..,if your command is directly harmful to it.”

Moving within Spike Growth causes damage. If you Command to flee, you are forcing movement that will cause damage; therefore the spell fails completely.

Command doesn’t say the target has to be aware of the danger. The target doesn’t lose a turn if there there is no effect.

The way I interpret it, the spell causes a compulsion to flee, not the actual ability to flee.
Consider a caster that fails the save. He looks around at the spiked growth, and formulates a plan! On his turn, he casts dispel magic to drop the spiked growth, and then moves away.
Now consider an ordinary goblin. He fails his save, looks around, sees he's stuck... and the spell fizzles, so he gets to act normally?

The goblin manages to evade command when a wizard does not? because the wizard is smarter and has access to an arsenal of spells to help him out?

I dunno... that doesn't make sense to me. From a narrative perspective, if nothing else, the goblin shouldn't fail its save, but then shrug off the spell anyway just because it's not sufficiently bright or well-equipped escape. It more interesting, imo, that the goblin might just fret that it can't get away while futilely using his axe to try to hack down the spiky growth, or something.

And from a game perspective, I think it's a fair compromise. Eliminating the target's next action without causing harm or movement distance means the spell probably isn't as useful as the caster hoped, but it's still not a complete waste of the spell. And by keeping it situational, such a ruling also leaves future castings of the spell a little uncertain-- and therefore interesting.

YMMV.

 

[Charlaquin]

That option violates the Command spell’s “direct harm” restriction. Doing nothing does not. The spell does not weigh potential long term harm against mitigated immediate harm.

No it doesn’t? A standing long jump in an area of spike growth doesn’t cause harm at all, direct or otherwise.

 

[MarkB]

No it doesn’t? A standing long jump in an area of spike growth doesn’t cause harm at all, direct or otherwise.

Assuming that the creature is close enough to an edge on the other side of the spell area from the caster of the command to clear it in one standing jump. Spike growth has a radius of 20 feet, a standing long jump lets a creature clear a distance equal to half its strength score, and the Flee command requires the creature to move away from the caster.

 

[plisnithus8]

No it doesn’t? A standing long jump in an area of spike growth doesn’t cause harm at all, direct or otherwise.

Jumping is a special type of movement. When a creature moves...within the area (of Spike Growth), it takes ...damage for every 5 feet it travels.

 

[Charlaquin]

Assuming that the creature is close enough to an edge on the other side of the spell area from the caster of the command to clear it in one standing jump. Spike growth has a radius of 20 feet, a standing long jump lets a creature clear a distance equal to half its strength score, and the Flee command requires the creature to move away from the caster.

Yeah, so jump as far as you can. Next turn, jump some more.