D&D General Has Tiny Hut actually affected your game? Or has it otherwise mattered?

[tetrasodium]

So what I've learned about this is that you should totally make illusory Tiny Huts to mess with enemies, because they automatically recognize one on the spot and have countermeasures prepared to deal with one.

Well, that's what I would do, if illusions didn't suck in 5e and there was one that could make an illusory object for longer than ten minutes...

Nah, from what I've been reading "acting intelligently" means that everything in the dungeon is an advanced telepathic hivemind that can straight up nosell any prep like watches setup by players and having players who don't even care about that kind of railroading enough to speak up.

I don't think that the hive mind would be subject to the illusion given it's omniscient perception capabilities

 

[GrimCo]

See, kind of caster is going to matter too. Druid can't cast Hut. Warlock probably won't have it unless he's a tomelok. Now, Bard and Wizard can have it, so, it might come up. Again, like I said, if you've never had a player who started abusing it, it's hard to see how it would be a problem. But, as soon as you get a couple of players who decide that invulnerable fire bases are a great idea - it becomes a HUGE PITA.

Wizards and bard tend to be so popular that almost all parties in last 10 years had at least 1 of those, usually both ( sometimes single classed, sometimes multi classed).

It's not really invulnerable. It's dome. "A 10-foot-radius immobile dome of force springs into existence around and above you " - going by wording, it doesn't extend below you (also, it's hemisphere in spell range description). So, placement matters. And there are ways for intelligent creatures to deal with it, even without using magic. Also, burrowing creatures, incorporeal and similar stuff that can pop up from the floor.

I have seen it used as bunker and as DM used it as a bunker. And it was dealt with like a bunker. But i don't think anyone in our group ever used slot to actually cast it. It was used as ritual.

I solved it by saying that all Force effects are opaque. You can't see through them. Stopped all the crap of hiding in the bubble and shooting anything you could see.

That's one way of dealing with it.

To be fair, all you really have to do is dispel it a couple of times and then the players generally get the hint. You don't have to do it every time, but, if they know you will do it, then they start getting a little more judicious about using it.

Dispell, or some of the above mentioned creatures that can enter from below. Or plain old combat engineers and some ingenuity (like going with total cover of shields, making ring of dry grass and leaves burning it to create lot's of smoke, Tiny hut doesn't have air filtration system ).

But, honestly, I think that Tiny Hut should be exactly what it says on the tin - a tiny hut. Make it a small house with windows and the like, give it an unseen servant to do the cooking and whatnot and not make it an invulnerable force bubble.

Also cool idea. Tiny hut in style of local culture. I swear, i read spell like that somewhere, but i can't remember when or where.

 

[Hussar]

It's not really invulnerable. It's dome. "A 10-foot-radius immobile dome of force springs into existence around and above you " - going by wording, it doesn't extend below you (also, it's hemisphere in spell range description). So, placement matters. And there are ways for intelligent creatures to deal with it, even without using magic. Also, burrowing creatures, incorporeal and similar stuff that can pop up from the floor.

No, they can't. It's a hemisphere and it has a floor. That's been clarified in 2024 because now it's an emanation which means it extends as a sphere. Granted, it's blocked by the ground, which makes it a hemi-sphere. So, no, they cannot come through the floor.

spell, or some of the above mentioned creatures that can enter from below. Or plain old combat engineers and some ingenuity (like going with total cover of shields, making ring of dry grass and leaves burning it to create lot's of smoke, Tiny hut doesn't have air filtration system ).

Again, nope. the atmosphere is comfortable and dry. It blocks rain, fog, pretty much anything. If it blocks fog and rain, it would block smoke. Besides, how exactly are you ringing it with fire when the people inside can just shoot you through the walls? Sure, you can't cast spells, but, I can shoot you with arrows or poke you with swords when you move up to make a fire.

 

[dave2008]

My wizard stopped taking the spell. So no, it has rarely had any impact in our games.

I do think the spell is a bit ridiculous, but it also gives a false sense of safety which can be disastrous.

 

[GrimCo]

No, they can't. It's a hemisphere and it has a floor. That's been clarified in 2024 because now it's an emanation which means it extends as a sphere. Granted, it's blocked by the ground, which makes it a hemi-sphere. So, no, they cannot come through the floor.

Hemisphere, as in half sphere. Also, wording - around and above. Never did it mentions that it extends below. In 3.x, it explicitly stated in spell description that extends below. I'm using 2014 rules, since, you know, not all of us have switched to 24 rules. Sure, if it sphere again, that doesn't work. But, by pure RAW, in 2014, it doesn't have floor made of force, so going below is fair game.

Again, nope. the atmosphere is comfortable and dry. It blocks rain, fog, pretty much anything. If it blocks fog and rain, it would block smoke. Besides, how exactly are you ringing it with fire when the people inside can just shoot you through the walls? Sure, you can't cast spells, but, I can shoot you with arrows or poke you with swords when you move up to make a fire.

Unless you rule it as hermetically sealed dome (in which case, i would start timer on how long they can be inside before oxygen starts running low, 4 person, just sleeping, have cca 7.5 hours of oxygen; if they light the fire, oh boy, then fun starts even sooner). In the end, it's on DM to rule what can and can't come in.

They can shoot from inside. Those outside can use tower shields for total cover, terrain features, stealth etc. You don't need to make circle around very brim of the hut. You make one larger so more smoke comes. Or you come to the brink, burrow under the rim, and throw smoke bomb inside ( in 2014 version at least).

 

[dave2008]

Yes. My players initially picked Rope Trick and then Tiny Hut when they reached high enough level. They used them to avoid a significant portion of the game, which in my opinion is a negative effect. So I banned those spells.

Curious, I have never had a problem with spell (mostly my players are not interested in it) and I am wondering how it could be used to avoid a portion of the game? Unless I am missing something the hut doesn't move, so how can the PCs avoid something?

Never mind, I see you answered my question. It still seems odd that enemies didn't take any counter measures, but I don't know the scenario and I trust you adjudicated it in a manner you believed was reasonable.

 

[James Gasik]

Hemisphere, as in half sphere. Also, wording - around and above. Never did it mentions that it extends below. In 3.x, it explicitly stated in spell description that extends below. I'm using 2014 rules, since, you know, not all of us have switched to 24 rules. Sure, if it sphere again, that doesn't work. But, by pure RAW, in 2014, it doesn't have floor made of force, so going below is fair game.

Unless you rule it as hermetically sealed dome (in which case, i would start timer on how long they can be inside before oxygen starts running low, 4 person, just sleeping, have cca 7.5 hours of oxygen; if they light the fire, oh boy, then fun starts even sooner). In the end, it's on DM to rule what can and can't come in.

They can shoot from inside. Those outside can use tower shields for total cover, terrain features, stealth etc. You don't need to make circle around very brim of the hut. You make one larger so more smoke comes. Or you come to the brink, burrow under the rim, and throw smoke bomb inside ( in 2014 version at least).

So I thought the same thing as you did. But when someone asked Crawford about it, he very emphatically said that the Hut has a floor.

You can rule otherwise of course, but at the time I was stuck (AL game) and forced to concede, preventing an encounter of incorporeal enemies from slipping inside.

 

[TorgoTheWhite]

"Countermeasures" in my game were just siege conditions.... undead gathering up, not much to do with intelligence there, just shambling around sensing sweet juicy lifeforce. It was kind of a hint, hint, how much worse do you want this to get? Do you want to lose your evasion spells first thing in the morning getting out of here?

I can see how it could be abused though in a more classic room by room dungeon.. the flexibility of homebrew is nice for me. But if you spring that on players once, they may have to consider if camping out in one spot like that is a good idea.. making yourself a sitting duck isn't much of a strategy.

I would think I would be OK with a player using it as a fire base in limited circumstances. If I got the sense it was going to become a crutch strategy I would up my gameplan on variety of response. Heck, all it would take is wasting a Lv. 3 spell and the enemy ambles off, or doesn't adhere to the PC plan exactly and they would realize the "house of cards" nature of this and probably elect to use a 3rd level spell that relies much less on enemy response.. as a PC I don't rely on shepherding monsters, my DM will try to eventually turn that into wrangling up a sack of cats instead.

There's always the "Lv3 and lower" clause for spells that can mess with it.

 

[TiQuinn]

So I thought the same thing as you did. But when someone asked Crawford about it, he very emphatically said that the Hut has a floor.

You can rule otherwise of course, but at the time I was stuck (AL game) and forced to concede, preventing an encounter of incorporeal enemies from slipping inside.

To me, this is the problem with organized play, and what constitutes an official ruling. Crawford would also say that his rulings on Twitter were not meant to be official sage advice errata, yet he still weighed in heavily with his opinion. I think that was a big mistake on his part to offer that up.

 

[AlViking]

Nah, from what I've been reading "acting intelligently" means that everything in the dungeon is an advanced telepathic hivemind that can straight up nosell any prep like watches setup by players and having players who don't even care about that kind of railroading enough to speak up.

I don't think that the hive mind would be subject to the illusion given it's omniscient perception capabilities

It doesn't take a hive mind for the patrol to be told "There have been reports of a small invading force, keep an eye out for anything weird. Whoever it is took out several of our patrols already so don't try to deal with it yourself." Even if it's not anything that formal, news of an enemy wiping out whole groups and slaughtering everyone would still spread like wildfire. You have to basically assume mindless automatons or completely autonomous units that never communicate with each other for it not to happen.

Even if the NPCs have not heard anything, why would they just ignore a shiny magical dome? If they're patrolling, they have at least a passing knowledge of the area. They know there's magic even if they don't know exactly what it is. If they attack, they can't do affect the hut - what do you expect them to do?

There are times when the characters can get away with it. There are mindless undead, constructs and random monsters that are unaffiliated with any other group. But if the enemy is at all organized and the characters have already had a few combat encounters with them? I just don't see it happening.