D&D 5E Bless Spell and Total Cover / Line of Sight

[Dax Doomslayer]

Hi Folks,
The spell bless states:
"You bless up to three creatures of your choice within range. Whenever a target makes an Attack roll or a saving throw before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the attack roll or saving throw."

I was wondering, can the effects of the spell be bestowed upon creatures with total cover. The spell's parameters is simply 'within range'. For example, if the caster is in a corridor and 2 party members are out of sight around the corner of a room with total cover, could those two PCs have the bless effects bestowed upon them? Would the 'line of sight' rule be in effect or not for this. Any input / help on this would be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[Nebulous]

i think you need line of sight to bless your targets.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I would say no line of sight is required, since it's not mentioned in the spell description. The caster doesn't need to know exactly where their friends are in order to say a prayer for them. It's basically a friend only AoE with a max targets cap.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I agree with @Paul Farquhar , I would not require line of sight at the moment of casting. I would allow the caster to even not "know" where their targets are as long as they are known to them (friends, allies, etc.).

For example, the caster believes two allies are in the next room since he saw them enter. Unknown to the caster, one of his allies moved further into the building and is now out of the spell's range. But, the player should still be allowed to select that ally, but the ally will get no benefit since he is out of range. In essence, the target is wasted. Only the ally in the next room and still in range is blessed.

 

[Esker]

The PHB says in the "Combat" chapter:

Total Cover

A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect. A target has total cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle.

So you could hit a creature behind total cover with an AoE, but you can't target them directly.

 

[Blue]

The PHB says in the "Combat" chapter:



So you could hit a creature behind total cover with an AoE, but you can't target them directly.

I agree. And to further reinforce you point, under Targets (PHB 204) in the Spellcasting chapter:

A CLEAR PATH TO THE TARGET
To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Interesting... Then can you bless a target you can't see? What is the precise purpose of having a clear path to the target? I would think that would be so you can see the target, but since the Bless spell does not specify the target must be one you can see (as opposed to a spell such as Bane, which specifies you must be able to see the target), I would interpret the clear path to target to not be necessary.

Of course, at this point it all becomes about interpretation; there is no right or wrong answer, and each DM can rule it as they see (or don't see ) fit.

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

So the consensus on this is that it is allowable? I ruled that way due to the point on Total Cover. The one issue though playing on a virtual tabletop kind of eliminates the risk of not knowing how far away someone was as they'll always typically know...I appreciate the input.

 

[Esker]

Interesting... Then can you bless a target you can't see? What is the precise purpose of having a clear path to the target? I would think that would be so you can see the target, but since the Bless spell does not specify the target must be one you can see (as opposed to a spell such as Bane, which specifies you must be able to see the target), I would interpret the clear path to target to not be necessary.

Of course, at this point it all becomes about interpretation; there is no right or wrong answer, and each DM can rule it as they see (or don't see ) fit.

I mean, each DM can of course use whatever rules they want, but I don't think the RAW leaves a lot of room for interpretation...

You can Bless someone you can't see (they might be invisible, or heavily obscured, or you blinded), just as you can attack someone you can't see (at disadvantage in that case). As long as there is a path between you.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I would allow it. Every other spell mentions how you need to see the target, and this doesn't. Also, I think spells that target allies are more forgiving in interpretation than those that target enemies.