D&D 5E Dawn Take You All

[devincutler]

A great many magic items in 5e reset their charges at dawn. What, exactly does that mean?

Most campaign worlds, even if they are flat, have a sun that moves across the sky (or a planet that spins on its axis). That means different time zones...and different dawns.

Not a problem until you get teleport. Then....problem. This has technically been an issue since 1st edition, but I wonder how and if DMs have handled this issue, because it is exploitable.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Simple handling on my part is to have "dawn" mean "at the beginning of the adventuring day" because when it says "dawn" it doesn't mean when the magic item sees that it is sunrise in the local area, but rather once each day, in the morning, so dawn if you operate on the standard work during day/sleep at night assumed schedule.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

In Tales of Wyre, an Actual Play story told by Sepulchrave (on these very forums, I believe), there are a few secondary characters who do not naturally reside on the mortal plane, or who originate somewhere very much alien to the concept of "days" and "dawns" and such. For such characters, however, the laws of magic remained very much in effect, they were just keyed to some other, more-universal phenomenon than "dawn." The given example was that a particular, transplanar being had her spells restored when her associated star in the night sky reached its highest point (meaning her spells were often restored a few hours *before* "dawn"). This isn't a perfect solution either, since if the planet has a rotational axis, there may be a star at one or both poles that always has a fixed position in the night sky, but it's a bit more workable/generalized at least.

Another alternative: trying to "game the system" results in problems for the user. E.g. if you teleport more than a certain distance with magic items that are sensitive to daily recharge, then you must wait a full day--from sunrise to sunrise--in the new location before they regain any charges. This alternative is a bit more punitive, but will strictly enforce the idea that magic cannot be easily manipulated into power.

 

[BoldItalic]

You know it's dawn when all of your magic items suddenly recharge

Rock Greystone, the legendary gnome inventor, succeeded, after centuries of research, in making a magic musical box that played a merry tune for one minute per charge used, and that recharged at dawn. He made it with one charge. He always knew when it was dawn because the device suddenly played a tune, then went silent until the next dawn. He went into business and marketed miniature versions that could be worn on a leather band around the wrist. These were known as Rock Bands.

 

[Umbran]

A great many magic items in 5e reset their charges at dawn. What, exactly does that mean?

Most campaign worlds, even if they are flat, have a sun that moves across the sky (or a planet that spins on its axis). That means different time zones...and different dawns.

Not a problem until you get teleport. Then....problem. This has technically been an issue since 1st edition, but I wonder how and if DMs have handled this issue, because it is exploitable.

It has to be some pretty powerful magic item to justify using up two teleports (one to go to where it is dawn, one to come back) to recharge an item. And it only really works if you are familiar with a teleportation circle or location where it happens t be dawn at the time you want to recharge your items.

 

[jayoungr]

A great many magic items in 5e reset their charges at dawn. What, exactly does that mean?

I'd rule that the items recharge as soon as the sun peeks over the horizon.

 

[Wuzzard]

You're just being ridiculous. There are no times zones! The world is one big flat map, and the sun comes up all at once, everywhere.

 

[aco175]

This is similar to clerics gaining spells at dawn, or worse after 8 hours rest. Remember when different gods had their clerics gaining their spells at different times. The moon god at night and the sun god at noontime. It may be more realistic, but playing the game is so much easier with everything happening when the characters get up in the morning. Another benefit of getting a good nights rest.

 

[jayoungr]

Remember when different gods had their clerics gaining their spells at different times. The moon god at night and the sun god at noontime.

No reason a given setting couldn't introduce that rule. It would be pretty cool! (Though it would mean the extra headache of tracking time of day at the table.)

 

[GX.Sigma]

All timekeeping in the D&D multiverse is based on GMT: Greyhawk Mean Time.