Grapples and spells

[Fallenibilis]

So lets say a troll grapples your halfling druid and i want to help the halfling out so i cast a spell like reduce person on the troll do i have a miss chance to possibly hit the halfling?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, im pretty sure the answer is going to be no but this exact situation happened and the dm said i had a mis chance and i did end up effecting the halfling is wasn't pleasent.

 

[irdeggman]

I believe that reduce person will not work on a troll.

It only works on "humanoids", I don't believe that a troll is "humanoid", "monstrous humanoid" is a different type despite containing the word "humanoid" in it. Check the back of the Monster Manual for the list of different "types".

 

[Fallenibilis]

Ok had i cast Doom would it have a miss chance...

 

[Wyvernhand]

Targetted spells would not have a chance to hit your friend. They don't miss. Its just target, then save. As long as the target is valid and you have Line of Sight and Effect, it works. If you cast a ranged spell with an attack roll (like a ray), it would be the same as firing a crossbow into a grapple, which would have a chance to hit either grappler. If you used a melee spell with an attack roll (like Shocking Grasp), it would be the same as swinging a sword into a grapple. According to the rules for grapples, melee attacks do not have a chance to hit either participant, only ranged do.

An AoE would probably hit both targets, though, since they are both in the same square.

 

[AuraSeer]

So lets say a troll grapples your halfling druid and i want to help the halfling out so i cast a spell like reduce person on the troll do i have a miss chance to possibly hit the halfling?

Targeted spells like reduce person and doom always hit what you aim at. There is no attack roll and no miss chance. As long as you can see or touch the target, and there's not a solid wall in the way, the magic will automatically hit. (This includes any spell with "Target" in its description block, so magic missile also always hits.)

The only way you could affect the wrong target is if there's an illusion or similar effect. You still hit what you aim at, but the illusion made you aim at something you didn't mean to.

Now, a spell like scorching ray would have a chance to miss. The ray attack requires a roll to hit, so it works just like any other attack. You'd treat it the same as if you'd fired an arrow into the grapple.