Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Help on a "Turning the Tide" spell
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 8414539" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>The first thing I'm noticing is that the way you're using "enemies" as a way of targeting (for lack of a better word) is never used in any 5e spell (at least based on the PHB).</p><p></p><p>For instance, you'll have monsters with traits like Flyby that refer to its "enemies" and you'll have a spell like <em>speak with dead</em> say "...and the corpse is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer if you are hostile to it or it recognizes you as an <em>enemy</em>." But you almost never see language like "all your enemies" or "enemies" used as a targeting thing – the only exception I can think of is the Light Cleric's Corona of Light feature which very much says "Your enemies in the bright light..." but based on that kind of language in that usage being almost unseen, I would not use Corona of Light alone as your basis for doing so.</p><p></p><p>I think that's quite deliberate, because "enemy" has no clear definition and is really murky territory. Instead, you'll see language like "any creature hostile to you" (<em>guardian of faith) </em>or "that is hostile to you (<em>Mordenkainen's faithful hound</em>). Because "hostile" is much more clearly defined based on the monster's attitude.</p><p></p><p>It's an important distinction because if you go with "enemies" then it allow the PCs to utilize your Tides of Chaos as a first strike measure against creatures they've declared as "enemies" but are not even aware of or hostile towards the PCs. That could make for some seriously devastating alpha striking on a surprise round or merely a round of high initiative rolls.</p><p></p><p>Conversely, stating "hostile creatures" means that hostilities must already be initiated, not necessarily in that combat of course, but generally speaking. This implies that the enemies are actively aware that the PCs are in the area (even if the PCs are hidden), and would do them harm if they came upon or discovered the PCs first. While alpha striking with Tides of Chaos is still a possibility, it does not allow the players to be the ones determining who is and is not a "hostile creature" – that's up to the DM's adjudication.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 8414539, member: 20323"] The first thing I'm noticing is that the way you're using "enemies" as a way of targeting (for lack of a better word) is never used in any 5e spell (at least based on the PHB). For instance, you'll have monsters with traits like Flyby that refer to its "enemies" and you'll have a spell like [I]speak with dead[/I] say "...and the corpse is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer if you are hostile to it or it recognizes you as an [I]enemy[/I]." But you almost never see language like "all your enemies" or "enemies" used as a targeting thing – the only exception I can think of is the Light Cleric's Corona of Light feature which very much says "Your enemies in the bright light..." but based on that kind of language in that usage being almost unseen, I would not use Corona of Light alone as your basis for doing so. I think that's quite deliberate, because "enemy" has no clear definition and is really murky territory. Instead, you'll see language like "any creature hostile to you" ([I]guardian of faith) [/I]or "that is hostile to you ([I]Mordenkainen's faithful hound[/I]). Because "hostile" is much more clearly defined based on the monster's attitude. It's an important distinction because if you go with "enemies" then it allow the PCs to utilize your Tides of Chaos as a first strike measure against creatures they've declared as "enemies" but are not even aware of or hostile towards the PCs. That could make for some seriously devastating alpha striking on a surprise round or merely a round of high initiative rolls. Conversely, stating "hostile creatures" means that hostilities must already be initiated, not necessarily in that combat of course, but generally speaking. This implies that the enemies are actively aware that the PCs are in the area (even if the PCs are hidden), and would do them harm if they came upon or discovered the PCs first. While alpha striking with Tides of Chaos is still a possibility, it does not allow the players to be the ones determining who is and is not a "hostile creature" – that's up to the DM's adjudication. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Help on a "Turning the Tide" spell
Top