D&D 5E Help with Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound

[Zander]

I have some questions about Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound and welcome the thoughts of fellow EN Worlders. My questions come from a player's and DM's perspective.

1. Is the hound size S or size M? I'm thinking that anything that can do that much damage with its bite is probably size M. What do you think?

2. Can a (size M or L) monster move through the hound's space?

3. Can the hound take reactions including attacks of opportunity? I'm thinking not, but that's just my feeling about the spirit of the rules.

4. As the hound is invisible, are its attacks made with advantage against opponents that can't see invisible creatures?

Apologies if there's an existing thread about this spell. I searched but couldn't find one.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Pretty much DM discretion.
1. Up to your table
2. As above, but I'd have anybody tripping over it if they can't see invisible
3. No, def not. The spell lists what the hound can and can't do. It is not an independent creature
4. Yep normal rules apply

 

[miniaturehoarder]

Wss the hound able to move in previous editions?


Does the damage count as a magic weapon?

 

[Zander]

Thanks, mach1.9pants.

Wss the hound able to move in previous editions?

From memory, no. It's always been a fixed location.

Does the damage count as a magic weapon?

I don't think so. If, for example, you could only be hit by magic weapons, the hound wouldn't be able to bite you.

One more question:

5. Could a wizard cast this spell through a glass window? In other words, if the wizard was on one side of a window, could the hound be made to appear within 30' of the wizard but on the other side?

 

[Kobold Stew]

I would think the following:
1. I suspect M (like a Mastiff), but I can't see how it matters one way or another. If it were relevant, it would be the DM's call.

2. Yes. The only way I can imagine this being relevant is if it were guarding a 5' opening and were placed at the aperture. Would that prevent anyone passing by it? I'd say no.

3. No. The spell is clear about what the hound can do.

4. Yes. It is an invisible creature.

5. Yes. "a unoccupied space that you can see within range"

 

[Zander]

I would think the following:
1. I suspect M (like a Mastiff), but I can't see how it matters one way or another. If it were relevant, it would be the DM's call.

2. Yes. The only way I can imagine this being relevant is if it were guarding a 5' opening and were placed at the aperture. Would that prevent anyone passing by it? I'd say no.

Interesting. The spell is a conjuration, not an illusion, and therefore possibly substantive. That may explain why it can only be cast in an unoccupied space. I imagine that the hound has a physical presence and that other creatures can't move through the hound's space. If that's right, its size becomes relevant: if it's size S, a size L creature could move through its space, but if it's size M, a size L creature couldn't.