D&D 5E How Many Spaces on a Grid Does Cloud of Daggers Effect?

[darjr]

Anywhere along the cube face though, including right up to a corner.

My preferred mode is minis without a grid. I mostly defer to what my players think as to distances and areas.

But I run a lot of public games and I often snap to a grid there. And usually snap things like this to the grid. Or go completely totm.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

It does say 'centered however you please', so clearly 4 squares it is now.

And no game that obsessively tracks stuff in 5ft increments was ever actually meant to be played without a grid...

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

It's such a weak spell, I've changed it to a 10 ft square so it can cover a few squares without wasting time trying so place it so maybe it affect an extra creature if it stands just right.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

It's such a weak spell, I've changed it to a 10 ft square so it can cover a few squares without wasting time trying so place it so maybe it affect an extra creature if it stands just right.

Going by page 251 of the DMG I would say this is less of a "change" and more a valid interpretation of the spell's mechanics.

The area of effect of a spell, monster ability, or other feature must be translated onto squares or hexes to determine which potential targets are in the area and which aren't.
Choose an intersection of squares or hexes as the point of origin of an area of effect, then follow its rules as normal. If an area of effect is circular and covers at least half a square, it affects that square.

The text of Cloud of Daggers says it is centered on a point of origin, which by the DMG would be an intersection of squares when playing on a grid. In other places a cube's point of origin is said to be along one of its faces, so this is an instance of a cube AoE not following the normal rules for cube AoEs, for whatever reason.

In any case I think the spell could benefit from a revision to make it clearer what the designers intended. It it's supposed to be centered on a point than maybe it shouldn't be a cube, and if it's supposed to be a cube then it shouldn't be centered on a point.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

And no game that obsessively tracks stuff in 5ft increments was ever actually meant to be played without a grid...

A fair point. But this one at least seems to have been made to not get hung up on grid rules. Clearly that handwavy "maybe you'll use a grid, do that how you like" approach is frustrating to some people who want a more precise grid-based combat system, but it's more or less exactly my speed.

 

[DND_Reborn]

My answer, depending on how you rule all the above info contributed, is up to 6 (the maximum):

Cloud of Daggers (yellow) affecting 6 targets. The blue circles show how targets 2, 3, and 5 are included since part of the AoE for CoD overlaps their spaces.

Even if you insist the PoO (point of origin) must be on an intersection, just shift the CoE slightly to the intersection between 1-4-5-6. Since you get to choose if the PoO is in the AoE or not, 5 can be affected either way.

This also makes it easy to do for ToM. You roll a d6 and affect that number of targets.

It is a 2nd-level spell averaging just 10 damage. I think allowing it to affect several targets (if they are grouped) is appropriate. YMMV, of course.

EDIT: If the OP updates the poll to include 6, I'll vote.

 

[Quickleaf]

We've always understood 5e's cloud of daggers to cover a human-sized doorway (including a double door) but not the entire area of a larger portcullis.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Even if you insist the PoO (point of origin) must be on an intersection, just shift the CoE slightly to the intersection between 1-4-5-6. Since you get to choose if the PoO is in the AoE or not, 5 can be affected either way.

My issue with this is that Cloud of Daggers states it is centered on its point of origin, which contradicts the normal rules for cubes that say a cube's point of origin is not inside of its area of affect unless one chooses otherwise. In the case of Cloud of Daggers the cube's point of origin must be in the area of effect, at its center.

Basically, Cloud of Daggers is a "cube" that violates the rules for cubic areas of effect.

 

[Shiroiken]

I generally do not require a "snap to grid" for effects, using a template to determine where the effect occurs. If a character is not in at least 50% of the space, it has advantage on the save for being on the edge of the effect. This means that Cloud of Daggers could affect multiple creatures, but they're all going to have advantage on the save.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Maybe a sphere would be a better format for this spell, like all other ''cloud'' spells.