D&D 5E I'm the DM and a player is trying to abuse the Immovable Rod. Advice?

[Yunru]

I can think of a ton of creative ways to use immovable rods. All situational, but good ways to skip things. I can definitely see how one could abuse a single immovable rod, let alone two of them.

Yes but that's not abuse, that's creative use of tools at hand. That, I feel, should be rewarded, not frowned upon.

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't see it either, but you could scale thin are using two rods as mooring pins (I think it's called, I'm not a rock climber), although at about 6 seconds to move a rod...

Assuming that the rod is capable of penetrating rock, sure. Typically though, they're just a straight rod of metal. Also, given that pitons tend to break (because you're slamming metal into rock, something's gotta give) I'd argue that risks breaking the rod.

 

[Lanliss]

Yes but that's not abuse, that's creative use of tools at hand. That, I feel, should be rewarded, not frowned upon.

Creative is pinning a Cyclops hand to the ground while he sleeps. Abusing is pinning every enemy you ever run into to the ground. To me, the border is about two or three times, then it stops being creative.

 

[Yunru]

Assuming that the rod is capable of penetrating rock, sure. Typically though, they're just a straight rod of metal. Also, given that pitons tend to break (because you're slamming metal into rock, something's gotta give) I'd argue that risks breaking the rod.

You don't need to penetrate rock, that's only used to secure the rods normally and well...

 

[Valetudo]

In my campaign I had the party start at lvl 10 and allowed them each to start with 1 rare magical item. One player (A monk) asked if he could instead have 2 uncommon items, and I said that would be fine (A rare magical item can cost much more than 2 uncommon items). It turns out the player chose to have 2 immovable rods, and had a hammer head attached to the end to make them a light hammer that he can also use as a weapon. This at first didn't seem like a problem, I was wrong.

Every time the party gets into an encounter he will try to make an attack on the creature. If he hits with both his attacks he states he hits the enemy in a way where he can lock the immovable rod just perfectly to prevent the creature from being able to move. (Normally he says he perfectly locks the hammers around their neck and presses the button so that they become permanently restrained. In one instance he said he locked it around this creatures neck in a way that the creature could not even turn around, and then he would just attack it from behind with it completely helpless). Every single encounter he states he uses his hammer to restrain the enemy. He's even tried saying that when he hits a cloaker he was fighting that he used the hammer to pierce its tail and pin it to the ground (and press the button to lock the hammer in place).

Its become to the point where every one of his attacks he tries to envoke restrain with his immovable rods. With the rods requiring a DC 30 strength check to move them it seems nearly impossible for a monster to break free of it. I don't want to just envoke dm law and tell him i won't allow that (it just makes the players mad). But i also can't allow him to apply unbreakable restraint with each attack he makes.

One idea I had was creating a rule that if a player wants to make an attack a specific way (Such as swinging the hammers perfectly to lock around a creatures neck in a way it can't slide out). The defending creature would gain a +4 to their AC (as it is much harder to hit in a specific way than to just hit the target anywhere for damage). Another idea I had was requiring the creature to make an easier strength/dexterity check to squeeze out of the restraint.



In this dnd group we are rotating between 3 campaigns to allow each of us (except 2 members) to dm our own campaign. (We rotate every 3 sessions). And this player has tried to use the immovable rods in each person's campaign (including his own where he has his npc's use them (against us) big time). He seems to build his characters, actions, and tactics all around the immovable rod. Or he will spend the campaign trying to get the rod (or modify it). The immovable rod has kinda become his centerpiece in dnd (considering he makes it a part of everything he does in every campaign). So I'm afraid that it will piss him off if I either take away those rods, or make a dm ruling that he can't use it in combat that way.

Anyone have advice?

first off this is your fault, not the players. These rod hammers should be considered improvised weapons at the least or should have broken when attaching the hammer heads.

 

[Yunru]

Creative is pinning a Cyclops hand to the ground while he sleeps. Abusing is pinning every enemy you ever run into to the ground. To me, the border is about two or three times, then it stops being creative.

Formulating an approach such that you can pin every enemy you encounter to the ground is creative, especially given each situation is going to be different.

 

[Lanliss]

Assuming that the rod is capable of penetrating rock, sure. Typically though, they're just a straight rod of metal. Also, given that pitons tend to break (because you're slamming metal into rock, something's gotta give) I'd argue that risks breaking the rod.

Technically you could use a pair of rods to fly, you don't need a wall even. Just lock one three feet in the air, and climb on it to put the next at 6 feet. On and on, as high as you want.

 

[MarkB]

Technically you could use a pair of rods to fly, you don't need a wall even. Just lock one three feet in the air, and climb on it to put the next at 6 feet. On and on, as high as you want.

One idea I came up with way back in the 3e days was to build them into a pair of thick-soled boots, designed such that you could press the button by scrunching your toes.

 

[Lanliss]

Formulating an approach such that you can pin every enemy you encounter to the ground is creative, especially given each situation is going to be different.

"I grapple the enemy. I pin him. I pull out the immovable rod, press it into his chest or stomach, and activate it." Think Loki when Thor puts the hammer on his chest. Creative the first time, gets boring fast.

 

[Saeviomagy]

When you are swallowed you are considered Restrained, meaning you can take no Actions. It is an Action to activate the rod, therefore you cannot do this. Others rely on heavy abuse of the concept of "Restrained".

Incorrect. restrained is not incapacitated. Restrained gives you a speed of 0, advantage to hit you and disadvantage on dex saves. So this does not in any way stop you from hitting the button on an immovable rod (although, wow! what a button that it takes 6 seconds to press!).

The real way that this one is not a problem is simply that monsters which swallow you are quite rare, and even if you do meet them, they typically swallow only one member of the party, and the likelihood of that being the guy with the immovable rod(s) is slim. And even then, if they can swallow you + rod, it's not inconceivable that they can simply regurgitate the rod.

Can use 2 immovable rods to get places you might not otherwise be able to? Sure, but it's slow going (6 seconds per arm's reach) and if you have a party member with a climb skill, they'll probably get there first. And if you've got someone with a flying or climbing familiar, they can probably pull a light line wherever you want to go.

In short, if immovable rods 'break' your game, your game was very brittle in the first place.