D&D 5E Leomund's Ultimate Fortification

[kerbarian]

The PHB version of Leomund's Tiny Hut seems... quite powerful.

It's a ritual, so any 5th-level Bard or Wizard can cast it an unlimited number of times at 11 minutes per casting. It lasts 8 hours and is impenetrable to spells, magical effects, and to any creatures and objects that weren't inside it at the time of casting. Anyone inside can see and shoot out freely.

As far as I can tell, it's a perfect defense against any creatures that don't have access to Dispel Magic. You could create pillboxes for archers to prepare a battlefield, wall off a tunnel or castle gate, or while you're exploring you could periodically create bunkers to fall back to.

It has some fun possibilities, but I think the defensive properties are a bit excessive. This is all new since the Alpha, too -- it used to just give you a comfortable place to camp.

 

[MortalPlague]

It is a potent spell (as a 3rd level spell should be), but there are a couple of mitigating factors.

• You actually can't shoot out of it. You can leave it and re-enter, but you have to expose yourself to do so. If the caster leaves, the dome fails.
• Magic can't be cast through it in either direction, and magical effects don't go through it.
• The outside of the dome is opaque. So if an enemy comes along and sees it, and knows what it is, they can simply wait for it to go away. The caster has to spend a full minute to re-cast it.

So yeah, it's a pretty good trick for getting a good rest, but it's not a tank to be abused on the battlefield.

 

[kerbarian]

Ah, I completely missed the line about it ending if the caster leaves the area of the dome -- that prevents multiple domes as well as most of the creative uses.

However, I think making ranged weapon attacks out of the dome still works fine. If an object (e.g. an arrow) is inside the dome when it's cast, it can pass freely through the dome. As long as all your ammunition is inside when the dome goes up, you can shoot it out. With advantage, even, since your targets can't see in.

 

[TwoSix]

So you're telling me a bard or a wizard can execute a Starcraft Terran bunker
rush? SWEET.

 

[Andor]

How big an area does it cover? And is the protected area a hemisphere, or an entire sphere?
Personally I think it would be amusing to watch the PCs camping in the middle of a kobold horde thinking they are safe, until they wonder what all the shovels are for. Then the sphere starts to roll down the dug out channel...

 

[Grazzt]

How big an area does it cover? And is the protected area a hemisphere, or an entire sphere?
Personally I think it would be amusing to watch the PCs camping in the middle of a kobold horde thinking they are safe, until they wonder what all the shovels are for. Then the sphere starts to roll down the dug out channel...

Now this would be highly entertaining to see.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Now this would be highly entertaining to see.

The real question, would anything or the adventures fall out while rolling?

 

[MarkB]

The real question, would anything or the adventures fall out while rolling?

If they can pass freely through the dome, that seems likely.