D&D (2024) Line of sight ruling

[Charlaquin]

It never does, does it.

No, indeed. The current designers at WotC seem allergic to making clear, direct statements of any kind.

 

[Lazybones]

Line of sight is defined on p.45 of the DMG; the wording there has nothing to do with whether the target can see and has more to do with the obstruction, if any, between two spaces. If they'd wanted the spell to be dependent on what the target can actually see/perceive, I think the spell would have stipulated that.

 

[Shiroiken]

This is where people forget the DMG. In Chapter 1, under Players Exploiting the Rules, it specifically calls out that the rules rely on Good Faith Interpretation. I'd say at least 90% of people's issues can be resolved by recalling that simple principle. In this particular case, if the fear source is hidden/invisible, then you obviously have no line of sight (per the Sage Advice), but you can't simple close your eyes to "make it go away." This is why we have a DM and not playing a CRPG.

 

[MerricB]

Line of sight is defined on p.45 of the DMG; the wording there has nothing to do with whether the target can see and has more to do with the obstruction, if any, between two spaces. If they'd wanted the spell to be dependent on what the target can actually see/perceive, I think the spell would have stipulated that.

Check the sage advice I quote in the first post; they explicitly say that is not the definition.

 

[James Gasik]

When Scooby and Shaggy run away after being frightened by a monster or ghost, they need to be in another room that does not have line of sight before they can eat a Scooby-Snack and make their save.

A scared 5-year-old thinking the coat on the back of the door is a monster is not going to fine if you say just close your eyes or place a blindfold on him. The child or the coat needs to be removed from the room, and line of sight.

A player of mine had a similar argument when they Frightened a monster that was unable to see them due to Invisibility. "I would think they'd be more terrified of not being able to see something they're Frightened of, not less". We've since instituted what I call the "Slasher Houserule", referring to horror movies featuring a psychotic, sometimes supernatural, killer who can appear out of nowhere. You may not know where to run, but you don't stop being terrified.