D&D 5E messy's 5e newbie questions thread

billd91

Not your screen monkey (he/him)
60. can call lightning be cast indoors?

61. is studded leather considered metal armor for the purposes of use by druids and for giving advantage to shocking grasp?

62. if two wizards hit a creature with ray of frost in the same round, is the creature's speed reduced by 20 feet?

63. can the target of a bless spell benefit from it more than once during its duration?



67. does a target of faerie fire continue to be affected even if he/she leaves the spell's area of effect?

68. do fighting style bonuses apply to spells? for example, if an eldritch knight has chosen archery for his/her fighting style, does the +2 apply to attack rolls with fire bolt?

69. are all "spell slots per spell level" tables in the phb identical? if so, it seems like they could've saved quite a bit of space by printing the table just once...

70. a druid will not wear metal armor, but will wear armor made of the skin of an animal. does that strike anyone as unusual?

71. a druid will not wear metal armor, but a cleric of nature not only can wear metal armor, but also gains the extra ability to wear the heaviest, metalist armor in existence. does that strike anyone as unusual?

I'll give my answers for a few of these:

60. The spell pretty much explicitly says it can - it's just that it has to be a sufficiently large. See the parenthetic comment at the end of the first paragraph of the description of the spell.

61. I don't think so - I wouldn't consider it so. It's made primarily from leather with some metal to reinforce.

62. Sounds reasonable to me to stack the movement penalty.

63. Yes, it says whenever they make an attack roll or save before the spell ends, not once during the duration.

67. Yes.

68. I think it's reasonably fair to use the fighting style bonus.

69. Whether they're identical or not, displaying them with each class is good for usability and doesn't cost much for space.

70. I don't think it's unusual. Just because a druid wield's the power of nature doesn't mean they can't also use it as in wearing leather armor. They're not PETA activists - they're forces of nature.

71. I don't think this is unusual either. They're not druids. They approach nature from a different tradition.
 

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Len

Prodigal Member
60. can call lightning be cast indoors?
Seems like I'm the only one to actually read the spell description...
A storm cloud appears in the shape of a cylinder that is 10 feet tall with a 60-foot radius, centered on a point you can see 100 feet directly above you. The spell fails if you can’t see a point in the air where the storm cloud could appear (for example, if you are in a room that can’t accommodate the cloud).

So, the cloud is centred 100' above you, and you need to be able to see that point, and if indoors the room must be big enough to hold that cloud. That means the top of the cloud is 100 + 5 = 105 feet above you so the room needs to be at least that high (and 120 feet across too).
 

Salthorae

Imperial Mountain Dew Taster
65. how exactly does barkskin work? it seems to make the target's minimum armor class 16, but can it be increased from there? if the target has a 14 dexterity, is his/her armor class then 18?

To actually answer this question. Barkskin isn't effected by things that adjust AC. It sets your AC to 16.

If other things put your AC higher than that (armor+dex+shield) then you'd ignore barkskin because only the higher # matters.

So, no. Dex wouldn't put your AC to 18, nor would a shield.

It's really oddly worded spell, but primarily it's in there so Druid's can increase their AC while in wild shape form.

Here is the relevant quote from the Sage Advice Compendium

How does barkskin work with shields, cover, and other modifiers to AC?
Barkskin specifies that your AC can’t be lower than 16 while you are affected by the spell. This means you effectively ignore any modifiers to your AC—including your Dexterity modifier, your armor, a shield, and cover—unless your AC is higher than 16. For example, if your AC is normally 14, it’s 16 while barkskin is on you. If your AC is normally 15 and you have half cover, your AC is 17; barkskin isn’t relevant in this case.
 

Maestrino

Explorer
Seems like I'm the only one to actually read the spell description...


So, the cloud is centred 100' above you, and you need to be able to see that point, and if indoors the room must be big enough to hold that cloud. That means the top of the cloud is 100 + 5 = 105 feet above you so the room needs to be at least that high (and 120 feet across too).

They've errata-ed that spell, at least according to D&D Beyond. It now reads "centered on a point you can see within range directly above you."

EDIT: Still, you won't be running into too many rooms meeting the 120-foot requirement anyway.
 


Fenris447

Explorer
60. can call lightning be cast indoors?

61. is studded leather considered metal armor for the purposes of use by druids and for giving advantage to shocking grasp?

62. if two wizards hit a creature with ray of frost in the same round, is the creature's speed reduced by 20 feet?

63. can the target of a bless spell benefit from it more than once during its duration?

64. is there a way to heal undead and constructs?

65. how exactly does barkskin work? it seems to make the target's minimum armor class 16, but can it be increased from there? if the target has a 14 dexterity, is his/her armor class then 18?

66. does produce flame ignite combustables?

67. does a target of faerie fire continue to be affected even if he/she leaves the spell's area of effect?

68. do fighting style bonuses apply to spells? for example, if an eldritch knight has chosen archery for his/her fighting style, does the +2 apply to attack rolls with fire bolt?

69. are all "spell slots per spell level" tables in the phb identical? if so, it seems like they could've saved quite a bit of space by printing the table just once...

70. a druid will not wear metal armor, but will wear armor made of the skin of an animal. does that strike anyone as unusual?

71. a druid will not wear metal armor, but a cleric of nature not only can wear metal armor, but also gains the extra ability to wear the heaviest, metalist armor in existence. does that strike anyone as unusual?

60. As others said, read the spell description. The room has to be big enough.

61. Probably a question for your DM. The books say nothing either way.

62. No. PHB pg. 205:
The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect—such as the highest bonus—from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap.

For example, if two clerics cast bless on the same target, that character gains the spell's benefit only once; he or she doesn't get to roll two bonus dice.

63. It doesn't say the spell ends for a creature once they've used it, so no, it probably persists. Consider the concentration requirement on the part of the caster; that's how it's balanced.

64. No spells I can think of. The Artificer can use Mending to heal its construct pet, and there may be other class features or items that allow for things like this.

65. It basically sets your AC at 16 or whatever it would be without Barkskin, whichever is higher.

66. This is a weird one; 5e usually operates on the rules of general vs specific. Often, if something is specified in one place, it's safe to assume that it is not in effect elsewhere when not specified. So the Burning Hands spell says "The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried." The fact that Produce Flame does not say that means it doesn't do it. But this would be something I'd discuss with a DM in an actual play situation.

67. Yup. The area instills the effect on those caught in it when cast. Running out still means you're effected.

68. No. The archery fighting style says you get the bonus "with ranged weapons." Spell attacks are not ranged weapons, so no bonus.

69. For the full casters other than Warlocks, I think so, yes. Same with the half casters and then the 1/3rd casters. But I think the overall idea was to give you a table for all your class's upgrades each level, so that you wouldn't have to flip back and forth between the class-specific stuff and the general spellcasting table. Personally, I'll trade a few extra pages for that convenience any day.

70. I tend to think of it as the stereotypical Native American idea of using every part of the animal out of respect for it. But yeah, I can see it being weird. This sort of lore-based restriction is something to discuss with a DM in real play situations.

71. See #70. Talk with your DM. I know I'd be happy to flavor some plate armor as being natural, made from chitin or something, to satisfy RP needs while still meeting balance needs.
 

64. is there a way to heal undead and constructs?
There is nothing in the rules that prevents undead and constructs from being healed through normal methods. Cure Wounds would work on either. If a specific creature has something that would prevent it from being healed this way, that will be in it's stat block. There are no general rules for creature types in 5e.
 

Fenris447

Explorer
There is nothing in the rules that prevents undead and constructs from being healed through normal methods. Cure Wounds would work on either. If a specific creature has something that would prevent it from being healed this way, that will be in it's stat block. There are no general rules for creature types in 5e.

You would be surprised to learn that many of the standard healing spells have something along the lines of "This spell has no effect on undead or constructs." That includes Cure Wounds. There are no general rules about types, but each of those spells does specify it.
 
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Fenris447

Explorer
I went through to find spells that can heal undead or constructs. They are Aura of Life, Aura of Vitality, Goodberry, Life Transference, Regenerate, Revivify (technically), and, of course, Wish.
 

You would be surprised to learn that many of the standard healing spells have something along the lines of "This spell has no effect on undead or constructs." That includes Cure Wounds. There are no general rules about types, but each of those spells does specify it.
Ah thank you for pointing that out. I should've looked up Cure Wounds before posting. So there are no general rules for healing undead/constructs, but the specific spells, items, etc. will indicate if they do not work on undead/constructs.
 

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