D&D 5E Once More, Into The LTH Breach

[Pallidore]

So, Quickleaf has spurred a thought in me that maybe this should just be a wooden hut, as a lot of cheese then just goes away. Bards and wizards, more comfort-seekers perhaps than most other classes, are thus quite appropriate for this spell. If so, would the below be on track?

Tiny Hut
3rd-level conjuration (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (finger-sized, expertly carved, miniature wooden hut, worth 1 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 8 hours

As long as you are standing on a solid surface, an 8-to-10-foot-high, 20-foot-by-20-foot normal wooden hut springs into existence around and above you and remains stationary for the duration. The hut’s walls, floor, and sloped roof are 6-inches thick. The hut is windowless, and has a 2-inch thick, 3-foot wide, 7-foot-high no-lock door on a wall you choose (you can’t change it once chosen). The spell ends if you travel more than 60 feet from the center of the hut.

No furnishings are created by the spell. Nine creatures of Medium size or smaller can fit inside the hut with you. The spell fails on casting if there is an obstruction that the DM determines would significantly hinder its manifestation, or if its area includes a larger creature or more than nine creatures.

At the end of 8 hours, the hut, or what remains if it has been damaged, vanishes. The spell can be ritually cast by you only once per 24-hour period.

 

[beancounter]

I would drop the temperature variant rule, but I don't see a problem with any other part of your house rules.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I just accept that I can't drop random encounters on the party when they're sleeping and build interesting encounters they do want to interact with instead.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

If there were a breach in the LTH, I'd probably let a spellcaster use Mending a few times to seal it up.
Wait... what?

 

[Shiroiken]

So I'm new to this debate. What's considered broken about the 5e version of the spell? Sure it is cheeseable, but there are ways foes can get around it should they need to, and the fact that it takes a full minute to cast bars it from being protection during an ongoing combat.

There are a few edge cases where the spell can be used in combat, usually by using a scroll. If you can drop one in combat, it's actually pretty awesome, but it's pretty hard to do.

The big complaint is that it does what it's supposed to do: greatly reduce the threat of a random encounter during a long rest. If you have such an encounter with an enemy, you can use the hut as a bunker to attack with almost no chance of retaliation. Because of this, I've found most DMs simply disperse with overnight random encounters when LTH comes into play. If used in hostile territory, the enemy will simply wait for the spell to end, then attack the party with overwhelming force (multiple times I've seen the party worse off after a long rest because of this). I assume that those who complain find these results detrimental to their play style, which is their real issue. IMO the only "fix" necessary for them would be to just remove the ritual tag completely.

 

[overgeeked]

There are a few edge cases where the spell can be used in combat, usually by using a scroll. If you can drop one in combat, it's actually pretty awesome, but it's pretty hard to do.

The big complaint is that it does what it's supposed to do: greatly reduce the threat of a random encounter during a long rest. If you have such an encounter with an enemy, you can use the hut as a bunker to attack with almost no chance of retaliation. Because of this, I've found most DMs simply disperse with overnight random encounters when LTH comes into play. If used in hostile territory, the enemy will simply wait for the spell to end, then attack the party with overwhelming force (multiple times I've seen the party worse off after a long rest because of this). I assume that those who complain find these results detrimental to their play style, which is their real issue. IMO the only "fix" necessary for them would be to just remove the ritual tag completely.

While you’re right, if this is why DMs don’t like LTH, they haven’t thought through the mechanics of the game very well. All hp and resources recharge with the completion of a long rest, which takes 4-8 hours depending on race. The DMG has wandering monster checks every hour, at worst, or every 4, 8, or 12 hours. With a 15% chance. The first wandering monster fight will basically be a drawn-out delay of resting. Only if there’s a second wandering monster fight before the rest is complete will the resource drain of the first actually matter, so the only lasting consequence is death or consumable item use. There’s a 2.25% chance of two wandering monsters in a row, whatever the timeframe.

 

[Ancalagon]

Well, first you should ban the chronurgy wizard....

 

[Lanefan]

So, Quickleaf has spurred a thought in me that maybe this should just be a wooden hut, as a lot of cheese then just goes away. Bards and wizards, more comfort-seekers perhaps than most other classes, are thus quite appropriate for this spell. If so, would the below be on track?

Tiny Hut
3rd-level conjuration (ritual)

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (finger-sized, expertly carved, miniature wooden hut, worth 1 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 8 hours

As long as you are standing on a solid surface, an 8-to-10-foot-high, 20-foot-by-20-foot normal wooden hut springs into existence around and above you and remains stationary for the duration. The hut’s walls, floor, and sloped roof are 6-inches thick. The hut is windowless, and has a 2-inch thick, 3-foot wide, 7-foot-high no-lock door on a wall you choose (you can’t change it once chosen). The spell ends if you travel more than 60 feet from the center of the hut.

No furnishings are created by the spell. Nine creatures of Medium size or smaller can fit inside the hut with you. The spell fails on casting if there is an obstruction that the DM determines would significantly hinder its manifestation, or if its area includes a larger creature or more than nine creatures.

At the end of 8 hours, the hut, or what remains if it has been damaged, vanishes. The spell can be ritually cast by you only once per 24-hour period.

Other than the M component having a cost, which I'd just change to being a few toothpicks or small sticks of wood, the idea behind this is really good!

I might tweak the size down just a bit - 20x20 is bigger than a typical log cabin - and maybe cut it to caster-plus-six can fit. The only other change I think I'd make would be to put one small window in each wall, so those inside can look out if they want.

Also, your write-up doesn't make any mention of whether the hut is Dispel-able once cast (I think it should be, and that it would radiate faint magic to anyone checking for such). Even if the non-dispellability is intentional it should be noted as such to avoid confusion.

 

[Pallidore]

Other than the M component having a cost, which I'd just change to being a few toothpicks or small sticks of wood, the idea behind this is really good!

I might tweak the size down just a bit - 20x20 is bigger than a typical log cabin - and maybe cut it to caster-plus-six can fit. The only other change I think I'd make would be to put one small window in each wall, so those inside can look out if they want.

Also, your write-up doesn't make any mention of whether the hut is Dispel-able once cast (I think it should be, and that it would radiate faint magic to anyone checking for such). Even if the non-dispellability is intentional it should be noted as such to avoid confusion.

Thank you Lanefan. Since I kept the ritual tag, I put in a small material component cost, so that there would be SOME consideration of resource expenditure. Also, my thoughts were still a bit that instead of being an automatic thing Tiny Hut might be held in reserve for when a bad rainstorm, snowstorm, sandstorm, dust storm, etc. was in the offing.

I kept the size to the approximate dimensions of the present Leomund's. I think the idea is not that 9 plus the caster should be in it (unless there's some odd or emergency situation), but that 6 people could have just a bit of room so they aren't right on top of each other.

Windows in a pseudo-medieval setting often present problems, so I left them out. No windows also helps with better protection against the elements. And the adventurers will still probably need to have an outside watch.

You may be right, it might not hurt to make it able to be dispelled.

 

[MarkB]

Yeah, personally I like the idea of discarding the force effect and making it an actual hut, camouflaged to blend into the terrain - basically a game-hunter's hide. Keep the magically-comfortable interior, give the walls hit points commensurate with wooden construction, and add it to the Ranger spell list.