D&D 5E The Dangers of Overreliance on Leomund's Tiny Hut (3rd Level Spell)

[Caliburn101]

fwiw: previous editions (on which 5e's version is based) said: "Half the sphere projects above the ground, and the lower hemisphere passes through the ground" even though "The interior of the hut is a hemisphere".

5e's unfortunate rewording created ambiguity, but I do not see an indication that the writers intended the spell to have a weakness to burrowing creatures (or creatures with access to items that could be used to shovel), and The Sage (Jeremy Crawford) has stated that the spell's effect do encompass the floor.

Allowing this vulnerability would seem to change the nature of this spell (in that, on earthen surfaces, most intelligent creatures could excavate a small entrance within minutes just by using their helmets, shields, etc.).

Past editions are moot as far as RAW is concerned, and in this particular case, Jeremy's opinion is irrelevant. The wording is very clear - with no mention of hemisphere, so underneath, it's vulnerable.

 

[pemerton]

The wording is very clear - with no mention of hemisphere, so underneath, it's vulnerable.

In the SRD (p 187), it says "Range: Self (10‑foot radius hemisphere)". That is a pretty clear mention of hemisphere.

 

[Caliburn101]

In the SRD (p 187), it says "Range: Self (10‑foot radius hemisphere)". That is a pretty clear mention of hemisphere.

The range being hemispherical does not prevent it being a dome, as mentioned many times exclusively in the description. The area of the spell is hemispherical, the spell itself is a dome.

Not all hemispherical areas are domes, but all domes (from the latin 'domus') encompass hemispherical or hemisphere-like areas.

It is logically and grammatically incorrect to conflate one with the other.

 

[Oofta]

In the SRD (p 187), it says "Range: Self (10‑foot radius hemisphere)". That is a pretty clear mention of hemisphere.

Take a ping pong ball. It's a sphere, correct? Now cut it in half to get a hemisphere. Does it gain a "floor" or is it a hollow hemisphere? Kind of in the same shape as a dome perhaps?

Nothing in the spell says the hut has a floor. IMHO the most obvious and simplest interpretation of a hemispherical dome looks just like that ping pong ball cut in half.

The only way I could see a hemisphere having a bottom after you cut a sphere in half would be if the sphere was solid. If it was a solid hemisphere of force there wouldn't be anywhere for the people and it would no longer be a dome.

Which is not to say that you're wrong if as a DM you add a floor, I just don't see any justification in the rules.

 

[jasper]

Since my dome tent has a floor, and it a dome and hemisphere, I will rule Tiny Hut has a floor. This is basically a magic tent for a long rest. Since a dispel magic pops it, I don't see the bother about the spell.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The only real question I'll ask here about your procedure in 5e is:

"Why the minimum...and why 12?"

It isn't so much that I disagree with 12, I'm just curious about the reasoning behind your machinery. In 5e we have:

1) Disadvantage doing the heavy lifting (mechanically and within the fiction) when determining adverse circumstances should apply and, consequently, the action resolution will typically orbit nearer the floor rather than the ceiling of potential results.

2) We have the brutally (AS below 10) clumsy (Dex), the aloof (Wis), and the feeble (Str) still capable of pulling of feats of agility, discernment, and raw power by proxy of the inherent swinginess of the d20 roll (especially with Advantage). The large plodding Ogre (-1 Initiative) can get the jump on the quickest, most aware/(p)lucky halfling (20 Dex and Alert Feat). And that is just a tiny sample.

In light of (1) and the rife examples of (2), I'm curious why LTH engaging with the resolution mechanics (eg just straight Disadvantage Wisdom/Survival) in the same orthodox way is problematic. Given what I know about your aesthetic preferences for process sim, I have to assume this is what is governing your ruling. But, if so, why is this one a bridge too far?

Or perhaps you impose a minimum to rein in the impact of the d20 and its ability to create such jarring events?

I picked twelve the same way a DM picks any other DC: I handwaved something that seems reasonable to me, based partly on my intuition for probability curves. Spotting a well-placed, dark-colored small building in the shadow of a mountain? Uh, DC 12 I guess. But there's a chance whoever placed it won't have actually picked the right spot, so we'll make that DC 12 a maximum, and use a Survival roll to see if you actually attained that maximum.

Using the min function is a way of setting a maximum. Min(12, survival roll) means that the result will not exceed 12. Min(12, 20) is 12. Min(12, 7) is 7.

 

[CydKnight]

Hemisphere's can have a base, which would equate to what many in this thread refer to here as the floor if that hemisphere is an object. The surface area of a hemisphere with a base is calculated as 3 π r2 as opposed to one without a base which would be calculated as 2 π r2. So I suppose whether this hut has a floor, and therefore is fully enclosed, would depend on whether you interpret this hut to be an object or not.

 

[Oofta]

Hemisphere's can have a base, which would equate to what many in this thread refer to here as the floor if that hemisphere is an object. The surface area of a hemisphere with a base is calculated as 3 π r2 as opposed to one without a base which would be calculated as 2 π r2. So I suppose whether this hut has a floor, and therefore is fully enclosed, would depend on whether you interpret this hut to be an object or not.

How does calculating the volume of a hemisphere change anything?

The spell says it creates a dome around and above you. I says nothing about "beneath" you. The calculation for the volume of a sphere or hemisphere do not change if they are hollow. If the dome is not hollow, there is no place for the people.

As always, if you are the DM and want to add a floor feel free.

 

[Tony Vargas]

As always, if you are the DM and want to add a floor feel free.

By the same token: As always, if you are the DM and want to take the floor away, feel free. (I mean, you should always feel free to take floor out from under your players. Keeps 'em on their toes. Well, keeps 'em flailing in mid air for a subjective cartoon-like moment before they fall.)

Or, if you really want to make the spell less broken, feel free to take away the whole impenetrable thing and have it merely provide concealment, instead.

 

[CydKnight]

How does calculating the volume of a hemisphere change anything?

The spell says it creates a dome around and above you. I says nothing about "beneath" you. The calculation for the volume of a sphere or hemisphere do not change if they are hollow. If the dome is not hollow, there is no place for the people.

As always, if you are the DM and want to add a floor feel free.

First, I was never responding to you directly or to any direct quotes in this thread regarding "domes". I was only referring to those who were using the word "hemisphere" in their descriptions as it seemed that some questioned whether a hemisphere would have a bottom to it.

Second, my post neither mentions or implies anything regarding "volume" of a hemisphere or anything else. My reference was specifically to surface area calculations which mathematically validate a hemisphere having a base. Whether "Leomond's Tiny Hut" includes a floor or not, though related, was not the subject of my post.