Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Underwater Spellcasting
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="coolAlias" data-source="post: 7622541" data-attributes="member: 6998948"><p>Assuming we're talking about 5e here, I could only really find 3 explicit rules (see 1 - 3 below), two of which pertain to spell components and don't mention water at all but that do raise important points.</p><p></p><p>I've added a bunch of questions you may want to consider relating to each point, and several others have given some good ideas about how spells or material components might not work as expected.</p><p></p><p>1. Creatures and objects that are fully immersed in water have resistance to fire damage. (PHB 198)</p><p></p><p> - As such, I would suggest avoiding any further penalties to fire magic.</p><p></p><p> - Recall also that resistances from multiple sources do not stack, so a demon with fire resistance also fully submerged in water only halves the fire damage once.</p><p></p><p>2. A character who is gagged or in an area of silence can't cast a spell with a verbal component. (PHB 203)</p><p></p><p> - Is a character considered "gagged" when underwater?</p><p></p><p> * What if they have a swim speed? See for example attacking with melee weapons.</p><p></p><p> * What if they can breathe underwater?</p><p></p><p> - See also <a href="https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/78530/can-spells-with-a-verbal-component-be-cast-underwater-if-the-caster-cant-breath" target="_blank">https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/78530/can-spells-with-a-verbal-component-be-cast-underwater-if-the-caster-cant-breath</a></p><p></p><p>3. A character must have free use of at least one hand cast a spell with a somatic component. (PHB 203)</p><p> </p><p> - Normally, a character can move and cast a spell at the same time; does swimming always require the use of both arms and hands, and if so, does that preclude casting somatic spells and moving in the same turn?</p><p></p><p> * Would the above ruling apply equally to Material components? What if it's a focus?</p><p></p><p>4. Assuming a spell is successfully cast, there do not appear to be any rules indicating that the spell effect will deviate from the spell description, regardless of whether that spell is cast in water or air unless otherwise specified by the spell itself. Thus, casting Shocking Grasp or Lightning Bolt while underwater behaves exactly as written, not electrocuting nearby creatures as real-world physics might otherwise suggest.</p><p></p><p> - Will this be the case for all spells, or will some be subject to physics?</p><p></p><p> * For example, fog cannot form in water; will the spell Fog Cloud simply fail if cast underwater, or will it work because "magic"?</p><p></p><p> - See <a href="https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/95717/what-happens-when-you-cast-fireball-under-water" target="_blank">https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/95717/what-happens-when-you-cast-fireball-under-water</a></p><p></p><p> - See <a href="https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/136108/what-happens-to-lightning-spells-underwater" target="_blank">https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/136108/what-happens-to-lightning-spells-underwater</a></p><p></p><p>Additonal thought: if the target of a spell is fully immersed in water and the spellcaster is not, does the water count as cover or concealment? See e.g. <a href="https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/107741/can-you-cast-spells-through-water" target="_blank">https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/107741/can-you-cast-spells-through-water</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="coolAlias, post: 7622541, member: 6998948"] Assuming we're talking about 5e here, I could only really find 3 explicit rules (see 1 - 3 below), two of which pertain to spell components and don't mention water at all but that do raise important points. I've added a bunch of questions you may want to consider relating to each point, and several others have given some good ideas about how spells or material components might not work as expected. 1. Creatures and objects that are fully immersed in water have resistance to fire damage. (PHB 198) - As such, I would suggest avoiding any further penalties to fire magic. - Recall also that resistances from multiple sources do not stack, so a demon with fire resistance also fully submerged in water only halves the fire damage once. 2. A character who is gagged or in an area of silence can't cast a spell with a verbal component. (PHB 203) - Is a character considered "gagged" when underwater? * What if they have a swim speed? See for example attacking with melee weapons. * What if they can breathe underwater? - See also [url]https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/78530/can-spells-with-a-verbal-component-be-cast-underwater-if-the-caster-cant-breath[/url] 3. A character must have free use of at least one hand cast a spell with a somatic component. (PHB 203) - Normally, a character can move and cast a spell at the same time; does swimming always require the use of both arms and hands, and if so, does that preclude casting somatic spells and moving in the same turn? * Would the above ruling apply equally to Material components? What if it's a focus? 4. Assuming a spell is successfully cast, there do not appear to be any rules indicating that the spell effect will deviate from the spell description, regardless of whether that spell is cast in water or air unless otherwise specified by the spell itself. Thus, casting Shocking Grasp or Lightning Bolt while underwater behaves exactly as written, not electrocuting nearby creatures as real-world physics might otherwise suggest. - Will this be the case for all spells, or will some be subject to physics? * For example, fog cannot form in water; will the spell Fog Cloud simply fail if cast underwater, or will it work because "magic"? - See [url]https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/95717/what-happens-when-you-cast-fireball-under-water[/url] - See [url]https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/136108/what-happens-to-lightning-spells-underwater[/url] Additonal thought: if the target of a spell is fully immersed in water and the spellcaster is not, does the water count as cover or concealment? See e.g. [url]https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/107741/can-you-cast-spells-through-water[/url] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Underwater Spellcasting
Top