D&D 5E What can you 'not' take with you when you dim door?


log in or register to remove this ad


Well, in 3e, there was a spell called dimensional anchor which prevented such spells. Given they removed that spell from the game, I assumed it was possible to do without needing an actual magic item. Especially given the fact that 5e doesn’t rely on PCs needing magic items at all.
5e is not 3e, and any conclusions drawn based on comparisons to 3e (or any other previous edition) are prone to error.
 


If it's in combat, there's not much you can do beyond counterspell or hem them into a Silence spell. Dimension Door is intended to be the low level escape spell (often replaced by Teleport later), and so it's doing what its supposed to do.

Outside of combat, there are several ways to keep them under wraps. You can keep them unconscious by damaging them every half-hour, then using Wis/Medicine to stabilize them again. You can bind their hands, blindfold them, and gag them, preferably with someone standing guard in case they move, preventing them from casting (unless they have Silent Spell). To interrogate, you can remove the gag; they can Dimension Door away at great risk (not knowing what's in the direction they're teleporting to).
 

Can't you just gag him? Or is he using Subtle spell?

We were fighting beside water. My plan was to grapple her and drag her into the water and drown her. She can’t cast spells under water. She rolled lucky and my grapple failed. I was wondering about the manacles because the thief rogue uses manacles as his cunning action to shackle people’s legs together. I thought it’d be fun if he shackled the wizard to my barbarian.

I semi agree that it’s plot armour. On the other hand, every wizard I play has dimension door for exactly that reason. I see plot armour as more the dm preventing certain outcomes to bring the villain back. Like, we defeat the villain but, instead of her dying, she falls into a river and washes away only to show up later. Dimension Door is mechanically sound way to escape. I think, if we can prevent it, he won’t fudge it
 


There is, in fact, a Sage Advice about this:

Seeing as how you wearing the manacles, they go with you.
My assumption, when they put details like that, it is to illustrate the limitations of the spell. To me the ‘you can - but only to this limit-’ indicated a limitation of being able to carry no more than your carrying capacity which prevents people from using the spell to transport two ton rocks or vast amounts of treasure. Others interpret the ‘you can’ meaning “you don’t HAVE TO’ which allows you to wiggle out of things like manacles. Both legit interpretations.
 
Last edited:


I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t be able to dimension door away from a cursed item either, unless the effects of the curse include not being able to unequip the item.

If the effects of the curse don't include that... you could just put the item down and walk away...
 

Remove ads

Top