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

[Maxperson]

We are trying to catch a villain who keeps dim dooring away.

It says you 'can' take objects with you up to your carrying capacity.

Lets say you are wearing manacles.
- Can you choose to 'not' take them with you so you dim door out of the manacles?
-If not, does it mean you are unable to dim door away if the manacles are attached to something heavier than you can carry (like a wall or heavy ball)?
- If so, are there any limits to what you can dim door out of, or leave behind? All your clothes? Just your shoes? specific items out of your pouch? A cursed item? etc...

Lastly, you can take one willing creature which implies that you cannot take an unwilling creature. I'm assuming you can dim door away from someone grappling you...but...what if they are manacled to you?

It's an instantaneous spell(exists for a fraction of a second), so you don't exactly have the time to run an inventory and decide which objects to bring or not to bring. The most reasonable interpretation of the spell in my opinion, is that anything worn comes along, followed by objects carried unless you exceed your limit, in which case either you don't go anywhere or random weight gets left behind.

 

[NotAYakk]

As a DM, I'd make a spellcasting ability check to selectively drop things you are wearing (and escape when shackled to a rock).

It is obviously a trickier use of the magic than a mere "take my clothing with me" or even "take another person and their gear" which is written in.

And in 5e, "roll an attribute check" is the standard way to adjudicate anything where the results are in question. This doesn't seem much different than "can I juggle 5 balls" or "can I slide under the wagon wheels as it moves by".

 

[jgsugden]

D&D is an RPG - a role playing game. Players are running characters in a story. The game works best when the story is best.

If the players come up with an idea to counter something the bad guys have done, the rule of cool says the DM should lean into facilitating their goals. When determining if bad guys can do the same, ask yourself what type of bad guy you're handling.

Minion? Heck no. They're there as speed bumps in the story. If you allow them to do things that are too cool, it ends up with the DM just smashing the PCs in a cruel game of "see how clever the DM is".

BBEG? The big bad enemy? Heck YES. They need to be interesting to stand out and feel like a real significant part of the story.

Somewhere in the middle? A leader in a large encounter? The Chief of a tribe? The owner of the tower they're exploring? It is a judgment call. Ask yourself whether it makes the story better or worse for them to be able to do it. If better, go for it. If worse, then don't drag it out.

The usual response if that a game should be fair, and all NPCs and PCs should be treated fairly and equally. Poppycock. That is like saying all of the orcs in LotR should have been as skilled with their weapons as Legolas. This is a role playing game - the role playing, and thus the story, comes first. Craft youtr narratives to tell a good story first and you'll have more fun.

 

[Eltab]

Can you put an antimagic field into Hallow? If yes, chain your DimDoor'ing foe to the appropriate altar.

 

[jasper]

I would leave the Dim Door his homework, his study guide, and take the answers with me. What? Even Doors can learn.

 

[MarkB]

Can you put an antimagic field into Hallow? If yes, chain your DimDoor'ing foe to the appropriate altar.

One of the effects you specifically can put into Hallow is Extradimensional Interference, which prevents teleportation or planar travel. It's useful for wizard-proofing a prison, or at least a cell block, but the cost and casting time make it less practical as an ad hoc measure for capturing such a foe in the first place.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

One of the effects you specifically can put into Hallow is Extradimensional Interference, which prevents teleportation or planar travel. It's useful for wizard-proofing a prison, or at least a cell block, but the cost and casting time make it less practical as an ad hoc measure for capturing such a foe in the first place.

Private sanctum also works.

 

[aco175]

Ask your players how it should work against them? I bet they would like to teleport and leave the shackles behind and something cool and not tied to rules. Next you will get scenarios about holding up a gate and trying to teleport away right after the rest of the party escapes. Then you are debating if the gate is being carried. I tend to let things work a bit more for the PCs, but try to keep control on some sort of standard.

Things like teleporting away from someone grappling you seems one of the reasons they made misty step. Other magic like this should work similar, but here dim door allows you to carry someone. Not too many players have a good control on how much their PC and gear weighs or another PC when trying to figure out that limit so you go with rule of cool and favor the PCs slightly. As long as when the bad guy gets away with teleporting with the fighter in plate everyone is cool as well.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

What about teleporting away from an arrow stuck in your gut? or an ithillid tadpole in your brain?

Well, there's Baldurs Gate III completed in five minutes.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I’m not the dm in this situation. Mostly I’m polling the community to see how people deal with it. I’m not a fan of it working better for the players than for npcs. The laws of physics and metaphysics should work equally for both. It makes it easier to make contingency plans and rules out the need to depend on the good graces of the dm or dm fiat. Once a decision is made, it should be consistent.

If I don’t want a mook to always escape, I won’t give them dimension door. But if they have it, they’ll use it.