Please let me know if you think the following is played correctly, and any suggestions you may have:
Wizard wins initiative.
Wizard casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on an enemy. The enemy fails their saving throw, and per the spell falls prone and is incapacitated.
Next in the order is the incapacitated enemy, affected by the spell. Per the spell, at the end of each of its turns, and each time it takes damage, the target can make another Wisdom saving throw.
Does the enemy get to make a saving throw in his very next turn? In other words the spell was effective less than a round of combat. The enemy gets to make two saving throws in the same round of combat.
Please let me know how you think this should be ruled.
Yes, that's exactly how I'd rule on Tasha's Hideous Laughter. It's only a 1st level spell and shouldn't be that powerful. In that situation if I was the Wizard I'd take the ready action and prepare the spell with a trigger of, "After opponent x acts I will cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on him." That will maximize it's effectiveness.
Even if the enemy successfully saves at the end of its turn, it lost its actions and it remains prone until its next turn. The prone condition is the thing that’s going to give advantage to your melee allies. Incapacitated sounds really powerful but all it does is prevent the creature from taking actions and reactions. It doesn’t prevent the creature from moving, that’s why the spell includes the phrase “and unable to stand up”. The creature can crawl on its turn even while it is affected by the spell.
Two things I'd like to point out about Readying the spell, though are these:
1- From my interpretation of the rules, it seems you have to prepare for a specific action as condition, not merely "Opponent X acts" or "Dude Y takes his turn". Ultimately, this should probably be discussed and cleared up with the DM. PHB Quote below.
Examples include "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll pull the lever that opens it," and "If the goblin steps next to me, I move away."
2- A lot of people seem to forget, or don't know, that readying a spell requires concentration, and may result in wasting a spell slot on a "miscast". PHB Quote Below.
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell's magic requires concentration (explained in chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile, your web spell ends, and if you take damage before you release magic missile with your reaction, your concentration might be broken.
Please let me know if you think the following is played correctly, and any suggestions you may have:
Wizard wins initiative.
Wizard casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on an enemy. The enemy fails their saving throw, and per the spell falls prone and is incapacitated.
Next in the order is the incapacitated enemy, affected by the spell. Per the spell, at the end of each of its turns, and each time it takes damage, the target can make another Wisdom saving throw.
Does the enemy get to make a saving throw in his very next turn? In other words the spell was effective less than a round of combat. The enemy gets to make two saving throws in the same round of combat.
Please let me know how you think this should be ruled.
Yes, that's exactly how I'd rule on Tasha's Hideous Laughter. It's only a 1st level spell and shouldn't be that powerful. In that situation if I was the Wizard I'd take the ready action and prepare the spell with a trigger of, "After opponent x acts I will cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on him." That will maximize it's effectiveness.
Professional computer geek
Thanks so much for the excellent response!
Even if the enemy successfully saves at the end of its turn, it lost its actions and it remains prone until its next turn. The prone condition is the thing that’s going to give advantage to your melee allies. Incapacitated sounds really powerful but all it does is prevent the creature from taking actions and reactions. It doesn’t prevent the creature from moving, that’s why the spell includes the phrase “and unable to stand up”. The creature can crawl on its turn even while it is affected by the spell.
Sooooo glad the bard is going to give my wizard this spell now.
Two things I'd like to point out about Readying the spell, though are these:
1- From my interpretation of the rules, it seems you have to prepare for a specific action as condition, not merely "Opponent X acts" or "Dude Y takes his turn". Ultimately, this should probably be discussed and cleared up with the DM. PHB Quote below.
2- A lot of people seem to forget, or don't know, that readying a spell requires concentration, and may result in wasting a spell slot on a "miscast". PHB Quote Below.