Danger Sense

Scenero: party is in a secured fortress made of wood. There is wooden wall 70 feet from us. We are in a great hall having dinner.  A giant bore crashes through outer wall then through wall to our chamber.  As a barbarian I thought danger sense would apply. DM is of the impression the boar crashing through 2 walls is not an "effect" and wouldn't apply.  I kinda thought the noise made would be warning enough for danger sense to apply.  Just curious if there are any rulings on danger sense.  Thanks in advance.

At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren’t as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger.

You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can’t be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.

Not sure if you had to dodge away from danger...

Had to roll dex to get out of way of stampeding giant boar.

Did you have to make a dexterity save to dodge... Wall debris or something?

I'm also not sure if a boar on the other side of a wall counts as something you can see...

I would definitely have given you the advantage on the roll.  "You hear a snuffling, snorting sound a split second before the wall comes smashing in.  You see a giant boar rampaging through it..."  Make a DEX roll...

How far away was the wall to your chamber?

The DM should have made this a Dexterity save instead of a Skill Challenge, I don't completely understand why they did this but hey their the DM. Unless everyone including the party also gets attacked by the boar and also has to make dexterity rolls then the DM should have made it dexterity saves as this was most likely a triggered trap in the form of a monster. But yeah I would have also given you the advantage if its described to be like this.

There was a 70 feet from the building it charged through before hitting wall to our hall.  Giant boar took 4 tiles. Felt I should have sensed its approach especially as charging through outer wall and just enough notice to dive for cover. Was a dex save I felt I should have had advantage

5e doesn't define an 'effect', but in general usage it's a very generic term that would certainly apply to being trampled by a (visible) giant boar (invisible giant boars, however...).

Quote from rakassan101 >>

There was a 70 feet from the building it charged through before hitting wall to our hall.  Giant boar took 4 tiles. Felt I should have sensed its approach especially as charging through outer wall and just enough notice to dive for cover. Was a dex save I felt I should have had advantage

 If it was a DEX save, yes you should have had advantage. Anything that potentially reduces your hit points or gives you a condition is an effect and you could see it coming at you.

If the boar was invisible, that would be another story. But as you describe it this is no different than a trap and basically exactly the kind of thing this ability was meant for.

Quote from DxJxC >>

Did you have to make a dexterity save to dodge... Wall debris or something?

I'm also not sure if a boar on the other side of a wall counts as something you can see...

 You don't see the boar before it crashes into the wall, but you definitely can see the wall collapsing towards you.

Thanks thats what I thought as well. Fortunately I rolled a nat 20. But still wanted to try to clarify for him if I could see it and it's a dex save I get advantage. After the game he agreed so at least it's fixed for next time. Thanks 

Yes had to make a dex save to avoid being trampled and hit by flying debris

Quote from rakassan101 >>

There was a 70 feet from the building it charged through before hitting wall to our hall.  Giant boar took 4 tiles. Felt I should have sensed its approach especially as charging through outer wall and just enough notice to dive for cover. Was a dex save I felt I should have had advantage

 Yes, but how far were you from the wall into the room?  You hear a noise as it goes through a wall 70 feet away - great.  But when it comes crashing into your room is when the situation needs a move of some sort.

Quote from DxJxC >>

I'm also not sure if a boar on the other side of a wall counts as something you can see...

 Unless you're also criticizing the situation itself for calling for DEX saves against things that haven't happened yet, you need to be careful with this line of logic because it makes the ability pretty much worthless if you go down that road. 

"It doesn't work against fireball because you didn't recognize the spell being cast before it explodes."

"It doesn't work on the dart trap because you didn't see the dart coming."

Then when the heck does it work? Do you only get advantage on saves from traps that you already spotted and triggered on purpose?

This ability is Spidey Sense with an invisiblity clause. It is reacting so quickly in the moment that it appears supernatural. Invisibility shuts it down, and being blinded shuts it down, but "the boar is running really fast so you didn't see it coming" does not shut it down. Whatever is coming at you that you are making a DEX save to avoid, if you can see it then Danger Sense applies.

You aren't making a roll to dodge a boar on the other side of the wall. You're making a roll to dodge a boar after it bursts through the wall, or to dodge the fragments of the wall, and both of those things are visible.

Yeah, this is exactly the kind of thing Danger Sense is meant for.

I'd say it counts. It's sudden sure. And if the surprised condition negated danger sense, then maybe it wouldn't work here. But it doesn't say anything about surprise, and it's not like the boar is invisible. 

A Boar crashing through a wall should be an attack roll or dex save, it's really up to the DM, but if they were following the design of the game, a check to avoid a harmful effect should have been a save. I would apply it, but it's in that vague zone that doesn't strictly instruct a DM to rule that way, it would be a superior judgements though.

Behavior like this often makes me find a place to kill my character and roll a new one with features the DM will recognize. No DM is perfect. 

The effect this is flat out not how the ability works. If that situation doesn’t apply I’d love to see how he justifies a trap being an effect. 

long story short If your senses can pick it up you get advantage. Hence the whole “can’t be blinded or deafened”. Effect is just a catch all word. 

Quote from rakassan101 >>

Yes had to make a dex save to avoid being trampled and hit by flying debris

 If you could see the boar and the flying debris and wasn't blinded, deafened, or incapacitated, then you should have benefited from Danger Sense and have advantage on that Dexterity saving throws. At my table it would have been a danger you can sense.