Let's say that you scry on an individual, and want to teleport to them. Scrying is a concentration spell, but teleport is not. As I understand it you should be able to cast teleport while srcying. Since you can see the person, from scrying, would you be able to teleport to them, you would have "Very familiar" (is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell.)?
Yeah, that should be good for giving the target; the “you can see […] through the sensor as if you were there” meets the requirements for “very familiar”.
Just looked over the spell and there is nothing that states you can't cast Teleport while concentrating on another spell. There may be a ruling from another source I am missing but RAW shows it should be fine but check with your DM regarding any house rules that may conflict.
Looking over the spell description though with the use of scry it gets iffy with what tier of chance it would have. As a DM the ruling at my table would vary depending on the situation. If the scry was say at a location you know at least roughly where it is like oh this is in the town of Ferrin because I recognize the architecture or whatever then that would count as Very Familiar since you are actively viewing an area via magic that you already know the general location.
"Very familiar" is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell.
On the other hand if say you were scrying some big bad that was hiding in their lair that you had no idea of the actual location I'd count that as a Viewed Once situation since even if you are actively viewing the location you have no context on where it could possibly be outside of the small view/clues that scry would give you.
"Viewed once" is a place you have seen once, possibly using magic.
Let's say that you scry on an individual, and want to teleport to them. Scrying is a concentration spell, but teleport is not. As I understand it you should be able to cast teleport while srcying. Since you can see the person, from scrying, would you be able to teleport to them, you would have "Very familiar" (is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell.)?
Thanks for the opinions.
Yes you can teleport anywhere on the same plane, mishaps can occure depending on your familiarity of that place. Review the spells conditions with your DM
What if the creature you are scrying on is in a different plane of existence?
Then you couldn’t be using the spell Scrying to view them.
Edit: In terms of targeting Teleport based on some magical projection of a location on another Plane, I’d call that a False Destination.
True, Scry would probably fail or give the age old response of “ we are sorry but the creature you are attempting to spy on is currently unavailable, please try again.”
Ok so next question, what if the creature to be spied on is in an open portable hole, or an open door entry to say Magnificent Mansion?
"Very Familiar" is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell. "Seen Casually" is some place you have seen more than once but with which you aren't very familiar. "Viewed Once" is a place you have seen once, possibly using magic. "Description" is a place whose location and appearance you know through someone else's description, perhaps from a map.
Since you're using Scrying to see the place you're teleporting to when you cast the spell, it would qualify for "Very Familiar" familiarity. But you do have a very limited view through the sensor so you probably wouldn't want to try to use it to teleport to an enemy.
P.S. Yes, you can cast another spell while concentrating on another spell. If the second spell is concentration then your concentration on the first spell drops. Since Teleport is not concentration your concentration on Scrying doesn't drop from casting it.
A small qualifier for concentration while casting: any spell with a casting time of 1 minute or more uses concentration for that duration, even if the spell itself does not.
To clarify, I am the DM (newer to DMing). The party is being chased by the bbeg and I was thinking if they, the bbeg, had a lock of hair from one of the party memebers they could scrye on them, then teleport to where they see them, get a surprise round and have a nice little encounter....Just not sure if mechanically it would work.
To clarify, I am the DM (newer to DMing). The party is being chased by the bbeg and I was thinking if they, the bbeg, had a lock of hair from one of the party memebers they could scrye on them, then teleport to where they see them, get a surprise round and have a nice little encounter....Just not sure if mechanically it would work.
It's probably not a precedent you want to set, teleport ambushes do not generally make good game play and you'll be forced to just wrap all your dungeons in effects that block teleport.
I feel like this is the kind of thing that works by RAW, but I doubt it was RAI. I'd say, a place you can see, means, with your own eyes, not magically. So, if you're on a mountain and looking down into the valley, you can go ahead and teleport there. Or to the other side of a large body of water, etc. However, I'm hesitant to say what some other person intended, so I typically don't like to make RAI arguments. So, I'd probably allow it, while thinking it shouldn't be allowed.
But, as Pantagruel said, teleport ambushes aren't very fun, and that's really another reason not to do it. Really, even without the ambush, just having the BBEG scrying on the party whenever they want is a pretty big deal, and gives you a legitimate reason to plan his base and encounters with the BBEG and their minions to specifically counter the PC's favorite tactics and pretty much always be one step ahead. Giving up an advantage like that by letting the PCs know they're being watched, it would need to be a really big prize they were going after. And even then, they could just send some minions, or hire some nearby mercenaries to retrieve the item to save risking themself.
If the DM is feeling cooperative, then I’d say by RAW you can land the teleport on your side of the portal.
As a player and a DM, I’d buy it.
To be fair, by the same token I'd block it if I was running a scene where the BBEG was very definitely out of their reach but someone spotted a technicality.
I feel like this is the kind of thing that works by RAW, but I doubt it was RAI. I'd say, a place you can see, means, with your own eyes, not magically. So, if you're on a mountain and looking down into the valley, you can go ahead and teleport there. Or to the other side of a large body of water, etc. However, I'm hesitant to say what some other person intended, so I typically don't like to make RAI arguments. So, I'd probably allow it, while thinking it shouldn't be allowed.
But, as Pantagruel said, teleport ambushes aren't very fun, and that's really another reason not to do it. Really, even without the ambush, just having the BBEG scrying on the party whenever they want is a pretty big deal, and gives you a legitimate reason to plan his base and encounters with the BBEG and their minions to specifically counter the PC's favorite tactics and pretty much always be one step ahead. Giving up an advantage like that by letting the PCs know they're being watched, it would need to be a really big prize they were going after. And even then, they could just send some minions, or hire some nearby mercenaries to retrieve the item to save risking themself.
Pretty sure it does work by RAI; there's a reason why I've heard the term "scry and die" used to describe teleport ambushes. Plus the fact that Scrying calls for a save still allows the DM to block it from locking on BBEG's with a LR, which then prevents them from being re-targeted by Scry for 24 hours. Plus there's always the DM fiat of "the target is in a warded area".
Pretty sure it does work by RAI; there's a reason why I've heard the term "scry and die" used to describe teleport ambushes.
It's been a viable tactic since pretty much forever, I think the only edition where it didn't work was 4th. However, it tends to be in the category of "top ten reasons why high level D&D is an unplayable mess".
Pretty sure it does work by RAI; there's a reason why I've heard the term "scry and die" used to describe teleport ambushes.
It's been a viable tactic since pretty much forever, I think the only edition where it didn't work was 4th. However, it tends to be in the category of "top ten reasons why high level D&D is an unplayable mess".
Like I said, 5e gives DMs a very good tool to short circuit its use on a BBEG, particularly at high levels.
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Let's say that you scry on an individual, and want to teleport to them. Scrying is a concentration spell, but teleport is not. As I understand it you should be able to cast teleport while srcying. Since you can see the person, from scrying, would you be able to teleport to them, you would have "Very familiar" (is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell.)?
Thanks for the opinions.
A place you have studied carefully would be my answer.
Teleport is not a concentration spell but you can not cast it while concentrating on another spell.
Yeah, that should be good for giving the target; the “you can see […] through the sensor as if you were there” meets the requirements for “very familiar”.
Just looked over the spell and there is nothing that states you can't cast Teleport while concentrating on another spell. There may be a ruling from another source I am missing but RAW shows it should be fine but check with your DM regarding any house rules that may conflict.
Looking over the spell description though with the use of scry it gets iffy with what tier of chance it would have. As a DM the ruling at my table would vary depending on the situation. If the scry was say at a location you know at least roughly where it is like oh this is in the town of Ferrin because I recognize the architecture or whatever then that would count as Very Familiar since you are actively viewing an area via magic that you already know the general location.
"Very familiar" is a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell.
On the other hand if say you were scrying some big bad that was hiding in their lair that you had no idea of the actual location I'd count that as a Viewed Once situation since even if you are actively viewing the location you have no context on where it could possibly be outside of the small view/clues that scry would give you.
"Viewed once" is a place you have seen once, possibly using magic.
Hope that helps a little!
What if the creature you are scrying on is in a different plane of existence?
Then you couldn’t be using the spell Scrying to view them.
Edit: In terms of targeting Teleport based on some magical projection of a location on another Plane, I’d call that a False Destination.
Yes you can teleport anywhere on the same plane, mishaps can occure depending on your familiarity of that place. Review the spells conditions with your DM
True, Scry would probably fail or give the age old response of “ we are sorry but the creature you are attempting to spy on is currently unavailable, please try again.”
Ok so next question, what if the creature to be spied on is in an open portable hole, or an open door entry to say Magnificent Mansion?
If the DM is feeling cooperative, then I’d say by RAW you can land the teleport on your side of the portal.
Since you're using Scrying to see the place you're teleporting to when you cast the spell, it would qualify for "Very Familiar" familiarity. But you do have a very limited view through the sensor so you probably wouldn't want to try to use it to teleport to an enemy.
P.S. Yes, you can cast another spell while concentrating on another spell. If the second spell is concentration then your concentration on the first spell drops. Since Teleport is not concentration your concentration on Scrying doesn't drop from casting it.
A small qualifier for concentration while casting: any spell with a casting time of 1 minute or more uses concentration for that duration, even if the spell itself does not.
I appreciate all the comments.
To clarify, I am the DM (newer to DMing). The party is being chased by the bbeg and I was thinking if they, the bbeg, had a lock of hair from one of the party memebers they could scrye on them, then teleport to where they see them, get a surprise round and have a nice little encounter....Just not sure if mechanically it would work.
As a player and a DM, I’d buy it.
It's probably not a precedent you want to set, teleport ambushes do not generally make good game play and you'll be forced to just wrap all your dungeons in effects that block teleport.
I feel like this is the kind of thing that works by RAW, but I doubt it was RAI. I'd say, a place you can see, means, with your own eyes, not magically. So, if you're on a mountain and looking down into the valley, you can go ahead and teleport there. Or to the other side of a large body of water, etc. However, I'm hesitant to say what some other person intended, so I typically don't like to make RAI arguments. So, I'd probably allow it, while thinking it shouldn't be allowed.
But, as Pantagruel said, teleport ambushes aren't very fun, and that's really another reason not to do it. Really, even without the ambush, just having the BBEG scrying on the party whenever they want is a pretty big deal, and gives you a legitimate reason to plan his base and encounters with the BBEG and their minions to specifically counter the PC's favorite tactics and pretty much always be one step ahead. Giving up an advantage like that by letting the PCs know they're being watched, it would need to be a really big prize they were going after. And even then, they could just send some minions, or hire some nearby mercenaries to retrieve the item to save risking themself.
To be fair, by the same token I'd block it if I was running a scene where the BBEG was very definitely out of their reach but someone spotted a technicality.
Pretty sure it does work by RAI; there's a reason why I've heard the term "scry and die" used to describe teleport ambushes. Plus the fact that Scrying calls for a save still allows the DM to block it from locking on BBEG's with a LR, which then prevents them from being re-targeted by Scry for 24 hours. Plus there's always the DM fiat of "the target is in a warded area".
Oh I’d only let the portable hole count, any other dimensional portal would be a hard no.
It's been a viable tactic since pretty much forever, I think the only edition where it didn't work was 4th. However, it tends to be in the category of "top ten reasons why high level D&D is an unplayable mess".
Like I said, 5e gives DMs a very good tool to short circuit its use on a BBEG, particularly at high levels.