So started a new campaign about a couple of weeks ago with a sci-fi theme.  We were trying to escape a planet that has been overrun by zombie apocalypse.  We were at a site where a ship on its way to pick us up.  Before the ship could land though, a book flew through the air and hit said ship causing it to explode.  This was way to introduce the BBEG of the campaign.  This BBEG is a former PC of last campaign of someone seemed to be influenced by a lot of power maxxer D&D Youtubers.  At first though this character was built by someone looking to power game.  It wasn't until I saw a video about people pay more attention to what spells say.  One example said video said was with Glyph of Warding itself stating that if the object of spell is moved more than 10 feet away from the point which the ward was cast the ward would be broken?  So would that not work?  Putting a bunch of Glyphs into a book and hurling the book through the air to blow up something if it is further than 10 feet away from origin of the glyph casting site?   

It would not work, by RAW.

As you note, moving the glyph more than 10 feet from the point where it was cast means the glyph does not function. You'd basically just be throwing a book at someone. Unless they were 10 feet away or closer. But in that case, you, too, would be caught in the fireball.

Of course, your DM can always rule differently, though if they do, that seems to open it up for players to do the same thing. Or maybe there was something else going on with the book in question.

Like said, this BBEG is a former PC from a player who got the tactic most likely from a Youtube video and just took it to the extreme.  During the social encounter that introduced the BBEG the DM allowed the player to run the BBEG for a few minutes just to blow up ship and taunt us as we were kept trapped by a wall of force.

RAW, no, for the reasons cited above. Moving it too far will end the glyph.

However, your DM has now set this as a precedent, and has opened themselves for a world of hurt if you have a creative player. This is why it pays, as a DM, to stay up to date on these "power plays" people find. I recently had to stop a player because they thought they could cast Haste on the BBEG and then drop it to make him skip a turn. I knew that one, and knew it only works if he's willing, so I told them their character knows that won't work, so try something else!

GoW has been one of my favorite spells since the earliest times. GoW and GaW (Guards and Wards) are like in my top ten always.

As noted, in 5e this would not work at all. At least, not for players. NPCs can always do things Players will never be able to do. 

It is a quirk of the game that has always slightly annoyed me, so I usually will find a way to change that (in the case of GoW, it has a higher level variant that extends the range).

I also want to point out that GoW in 5e has a couple other aspects that would make this unlikely, above and beyond the 10 foot rule:

It takes a hour to cast, and the location that one casts it in is the space that it cannot be moved from -- so if you encounter several of them spaced out, someone spent an hour in each of those places casting that spell.

It has a specific trigger. "On contact with a ship" is a kind of strange trigger that no one could reasonably be assumed to have set in a book that had to sit on a dock until the time came to use it.

All in all, there ain't no way in hell that's gonna work.

Quote from AEDorsay >>

GoW has been one of my favorite spells since the earliest times. GoW and GaW (Guards and Wards) are like in my top ten always.

As noted, in 5e this would not work at all. At least, not for players. NPCs can always do things Players will never be able to do. 

It is a quirk of the game that has always slightly annoyed me, so I usually will find a way to change that (in the case of GoW, it has a higher level variant that extends the range).

I also want to point out that GoW in 5e has a couple other aspects that would make this unlikely, above and beyond the 10 foot rule:

It takes a hour to cast, and the location that one casts it in is the space that it cannot be moved from -- so if you encounter several of them spaced out, someone spent an hour in each of those places casting that spell.

It has a specific trigger. "On contact with a ship" is a kind of strange trigger that no one could reasonably be assumed to have set in a book that had to sit on a dock until the time came to use it.

All in all, there ain't no way in hell that's gonna work.

 

I have a loose mechanic in my game where I will allow my players to roll an arcana check to see if they can improve a spell, or to modify it in some way. Thus far I've had the Thunderclap cantrip adjusted to increase the volume by spending spell slots, and the Scrying spell adjusted to allow multiple people to see it (using the steam from a cauldron).

So if a player asks if they can make a Glyph of Warding which can be moved, then I would probably make it a 5th level spell instead of 3rd, and state that the glyph has to be 2ft. in diameter, and that to put a glyph on an object which already has one increases the spell slot required by 1 for each glyph of warding already there, and stipulate that it only lasts for a certain amount of time without refreshing with a new spellslot (which you can do from anywhere on the same plane of existence, as an action). The main shenanigans I would aim to be removing would be:

• "I cast Mobile Glyph of Warding on every short rest, and then regain the spell slot, to put a fireball in every page of this book, to trigger if the book burns." - blocked by needing ever increasing spell slots, thus limited to 5 glyphs per item.
• "I cast hundreds of them on separate bits of paper and then burn them all then" - countered by it lasting only so long before needing refreshing.

However it would keep the ability to make use of it, which would be really fun. So I would say that a glyph lasts 24 hours, at which point you have to expend a spell slot of 6th level to maintain it. The maintenance would be an action, so it lets you get prepared and not spend hours every day to do so.

But I digress. RAW, still a nope!