In your games, how much of a cube spell effect needs to overlap a space for the spell to affect that space? The rules get a little ambiguous here, depending on the optional rules you use. What are people's opinions?
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
When you play on a grid - well, then you play on a grid. So any spell that affects 4 squares of the grid, affects four squares of the grid. Maybe there's a spell that let's you pick any four inside a given radius, but otherwise those four squares are themselves part of another, larger square. There is zero concern for any degree of coverage what so ever. It's utterly and totally binary: A square is either one of those affected, or it is not.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I use the Xanathar's rules for Area Effects on a Grid to resolve this.
The AoE of a spell snaps to the grid, so your cube would match an exact cube shape on the grid. The caster must pinpoint it to fit exactly, not "Half of this, half of that." to get people inside the radius.
Picked Other because "the person who wrote Cloud of Daggers screwed up" wasn't an option.
We homebrew that all cubes snap to the grid. The last thing the game needs is a boost for spellcasters and monsters that doesn't benefit martials, which is the practical effect of off-centering spells.
Picked Other because "the person who wrote Cloud of Daggers screwed up" wasn't an option.
We homebrew that all cubes snap to the grid. The last thing the game needs is a boost for spellcasters and monsters that doesn't benefit martials, which is the practical effect of off-centering spells.
Yea I homebrew it too. My homebrew is: Any creature that isn't fully engulfed by the aoe makes their save at advantage and takes no damage/effect on a save. It allows players to be creative and take risks with placement but without really mechanically incentivizing that they do so.
But Rules wise, I think my closest interpretation of the RAI is to do the more-than-half thing of radius AOEs. But that's just like, an opinion. I needed more opinions.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
The DMG, most of Xanathar's optional rules & Crawford all suggest spells can be placed at the intersection of a grid space & aren't limited to being stuck to an exact 5 foot space. They state if a circle is half over or a cube is anywhere on you it's touching.
If grease is in the middle of the hall & you want to wall around it, sure. You aren't exactly 5 feet wide either. Areas live by the sword & die by the sword.
Honestly I prefer to err on the side of action happening or at least on whoever turn it is or who's doing the thing, so if you can give me a good, solid, quarter square to hit or avoid you're good to go. Last thing I want is for players to break out CAD tools & start to painstaking measure microns.
Don't even bother using a grid in Talespire. You draw a line & if it's mostly there you got it. Does the Barbarian get an extra quarter foot of jump because the line's imperfect? Whatever.
My players don't really try to cheat the system, so it works.
I must admit that I've switched to a VTT (Owlbear Rodeo) for both online and in person games now, and as such I find that makes it so much easier. I have the spell effect template, if the character is inside, or touching the template, then the spell effect happens to them. It speeds up the flow of the combat in my opinion. The example here a party member has cast moonbeam, in this case I have applied a Moonbeam 'template' onto the VTT. I can now easily see that the Drow gets hit, but the Ghast does not.
Largely though it really doesn't matter what your ruling is as long as it is consistent. So some DMs might choose to have the moonbeam above hit the Ghast because the Ghast occupies a square also affected by the moonbeam. It will largely depend on whether you as a DM require tokens or minis to 'snap to a grid'. I perfer a more dynamic movement range and a VTT really helps with that. The reason the ruling you choose doesn't really matter too much is because it can be used against players too. So when dicussing it with your table you can say, that having an area affect any square that the effect touches has the benefit of making it easier for them to hit more enemies, but also helps the enemies more easily target more than one player character.
I follow the "if you are using a grid then you are using a grid for everything" philosophy. It's not realistic but it is simple. No trigonometry at my table please.
Everything is cubes and everything snaps to the grid. The cloud of daggers spell is one square on the grid, not four. Fireball is actually firecube. There's no such thing as "half a square covered" - eother a square is in the area of the grease spell, or it isn't. If your character is in a square then your character is in the entire square.
I played in one game where the GM used circles for areas and ranges, but grids for movement. It bugged the everliving out of me that my 30 ft move character could walk diagonally 42.5 ft (six squares diagonally) and stand next to a creature, but couldn't use a 30 ft range weapon to hit that same creature. If I can reach it woith a 30 ft move then I should be able to reach it with a 30 ft range weapon or a 30 ft area spell.
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In your games, how much of a cube spell effect needs to overlap a space for the spell to affect that space? The rules get a little ambiguous here, depending on the optional rules you use. What are people's opinions?
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
When you play on a grid - well, then you play on a grid. So any spell that affects 4 squares of the grid, affects four squares of the grid. Maybe there's a spell that let's you pick any four inside a given radius, but otherwise those four squares are themselves part of another, larger square. There is zero concern for any degree of coverage what so ever. It's utterly and totally binary: A square is either one of those affected, or it is not.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I use the Xanathar's rules for Area Effects on a Grid to resolve this.
The AoE of a spell snaps to the grid, so your cube would match an exact cube shape on the grid. The caster must pinpoint it to fit exactly, not "Half of this, half of that." to get people inside the radius.
It's pretty clear that the intent is for cubes to align with the grid and they just wrote the rules badly.
Picked Other because "the person who wrote Cloud of Daggers screwed up" wasn't an option.
We homebrew that all cubes snap to the grid. The last thing the game needs is a boost for spellcasters and monsters that doesn't benefit martials, which is the practical effect of off-centering spells.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Yea I homebrew it too. My homebrew is: Any creature that isn't fully engulfed by the aoe makes their save at advantage and takes no damage/effect on a save. It allows players to be creative and take risks with placement but without really mechanically incentivizing that they do so.
But Rules wise, I think my closest interpretation of the RAI is to do the more-than-half thing of radius AOEs. But that's just like, an opinion. I needed more opinions.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
The DMG, most of Xanathar's optional rules & Crawford all suggest spells can be placed at the intersection of a grid space & aren't limited to being stuck to an exact 5 foot space. They state if a circle is half over or a cube is anywhere on you it's touching.
If grease is in the middle of the hall & you want to wall around it, sure. You aren't exactly 5 feet wide either. Areas live by the sword & die by the sword.
Honestly I prefer to err on the side of action happening or at least on whoever turn it is or who's doing the thing, so if you can give me a good, solid, quarter square to hit or avoid you're good to go. Last thing I want is for players to break out CAD tools & start to painstaking measure microns.
Don't even bother using a grid in Talespire. You draw a line & if it's mostly there you got it. Does the Barbarian get an extra quarter foot of jump because the line's imperfect? Whatever.
My players don't really try to cheat the system, so it works.
Because Robots.
I must admit that I've switched to a VTT (Owlbear Rodeo) for both online and in person games now, and as such I find that makes it so much easier. I have the spell effect template, if the character is inside, or touching the template, then the spell effect happens to them. It speeds up the flow of the combat in my opinion. The example here a party member has cast moonbeam, in this case I have applied a Moonbeam 'template' onto the VTT. I can now easily see that the Drow gets hit, but the Ghast does not.
Largely though it really doesn't matter what your ruling is as long as it is consistent. So some DMs might choose to have the moonbeam above hit the Ghast because the Ghast occupies a square also affected by the moonbeam. It will largely depend on whether you as a DM require tokens or minis to 'snap to a grid'. I perfer a more dynamic movement range and a VTT really helps with that. The reason the ruling you choose doesn't really matter too much is because it can be used against players too. So when dicussing it with your table you can say, that having an area affect any square that the effect touches has the benefit of making it easier for them to hit more enemies, but also helps the enemies more easily target more than one player character.
The takeaway here is that it is about consistency. Personally, I like the descriptions given in Xanathar's Guide (Dungeon Master's Tools - Xanathar's Guide to Everything - Sources - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)), as they are much better than the DMG version (Running the Game - Dungeon Master’s Guide - Sources - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com))
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
I follow the "if you are using a grid then you are using a grid for everything" philosophy. It's not realistic but it is simple. No trigonometry at my table please.
Everything is cubes and everything snaps to the grid. The cloud of daggers spell is one square on the grid, not four. Fireball is actually firecube. There's no such thing as "half a square covered" - eother a square is in the area of the grease spell, or it isn't. If your character is in a square then your character is in the entire square.
I played in one game where the GM used circles for areas and ranges, but grids for movement. It bugged the everliving out of me that my 30 ft move character could walk diagonally 42.5 ft (six squares diagonally) and stand next to a creature, but couldn't use a 30 ft range weapon to hit that same creature. If I can reach it woith a 30 ft move then I should be able to reach it with a 30 ft range weapon or a 30 ft area spell.