I have a barbarian in my current campaign, he has taken the Shadow Touched feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. It does not have a prerequisite of any kind listed, so I assume he can take it. Another player brought this up, does he need any kind of spell casting focus to cast the spell that come along with it? That feat allows him to cast invisibility once a day, he doesn't need a spell casting focus for that right?
On to the more complicated question, incorporeal beings and interacting with the environment. I have a player who has acquired the Ghost Step Tattoo, also from Tasha's. This allows him to become incorporeal for a short period of time. He would like to use this to steal things, but can he? Initially I thought, sure, he still has to get away with it. His incorporeal state only last one turn of combat, so only about 6 seconds. But if he can interact with the corporeal world freely, he also wants to try and rip people's hearts out by ending his turn with his hand in someone's chest. I don't plan on letting him rip an NPC heart out at will, but if incorporeal beings can interact with the world, I'd like to be able to justify why he can grab an object, but not an organ, and not just say, “Because I said so.”
I know incorporeal being and their interaction with the corporeal world is a bit of a gray area, and a well debated topic across the internet. But has anyone ever dealt with it in their campaign?
I have a barbarian in my current campaign, he has taken the Shadow Touched feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. It does not have a prerequisite of any kind listed, so I assume he can take it. Another player brought this up, does he need any kind of spell casting focus to cast the spell that come along with it? That feat allows him to cast invisibility once a day, he doesn't need a spell casting focus for that right?
No one needs a spellcasting focus to cast spell. They are just components replacement. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus in place of the components specified for a spell.
On to the more complicated question, incorporeal beings and interacting with the environment. I have a player who has acquired the Ghost Step Tattoo, also from Tasha's. This allows him to become incorporeal for a short period of time. He would like to use this to steal things, but can he? Initially I thought, sure, he still has to get away with it. His incorporeal state only last one turn of combat, so only about 6 seconds. But if he can interact with the corporeal world freely, he also wants to try and rip people's hearts out by ending his turn with his hand in someone's chest. I don't plan on letting him rip an NPC heart out at will, but if incorporeal beings can interact with the world, I'd like to be able to justify why he can grab an object, but not an organ, and not just say, “Because I said so.”
I know incorporeal being and their interaction with the corporeal world is a bit of a gray area, and a well debated topic across the internet. But has anyone ever dealt with it in their campaign?
While incorporeal using your Ghost Step Tattoo, you cannot physically interact with solid object since you move through them. If you end your turn in a solid object, you take 1d10 force damage. If the effect ends while you are inside a solid object, you instead are shunted to the nearest unoccupied space, and you take 1d10 force damage for every 5 feet traveled.
A DM can always let you rip a creature's heart out or flavor your killing blows any way you want, but 5E doesn't have Called Shot/Hit Location rules, this incorporeal or not.
Your barbarian took a valid feat that lets them *learn* invisibility and one other first-level spell. It allows them to cast them both once per day without expending a spell slot. And herein lies where you have to decide in your game how magic works. Generally the spellcasting rules require the expenditure of a spell slot along with the use of a spell casting foci or components. Further, in the component has a GP cost or is consumed by the spell, the component has to be on hand and in use. Also, caster has a free hand to perform the somatic component of the spell. The part that you need to decide is: does this feat work like spellcasting or like the Fey Step trait that acts like an innate ability more than arcane art.
I would hope that the player talked with you before thrusting this decision into your world and that you had an opportunity to work this out together. I might suggest making the final decision about how this works after the player has chosen the second spell.
IMO, the second question is less complicated than the first, surprisingly. First off, the item or spell does what is says it does. It doesn't allow what it doesn't allow. The item allows for the user to activate the item and become incorporeal, not having a physical existence. Think of the PC turning into a glowing, amorphous globule of energy that resembles the PC's form and identity. During that time, it becomes *impossible* for them to be grappled or restrained. I might suggest that this be the guide for ruling on whether your PC can interact with corporeal things. As corporeal things cannot grasp or hold your PC, neither shoud your PC be able to grasp or hold corporeal things but merely travel through them as they are allowed to do per the item.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
The spells you can cast with Shadow Touched you still cast them as usual except you do so without expending a spell slot 1/ long rest and the spellcasting ability may differ. If the spells have any component, you must still provide them specifically or via a component pouch for non-consumable or free ones since it doesn't specifically say otherwise.
It bears mentioning that because the character doesn't have a class that lets them use a focus, they have to use the components or a component pouch to cast the spells.
The heart-ripping thing sounds like a called shot mechanic for unarmed strike. The rules said so - You didn’t. A player can aim for the “o” in a shop sign, but not headshot an ogre because they said so
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Hi, I am not a chest. I deny with 100% certainty that I am a chest. I can neither confirm nor deny what I am beyond that.
I used to portray Krathian, Q'ilbrith, Jim, Tara, Turin, Nathan, Tench, Finn, Alvin, and other characters in various taverns.
The heart-ripping thing sounds like a called shot mechanic for unarmed strike. The rules said so - You didn’t. A player can aim for the “o” in a shop sign, but not headshot an ogre because they said so
Exactly. If you attack someone at full health, or think of it this way; at full capacity to avoid attack, then your attempt to rip their heart out won't work.
However, if they want to flavor their kills with some of that Temple of Doom action, then I don't see why not. If they're reducing an enemy's hp to 0 with lethal damage, then there's absolutely no harm in saying "yeah I phase through their chest and pull out their heart!"
If your player gets touchy about "why can't I just do that all the time" then you can give some DM bs about like, idk, "their vital force is too strong for you to be able to phase your hand directly into their chest, you have to wear them down before it's feasible," or something like that. If they keep on you about it then just flat-out tell them "ok, then it's because the ability to freely one-shot-kill with no save and no way to defend against it is OP for your current level, the rules say you can't do it, this is in the interest of game balance to keep it fun for everyone".
I find that I don't often have to rely on reminding players that game balance is a thing, but when I do, players generally understand and realize the problem, as players do not often concern themselves with thinking about game balance.
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I have a barbarian in my current campaign, he has taken the Shadow Touched feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. It does not have a prerequisite of any kind listed, so I assume he can take it. Another player brought this up, does he need any kind of spell casting focus to cast the spell that come along with it? That feat allows him to cast invisibility once a day, he doesn't need a spell casting focus for that right?
On to the more complicated question, incorporeal beings and interacting with the environment. I have a player who has acquired the Ghost Step Tattoo, also from Tasha's. This allows him to become incorporeal for a short period of time. He would like to use this to steal things, but can he? Initially I thought, sure, he still has to get away with it. His incorporeal state only last one turn of combat, so only about 6 seconds. But if he can interact with the corporeal world freely, he also wants to try and rip people's hearts out by ending his turn with his hand in someone's chest. I don't plan on letting him rip an NPC heart out at will, but if incorporeal beings can interact with the world, I'd like to be able to justify why he can grab an object, but not an organ, and not just say, “Because I said so.”
I know incorporeal being and their interaction with the corporeal world is a bit of a gray area, and a well debated topic across the internet. But has anyone ever dealt with it in their campaign?
No one needs a spellcasting focus to cast spell. They are just components replacement. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus in place of the components specified for a spell.
While incorporeal using your Ghost Step Tattoo, you cannot physically interact with solid object since you move through them. If you end your turn in a solid object, you take 1d10 force damage. If the effect ends while you are inside a solid object, you instead are shunted to the nearest unoccupied space, and you take 1d10 force damage for every 5 feet traveled.
A DM can always let you rip a creature's heart out or flavor your killing blows any way you want, but 5E doesn't have Called Shot/Hit Location rules, this incorporeal or not.
Your barbarian took a valid feat that lets them *learn* invisibility and one other first-level spell. It allows them to cast them both once per day without expending a spell slot. And herein lies where you have to decide in your game how magic works. Generally the spellcasting rules require the expenditure of a spell slot along with the use of a spell casting foci or components. Further, in the component has a GP cost or is consumed by the spell, the component has to be on hand and in use. Also, caster has a free hand to perform the somatic component of the spell. The part that you need to decide is: does this feat work like spellcasting or like the Fey Step trait that acts like an innate ability more than arcane art.
I would hope that the player talked with you before thrusting this decision into your world and that you had an opportunity to work this out together. I might suggest making the final decision about how this works after the player has chosen the second spell.
IMO, the second question is less complicated than the first, surprisingly. First off, the item or spell does what is says it does. It doesn't allow what it doesn't allow. The item allows for the user to activate the item and become incorporeal, not having a physical existence. Think of the PC turning into a glowing, amorphous globule of energy that resembles the PC's form and identity. During that time, it becomes *impossible* for them to be grappled or restrained. I might suggest that this be the guide for ruling on whether your PC can interact with corporeal things. As corporeal things cannot grasp or hold your PC, neither shoud your PC be able to grasp or hold corporeal things but merely travel through them as they are allowed to do per the item.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
The spells you can cast with Shadow Touched you still cast them as usual except you do so without expending a spell slot 1/ long rest and the spellcasting ability may differ. If the spells have any component, you must still provide them specifically or via a component pouch for non-consumable or free ones since it doesn't specifically say otherwise.
It bears mentioning that because the character doesn't have a class that lets them use a focus, they have to use the components or a component pouch to cast the spells.
The heart-ripping thing sounds like a called shot mechanic for unarmed strike. The rules said so - You didn’t. A player can aim for the “o” in a shop sign, but not headshot an ogre because they said so
Hi, I am not a chest. I deny with 100% certainty that I am a chest. I can neither confirm nor deny what I am beyond that.
I used to portray Krathian, Q'ilbrith, Jim, Tara, Turin, Nathan, Tench, Finn, Alvin, and other characters in various taverns.
I also do homebrew, check out my Spells and Magic Items
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons, even death may die"
Exactly. If you attack someone at full health, or think of it this way; at full capacity to avoid attack, then your attempt to rip their heart out won't work.
However, if they want to flavor their kills with some of that Temple of Doom action, then I don't see why not. If they're reducing an enemy's hp to 0 with lethal damage, then there's absolutely no harm in saying "yeah I phase through their chest and pull out their heart!"
If your player gets touchy about "why can't I just do that all the time" then you can give some DM bs about like, idk, "their vital force is too strong for you to be able to phase your hand directly into their chest, you have to wear them down before it's feasible," or something like that. If they keep on you about it then just flat-out tell them "ok, then it's because the ability to freely one-shot-kill with no save and no way to defend against it is OP for your current level, the rules say you can't do it, this is in the interest of game balance to keep it fun for everyone".
I find that I don't often have to rely on reminding players that game balance is a thing, but when I do, players generally understand and realize the problem, as players do not often concern themselves with thinking about game balance.