The hand took the subtle metamagic feat and the wizard used a wish to give it an infinite number of spell points?
The hand creates sounds needed for casting by snapping its fingers? (there is nothing in the rules to suggest that the V,S,M components required for spells are actually the same for each caster - they could well be different, even unique for each caster or even for each casting of a spell - up to the DM)
The hand is a spontaneous spell caster using innate spellcasting and doesn't require any components because it was built/designed/created that way?
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Basically, the explanation is up to whatever the DM cares to imagine. NPCs often have different ways to operate than players that can be justified by "magic" much of the time.
I mean, it's Manshoon's arm. I don't know much about the guy, but he's a Wizard, not a Sorcerer, right? And he never intended his arm to get detached from his body: there's no reason to think he ever practiced the secret art of Morse code casting. (Though to be fair, it's also nonsense that the arm can move and cast spells -- we just have to accept that somehow Halaster can make that happen. A modified version of Animate Dead, perhaps. The only question is where you draw the line of believability. Personally, I can believe that the corpse keeps its spellcasting and that it doesn't need the whole body, but not that it gains a unique ability to bypass components. Your mileage demonstrably does vary.)
The text says this monster exists basically out of Halaster's spite towards Manshoon. Like, it's here so he can look at it and go, "ha, take that, you hack." And maybe kick it when he's angry. I feel like he wouldn't have given it additional powers.
The text says this monster exists basically out of Halaster's spite towards Manshoon. Like, it's here so he can look at it and go, "ha, take that, you hack." And maybe kick it when he's angry. I feel like he wouldn't have given it additional powers.
A stat block with spells it cannot use is a pretty singularly useless stat block.
The text says this monster exists basically out of Halaster's spite towards Manshoon. Like, it's here so he can look at it and go, "ha, take that, you hack." And maybe kick it when he's angry. I feel like he wouldn't have given it additional powers.
A stat block with spells it cannot use is a pretty singularly useless stat block.
You're absolutely right. And the hand *should* be less powerful than the whole Wizard. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, it can still cast some stuff, just not everything.
I think this stat block is broken. Like, I think it's actually an editing problem. Someone should have caught it in proofreading or testing. But they didn't, and so every DM is going to have to figure out their own solution. I don't think any of the suggestions so far have been unacceptable -- I just don't think they're correct, and wouldn't use them myself.
You're absolutely right. And the hand *should* be less powerful than the whole Wizard. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, it can still cast some stuff, just not everything.
Anything that isn't castable should either have been removed, or noted in some way as not castable.
You're absolutely right. And the hand *should* be less powerful than the whole Wizard. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, it can still cast some stuff, just not everything.
Anything that isn't castable should either have been removed, or noted in some way as not castable.
I feel like you're trying to disagree with me by agreeing with me.
You're absolutely right. And the hand *should* be less powerful than the whole Wizard. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, it can still cast some stuff, just not everything.
Anything that isn't castable should either have been removed, or noted in some way as not castable.
I feel like you're trying to disagree with me by agreeing with me.
We agree that the stat block sucks. I just think that the clear intent is that the hand can cast those spells anyway.
You're absolutely right. And the hand *should* be less powerful than the whole Wizard. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, it can still cast some stuff, just not everything.
Anything that isn't castable should either have been removed, or noted in some way as not castable.
I feel like you're trying to disagree with me by agreeing with me.
We agree that the stat block sucks. I just think that the clear intent is that the hand can cast those spells anyway.
It's just lazy design, the stat block is literally a reskinned archmage with "floating" for movement, one spell swapped out, It even has the archmage's STR so I guess when it's not inciting players to cry "broken" at the DM, it's spendng its time doing grip strength training with one of those spring loaded grip trainers to keep itself as full sized humanoid strength levels (most disembodied hands in the MM have much lower STR).
So lazy reskin. It can be explained by magic handwavium of various contortions (everything from simply imbued power or somewhere manshoon is actually on the other end of some psychic connection casting remotely), but I can see how some players who really know the spellcasting system will be taken out of the game, especially if they see the "can not hear or speak" line on the reskin.
It would be fun exercise in Homebrew to figure out what a archmage spell strengthened disembodied hand could be capable of instead of the listed spells.
and to the cleverness suggested snapping instead of words ... the component is verbal not audible ... snapping literally/technically is somatic. It's a cute answer but doesn't really rehabilitate the monster in line with a strict interpretation of spellcasting.
The hand took the subtle metamagic feat and the wizard used a wish to give it an infinite number of spell points?
The hand creates sounds needed for casting by snapping its fingers? (there is nothing in the rules to suggest that the V,S,M components required for spells are actually the same for each caster - they could well be different, even unique for each caster or even for each casting of a spell - up to the DM)
The hand is a spontaneous spell caster using innate spellcasting and doesn't require any components because it was built/designed/created that way?
---
Basically, the explanation is up to whatever the DM cares to imagine. NPCs often have different ways to operate than players that can be justified by "magic" much of the time.
I mean, it's Manshoon's arm. I don't know much about the guy, but he's a Wizard, not a Sorcerer, right? And he never intended his arm to get detached from his body: there's no reason to think he ever practiced the secret art of Morse code casting. (Though to be fair, it's also nonsense that the arm can move and cast spells -- we just have to accept that somehow Halaster can make that happen. A modified version of Animate Dead, perhaps. The only question is where you draw the line of believability. Personally, I can believe that the corpse keeps its spellcasting and that it doesn't need the whole body, but not that it gains a unique ability to bypass components. Your mileage demonstrably does vary.)
The text says this monster exists basically out of Halaster's spite towards Manshoon. Like, it's here so he can look at it and go, "ha, take that, you hack." And maybe kick it when he's angry. I feel like he wouldn't have given it additional powers.
Folks seem to have missed the comment that the explanation is up to whatever the DM wants to imagine it would be. However, looking at the actual text:
"Undead Guardian . Floating in the middle of the room, 15 feet above the floor, is a man's withered left hand and forearm, severed at the elbow.
The limb belonged to a human archmage named Manshoon- or, more precisely, to one of his clones. The clone challenged Halaster to a spell duel and lost more than just the contest. Halaster turned the limb into a guardian that attacks all intruders until the Mad Mage or a creature that looks like him waves it off. The limb has the statistics of an archmage, with these changes: • It is a Tiny, unaligned undead with 63 (18d4 + 18) hit points and blight prepared instead of banishment. • It has a flying speed of 30 feet, and it can hover. • It has blindsight out to a range of 60 feet and is blind beyond this radius. It can't speak or hear, and it can't be blinded or deafened."
The adventure doesn't give a stat block for the hand as far as I can tell. It lists the hand as undead and has the statistics of an archmage. Considering that flameskulls are likely made the same way, are also undead, can also cast spells but have an ability specifying that their innate spell casting doesn't require somatic or material components.
"Dark spellcasters fashion flameskulls from the remains of dead wizards. When the ritual is complete, green flames erupt from the skull to complete its ghastly transformation."
I would suggest that the hand was created by a ritual similar to that which creates flameskulls. It requires a notation that spells cast by the hand do not require verbal or material components (the hand can perform required somatic components though).
However, the OP was looking for an explanation to satisfy someone who might abuse the rules and "created by a ritual similar to that which creates flameskulls" would be a perfectly adequate explanation. The player doesn't need to know whether the text explicitly states the hand doesn't require verbal or material components to cast a spell. That is a DM modification that the players need never know about and which the writer of the module likely simply forgot because they assumed everyone would just have the hand use the archmage stat block and not worry about components.
I mean, it's Manshoon's arm. I don't know much about the guy, but he's a Wizard, not a Sorcerer, right? And he never intended his arm to get detached from his body: there's no reason to think he ever practiced the secret art of Morse code casting. (Though to be fair, it's also nonsense that the arm can move and cast spells -- we just have to accept that somehow Halaster can make that happen. A modified version of Animate Dead, perhaps. The only question is where you draw the line of believability. Personally, I can believe that the corpse keeps its spellcasting and that it doesn't need the whole body, but not that it gains a unique ability to bypass components. Your mileage demonstrably does vary.)
The text says this monster exists basically out of Halaster's spite towards Manshoon. Like, it's here so he can look at it and go, "ha, take that, you hack." And maybe kick it when he's angry. I feel like he wouldn't have given it additional powers.
A stat block with spells it cannot use is a pretty singularly useless stat block.
You're absolutely right. And the hand *should* be less powerful than the whole Wizard. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, it can still cast some stuff, just not everything.
I think this stat block is broken. Like, I think it's actually an editing problem. Someone should have caught it in proofreading or testing. But they didn't, and so every DM is going to have to figure out their own solution. I don't think any of the suggestions so far have been unacceptable -- I just don't think they're correct, and wouldn't use them myself.
Anything that isn't castable should either have been removed, or noted in some way as not castable.
I feel like you're trying to disagree with me by agreeing with me.
We agree that the stat block sucks. I just think that the clear intent is that the hand can cast those spells anyway.
It's just lazy design, the stat block is literally a reskinned archmage with "floating" for movement, one spell swapped out, It even has the archmage's STR so I guess when it's not inciting players to cry "broken" at the DM, it's spendng its time doing grip strength training with one of those spring loaded grip trainers to keep itself as full sized humanoid strength levels (most disembodied hands in the MM have much lower STR).
So lazy reskin. It can be explained by magic handwavium of various contortions (everything from simply imbued power or somewhere manshoon is actually on the other end of some psychic connection casting remotely), but I can see how some players who really know the spellcasting system will be taken out of the game, especially if they see the "can not hear or speak" line on the reskin.
It would be fun exercise in Homebrew to figure out what a archmage spell strengthened disembodied hand could be capable of instead of the listed spells.
and to the cleverness suggested snapping instead of words ... the component is verbal not audible ... snapping literally/technically is somatic. It's a cute answer but doesn't really rehabilitate the monster in line with a strict interpretation of spellcasting.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Folks seem to have missed the comment that the explanation is up to whatever the DM wants to imagine it would be. However, looking at the actual text:
"Undead Guardian . Floating in the middle of the room, 15 feet above the floor, is a man's withered left hand and forearm, severed at the elbow.
The limb belonged to a human archmage named Manshoon- or, more precisely, to one of his clones. The clone challenged Halaster to a spell duel and lost more than just the contest. Halaster turned the limb into a guardian that attacks all intruders until the Mad Mage or a creature that looks like him waves it off. The limb has the statistics of an archmage, with these changes:
• It is a Tiny, unaligned undead with 63 (18d4 + 18) hit points and blight prepared instead of banishment.
• It has a flying speed of 30 feet, and it can hover.
• It has blindsight out to a range of 60 feet and is blind beyond this radius. It can't speak or hear, and it can't be blinded or deafened."
The adventure doesn't give a stat block for the hand as far as I can tell. It lists the hand as undead and has the statistics of an archmage. Considering that flameskulls are likely made the same way, are also undead, can also cast spells but have an ability specifying that their innate spell casting doesn't require somatic or material components.
"Dark spellcasters fashion flameskulls from the remains of dead wizards. When the ritual is complete, green flames erupt from the skull to complete its ghastly transformation."
I would suggest that the hand was created by a ritual similar to that which creates flameskulls. It requires a notation that spells cast by the hand do not require verbal or material components (the hand can perform required somatic components though).
However, the OP was looking for an explanation to satisfy someone who might abuse the rules and "created by a ritual similar to that which creates flameskulls" would be a perfectly adequate explanation. The player doesn't need to know whether the text explicitly states the hand doesn't require verbal or material components to cast a spell. That is a DM modification that the players need never know about and which the writer of the module likely simply forgot because they assumed everyone would just have the hand use the archmage stat block and not worry about components.