But the way I see it, if you Polymorph yourself into a [monster]Tyrannosaurus Rex[/spell] and bite the shi—heck out of someone, Polymorph didn’t do that damage, you did. Right? So I don’t see why this should be any different. Ne?
It's a valid viewpoint. My view is that if the spell tells you how much damage, what sort of damage, what condition is applied, gives the saving throw DC or Attack modifier - then it is the spell which is doing it.
If you Haste someone then it is that person's own attack strength that decides the extra damage they can do, not the spell. Or polymorph it is the monster stat block.
Whereas Dragon Breath uses the spell save DC to apply damage of a type decided by the spell and amount listed in the spell. That is spell damage.
Very interesting Sposta. I didn't realize the uniqueness of Dragon's Breath here. Are there any other spells that work like that?
🤷♂️ Crawford would likely say that Dragon’s Breath doesn’t even work like that. (At least judging by his SA tweets like that one you linked, and his ruling about Goodberry interacting with Disciple of Life. 🙄)
But the way I see it, if you Polymorph yourself into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and bite the shi—heck out of someone, Polymorph didn’t do that damage, you did. Right? So I don’t see why this should be any different. Ne?
Personally, I view it as: damage dealt by creatures under the effects of polymorph or dragon's breath are not dealt by the effect of the spell directly, it is dealt by the creature. Those spells only target specific creatures directly and don't do damage. Like attacking the ceiling and causing it to collapse, your attack targeted the ceiling, not anything that happened to be below.
For spells like Goodberry or glyph of warding etc, I view it as the spell storing a spell effect with no target when cast. But the healing of the berries are the spell's effect, not the the effect of the berries. "...berries appear in your hand and are infused with magic..."
It's a valid viewpoint. My view is that if the spell tells you how much damage, what sort of damage, what condition is applied, gives the saving throw DC or Attack modifier - then it is the spell which is doing it.
If you Haste someone then it is that person's own attack strength that decides the extra damage they can do, not the spell. Or polymorph it is the monster stat block.
Whereas Dragon Breath uses the spell save DC to apply damage of a type decided by the spell and amount listed in the spell. That is spell damage.
Personally, I view it as: damage dealt by creatures under the effects of polymorph or dragon's breath are not dealt by the effect of the spell directly, it is dealt by the creature. Those spells only target specific creatures directly and don't do damage. Like attacking the ceiling and causing it to collapse, your attack targeted the ceiling, not anything that happened to be below.
For spells like Goodberry or glyph of warding etc, I view it as the spell storing a spell effect with no target when cast. But the healing of the berries are the spell's effect, not the the effect of the berries. "...berries appear in your hand and are infused with magic..."
I really like seeing everyone's take on the subject. Some good stuff to think about.