3 is too harsh. A character can hold a 2H weapon just fine while accessing material components or focuses (other than the difficulties drawing/stowing/dropping them using free object interactions). There’s no rule that every single component must be fondled simultaneously or suggesting that the attack needs to be made simultaneously with you touching your tool, bag, or crossbow. While holding hammer in one hand touch component/focus with the other to cast spell, let go of it and grip hammer with 2H while making attack completing the spell... that's a perfectly valid way to use Booming Blade.
Except you don't need a spellcasting focus if you don't need to replace a M component. In the case of Booming Blade, the M component is the weapon, so you don't need to replace it with a focus.
That's not how Artificers work, as I discussed in my post. Artificers modify their spells, as covered in the Artificer rules - for an Artificer, Booming Blade has two M components, only one of which is the weapon. If the weapon is an infusion, it can be both components at once.
Quin has a point. Artificer spellcasting adds tools as a material component to all their spells. So it essentially has a costed component and an uncosted component now. Both are needed.
1) Dwarves in 5e are medium creatures not small. A medium dwarf can't ride a medium construct so the mounted attack isn't an option in this case.
EDIT: But gnomes ARE small and it is the gnome riding the medium construct ... sigh.
2) An artificer casting a spell needs to have their tools as an implicit material component for every spell. This means that booming blade requires the artificer to interact with TWO material components during the casting of the spell - one is a set of tools and the other is a weapon (unless the hammer happens to be their smith's tools and the DM allows it). This means that they need a hand free to interact with the tools and a second one to interact with the weapon (even if they don't need to use the material components at the same time - the requirement to interact with both material components on the same turn means that they would have to drop the tools on the ground to swing the hammer with two hands).
3) Lorna does not have "advantage" to move through the woods unobserved. If she can not be seen then she could use her action to hide and the attackers will lose track of where she is. If she does not hide (i.e. move silently) then the attackers will know where she is (which square) even if they can't see her. If she is clearly visible then she can not hide and is always observed.
If you want the homunculus to use the Channel Magic ability it has to be in position BEFORE Lorna's turn since it takes its turn after her. Lorna casts a spell on her turn using the Cast a Spell action and it can be delivered to its target via the homunculus - this uses the reaction of the homunculus. However, if Lorna wants to take the hide action, she can not also cast a spell - so it is one or the other.
4) Casting a cantrip is NOT part of the Attack action - it is the Cast a spell action. So the characters can either make two attacks (Attack action + Extra Attack) OR they can Cast a spell - not both. All of the combinations of an Attack + booming blade do not work for these characters (this is an option only available to a level 6+ bladesinger wizard).
5) Alvin has to drop his heavy crossbow on the ground before getting his hammer from the bag of holding. Alvin would be MUCH smarter to keep the hammer sheathed at his waist or otherwise accessible so that he does not need to waste an action getting it from the bag. (A weapon can be drawn as part of the one free object interaction on the character's turn).
6) Lorna uses shocking grasp - which is a melee spell attack (Cast a spell) action. She can not use the Lightning launcher in the same turn. In addition, if the goblin next to her is not dead then any ranged attacks Lorna makes are at disadvantage. Ranged attacks have disadvantage against ANY targets if there is a hostile creature within 5' of the creature making the attack.
7) The steel defender can take an Action ONLY on its turn. It does not act on your turn.
As far as mounts go - here are the rules. You have to decide if it is a controlled or independent mount. A controlled mount can ONLY Dash, Disengage or Dodge. An independent mount on the other hand has no constraints on its action.
"The initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours when you mount it. It moves as you direct it, and it has only three action options: Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. A controlled mount can move and act even on the turn that you mount it. An independent mount retains its place in the initiative order. Bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions the mount can take, and it moves and acts as it wishes. It might flee from combat, rush to attack and devour a badly injured foe, or otherwise act against your wishes. In either case, if the mount provokes an opportunity attack while you're on it, the attacker can target you or the mount."
So if you want the mount to move on your turn then it needs to be controlled and it can not make an attack. If you want it to attack, it needs to act independently and it takes its actions immediately after your turn. So, either way, you can't have the steel defender make an attack in the middle of your turn (a DM might house rule differently).
8) Your plan to attack a goblin, ride past and attack an ogre and then ride 20' further will trigger opportunity attacks from both the goblin and the ogre as you move out of their reach so it might not be the best plan.
For the record, we weren't trying to play smart in this, just make sure we had the mechanics down.
So we seem to have a basic grasp of the turn structure.
In turn 1, Lorna's "crawl" was thought of as more of a "roll" trying to move from cover to cover and free up ALvin to move next turn. (and possibly escape notice while she was doing so, though that would be more DM discretion)
In turn 2, Alvin should probably have had his weapon hanging from the SD's saddle and pulled his tool kit out of the Bag of Holding. Lorna may be a case of us not having the vocabulary down yet. She's attempting conceal herself and close with the enemy without being detected while she does so. What would the mechanics of that be? Hide action (Infiltrator Armor is either a breastplate or we convince the DM that somewhere in levels 1-4 her family [Noble Origin] sprang for Mithral Splint Mail, so with advantage) then move with some penalty? Other way around? Roll up a Rogue, you idiot?
A better turn 3 would have had Alvin stick to mundane attacks, since he's not trying to trigger Booming Blade he stays in melee with the ogre, and uses the SD's Deflect Attack reaction to give the ogre disadvantage? (but the original sequence would have been OK at level 9+ with Arcane Jolt instead of a spell, yes?) Lorna meanwhile would use Misty Step (We like the backstory potential of Fey-Touched[Intelligence] for her level 4 Feat) to teleport on top of and whack the nearest Goblin with her mundane battleaxe. She could then either hit him again or use the Lightning Launcher on one of the farther goblins while the HS hits one with its regular Force Attack.
Clearly we have some rereading to do, thanks for helping us out!
I'm impressed you correctly sussed out that Arcane Armor works on magic armor - many people skim that part and incorrectly conclude otherwise, because they incorrectly assume it follows infusion mechanics. Infiltrator Mithral is legit.
For the record, we weren't trying to play smart in this, just make sure we had the mechanics down.
So we seem to have a basic grasp of the turn structure.
In turn 1, Lorna's "crawl" was thought of as more of a "roll" trying to move from cover to cover and free up ALvin to move next turn. (and possibly escape notice while she was doing so, though that would be more DM discretion)
In turn 2, Alvin should probably have had his weapon hanging from the SD's saddle and pulled his tool kit out of the Bag of Holding. Lorna may be a case of us not having the vocabulary down yet. She's attempting conceal herself and close with the enemy without being detected while she does so. What would the mechanics of that be? Hide action (Infiltrator Armor is either a breastplate or we convince the DM that somewhere in levels 1-4 her family [Noble Origin] sprang for Mithral Splint Mail, so with advantage) then move with some penalty? Other way around? Roll up a Rogue, you idiot?
A better turn 3 would have had Alvin stick to mundane attacks, since he's not trying to trigger Booming Blade he stays in melee with the ogre, and uses the SD's Deflect Attack reaction to give the ogre disadvantage? (but the original sequence would have been OK at level 9+ with Arcane Jolt instead of a spell, yes?) Lorna meanwhile would use Misty Step (We like the backstory potential of Fey-Touched[Intelligence] for her level 4 Feat) to teleport on top of and whack the nearest Goblin with her mundane battleaxe. She could then either hit him again or use the Lightning Launcher on one of the farther goblins while the HS hits one with its regular Force Attack.
Clearly we have some rereading to do, thanks for helping us out!
If Lorna is mechanically attempting to conceal/hide herself it would be appropriate to take the Hide (In many cases it is very costly to spend an action in combat doing so). This action allows her to roll a Dexterity (Stealth) check to see how well she conceals herself. The DM might also roll a Wisdom (Perception) check to see if an enemy still notices her, but he might also choose not to do so and instead rely on the enemies' passive perception (10+Perception score; no roll required). Taking the Hide doesn't impose any penalty on your movement speed in combat.
After she teleports and hits the goblin with her axe, if she didn't kill it she would have disadvantage on the following ranged attack. I don't see why the mundane attack with the battleaxe would deal force damage though (assuming HS simply means headshot? Maybe I am overlooking something, but a regular Battleaxe deals Slashing damage).
The SD can only use its reaction when the ogre attacks, and only if the ogre's attack targets Alvin. It only works for a single attack (a creature only has 1 reaction each round).
Arcane Jolt would work fine with a normal attack as its effect triggers upon hit. It doesn't require any actions or otherwise, you simply add its effect when you hit a creature if you choose to do so.
I like your narration style :) Most people in this forum speak in mechanics and there can sometimes be a little bit of confusion when the two different styles meet. You already seem to understand the game better than most!
In all honesty, we didn't realize Mithral armor counted as magical. We just assumed exotic, but mundane materials gave those results. Still, nice to know we stumbled onto a correct answer.
In all honesty, we didn't realize Mithral armor counted as magical. We just assumed exotic, but mundane materials gave those results. Still, nice to know we stumbled onto a correct answer.
Mithral and Adamantine armors are magical (if only because the game labels them magic items and never lists a mundane version). Mithral and Adamantine weapons are mundane. I don't know if any Mithral weapons exist in published materials, but Adamantine ones are listed in Xanathar's. It's a weird dichotomy, but its how the game was set up.
To my knowledge, mithral and adamantine themselves are extraordinary, but mundane, materials. But making them into armor makes them magical (for some reason...)
Quin has a point. Artificer spellcasting adds tools as a material component to all their spells. So it essentially has a costed component and an uncosted component now. Both are needed.
Several comments.
1) Dwarves in 5e are medium creatures not small.
A medium dwarf can't ride a medium construct so the mounted attack isn't an option in this case.EDIT: But gnomes ARE small and it is the gnome riding the medium construct ... sigh.
2) An artificer casting a spell needs to have their tools as an implicit material component for every spell. This means that booming blade requires the artificer to interact with TWO material components during the casting of the spell - one is a set of tools and the other is a weapon (unless the hammer happens to be their smith's tools and the DM allows it). This means that they need a hand free to interact with the tools and a second one to interact with the weapon (even if they don't need to use the material components at the same time - the requirement to interact with both material components on the same turn means that they would have to drop the tools on the ground to swing the hammer with two hands).
3) Lorna does not have "advantage" to move through the woods unobserved. If she can not be seen then she could use her action to hide and the attackers will lose track of where she is. If she does not hide (i.e. move silently) then the attackers will know where she is (which square) even if they can't see her. If she is clearly visible then she can not hide and is always observed.
If you want the homunculus to use the Channel Magic ability it has to be in position BEFORE Lorna's turn since it takes its turn after her. Lorna casts a spell on her turn using the Cast a Spell action and it can be delivered to its target via the homunculus - this uses the reaction of the homunculus. However, if Lorna wants to take the hide action, she can not also cast a spell - so it is one or the other.
4) Casting a cantrip is NOT part of the Attack action - it is the Cast a spell action. So the characters can either make two attacks (Attack action + Extra Attack) OR they can Cast a spell - not both. All of the combinations of an Attack + booming blade do not work for these characters (this is an option only available to a level 6+ bladesinger wizard).
5) Alvin has to drop his heavy crossbow on the ground before getting his hammer from the bag of holding. Alvin would be MUCH smarter to keep the hammer sheathed at his waist or otherwise accessible so that he does not need to waste an action getting it from the bag. (A weapon can be drawn as part of the one free object interaction on the character's turn).
6) Lorna uses shocking grasp - which is a melee spell attack (Cast a spell) action. She can not use the Lightning launcher in the same turn. In addition, if the goblin next to her is not dead then any ranged attacks Lorna makes are at disadvantage. Ranged attacks have disadvantage against ANY targets if there is a hostile creature within 5' of the creature making the attack.
7) The steel defender can take an Action ONLY on its turn. It does not act on your turn.
As far as mounts go - here are the rules. You have to decide if it is a controlled or independent mount. A controlled mount can ONLY Dash, Disengage or Dodge. An independent mount on the other hand has no constraints on its action.
"The initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours when you mount it. It moves as you direct it, and it has only three action options: Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. A controlled mount can move and act even on the turn that you mount it. An independent mount retains its place in the initiative order. Bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions the mount can take, and it moves and acts as it wishes. It might flee from combat, rush to attack and devour a badly injured foe, or otherwise act against your wishes.
In either case, if the mount provokes an opportunity attack while you're on it, the attacker can target you or the mount."
So if you want the mount to move on your turn then it needs to be controlled and it can not make an attack. If you want it to attack, it needs to act independently and it takes its actions immediately after your turn. So, either way, you can't have the steel defender make an attack in the middle of your turn (a DM might house rule differently).
8) Your plan to attack a goblin, ride past and attack an ogre and then ride 20' further will trigger opportunity attacks from both the goblin and the ogre as you move out of their reach so it might not be the best plan.
Isn't the mounted combatant a gnome?
Sigh ... correct :) ... my bad reading.
For the record, we weren't trying to play smart in this, just make sure we had the mechanics down.
So we seem to have a basic grasp of the turn structure.
In turn 1, Lorna's "crawl" was thought of as more of a "roll" trying to move from cover to cover and free up ALvin to move next turn. (and possibly escape notice while she was doing so, though that would be more DM discretion)
In turn 2, Alvin should probably have had his weapon hanging from the SD's saddle and pulled his tool kit out of the Bag of Holding. Lorna may be a case of us not having the vocabulary down yet. She's attempting conceal herself and close with the enemy without being detected while she does so. What would the mechanics of that be? Hide action (Infiltrator Armor is either a breastplate or we convince the DM that somewhere in levels 1-4 her family [Noble Origin] sprang for Mithral Splint Mail, so with advantage) then move with some penalty? Other way around? Roll up a Rogue, you idiot?
A better turn 3 would have had Alvin stick to mundane attacks, since he's not trying to trigger Booming Blade he stays in melee with the ogre, and uses the SD's Deflect Attack reaction to give the ogre disadvantage? (but the original sequence would have been OK at level 9+ with Arcane Jolt instead of a spell, yes?) Lorna meanwhile would use Misty Step (We like the backstory potential of Fey-Touched[Intelligence] for her level 4 Feat) to teleport on top of and whack the nearest Goblin with her mundane battleaxe. She could then either hit him again or use the Lightning Launcher on one of the farther goblins while the HS hits one with its regular Force Attack.
Clearly we have some rereading to do, thanks for helping us out!
I'm impressed you correctly sussed out that Arcane Armor works on magic armor - many people skim that part and incorrectly conclude otherwise, because they incorrectly assume it follows infusion mechanics. Infiltrator Mithral is legit.
I like your narration style :) Most people in this forum speak in mechanics and there can sometimes be a little bit of confusion when the two different styles meet.
You already seem to understand the game better than most!
HS is Lorna's Homunculus Servant, who should be about 10ish feet from the center skirmisher and 40ish feet from both the near and far one.
In all honesty, we didn't realize Mithral armor counted as magical. We just assumed exotic, but mundane materials gave those results. Still, nice to know we stumbled onto a correct answer.
Mithral and Adamantine armors are magical (if only because the game labels them magic items and never lists a mundane version). Mithral and Adamantine weapons are mundane. I don't know if any Mithral weapons exist in published materials, but Adamantine ones are listed in Xanathar's. It's a weird dichotomy, but its how the game was set up.
To my knowledge, mithral and adamantine themselves are extraordinary, but mundane, materials. But making them into armor makes them magical (for some reason...)
When Quindraco quotes rules, he's rarely ever wrong. Listen to that guy! :)
Thanks for the help, everyone!
If you're interested, these are the stats for our characters:
Lorna KaaradKadrel - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
Albin Paulnor - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)