Different game features can affect a target at the same time. But when two or more game features have the same name, only the effects of one of them—the most potent one—apply while the durations of the effects overlap. For example, if a target is ignited by a fire elemental’s Fire Form trait, the ongoing fire damage doesn’t increase if the burning target is subjected to that trait again. Game features include spells, class features, feats, racial traits, monster abilities, and magic items. See the related rule in the “Combining Magical Effects” section of chapter 10 in the Player’s Handbook.
how does this work with Glyph of warding because my my friend says you cannot have more than one glyph affecting you because of the (Combining Game Effects/ Combining Magical Effects ) Rule
EX: step on subsequent glyphs on floor giveing yourself haste and a 3rd level shadowblade ect...
Triggering two Glyph of Warding should have only one of them (the most powerful one if their benefits aren’t identical) applies while the durations of the effects overlap.
I've actually heard the Glyph of Warding stacking combo come up often. The thing is that the end effects are not "Glyph of Warding", they're whatever spell was stored in them. Granted, given that the glyph can't be moved, it's generally not a practical combo for players, but it's a hand trick for DM's if they want to give the BBEG an emergency turbo boost button, although obviously they need to balance how many effects are coming online at once.
The target of a Glyph of Warding can only have one at a time affecting it, so a surface or object can only have a single glyph, wether it's an explosive rune or spell.
Also if you're caught in the radius of more than one glyph erupting with magical energy, only one of them (the most powerful one if their benefits aren’t identical) should apply. So only the damage of one explosive rune would apply for exemple. Likewise, if you're affected by the same spell twice, then wether it's a glyph or not Combining Magical Effects should still apply.
Now it may be possible to place multiple Glyph of Warding spells at proximity that would have different effect but it would depend where they're located and what effect they cause.
The surface part is tricky to rule. It only says the Glyph can be no bigger than a 10ft x 10ft square and it can also fit on a scroll or book. Given that, it's reasonable to say multiple can be laid on the floor in a single space. I'm not seeing anything in the description prohibiting multiple on the same surface/object either. For the spellcasting part, to me it's like multiple casters buffing the same target. As long as they're using different spells, all effects should apply. This can produce some broken effects, sure, but it's 200 gp a pop, an hour of casting, and a 3rd or higher spell slot, so players are going to have a hard time abusing it without a cooperating DM and on the DM end they already have fiat to set whatever traps/effects they want in an area, so it just provides a framework for some of them.
It would depend on the DM but if none of the Glyph of Wardings are on the same sarface or object, then each will trigger seperately and no combination will occur. Combination would involve multi-trigger which to me would fall right in the spirit of the limitation imposed by Combining Magical Effect since this rule is in place to prevent such overlap.
There's merit to it, but that's DM adjudication, not RAW. Which doesn't mean it's not a fair call. Really, the argument is fairly academic; players are almost never going to be in a position to attempt to stack it, and the DM has fiat to set up a big fight however they want. If you want to rule it this way at your table, that's your business and it's not unreasonable, but the description and rules seem to allow for stacking different buffs.
The rules for Combining Different Effect are not favoring it RAW though. Any different spell glyph affecting you is still the same effect's proper name Glyph of Warding erupting with magical energy despite being different end result.
Combining Different Effect: Different game effects can affect a target at the same time. For example, two different benefits can give you a bonus to your Armor Class. But when two or more effects have the same proper name, only one of them (the most powerful one if their benefits aren’t identical) applies while the durations of the effects overlap. For example, if bless is cast on you when you’re still under the effect of an earlier bless, you gain the benefit of only one casting. Similarly, if you’re in the radius of more than one Aura of Protection, you benefit only from the one that grants the highest bonus.
and that's the problem I'm running into a lot of people are saying online you can stack and are coming up with builds of like stacking your Barbarian/fighter with a bunch of buffs and I always thought thats how it worked
It depends if you define the glyph applying the effect of a spell onto the player as an effect in itself for the purposes of the multiple effect instances rule. Pretty much everyone I've seen doesn't, and like I've said the conditions for stacking it are such that players can't really pull it off unless the DM deliberately gives them the opportunity, so I'd run with it.
---the conditions for stacking it are such that players can't really pull it off unless the DM deliberately gives them the opportunity, so I'd run with it.
Dimension Door and Demiplane come in.
Use Dimension Door early on to teleport to a place you setup nearby with a pile of Glyphs then teleport back if needs be. Demiplane is later game but makes it so much worse. Cast Demiplane, setup a heap of wards just inside the door. You can now cast Demiplane when a battle starts, step 5' into the door and 5' back out with all the buff you could hope for. You can even put a mass number of bad glyphs down. Call up the Dimension Door in battle, have the Cleric finally figure out a good use of Thaumaturgy by opening the door behind the BBEG then just one other player with a way to push the BBEG onto the wards.
I wouldn't let glyph spells stack. Although the cost, time, and logistics offset a lot of the issues, in the end to me it boils down to allowing an indefinite, simultaneous number of concentration spells that can't be broken. I think of the concentration limit as one of the most important checks on spellcasting and it's not something I'd mess with lightly. A single concentration-free spell via glyph is enough.
Edit: Whoops, overlooked what forum I was posting in. I definitely prefer an interpretation that the effect is the glyph, not the stored spell. I'll admit that's results-oriented thinking but I think it's valid. I'll even go so far as to suggest it's the better reading of RAW:
(a) Glyph of warding specifies that the glyph unleashes the magical effect. This is a specific rule. It talks about the spell being "cast" when the glyph is triggered but that doesn't override or contradict that rule.
(b) Contingency uses very careful language to differentiate the contingent spell from the contingency itself. Glyph could use similar language if they wanted them considered to be separate.
The GoW Spell Option very explicitly states the stored spell is targeting the creature, so it is the stored spell that affects the target. It is very clear that this is what happens. The stored spell is cast and targets whoever/whatever triggered the glyph, if it can.
This means the person who triggered the glyph has the stored spell, and its effect, caston them.
You'll note the GoW spell's duration is "until triggered" - once triggered and stored spell cast, the GoW is OVER, it is finito, it is ended and gone. The remaining effect is ONLY that of the stored spell. So why any of y'all think the "multiple effects" rule applies is beyond me. How dafuq does that work for a spell that has stopped and finished?
GoW doesn't even target a creature, for crying out loud. The GoW target is the surface you cast it on. Hence the range of "touch". The triggering event doesn't even need to be a creature, or object - it could even just be a time of day. The thing that triggers GoW is not a "target" of GoW.
Jeebus Christ, peeps, this thread is like one massive facepalm.
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Combining Different Effect rule or the original Combining Game Effect version all refer to "target" which doesn't necessarily need to be a creature but cab be an object or in case of this spell, a surface.
Then there is trriggering part that is also target of the effect which doesn't necessarily need to be a creature and finally there is the effect of it which again may not necessarily be a creature but an AoE.
---the conditions for stacking it are such that players can't really pull it off unless the DM deliberately gives them the opportunity, so I'd run with it.
Dimension Door and Demiplane come in.
Use Dimension Door early on to teleport to a place you setup nearby with a pile of Glyphs then teleport back if needs be. Demiplane is later game but makes it so much worse. Cast Demiplane, setup a heap of wards just inside the door. You can now cast Demiplane when a battle starts, step 5' into the door and 5' back out with all the buff you could hope for. You can even put a mass number of bad glyphs down. Call up the Dimension Door in battle, have the Cleric finally figure out a good use of Thaumaturgy by opening the door behind the BBEG then just one other player with a way to push the BBEG onto the wards.
Dimension Door only reaches 500 ft, so for a typical adventuring scenario it's still hard for them to set the glyphs up ahead of time in a way that they can then get at them when needed. Also, there is no actual "door" in Dimension Door that you can push an enemy through, it's willing teleport only. Demiplane works, but by that point casters have so many other shenanigans it's less of an issue. And if you push an enemy through into a Demiplane, you might as well just close it and leave them there rather than waste a bunch of gold on the Glyphs.
and that's the problem I'm running into a lot of people are saying online you can stack and are coming up with builds of like stacking your Barbarian/fighter with a bunch of buffs and I always thought thats how it worked
The best answer here is: don't be a jerk, talk to your fellow players and DM to see how they want to rule it and if they want to allow these effects / builds. If you break the game using some random build or esoteric ruling you found on the internet without running it past the DM and then get into an argument with the DM about whether it works or not then a responsible DM will simply un-invite you to that game and you will have found one of the few ways to well and truly lose and D&D.
And my "talk to your DM & fellow players" I don't mean try some sneaky underhanded way to trick them into allowing it, I mean tell them exactly what you want to do: i.e. instantly stack 4 buffs using a single move action using GoW, and ask them what they think.
You'll note the GoW spell's duration is "until triggered" - once triggered and stored spell cast, the GoW is OVER, it is finito, it is ended and gone. The remaining effect is ONLY that of the stored spell. So why any of y'all think the "multiple effects" rule applies is beyond me. How dafuq does that work for a spell that has stopped and finished?
I don't see how any of that is relevant. "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine" + "you inscribe a glyph that later unleashes a magical effect." The effect comes from the glyph and therefore is an effect of that spell. Different glyphs are the same spell, cast multiple times. They don't combine.
You can argue about targeting and duration all day long, but the spell has a specific rule that it's the source of its effects, and that controls.
In this case, the argument is that glyphs are the spellcasters. The glyphs are not directly affecting the targets of the spells they cast any more than sentient spellcasters are directly affecting the targets of their cast spells. The stacking rule is based on the spells affecting the target, not on how the spells are cast.
I see where you're coming from, but the stacking rule cares only about whether the effects originated from the same spell - the same spell by name, not the same instance of a particular spell. You're reading more into it than it says.
You can't analogize that with multiple spellcasters, because the stacking rule doesn't look at spellcasters, it looks at effects of spells. Glyph of warding is a spell that casts spells, generating the effects of those spells. It isn't a spellcaster casting spells that in turn generate effects. If it were a spellcaster, it could be the target of counterspell.
I absolutely see how your reasoning works, though. It's not by any means a bad interpretation! I just think it's the weaker of the two because it produces absurd results.
Dimension Door only reaches 500 ft, so for a typical adventuring scenario it's still hard for them to set the glyphs up ahead of time in a way that they can then get at them when needed. Also, there is no actual "door" in Dimension Door that you can push an enemy through, it's willing teleport only. Demiplane works, but by that point casters have so many other shenanigans it's less of an issue. And if you push an enemy through into a Demiplane, you might as well just close it and leave them there rather than waste a bunch of gold on the Glyphs.
Sorry, noted "Dimension Door" instead of just "Demiplane" for pushing the BBEG through.
But I certainly agree that there's lots of other rubbish players can pull at the later levels and Dimension Door, while allowing the Buff at early levels, limits it's use by range restriction.
Regardless you mention the cost and I think thats the big factor that can both limit Glyphs of Warding stacks AND justify it's use. If the Adventurers have gone to the effort of casting a Demiplane and paying the gold (Incense/diamonds) for all those Glyphs ahead of time then found a strategic place to cast and use that Demiplane so that a BBEG is moved onto the wards, then it deserves the reward of simultaneously watching him get hit by several debuffs, a Polymorph to a rabbit and an Imprisonment spell or 8th level Dispell to dismiss the door with BBEG inside. Same with Dimension Door if they've worked out a place 500' in range of where they intend to be and the spells available to them, together with the cost in gold to use Glyphs, will limit it even further.
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Combining Game Effects
Different game features can affect a target at the same time. But when two or more game features have the same name, only the effects of one of them—the most potent one—apply while the durations of the effects overlap. For example, if a target is ignited by a fire elemental’s Fire Form trait, the ongoing fire damage doesn’t increase if the burning target is subjected to that trait again. Game features include spells, class features, feats, racial traits, monster abilities, and magic items. See the related rule in the “Combining Magical Effects” section of chapter 10 in the Player’s Handbook.
how does this work with Glyph of warding because my my friend says you cannot have more than one glyph affecting you because of the (Combining Game Effects/ Combining Magical Effects ) Rule
EX: step on subsequent glyphs on floor giveing yourself haste and a 3rd level shadowblade ect...
does this work yes or no
Triggering two Glyph of Warding should have only one of them (the most powerful one if their benefits aren’t identical) applies while the durations of the effects overlap.
I've actually heard the Glyph of Warding stacking combo come up often. The thing is that the end effects are not "Glyph of Warding", they're whatever spell was stored in them. Granted, given that the glyph can't be moved, it's generally not a practical combo for players, but it's a hand trick for DM's if they want to give the BBEG an emergency turbo boost button, although obviously they need to balance how many effects are coming online at once.
The target of a Glyph of Warding can only have one at a time affecting it, so a surface or object can only have a single glyph, wether it's an explosive rune or spell.
Also if you're caught in the radius of more than one glyph erupting with magical energy, only one of them (the most powerful one if their benefits aren’t identical) should apply. So only the damage of one explosive rune would apply for exemple. Likewise, if you're affected by the same spell twice, then wether it's a glyph or not Combining Magical Effects should still apply.
Now it may be possible to place multiple Glyph of Warding spells at proximity that would have different effect but it would depend where they're located and what effect they cause.
The surface part is tricky to rule. It only says the Glyph can be no bigger than a 10ft x 10ft square and it can also fit on a scroll or book. Given that, it's reasonable to say multiple can be laid on the floor in a single space. I'm not seeing anything in the description prohibiting multiple on the same surface/object either. For the spellcasting part, to me it's like multiple casters buffing the same target. As long as they're using different spells, all effects should apply. This can produce some broken effects, sure, but it's 200 gp a pop, an hour of casting, and a 3rd or higher spell slot, so players are going to have a hard time abusing it without a cooperating DM and on the DM end they already have fiat to set whatever traps/effects they want in an area, so it just provides a framework for some of them.
It would depend on the DM but if none of the Glyph of Wardings are on the same sarface or object, then each will trigger seperately and no combination will occur. Combination would involve multi-trigger which to me would fall right in the spirit of the limitation imposed by Combining Magical Effect since this rule is in place to prevent such overlap.
A Dev once tweeted he'd limit the spell, i assume many DM also would even if a possible abuse was possible.
There's merit to it, but that's DM adjudication, not RAW. Which doesn't mean it's not a fair call. Really, the argument is fairly academic; players are almost never going to be in a position to attempt to stack it, and the DM has fiat to set up a big fight however they want. If you want to rule it this way at your table, that's your business and it's not unreasonable, but the description and rules seem to allow for stacking different buffs.
The rules for Combining Different Effect are not favoring it RAW though. Any different spell glyph affecting you is still the same effect's proper name Glyph of Warding erupting with magical energy despite being different end result.
and that's the problem I'm running into a lot of people are saying online you can stack and are coming up with builds of like stacking your Barbarian/fighter with a bunch of buffs and I always thought thats how it worked
It depends if you define the glyph applying the effect of a spell onto the player as an effect in itself for the purposes of the multiple effect instances rule. Pretty much everyone I've seen doesn't, and like I've said the conditions for stacking it are such that players can't really pull it off unless the DM deliberately gives them the opportunity, so I'd run with it.
Dimension Door and Demiplane come in.
Use Dimension Door early on to teleport to a place you setup nearby with a pile of Glyphs then teleport back if needs be.
Demiplane is later game but makes it so much worse. Cast Demiplane, setup a heap of wards just inside the door. You can now cast Demiplane when a battle starts, step 5' into the door and 5' back out with all the buff you could hope for. You can even put a mass number of bad glyphs down. Call up the Dimension Door in battle, have the Cleric finally figure out a good use of Thaumaturgy by opening the door behind the BBEG then just one other player with a way to push the BBEG onto the wards.
I wouldn't let glyph spells stack. Although the cost, time, and logistics offset a lot of the issues, in the end to me it boils down to allowing an indefinite, simultaneous number of concentration spells that can't be broken. I think of the concentration limit as one of the most important checks on spellcasting and it's not something I'd mess with lightly. A single concentration-free spell via glyph is enough.
Edit: Whoops, overlooked what forum I was posting in. I definitely prefer an interpretation that the effect is the glyph, not the stored spell. I'll admit that's results-oriented thinking but I think it's valid. I'll even go so far as to suggest it's the better reading of RAW:
(a) Glyph of warding specifies that the glyph unleashes the magical effect. This is a specific rule. It talks about the spell being "cast" when the glyph is triggered but that doesn't override or contradict that rule.
(b) Contingency uses very careful language to differentiate the contingent spell from the contingency itself. Glyph could use similar language if they wanted them considered to be separate.
The GoW Spell Option very explicitly states the stored spell is targeting the creature, so it is the stored spell that affects the target. It is very clear that this is what happens. The stored spell is cast and targets whoever/whatever triggered the glyph, if it can.
This means the person who triggered the glyph has the stored spell, and its effect, cast on them.
You'll note the GoW spell's duration is "until triggered" - once triggered and stored spell cast, the GoW is OVER, it is finito, it is ended and gone. The remaining effect is ONLY that of the stored spell. So why any of y'all think the "multiple effects" rule applies is beyond me. How dafuq does that work for a spell that has stopped and finished?
GoW doesn't even target a creature, for crying out loud. The GoW target is the surface you cast it on. Hence the range of "touch". The triggering event doesn't even need to be a creature, or object - it could even just be a time of day. The thing that triggers GoW is not a "target" of GoW.
Jeebus Christ, peeps, this thread is like one massive facepalm.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Combining Different Effect rule or the original Combining Game Effect version all refer to "target" which doesn't necessarily need to be a creature but cab be an object or in case of this spell, a surface.
Then there is trriggering part that is also target of the effect which doesn't necessarily need to be a creature and finally there is the effect of it which again may not necessarily be a creature but an AoE.
Dimension Door only reaches 500 ft, so for a typical adventuring scenario it's still hard for them to set the glyphs up ahead of time in a way that they can then get at them when needed. Also, there is no actual "door" in Dimension Door that you can push an enemy through, it's willing teleport only. Demiplane works, but by that point casters have so many other shenanigans it's less of an issue. And if you push an enemy through into a Demiplane, you might as well just close it and leave them there rather than waste a bunch of gold on the Glyphs.
The best answer here is: don't be a jerk, talk to your fellow players and DM to see how they want to rule it and if they want to allow these effects / builds. If you break the game using some random build or esoteric ruling you found on the internet without running it past the DM and then get into an argument with the DM about whether it works or not then a responsible DM will simply un-invite you to that game and you will have found one of the few ways to well and truly lose and D&D.
And my "talk to your DM & fellow players" I don't mean try some sneaky underhanded way to trick them into allowing it, I mean tell them exactly what you want to do: i.e. instantly stack 4 buffs using a single move action using GoW, and ask them what they think.
I don't see how any of that is relevant. "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine" + "you inscribe a glyph that later unleashes a magical effect." The effect comes from the glyph and therefore is an effect of that spell. Different glyphs are the same spell, cast multiple times. They don't combine.
You can argue about targeting and duration all day long, but the spell has a specific rule that it's the source of its effects, and that controls.
I see where you're coming from, but the stacking rule cares only about whether the effects originated from the same spell - the same spell by name, not the same instance of a particular spell. You're reading more into it than it says.
You can't analogize that with multiple spellcasters, because the stacking rule doesn't look at spellcasters, it looks at effects of spells. Glyph of warding is a spell that casts spells, generating the effects of those spells. It isn't a spellcaster casting spells that in turn generate effects. If it were a spellcaster, it could be the target of counterspell.
I absolutely see how your reasoning works, though. It's not by any means a bad interpretation! I just think it's the weaker of the two because it produces absurd results.
Sorry, noted "Dimension Door" instead of just "Demiplane" for pushing the BBEG through.
But I certainly agree that there's lots of other rubbish players can pull at the later levels and Dimension Door, while allowing the Buff at early levels, limits it's use by range restriction.
Regardless you mention the cost and I think thats the big factor that can both limit Glyphs of Warding stacks AND justify it's use. If the Adventurers have gone to the effort of casting a Demiplane and paying the gold (Incense/diamonds) for all those Glyphs ahead of time then found a strategic place to cast and use that Demiplane so that a BBEG is moved onto the wards, then it deserves the reward of simultaneously watching him get hit by several debuffs, a Polymorph to a rabbit and an Imprisonment spell or 8th level Dispell to dismiss the door with BBEG inside. Same with Dimension Door if they've worked out a place 500' in range of where they intend to be and the spells available to them, together with the cost in gold to use Glyphs, will limit it even further.