Saving throws against an object

Hi there, Midgardians!

The other day my players were facing some spiders and they wanted to burn the spiderwebs. One of them decided to use the cantrip Sacred Flame against them, and then I wondered if inanimated objects had to roll a saving throw given that they are just objects. Do they have to?

Thanks in advance. 😊

Welp, there are a couple of issues here.

1. It only targets a creature not an object.

2. It inflicts Radiant energy, not Fire.

3. Spells only do what they say in this edition.  Fire Bolt for example states "A flammable object hit by this spell starts burning if it isn’t being worn or carried." which Sacred Flame does not.

The spell is rather confusingly named.

This is covered in the rules on Breaking Objects. In short, if an object doesn't have a stat, it fails all appropriate saves.

It still has hit points though, and possibly also a damage threshold.

However, Sacred Flame probably cannot burn spider webs, because it does radiant damage.

Also, as the DM, when a player wants to do what seems like a perfectly reasonable thing, it's fine to just say "you do it", especially if there are no extenuating circumstances. (Also, some people may well say that you can't use a spell that only mentions targeting creatures on an object. To them I say: feh.)

Quote from ArmorStorm >>

Welp, there are a couple of issues here.

1. It only targets a creature not an object.

2. It inflicts Radiant energy, not Fire.

3. Spells only do what they say in this edition.  Fire Bolt for example states "A flammable object hit by this spell starts burning if it isn’t being worn or carried." which Sacred Flame does not.

The spell is rather confusingly named.

 

Oh, that's true! But the damage shouldn't be a problem unless the object is immune or has resistance against it, right? Or am I wrong?

Quote from jl8e >>

This is covered in the rules on Breaking Objects. In short, if an object doesn't have a stat, it fails all appropriate saves.

It still has hit points though, and possibly also a damage threshold.

However, Sacred Flame probably cannot burn spider webs, because it does radiant damage.

Also, as the DM, when a player wants to do what seems like a perfectly reasonable thing, it's fine to just say "you do it", especially if there are no extenuating circumstances. (Also, some people may well say that you can't use a spell that only mentions targeting creatures on an object. To them I say: feh.)

Oh, thank you! ❤️

A Fire Bolt would have worked better.

Quote from Plaguescarred >>

A Fire Bolt would have worked better.

Yeah, I know. Hahaha But nobody had that spell 🙈

Quote from jl8e >>

 

. . .

However, Sacred Flame probably cannot burn spider webs, because it does radiant damage.
. . .

Just as a minor nitpick, Sacred Flame probably can't do that because it uses the phrase 'a  creature that you can see within range' and a web is not a creature. Radiant damage is perfectly fine for damaging most inanimate objects. (Side question: Is anyone aware of anything that specifically says that inanimate objects are immune to Poison or Psychic damage, or does that fall under the more general category of 'D&D is not a simulation' and 'DM's adjudication'?)

Quote from esampson >>

(Side question: Is anyone aware of anything that specifically says that inanimate objects are immune to Poison or Psychic damage, or does that fall under the more general category of 'D&D is not a simulation' and 'DM's adjudication'?)

That's included in the glossary for breaking objects.

The DMG has webs as an example of a hazard:

[...] Each 10-foot Cube of webs has AC 10; HP 15; Vulnerability to Fire damage; and Immunity to Piercing, Poison, and Psychic damage.

To end confusion once and for all pperhaps 6E could rename it Sacred Radiance 😃

Quote from Plaguescarred >>

To end confusion once and for all pperhaps 6E could rename it Sacred Radiance 😃

 

Or to enhance confusion we could rename it to Necrotic Poisonous Psychic Flame :D

Quote from Pantagruel666 >>

Quote from esampson >>

(Side question: Is anyone aware of anything that specifically says that inanimate objects are immune to Poison or Psychic damage, or does that fall under the more general category of 'D&D is not a simulation' and 'DM's adjudication'?)

That's included in the glossary for breaking objects.

Thank you much.