I recently gave my players a “pole of collapsing” and I have a feeling one player will try to put it in a creatures mouth and try to activate it. Obviously if you think about a human having a 10 foot pole lodged down their throat, any normal being would die...
How would you handle this situation mechanically if the player tried to do this? My fear would be introducing an instant kill item that would be over used.
I have this mental image of a monster (maybe a dragon or something similar) with a pole in its mouth, the pole bends then breaks as the jaws snap shut. It must be from some movie or possibly several movies.
I would think that the pole would extend to the point it meets resistance then stops. A safety feature to prevent the careless user from ending up impaled.
The pole's description specifically suggests it won't cause damage on expansion, in that it will only expand as far as the space it is in allows. The pole must also be held in hand to use it. So first you need to allow a PC to get their hand down a creature's throat, then the pole will expand a little bit, but no bigger than the creature's mouth/throat. It would be a great annoyance, but unlikely to do any damage of any sort, let alone cause any sort of instant death.
Jeeze, I felt I thoroughly read over the description, but I must have glanced over all of that! Thank you for all that. The players are super cool working within the rules and the descriptions of items, so I will just review it with the one who wants to do this. Thank for for clarifying all this!
Since the description doesn't mention how strong it is, could you use it in a death star trash compactor situation?
In 5e, magic items are generally treated as indestructible.
Yes and no. Magic items are generally indestructible only to the extent of creatures & effects that damage non-magical items ala Rust Monster. There are a lot of magic items that have explicit effects upon breaking the item.
There's also this entry from the DMG that makes it clear anything can be destroyed:
Magic Item Resilience
Most magic items are objects of extraordinary artisanship, assembled from the finest materials with meticulous attention to detail. Thanks to this combination of careful crafting and magical reinforcement, a magic item is at least as durable as a regular item of its kind. Most magic items, other than potions and scrolls, have resistance to all damage. Artifacts are practically indestructible, requiring extreme measures to destroy.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I recently gave my players a “pole of collapsing” and I have a feeling one player will try to put it in a creatures mouth and try to activate it. Obviously if you think about a human having a 10 foot pole lodged down their throat, any normal being would die...
How would you handle this situation mechanically if the player tried to do this? My fear would be introducing an instant kill item that would be over used.
Thank you!
I would not have a Pole of Collapsing cause any damage when it revert to a pole as the rod will elongate only as far as the surrounding space allows. Any restrictions will cause it to stop. What 10-foot pole serves is to poke at a distance so to interacting with objects and floor around you.
Interacting with ObjectsAround You Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action: tap the floor with a 10-foot pole
Other interesting use could be to use the pole an an improvised weapon and treat it as a quarterstaff. Being magical, it could be used to bypass resistance to non-magical bludgeoning damage. It would effectively double as a retractable magical quarterstaff.
How fast does it expand? Could a small character hold on to one end, possibly twisting legs around it, and then make it expand to use it like a pogo stick with 1 jump per action?
How fast does it expand? Could a small character hold on to one end, possibly twisting legs around it, and then make it expand to use it like a pogo stick with 1 jump per action?
RAW is silent on how fast the rod revert to a pole so it'd be up to DM.
To me it wouldn't spring and cause it to jump in the air but rather elongate from both ends leaving the creature relatively still in the same 5 foot space/square, not moving significantly enought to change location.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I recently gave my players a “pole of collapsing” and I have a feeling one player will try to put it in a creatures mouth and try to activate it. Obviously if you think about a human having a 10 foot pole lodged down their throat, any normal being would die...
How would you handle this situation mechanically if the player tried to do this? My fear would be introducing an instant kill item that would be over used.
Thank you!
I have this mental image of a monster (maybe a dragon or something similar) with a pole in its mouth, the pole bends then breaks as the jaws snap shut. It must be from some movie or possibly several movies.
I would think that the pole would extend to the point it meets resistance then stops. A safety feature to prevent the careless user from ending up impaled.
The pole's description specifically suggests it won't cause damage on expansion, in that it will only expand as far as the space it is in allows. The pole must also be held in hand to use it. So first you need to allow a PC to get their hand down a creature's throat, then the pole will expand a little bit, but no bigger than the creature's mouth/throat. It would be a great annoyance, but unlikely to do any damage of any sort, let alone cause any sort of instant death.
Jeeze, I felt I thoroughly read over the description, but I must have glanced over all of that! Thank you for all that. The players are super cool working within the rules and the descriptions of items, so I will just review it with the one who wants to do this. Thank for for clarifying all this!
anyone have any idea how much it would cost?
For common utility items like that I usually charge around 100-150gp.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Since the description doesn't mention how strong it is, could you use it in a death star trash compactor situation?
In 5e, magic items are generally treated as indestructible.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Yes and no. Magic items are generally indestructible only to the extent of creatures & effects that damage non-magical items ala Rust Monster. There are a lot of magic items that have explicit effects upon breaking the item.
There's also this entry from the DMG that makes it clear anything can be destroyed:
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
They wouldn't be able to do that becuase in the description, it states that it can only grow to the size of the room it is in, that includes mouthes
I would not have a Pole of Collapsing cause any damage when it revert to a pole as the rod will elongate only as far as the surrounding space allows. Any restrictions will cause it to stop. What 10-foot pole serves is to poke at a distance so to interacting with objects and floor around you.
Interacting with Objects Around You Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action: tap the floor with a 10-foot pole
Other interesting use could be to use the pole an an improvised weapon and treat it as a quarterstaff. Being magical, it could be used to bypass resistance to non-magical bludgeoning damage. It would effectively double as a retractable magical quarterstaff.
How fast does it expand? Could a small character hold on to one end, possibly twisting legs around it, and then make it expand to use it like a pogo stick with 1 jump per action?
RAW is silent on how fast the rod revert to a pole so it'd be up to DM.
To me it wouldn't spring and cause it to jump in the air but rather elongate from both ends leaving the creature relatively still in the same 5 foot space/square, not moving significantly enought to change location.