I was just reading the description for the portable hole, and realized that there is no rule saying that the surface you put it on has to be flat. That means you could just wear it, and no attacks hit you, right? If anyone knows if this is possible, post it on the thread.
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Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
The item does say that "It unfolds into a circular sheet 6 feet in diameter. You can use an action to unfold a portable hole..." (Emphasis added) I mean, I don't know a normal creature that is 6 feet in diameter and thus would be able to be used as a surface for the hole. I also argue that a creature is not a solid surface, because I would assume that they are referring to solid structurally and not solid the state of matter, but that is open to interpretation. If I was to allow this, I would simply make it count as 3/4 cover. Some part of you must be exposed to be able to have the hole exist in the first place, plus as soon as someone is making an attack from the direction of the hole it would do basically nothing for you nor would it have any effect on AOE spells because again they should be hitting you from all sides, not just the one the hole is on.
If you were to wrap it around a creature less than 6 feet in diameter as a surface like a cloak then as soon as the hole touches itself it would be destroyed because you put it inside of an extradimensional space. I also can't imagine that being just barely not consumed by a vast void would really inhibit your ability to do anything, because if you are totally covered by it then you are totally covered by it and would be unable to do anything because all around you is an extradimensional hole.
All of that is assuming that you need to fully unfold the hole for its effect to be used, which is almost definitely the case because it tells you how big it is when you unfold it and specifically says that you unfold it when you activate it, which I emphasized in the beginning.
I, as a dm, would not allow this sort of thing but if you want to rule it otherwise, go ahead.
Despite the fact that the object is not designed to do that, and that the character would probably end up lost in the astral plane (last paragraph of the description), doing something like this constantly is boring and contrary to the playful aspect of the game. Such a solution at a specific moment, and as something exceptional for one time, is fun and interesting. But giving you permanent immunity to damage is boring.
In any case, it cannot be done for the reasons that have been mentioned in the previous post. If I were your DM, I'd let you try. But probably the result would not be what you intend. Even if the item's description would let you do that (which it doesn't), as a DM, I couldn't allow a player to get permanent immunity to all damage. That kills the game completely and makes it stupid to play.
Despite the fact that the object is not designed to do that, and that the character would probably end up lost in the astral plane (last paragraph of the description), doing something like this constantly is boring and contrary to the playful aspect of the game. Such a solution at a specific moment, and as something exceptional for one time, is fun and interesting. But giving you permanent immunity to damage is boring.
In any case, it cannot be done for the reasons that have been mentioned in the previous post. If I were your DM, I'd let you try. But probably the result would not be what you intend. Even if the item's description would let you do that (which it doesn't), as a DM, I couldn't allow a player to get permanent immunity to all damage. That kills the game completely and makes it stupid to play.
I feel like this is the perfect response to so many "does my idea break the game" threads. You could copy and paste it with minimal changes, probably two or three times a week just on these forums.
OP, I've never heard someone describe their body as a surface.
Considering this thing is a hole (an empty void), I don't think slapping it onto your body would be a good idea at all, as what would be left of you? It might work, but you'd be incapable of interacting with the world around you, and probably unable to experience it either.
If you know you're going to face something that needs blocking, e.g- a dragon's breath weapon, then I'd think about how else you might use this for blocking. For example, if you could get a 6-foot circular board made up, you could slap the hole on one side, and put handles on the other. If I were DMing that I'd maybe allow two Medium creatures (or one with Powerful Build) to then carry this, but they'd be considered incapacitated while doing so, but could move it to try and block incoming threats against your allies. If the party could scare up some volunteers such as townspeople, or bring two unseen servants or similar then they could maybe use it without losing fighters, though it would depend how well you can coordinate your holey helpers.
But it would be highly situational just how useful it is; there's a fine line between DMs encouraging ingenuity and inviting exploits that ruin the game.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I guess if you wore it you couldn’t pick anything up, because it would fall into the hole, meaning if you tried to hold a sword it would just fall into your hand.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Folks you might want to go back and read the portable hole description. It is designed to be folded onto itself without creating the inter dimensional rip/ explosion and it has 2 sides- one side is the dimensional portal/hole and the other is some sort of silken cloth. In theory , at least, a silken cloak could be enchanted with The Hole and then worn with the hole out and the silk in touching the wearer without dropping them into the hole. No magical weapons other than those >10’ would pass harmlessly thru the hole doing no damage. Weapons >10’would touch and penetrate the “bottom of the hole” breaking the magic with whatever consequences the DM decides are appropriate. Similarly magic weapons would be slicing/stabbing/mashing through the magic of the portal probably ending it catastrophically as well. Same basic result - not that great at higher levels and not readily available at lower levels so probably no more than a few testing prototypes were ever made.
Sure, but it seems like the how part of it is either working or it isn't. If it's even closely lapped over itself and that invalidates it functioning as a hole then it won't do anything and if it overlapping with itself doesn't negate the ability of the hole then it gets destroyed because you've put an interdimensional space inside of it which it explicitly states causes it to collapse.
Folks you might want to go back and read the portable hole description. It is designed to be folded onto itself without creating the inter dimensional rip/ explosion and it has 2 sides- one side is the dimensional portal/hole and the other is some sort of silken cloth. In theory , at least, a silken cloak could be enchanted with The Hole and then worn with the hole out and the silk in touching the wearer without dropping them into the hole. No magical weapons other than those >10’ would pass harmlessly thru the hole doing no damage. Weapons >10’would touch and penetrate the “bottom of the hole” breaking the magic with whatever consequences the DM decides are appropriate. Similarly magic weapons would be slicing/stabbing/mashing through the magic of the portal probably ending it catastrophically as well. Same basic result - not that great at higher levels and not readily available at lower levels so probably no more than a few testing prototypes were ever made.
I think you might have missed the words "solid surface" when reading the magic item's description.
Folks you might want to go back and read the portable hole description. It is designed to be folded onto itself without creating the inter dimensional rip/ explosion and it has 2 sides- one side is the dimensional portal/hole and the other is some sort of silken cloth. In theory , at least, a silken cloak could be enchanted with The Hole and then worn with the hole out and the silk in touching the wearer without dropping them into the hole. No magical weapons other than those >10’ would pass harmlessly thru the hole doing no damage. Weapons >10’would touch and penetrate the “bottom of the hole” breaking the magic with whatever consequences the DM decides are appropriate. Similarly magic weapons would be slicing/stabbing/mashing through the magic of the portal probably ending it catastrophically as well. Same basic result - not that great at higher levels and not readily available at lower levels so probably no more than a few testing prototypes were ever made.
I think you might have missed the words "solid surface" when reading the magic item's description.
No I didn’t it is described as a foldable cloth sheet that you can feel the cloth nature of the backside with a the hole on the other side as a link to a hole on a different plane. You can lay the portable hole on a solid surface but it’s not a hole in the surface it’s actually a portal to a hole in a different plane. Put it in a bag of holding or take it into a pocket dimension and it blows both up. But fold the cloth over itself portal to portal and nothing happens - try to fold a sheet of paper black on one side and white on the other without any of the black side touching any other part of the black side while folding it from a 6’ diameter down to the size of a napkin.
No I didn’t it is described as a foldable cloth sheet that you can feel the cloth nature of the backside with a the hole on the other side as a link to a hole on a different plane.
The point is, a suit of armor is not a solid surface.
But a 10’ deep extra dimensional hole the weapons pass thru instead of your body is a hell of a defense - until it blows up in your face dumping you without armor or Defence on some random plane. It’s one of those things that are technically possible but practically are useless and more of a problem than a reward. Has it ever been created in some place like the forgotten realms? Probably. So why haven’t we heard of it? Because the artificer/mage/cleric/ whatever that made it didn’t survive it’s disruption and neither did the cloak. And of course it’s not just the possible disruption by a magical weapon or overlong pike to worry about. Or even absentmindedly stuffing it into a bag of holding - any extra dimensional space it crosses into does it - spells like Rpe trick, Leo’s tiny hut, mordenkainens mansion, or items like Howard’s haversack etc all would cause it’s disruption.r
Actually I would almost rather build the cloak the other way - with the hole on the inside so I could stuff stuff into it and carry it without weight as it’s sitting in the hole in another dimension so no weight here. But then it has the same sorts of problems with weapons and extra dimensional spaces.
No I didn’t it is described as a foldable cloth sheet that you can feel the cloth nature of the backside with a the hole on the other side as a link to a hole on a different plane.
The point is, a suit of armor is not a solid surface.
What you you mean a suit of armor isn't solid? It's literally solid enough to deflect an arrow going 150 mph and a 20 pound hammer being swung as fast as a baseball bat. It's like literally the definition of a solid surface. (
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
I was just reading the description for the portable hole, and realized that there is no rule saying that the surface you put it on has to be flat. That means you could just wear it, and no attacks hit you, right? If anyone knows if this is possible, post it on the thread.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
The item does say that "It unfolds into a circular sheet 6 feet in diameter. You can use an action to unfold a portable hole..." (Emphasis added) I mean, I don't know a normal creature that is 6 feet in diameter and thus would be able to be used as a surface for the hole. I also argue that a creature is not a solid surface, because I would assume that they are referring to solid structurally and not solid the state of matter, but that is open to interpretation. If I was to allow this, I would simply make it count as 3/4 cover. Some part of you must be exposed to be able to have the hole exist in the first place, plus as soon as someone is making an attack from the direction of the hole it would do basically nothing for you nor would it have any effect on AOE spells because again they should be hitting you from all sides, not just the one the hole is on.
If you were to wrap it around a creature less than 6 feet in diameter as a surface like a cloak then as soon as the hole touches itself it would be destroyed because you put it inside of an extradimensional space. I also can't imagine that being just barely not consumed by a vast void would really inhibit your ability to do anything, because if you are totally covered by it then you are totally covered by it and would be unable to do anything because all around you is an extradimensional hole.
All of that is assuming that you need to fully unfold the hole for its effect to be used, which is almost definitely the case because it tells you how big it is when you unfold it and specifically says that you unfold it when you activate it, which I emphasized in the beginning.
I, as a dm, would not allow this sort of thing but if you want to rule it otherwise, go ahead.
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"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Despite the fact that the object is not designed to do that, and that the character would probably end up lost in the astral plane (last paragraph of the description), doing something like this constantly is boring and contrary to the playful aspect of the game. Such a solution at a specific moment, and as something exceptional for one time, is fun and interesting. But giving you permanent immunity to damage is boring.
In any case, it cannot be done for the reasons that have been mentioned in the previous post. If I were your DM, I'd let you try. But probably the result would not be what you intend. Even if the item's description would let you do that (which it doesn't), as a DM, I couldn't allow a player to get permanent immunity to all damage. That kills the game completely and makes it stupid to play.
I feel like this is the perfect response to so many "does my idea break the game" threads. You could copy and paste it with minimal changes, probably two or three times a week just on these forums.
OP, I've never heard someone describe their body as a surface.
Considering this thing is a hole (an empty void), I don't think slapping it onto your body would be a good idea at all, as what would be left of you? It might work, but you'd be incapable of interacting with the world around you, and probably unable to experience it either.
If you know you're going to face something that needs blocking, e.g- a dragon's breath weapon, then I'd think about how else you might use this for blocking. For example, if you could get a 6-foot circular board made up, you could slap the hole on one side, and put handles on the other. If I were DMing that I'd maybe allow two Medium creatures (or one with Powerful Build) to then carry this, but they'd be considered incapacitated while doing so, but could move it to try and block incoming threats against your allies. If the party could scare up some volunteers such as townspeople, or bring two unseen servants or similar then they could maybe use it without losing fighters, though it would depend how well you can coordinate your holey helpers.
But it would be highly situational just how useful it is; there's a fine line between DMs encouraging ingenuity and inviting exploits that ruin the game.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
A portable hole that is blocking people attacking you is also blocking you attacking them.
I would let it work to an extent. I’d let you wear it like a cloak without a hood and I’d give you an AC of 17 or 18 plus your dexterity modifier.
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But it would need a hood.
And it would only work when the hood was up.
And the hood is part of the portable hole, so the PCs head would disappear into the portable hole.
So the PC would be effectively blind, since they can't see what's happening.
I guess if you wore it you couldn’t pick anything up, because it would fall into the hole, meaning if you tried to hold a sword it would just fall into your hand.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
I would advise against this in m'y camping as its not designed for it.
Folks you might want to go back and read the portable hole description. It is designed to be folded onto itself without creating the inter dimensional rip/ explosion and it has 2 sides- one side is the dimensional portal/hole and the other is some sort of silken cloth. In theory , at least, a silken cloak could be enchanted with The Hole and then worn with the hole out and the silk in touching the wearer without dropping them into the hole. No magical weapons other than those >10’ would pass harmlessly thru the hole doing no damage. Weapons >10’would touch and penetrate the “bottom of the hole” breaking the magic with whatever consequences the DM decides are appropriate. Similarly magic weapons would be slicing/stabbing/mashing through the magic of the portal probably ending it catastrophically as well. Same basic result - not that great at higher levels and not readily available at lower levels so probably no more than a few testing prototypes were ever made.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Sure, but it seems like the how part of it is either working or it isn't. If it's even closely lapped over itself and that invalidates it functioning as a hole then it won't do anything and if it overlapping with itself doesn't negate the ability of the hole then it gets destroyed because you've put an interdimensional space inside of it which it explicitly states causes it to collapse.
The point is, it won't work.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
I think you might have missed the words "solid surface" when reading the magic item's description.
You can probably open up a portable hole on a shield, but I don't think it will do anything that an ordinary shield doesn't already do.
No I didn’t it is described as a foldable cloth sheet that you can feel the cloth nature of the backside with a the hole on the other side as a link to a hole on a different plane. You can lay the portable hole on a solid surface but it’s not a hole in the surface it’s actually a portal to a hole in a different plane. Put it in a bag of holding or take it into a pocket dimension and it blows both up. But fold the cloth over itself portal to portal and nothing happens - try to fold a sheet of paper black on one side and white on the other without any of the black side touching any other part of the black side while folding it from a 6’ diameter down to the size of a napkin.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
The point is, a suit of armor is not a solid surface.
But a 10’ deep extra dimensional hole the weapons pass thru instead of your body is a hell of a defense - until it blows up in your face dumping you without armor or Defence on some random plane. It’s one of those things that are technically possible but practically are useless and more of a problem than a reward. Has it ever been created in some place like the forgotten realms? Probably. So why haven’t we heard of it? Because the artificer/mage/cleric/ whatever that made it didn’t survive it’s disruption and neither did the cloak. And of course it’s not just the possible disruption by a magical weapon or overlong pike to worry about. Or even absentmindedly stuffing it into a bag of holding - any extra dimensional space it crosses into does it - spells like Rpe trick, Leo’s tiny hut, mordenkainens mansion, or items like Howard’s haversack etc all would cause it’s disruption.r
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Actually I would almost rather build the cloak the other way - with the hole on the inside so I could stuff stuff into it and carry it without weight as it’s sitting in the hole in another dimension so no weight here. But then it has the same sorts of problems with weapons and extra dimensional spaces.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
What you you mean a suit of armor isn't solid? It's literally solid enough to deflect an arrow going 150 mph and a 20 pound hammer being swung as fast as a baseball bat. It's like literally the definition of a solid surface. (
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
It has joints and things, so it flexes.