Planning on doing a D&D campaign and someone asked me if it would be okay to have their spiritual weapon be in the shape of an animal and move like an animal. It would still follow all the same rules of spiritual weapon it would just be an animal construct. can anyone think of any reason why this would be a bad idea because I cannot
I would question its movement in combat... how much room more or less will this animal use in comparison to a weapon type? And how will that effect everyone/thing near it?
My "magic" flying-squirrel launches into action... no problem
An owlbear pops out of nowhere... would mean a bit more.
So long as it follows the RAW for SW, I say go for it. My cleric's SW is a unicorn headed hobby horse. Go nuts. lol. Some caveats, though. While it is "shaped" like an animal, it is still a weapon, not a creature. It would still have to behave like an animal shaped weapon. It cannot take any actions besides moving and attacking on your turn as a BA. It would not get Help/Dodge/etc, though at the DM's discretion it can flank an enemy. Any animation of the animal would be confined to that movement or attack. You're not creating a familiar, after all.
I am not sure how this different from a creature that decides to attack a spiritual weapon. "The hobgoblin attacks your floating mace."
I do agree, it sounds awesome and I would roll with it.
Similar to Spirit Guardians, SW has no AC or HP. I've seen some DM's have enemies completly ignore SW in combat, and others say when attacked the blows simply pass through the spiritual energy. I don't think they can be killed, except by a dispell magic.
I have a cleric in one of my games who chooses a different form for her spiritual weapon based on the circumstances. It's LOADS of fun when she casts it to ask what form it takes, and listen to her come up with something hysterical in the moment! I've even let the weapon have slightly different properties in a few cases where she's worked with the rest of the party to come up with something really creative. Of course you need to be careful with that, as spiritual weapon is already a pretty strong spell and you don't want it to become too powerful, but it's a great way for clerics to show off personality in there spells. So I say go for it!
Planning on doing a D&D campaign and someone asked me if it would be okay to have their spiritual weapon be in the shape of an animal and move like an animal. It would still follow all the same rules of spiritual weapon it would just be an animal construct. can anyone think of any reason why this would be a bad idea because I cannot
Sounds awesome as heck. Assuming it just works like a normal spiritual weapon, sounds like great flavor.
My biggest concern might be that they try to use it to trick enemies into attacking it, which is 100% not intended.
As long as you establish that it still appears obviously non-physical, there shouldn't be a problem. And yeah, awesome as heck.
Yeah maybe make it look slightly ghostly or ethereal. Otherwise, yeah if a lollipop can be one then a tiger can
it has to fit in a 5 ft. cube, make it atom sized and watch the confusion of your enemies
That is not actually a requirement of the spell. In fact you cant choose its size, just its shape.
I would question its movement in combat... how much room more or less will this animal use in comparison to a weapon type? And how will that effect everyone/thing near it?
My "magic" flying-squirrel launches into action... no problem
An owlbear pops out of nowhere... would mean a bit more.
So long as it follows the RAW for SW, I say go for it. My cleric's SW is a unicorn headed hobby horse. Go nuts. lol. Some caveats, though. While it is "shaped" like an animal, it is still a weapon, not a creature. It would still have to behave like an animal shaped weapon. It cannot take any actions besides moving and attacking on your turn as a BA. It would not get Help/Dodge/etc, though at the DM's discretion it can flank an enemy. Any animation of the animal would be confined to that movement or attack. You're not creating a familiar, after all.
I am not sure how this different from a creature that decides to attack a spiritual weapon. "The hobgoblin attacks your floating mace."
I do agree, it sounds awesome and I would roll with it.
Similar to Spirit Guardians, SW has no AC or HP. I've seen some DM's have enemies completly ignore SW in combat, and others say when attacked the blows simply pass through the spiritual energy. I don't think they can be killed, except by a dispell magic.
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InsiderI have a cleric in one of my games who chooses a different form for her spiritual weapon based on the circumstances. It's LOADS of fun when she casts it to ask what form it takes, and listen to her come up with something hysterical in the moment! I've even let the weapon have slightly different properties in a few cases where she's worked with the rest of the party to come up with something really creative. Of course you need to be careful with that, as spiritual weapon is already a pretty strong spell and you don't want it to become too powerful, but it's a great way for clerics to show off personality in there spells. So I say go for it!
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