I haven't seen this specifically referenced in other threads, although it seems there is a lot of question about how occupying seems to work with this spell, but could you place the Guardian of Faith in a 10-foot wide chasm creating a bridge for your allies to walk across? Can one climb a Guardian of Faith?
It would seem like the Guardian has some substance to it, as everything I have read infers it cannot be passed through and the spell description says it occupies its space.
Any help with clarifying the mechanic would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance...
That is a very interesting question. The guardian of faith is described to hover in its space, but I'm not sure it can float in mid air, especially while supporting the weight of other creatures.
Besides that I would say it is sort if treated as an object, so while unorthodox (and definitely something you should be able to do without a 4th level spell) I would say you could climb it.
There is a lot of guesswork and personal rulings in this one, so definitely ask your DM.
[Edit] Actually, as Memnosyne pointed out it is described as spectral which usually means not solid, so I wouldn't allow climbing.
While a DM has free reign to interpret these specific mechanics however they wish, "occupying" a space doesn't mean that the creature is necessarily solid, nor capable of holding weight. A Small Creature occupies a 5ft space, but only fills a small fraction of that space. The Guardian of Faith is "spectral", like a ghost, and its damage is radiant, rather than physical.
Allied creatures can freely move through each others space without issue, and there are some variant rules that allow hostile creatures to move through occupied space by using the Tumble and Overrun actions.
So, I would strongly suggest "No". A Guardian of Faith does not have a physical form, and thus can't be climbed or used as a bridge in any practical sense.
I didnt really think about the spectral description, so that is fair. Although there is no real definition of "spectral" in the game and I sort of took that for flavor text. Plenty of creatures are spectral but you cannot move through their square and can be physically affected by their surroundings...
Does this mean we think you can just move straight through a Guardian of Faith spell? In that way, it also cannot be used as any sort of roadblock for another creature (hostile or otherwise)?
Per the rules, by "occupying" its space, a hostile creature can not pass through its space without using the variant rules I mentioned. It's one of the quirks of being a game and not a physics simulator.
To rationalize it, maybe the sword and shield are "physical", but the rest of it is not. It can "block" an enemy, but isn't intelligent enough to use the shield as a bridge.
I haven't seen this specifically referenced in other threads, although it seems there is a lot of question about how occupying seems to work with this spell, but could you place the Guardian of Faith in a 10-foot wide chasm creating a bridge for your allies to walk across? Can one climb a Guardian of Faith?
It would seem like the Guardian has some substance to it, as everything I have read infers it cannot be passed through and the spell description says it occupies its space.
Any help with clarifying the mechanic would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance...
That is a very interesting question. The guardian of faith is described to hover in its space, but I'm not sure it can float in mid air, especially while supporting the weight of other creatures.
Besides that I would say it is sort if treated as an object, so while unorthodox (and definitely something you should be able to do without a 4th level spell) I would say you could climb it.There is a lot of guesswork and personal rulings in this one, so definitely ask your DM.
[Edit] Actually, as Memnosyne pointed out it is described as spectral which usually means not solid, so I wouldn't allow climbing.
While a DM has free reign to interpret these specific mechanics however they wish, "occupying" a space doesn't mean that the creature is necessarily solid, nor capable of holding weight. A Small Creature occupies a 5ft space, but only fills a small fraction of that space. The Guardian of Faith is "spectral", like a ghost, and its damage is radiant, rather than physical.
Allied creatures can freely move through each others space without issue, and there are some variant rules that allow hostile creatures to move through occupied space by using the Tumble and Overrun actions.
So, I would strongly suggest "No". A Guardian of Faith does not have a physical form, and thus can't be climbed or used as a bridge in any practical sense.
I didnt really think about the spectral description, so that is fair. Although there is no real definition of "spectral" in the game and I sort of took that for flavor text. Plenty of creatures are spectral but you cannot move through their square and can be physically affected by their surroundings...
Does this mean we think you can just move straight through a Guardian of Faith spell? In that way, it also cannot be used as any sort of roadblock for another creature (hostile or otherwise)?
Per the rules, by "occupying" its space, a hostile creature can not pass through its space without using the variant rules I mentioned. It's one of the quirks of being a game and not a physics simulator.
To rationalize it, maybe the sword and shield are "physical", but the rest of it is not. It can "block" an enemy, but isn't intelligent enough to use the shield as a bridge.
Indeed. Not an object, but not quite a creature.
It is obviously a weird grey area. Anyway!
Thank you for replying, I appreciate your input!