By the book, you don't get advantage unless you're making an attack roll, your DM may rule otherwise though. As a DM I might consider a ruling like that for pure damage spells, but a lot of the saving throw spells have significant other effects and giving disadvantage on all saving throws with the caster hidden would have to be carefully considered.
What you are describing is the arcane trickster's 9th level feature. Most DMs make it a point not to house rule that anyone can do what a class feature would grant.
A general way to think about it is this: spells that have a DC which the creature must pass/fail is not normally influenced by whether you are invisible or not. The effects sort of just happen/appear, and it's 100% about whether the target can avoid/mitigate/shrug off the effect. Spells with attack rolls rely on the caster themselves aiming properly, and being invisible allows you more breathing room to line up that shot just right.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
One of the tricks I do in situations like that is to revert back to older editions of D&D and reintroduce a modified "Flatfooted" condition.
Flatfooted basically removed the Dexterity modifier from your AC, so we use that concept here. You've caught the target flatfooted/unaware, however you aren't able to impose dis/advantage, so instead you get a +2 to the DC.
One of the tricks I do in situations like that is to revert back to older editions of D&D and reintroduce a modified "Flatfooted" condition.
Flatfooted basically removed the Dexterity modifier from your AC, so we use that concept here. You've caught the target flatfooted/unaware, however you aren't able to impose dis/advantage, so instead you get a +2 to the DC.
You could just impose disadvantage on the save. The outcome is close enough to negating their dexterity, and it's the exact same shortcut the designers took when it comes to attack rolls against unconscious creatures.
I have a different fix for this, which is to bring back the concept of touch attacks (an attack that ignores the enemy's armor.) That's exactly what they're trying to simulate with the Dexterity save on Sacred Flame and Disintegrate, but it leads to awkward situations like these where the spell ignores conditions and circumstances that help attacks.
If I'm sneaking for example and I have advantage and I use a spell like sacred flame how do I gain Advantage with it because it's a saving throw spell
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond FoundersIt's up to your DM. They could decide that the target of the spell has Disadvantage on their saving throw.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
By the book, you don't get advantage unless you're making an attack roll, your DM may rule otherwise though. As a DM I might consider a ruling like that for pure damage spells, but a lot of the saving throw spells have significant other effects and giving disadvantage on all saving throws with the caster hidden would have to be carefully considered.
What you are describing is the arcane trickster's 9th level feature. Most DMs make it a point not to house rule that anyone can do what a class feature would grant.
A general way to think about it is this: spells that have a DC which the creature must pass/fail is not normally influenced by whether you are invisible or not. The effects sort of just happen/appear, and it's 100% about whether the target can avoid/mitigate/shrug off the effect. Spells with attack rolls rely on the caster themselves aiming properly, and being invisible allows you more breathing room to line up that shot just right.
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.
One of the tricks I do in situations like that is to revert back to older editions of D&D and reintroduce a modified "Flatfooted" condition.
Flatfooted basically removed the Dexterity modifier from your AC, so we use that concept here. You've caught the target flatfooted/unaware, however you aren't able to impose dis/advantage, so instead you get a +2 to the DC.
Lunali nailed it. No attack roll, no advantage.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
You could just impose disadvantage on the save. The outcome is close enough to negating their dexterity, and it's the exact same shortcut the designers took when it comes to attack rolls against unconscious creatures.
I have a different fix for this, which is to bring back the concept of touch attacks (an attack that ignores the enemy's armor.) That's exactly what they're trying to simulate with the Dexterity save on Sacred Flame and Disintegrate, but it leads to awkward situations like these where the spell ignores conditions and circumstances that help attacks.
The Forum Infestation (TM)