Hi, I was recently making a wizard and while I was picking out spells, I noticed something strange. The spell Levitate says nothing about levitating a held object. Would this let you be able to disarm someone with a second level spell slot? Or is there something I’m stupidly missing?
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it doesn't have to explicitly say "held objects are invalid" because it already said it at the beginning. One creature or loose object may be levitated. It can't be a loose object if it's held.
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Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
What would happen if I levitated a loose object during round 1, but on round 2 an enemy somehow got a hold of it? Is the enemy hanging in midair as I levitate the object up and down?... or does it immediately invalidate the spell's effect on the object because it is now no longer loose?
I don't know if this is exactly the RAW, but in my head this changes the target of the spell from the loose object to the Unwilling Target of the creature grabbing the loose object. So the Creature makes a CON saving throw... if they fail they're floating in the air by the object, and if they succeed they pull the object back down. However, if the creature fails they still have the option to just let go of it and drop down, since the object is still what's actually floating. In the same sense, as long as the original caster keeps concentration up, if the creature releases the object for any reason they can make it start floating again without any additional rolls or challenges.
The details of levitate are open to much debate. Is the levitated object actually weightless? Is it fixed in place by an external force? If so, how strong is this force? If I levitate a wooden plank, could a dragon land on it? If I levitate a wooden plank 3' behind a door, would the levitational force holding it in place prevent a goblin from forcing the door open. A giant?
If I levitate a wooden plank, could a dragon land on it?
no, but only because one of the hard and fast details of the spell is that it can only support up to 500 lbs.
Actually, I wrote that, then decided to re-read the spell description... and it does say that the initial target of the levitation can only be up to 500 lbs, but there's no language in the spell that says it stops working if additional weight is added to a levitating target. I think at my table I would still rule that adding more weight breaks the spell, but there is a legitimate argument to be made that the question of weight only matters when the spell is initially cast.
Souldn't the targeting restrictions only apply when the spell is first cast, so that if the object is loose it works but then if someone wants to grab it and they weigh less than 500 pounds they can float or let go and drop, but the spell continues as long as you concentrate on it?
I would agree with this ruling. The word "loose" is only applicable when the target is selected. The weight limit is in a separate sentence and represents a limit on continued levitation (as well as targeting).
So if I took the Merchant Artisan background, but actually took the alternate Merchant Trader background, I could start the game with a mule and cart.
A cart weighs 200 lbs.
How quickly can you unhook the mule from the cart?
Free action? or Action? or do you think it should take even longer? What if instead of untying or unhooking (whichever is involved) you cut the straps for a quick release?
So, in one of the Adventure books I've run there's a sequence where creatures attack a caravan to steal the horses. Within that adventure, it takes the creatures full action to unhook a horse, and that's under the assumption that htey're just cutting them loose and not carefully removing them in a way that doesn't break any straps or anything.
Within my own homebrew games where I'm a player, we had a situation where the giant animated skeleton that pulled our cart would occasionally get us all pulled in weird directions or where it couldn't join in the combat, so my character, who is trained in woodworking, devised a quick release device to let it out using a bonus action. It didn't cost much in terms of supplies, just a few silver worth of wood, but it took an entire workday to get it figured out and crafted.
That said, neither of those are hard and fast rules, but it should give you some idea of how it's been handled at one particular table, and we're not the types to wildly reinterpret rules.
It might be easier to just make the cart two-piece, like a basin on a trailer. Cast Levitate on the basin, and it can rise directly off of the trailer without needing to manipulate anything.
This would be a particularly convenient design for a merchant who transports goods by ship or airship, since they could just crane the whole basin mechanically like a shipping container.
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Hi, I was recently making a wizard and while I was picking out spells, I noticed something strange. The spell Levitate says nothing about levitating a held object. Would this let you be able to disarm someone with a second level spell slot? Or is there something I’m stupidly missing?
Lets summon archdevils
Platymaster of the Church (Cult) of the Platypus
Arachnapriest of the Guild of Spiders
Disclaimer: Underfan8 is not to be held responsible for any of the following events happening as a result of talking to Underfan8, touching Underfan8, or even just seeing Underfan8: The rise of Tiamat, resurrection of vecna, pissed of genies, a complete and udder power change in the blood war, or a fate worse than a fate worse than total annihilation. Exist with Underfan8 at you own risk.
One creature or loose object
it doesn't have to explicitly say "held objects are invalid" because it already said it at the beginning. One creature or loose object may be levitated. It can't be a loose object if it's held.
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
I don't know if this is exactly the RAW, but in my head this changes the target of the spell from the loose object to the Unwilling Target of the creature grabbing the loose object. So the Creature makes a CON saving throw... if they fail they're floating in the air by the object, and if they succeed they pull the object back down. However, if the creature fails they still have the option to just let go of it and drop down, since the object is still what's actually floating. In the same sense, as long as the original caster keeps concentration up, if the creature releases the object for any reason they can make it start floating again without any additional rolls or challenges.
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The details of levitate are open to much debate. Is the levitated object actually weightless? Is it fixed in place by an external force? If so, how strong is this force? If I levitate a wooden plank, could a dragon land on it? If I levitate a wooden plank 3' behind a door, would the levitational force holding it in place prevent a goblin from forcing the door open. A giant?
Is levitational even a word?
"Not all those who wander are lost"
no, but only because one of the hard and fast details of the spell is that it can only support up to 500 lbs.
Actually, I wrote that, then decided to re-read the spell description... and it does say that the initial target of the levitation can only be up to 500 lbs, but there's no language in the spell that says it stops working if additional weight is added to a levitating target. I think at my table I would still rule that adding more weight breaks the spell, but there is a legitimate argument to be made that the question of weight only matters when the spell is initially cast.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I would agree with this ruling. The word "loose" is only applicable when the target is selected. The weight limit is in a separate sentence and represents a limit on continued levitation (as well as targeting).
So, in one of the Adventure books I've run there's a sequence where creatures attack a caravan to steal the horses. Within that adventure, it takes the creatures full action to unhook a horse, and that's under the assumption that htey're just cutting them loose and not carefully removing them in a way that doesn't break any straps or anything.
Within my own homebrew games where I'm a player, we had a situation where the giant animated skeleton that pulled our cart would occasionally get us all pulled in weird directions or where it couldn't join in the combat, so my character, who is trained in woodworking, devised a quick release device to let it out using a bonus action. It didn't cost much in terms of supplies, just a few silver worth of wood, but it took an entire workday to get it figured out and crafted.
That said, neither of those are hard and fast rules, but it should give you some idea of how it's been handled at one particular table, and we're not the types to wildly reinterpret rules.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
It might be easier to just make the cart two-piece, like a basin on a trailer. Cast Levitate on the basin, and it can rise directly off of the trailer without needing to manipulate anything.
This would be a particularly convenient design for a merchant who transports goods by ship or airship, since they could just crane the whole basin mechanically like a shipping container.