My question is (and I think this might be something akin to a Tiny Hut on a boat question):
If I were to be swallowed and while inside the creature I cast an AOE spell that lasts multiple rounds (like Darkstar), would it move with the creature as the target point is inside it? Or would the creature moving have it leave the AOE as normal?
Of course, this is also assuming that I'd pass every CON save while also being subjected to the spell.
My question is (and I think this might be something akin to a Tiny Hut on a boat question):
If I were to be swallowed and while inside the creature I cast an AOE spell that lasts multiple rounds (like Darkstar), would it move with the creature as the target point is inside it? Or would the creature moving have it leave the AOE as normal?
Of course, this is also assuming that I'd pass every CON save while also being subjected to the spell.
The answer depends on the spell, there's no one universal answer. I don't know of a Darkstar spell, but I can answer for Darkness, which is a good candidate for answering your question because it covers 2 cases at once:
1) If you target a point in space with the spell, that point in space emanates the darkness. If the creature moves, the darkness remains fixed in place. Note that spell AOEs are blocked by total cover, but Darkness is special like Fireball is, and goes around cover if a route exists.
2) If you target an object with the spell, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it.
3) Darkness is also a good candidate for your question because it does not require you to see your target. Many AOE spells do, and remember, it is quite dark inside most creatures.
As quindraco mentioned, with the spell Darkness specifically, if you cast it on a point in space it doesn’t move with the ship (applies with other spells that you cast at a point of space as well). But if you cast it on an object (an item in the room) it moves with the object.
Fixed points are always relative to something, and game mechanics handwave a lot of complicating factors. (Like the drifting of continents, or the spinning of planets.)
When combat takes place on a ship, the battle map is fixed relative to the ship, not the sea. When combat takes place between ships, the map is fixed to the sea, not the ships.
The practical takeaway should be that, as a game, the mechanics should allow for reasonable player interactions. A controllable character should be capable of escaping an AOE effect, unless something is in play to specifically prevent it. In Ship-to-Ship combat, each ship is effectively a creature, similar to how a swarm is mechanically a single creature.
Creatures tend to be treated as special, and not subject to object-relative effects. However, some creatures manage to blur those lines. A turtle the size of a mountain exists somewhere in-between. Sure, you could target it with a continuous AOE effect, but a good DM will probably rule that the damage potential is capped, or irrelevant, because no matter how powerful the effect is, it's equivalent to being pricked by a thorn. Killing such a creature should require special criteria, such as repeatedly damaging vulnerable areas, like toppling a building, or fighting the creature's head directly, which can act like a smaller avatar of the whole creature.
A DM may try to establish an iron-clad set of arcano-natural laws, but the nature of magic means that there will always be inconsistencies to exploit.
TL;DR As with most things, ask your DM. If it looks like cheese, and it smells like cheese, it's probably cheese. If it's intuitive and contributes to the story, then it might be worth attempting, even if it's inconsistent with previous rulings.
You can target aoe spells at an area you cannot see with the caveat that it stops at the first thing it hits ( the word used is obstruction so it doesn't matter if its a creature or object) as per the players hand book under targets. So in the case of being swallowed where you are blinded the aoe stops inside the creature and everything outside it has full cover cannot be effected. In the case of darkness this means it can only be aimed inside the creature and as per the wording of the spell it doesn't emanate outwards through the creature unless the creature was the target. So keep that in mind, when you cast an aoe spell inside a creature, it only hits you and the creature who swallowed you.
Now when the creature moves it get's weird. If the aoe continues until the creature can move and it doesn't say it created or targeted something physical which would move with the creature (such as when you target a point), as soon as the creature swallowing creature doesn't occupy the square which has the point of origin of the spell it switches from inside the creature to outside. This means that everything outside the creature will be effected but the inside of the creature will have full cover and not be effected. In the case of darkness this means when the creature moves the spell switches to its full aoe instead of just being inside the creature. Now this is the equivalent of a no clip bug that comes from spell origins not being objects and so only really having collision at the time of casting. It's really an oversight and I think it's fair for DM's to rule it moves with the creature for consistency but as per the rules its doesn't say it does. Alternatively you may say that the creature has to like cough up the spell to move which would be a flavor thing.
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Hi everyone,
My question is (and I think this might be something akin to a Tiny Hut on a boat question):
If I were to be swallowed and while inside the creature I cast an AOE spell that lasts multiple rounds (like Darkstar), would it move with the creature as the target point is inside it? Or would the creature moving have it leave the AOE as normal?
Of course, this is also assuming that I'd pass every CON save while also being subjected to the spell.
The answer depends on the spell, there's no one universal answer. I don't know of a Darkstar spell, but I can answer for Darkness, which is a good candidate for answering your question because it covers 2 cases at once:
1) If you target a point in space with the spell, that point in space emanates the darkness. If the creature moves, the darkness remains fixed in place. Note that spell AOEs are blocked by total cover, but Darkness is special like Fireball is, and goes around cover if a route exists.
2) If you target an object with the spell, the darkness emanates from the object and moves with it.
3) Darkness is also a good candidate for your question because it does not require you to see your target. Many AOE spells do, and remember, it is quite dark inside most creatures.
Yeah, I just picked Darkstar because it was AOE, ongoing, and didn't require a point to be seen.
So, would Darkness cast in a room on a moving ship be left behind?
I guess that's getting into rulings not rules territory.
As quindraco mentioned, with the spell Darkness specifically, if you cast it on a point in space it doesn’t move with the ship (applies with other spells that you cast at a point of space as well). But if you cast it on an object (an item in the room) it moves with the object.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Dark Star appears to be cast on a fixed point and not specifically on objects or creatures, and thus would not move with said object or creature.
Fixed points are always relative to something, and game mechanics handwave a lot of complicating factors. (Like the drifting of continents, or the spinning of planets.)
When combat takes place on a ship, the battle map is fixed relative to the ship, not the sea. When combat takes place between ships, the map is fixed to the sea, not the ships.
The practical takeaway should be that, as a game, the mechanics should allow for reasonable player interactions. A controllable character should be capable of escaping an AOE effect, unless something is in play to specifically prevent it. In Ship-to-Ship combat, each ship is effectively a creature, similar to how a swarm is mechanically a single creature.
Creatures tend to be treated as special, and not subject to object-relative effects. However, some creatures manage to blur those lines. A turtle the size of a mountain exists somewhere in-between. Sure, you could target it with a continuous AOE effect, but a good DM will probably rule that the damage potential is capped, or irrelevant, because no matter how powerful the effect is, it's equivalent to being pricked by a thorn. Killing such a creature should require special criteria, such as repeatedly damaging vulnerable areas, like toppling a building, or fighting the creature's head directly, which can act like a smaller avatar of the whole creature.
A DM may try to establish an iron-clad set of arcano-natural laws, but the nature of magic means that there will always be inconsistencies to exploit.
TL;DR As with most things, ask your DM. If it looks like cheese, and it smells like cheese, it's probably cheese. If it's intuitive and contributes to the story, then it might be worth attempting, even if it's inconsistent with previous rulings.
You can target aoe spells at an area you cannot see with the caveat that it stops at the first thing it hits ( the word used is obstruction so it doesn't matter if its a creature or object) as per the players hand book under targets. So in the case of being swallowed where you are blinded the aoe stops inside the creature and everything outside it has full cover cannot be effected. In the case of darkness this means it can only be aimed inside the creature and as per the wording of the spell it doesn't emanate outwards through the creature unless the creature was the target. So keep that in mind, when you cast an aoe spell inside a creature, it only hits you and the creature who swallowed you.
Now when the creature moves it get's weird. If the aoe continues until the creature can move and it doesn't say it created or targeted something physical which would move with the creature (such as when you target a point), as soon as the creature swallowing creature doesn't occupy the square which has the point of origin of the spell it switches from inside the creature to outside. This means that everything outside the creature will be effected but the inside of the creature will have full cover and not be effected. In the case of darkness this means when the creature moves the spell switches to its full aoe instead of just being inside the creature. Now this is the equivalent of a no clip bug that comes from spell origins not being objects and so only really having collision at the time of casting. It's really an oversight and I think it's fair for DM's to rule it moves with the creature for consistency but as per the rules its doesn't say it does. Alternatively you may say that the creature has to like cough up the spell to move which would be a flavor thing.