What happens when you cast dispel magic on it? Does the magic that stabilizes it fail? If so, would that mean it would behave like a conventual blackhole. Meaning it would grow in size?    

I feel tunnel would be the best. Impact crater would require impact energy bouncy back out from the sphere as it meets resistance... but it seems like it would simply eat that energy into itself, which would mean no blast back. So I'd run the tunnel plan as a DM

Can you put one in a bag of holding

you can put it in a bag of holding, you just need to roll on the table to see what happens.

As matter can't be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred, imagine how much heat and radiation it would give off, anyone that gets to close would end up being cooked instantly.

Guys. I have just had a wonderfully horrifyingly EEEEEVIL idea. Does anyone remember the staff of adornment. The cpmmpn magic item that allpws you to carry an object up to 1lb without touching it?

Well this thing here doesnt have a weight attached to it.

Anyone care for a black hole on a stick? My staff deals 4d10 force damage.

From what I can tell, this thing has no weight. I guess my dream of casting catapult on it will remain a dream...

Quote from Nezalhualixtlan >>

Quote from Gambal >>

 

Quote from Aries50 >>

Do they move with vehicles, or are they stationary in spacetime unless moved?

 

 "The sphere is stationary until someone controls it."

So the vehicle would have to move at the speed the controller can move it. (5 x INT mod).

 
As  a DM I would rule that it moves with the vehicle.  Why?  Because the magic stabilizing it must be able to attach to a frame of reference or it would be utterly unusable at all, it can not be stationary in space-time.

The planet is not stationary. Many of the ideas around it being stuck in space-time at a location and unable to move at all unless deliberately controlled fall into the trap of thinking your location is also fixed in space time... but it isn't. That's an illusion generated by the fact you are pinned down to the Earth by gravitational effect of the curvature of space time from the planets mass, and the fact that your perception is limited by your physiology and small size to your local conditions. Have you ever experienced that thing where you are sitting still in say one train and watching another train pass you by through a window that limits your view and it makes you feel like you are actually the one moving? Reverse that. The truth is you are careening through space at probably something like Mach 3 - Mach 4 while your experience says you are sitting still.

Let's take Toril as the sort of primary D&D setting as an example: It has a 24 hr day, and a 365 day year, so it's comparable to Earth.

At the equator, the Earth is moving at roughly 460 meters per second as it spins on it's axis that's roughly .29 miles per second, or 1.7 miles in your 6 second round. It will be less the further north or south you go towards the poles, but its still not going to be an insignificant pace unless you are at the severe ends of the globe. And this does not take into account how fast the Earth is rotating around the Sun.

The Earth is moving through space rotating around the sun at roughly 18.6 miles per second, or roughly 111.6 miles in your 6 second round. And that does not take into account how fast the Sun is orbiting the Galaxy as we corkscrew around it.

The Sun is orbiting the galaxy at roughly 138 miles per second, or 828.5 miles in your 6 second round.

And this does not take into account how fast the Galaxy itself is moving through existing space.

Nor does it take into account the expansion of space itself.

All of which dwarf the previous speeds we are talking about.

So, given that if the Sphere was stationary in space, completely stationary (if such a thing is even possible given the expansion of space)... the item would be many hundreds to thousands of miles away from you by the end of your turn... it must be able to affix to a location and frame of reference. If it wasn't, it would blip through your experience in the blink of an eye.

You would not even be able to see it.

*Really*.

Your location is moving in relation to a nearby fixed point in space faster than a sniper bullet.

And this doesn't even consider weirder things like the theoretical branching wave functions of the uni/multi verse in quantum mechanics.

Granted, this does not take into account some of the games alternate cosmology, planar existence, crystal spheres if those are still a thing, phlogiston, etc... but even if all you are taking into account is the existence of a year and day, the Sphere can't be totally stationary.

If it can affix to the surface of the planet as a frame of reference to move on, then it doesn't seem unreasonable that if you put it on a vehicle to move it, that it could affix to that frame of reference and move there too.

If for no other reason than the "rule of cool".

It wouldn't be a lot of fun to say have the group have to take a journey by sea or air ship, or even maybe a spelljammer, and have to leave one of the team members hard won legendary items behind (or potentially render a second useless if they have acquired the talisman too). And it wouldn't be logistically fun to have to try and figure out how to get the ships to move at a rate that the controller of the Sphere would be able to keep it moving.  Now, that's explicitly different than if you are hopping through portals, etc. as that's defined to be a risky procedure with the Sphere. But more mundane travel is not covered in that.

The Sphere is a cool item, but it's not unbalanced. It's legendary, and you can do a lot of fun things with it. But it's mechanical rules aren't difficult to adjudicate as a DM, and it's not going to ruin your game.

First things first, if you don't want it in your game, just don't add it.  If you want it in game and only in a specific location, make that clear in your environment's construction. Think about something like the Tomb of Annihilation and how some of those magic items would turn to dust if you try to leave with them for the reasons given in the Adventure.

And if you bring it in and let your party take it with them, and it's causing you balance problems then you have any means you want to remove it from the game.

Sure you could use this: "it can't move with vehicles" option, but it's a fairly anti-climatic way to go about it. And that's not going to feel satisfying to your players for something they're likely not going to be able to get their hands on until a fairly decently high level, like tier 3-4 if you are being reasonable as a DM about when you allow them access.

It feels like the kind of thing where if you need to get rid of it for some reason you should plan something a little more spectacular and epic like a scenario where you force the players to make a hard choice on entering a portal and have to sacrifice the Sphere or sacrifice something else of high value to keep it... like maybe a beloved NPC that's been with them for a while, or the team's ultimate quest goals. Or just have sending the Sphere into the portal as the MacGuffin that's able to keep them on their path towards what they are trying to accomplish.

Or even something like destabilizing the magic that's holding it together, or having a powerful organization or adversary chasing them to wrest control of it from them as a plot device for something more compelling. In fact, we know Spheres of Annihilation are highly coveted items by many high level Wizards and spellcasters like Entropomancers. Why would they be something they want so badly if they were more of a PITA to use than is worth the trouble? Sure they can be compelling traps or have lair or stronghold uses. But if that's all they had in terms of their use you wouldn't think they'd be as highly prized.

Anyway, you are the DM and have only your creativity as a barrier for dealing with it. I'd say, don't short change your players on an unsatisfying technicality. Especially when we know it's definitely *not* stationary in space-time.

 👏👏👏 love it

You are incredible!

Quote from bleddyn05 >>

Quote from Adrahil_Laenhyr >>

Quote from Nezalhualixtlan >>

Quote from Gambal >>

 

Quote from Aries50 >>

Do they move with vehicles, or are they stationary in spacetime unless moved?

 

 "The sphere is stationary until someone controls it."

So the vehicle would have to move at the speed the controller can move it. (5 x INT mod).

 
As  a DM I would rule that it moves with the vehicle.  Why?  Because the magic stabilizing it must be able to attach to a frame of reference or it would be utterly unusable at all, it can not be stationary in space-time.

The planet is not stationary. Many of the ideas around it being stuck in space-time at a location and unable to move at all unless deliberately controlled fall into the trap of thinking your location is also fixed in space time... but it isn't. That's an illusion generated by the fact you are pinned down to the Earth by gravitational effect of the curvature of space time from the planets mass, and the fact that your perception is limited by your physiology and small size to your local conditions. Have you ever experienced that thing where you are sitting still in say one train and watching another train pass you by through a window that limits your view and it makes you feel like you are actually the one moving? Reverse that. The truth is you are careening through space at probably something like Mach 3 - Mach 4 while your experience says you are sitting still.

Let's take Toril as the sort of primary D&D setting as an example: It has a 24 hr day, and a 365 day year, so it's comparable to Earth.

At the equator, the Earth is moving at roughly 460 meters per second as it spins on it's axis that's roughly .29 miles per second, or 1.7 miles in your 6 second round. It will be less the further north or south you go towards the poles, but its still not going to be an insignificant pace unless you are at the severe ends of the globe. And this does not take into account how fast the Earth is rotating around the Sun.

The Earth is moving through space rotating around the sun at roughly 18.6 miles per second, or roughly 111.6 miles in your 6 second round. And that does not take into account how fast the Sun is orbiting the Galaxy as we corkscrew around it.

The Sun is orbiting the galaxy at roughly 138 miles per second, or 828.5 miles in your 6 second round.

And this does not take into account how fast the Galaxy itself is moving through existing space.

Nor does it take into account the expansion of space itself.

All of which dwarf the previous speeds we are talking about.

So, given that if the Sphere was stationary in space, completely stationary (if such a thing is even possible given the expansion of space)... the item would be many hundreds to thousands of miles away from you by the end of your turn... it must be able to affix to a location and frame of reference. If it wasn't, it would blip through your experience in the blink of an eye.

You would not even be able to see it.

*Really*.

Your location is moving in relation to a nearby fixed point in space faster than a sniper bullet.

And this doesn't even consider weirder things like the theoretical branching wave functions of the uni/multi verse in quantum mechanics.

Granted, this does not take into account some of the games alternate cosmology, planar existence, crystal spheres if those are still a thing, phlogiston, etc... but even if all you are taking into account is the existence of a year and day, the Sphere can't be totally stationary.

If it can affix to the surface of the planet as a frame of reference to move on, then it doesn't seem unreasonable that if you put it on a vehicle to move it, that it could affix to that frame of reference and move there too.

If for no other reason than the "rule of cool".

It wouldn't be a lot of fun to say have the group have to take a journey by sea or air ship, or even maybe a spelljammer, and have to leave one of the team members hard won legendary items behind (or potentially render a second useless if they have acquired the talisman too). And it wouldn't be logistically fun to have to try and figure out how to get the ships to move at a rate that the controller of the Sphere would be able to keep it moving.  Now, that's explicitly different than if you are hopping through portals, etc. as that's defined to be a risky procedure with the Sphere. But more mundane travel is not covered in that.

The Sphere is a cool item, but it's not unbalanced. It's legendary, and you can do a lot of fun things with it. But it's mechanical rules aren't difficult to adjudicate as a DM, and it's not going to ruin your game.

First things first, if you don't want it in your game, just don't add it.  If you want it in game and only in a specific location, make that clear in your environment's construction. Think about something like the Tomb of Annihilation and how some of those magic items would turn to dust if you try to leave with them for the reasons given in the Adventure.

And if you bring it in and let your party take it with them, and it's causing you balance problems then you have any means you want to remove it from the game.

Sure you could use this: "it can't move with vehicles" option, but it's a fairly anti-climatic way to go about it. And that's not going to feel satisfying to your players for something they're likely not going to be able to get their hands on until a fairly decently high level, like tier 3-4 if you are being reasonable as a DM about when you allow them access.

It feels like the kind of thing where if you need to get rid of it for some reason you should plan something a little more spectacular and epic like a scenario where you force the players to make a hard choice on entering a portal and have to sacrifice the Sphere or sacrifice something else of high value to keep it... like maybe a beloved NPC that's been with them for a while, or the team's ultimate quest goals. Or just have sending the Sphere into the portal as the MacGuffin that's able to keep them on their path towards what they are trying to accomplish.

Or even something like destabilizing the magic that's holding it together, or having a powerful organization or adversary chasing them to wrest control of it from them as a plot device for something more compelling. In fact, we know Spheres of Annihilation are highly coveted items by many high level Wizards and spellcasters like Entropomancers. Why would they be something they want so badly if they were more of a PITA to use than is worth the trouble? Sure they can be compelling traps or have lair or stronghold uses. But if that's all they had in terms of their use you wouldn't think they'd be as highly prized.

Anyway, you are the DM and have only your creativity as a barrier for dealing with it. I'd say, don't short change your players on an unsatisfying technicality. Especially when we know it's definitely *not* stationary in space-time.

 As impressive as your understanding of real-world physics is, you are making an incredibly massive assumption by applying them to a fictional setting such as Toril. Let us take Ea, the universe in which the Silmarillion - and all related works - takes place as an example of a well-known and established fantasy setting that follows very few, if any, of our laws of physics and science : as an example, in the Third Age, when elves sail west from Middle-Earth, they eventually arrive in Valinor, to the west of which exists the physical end of the world, however, when a human sails west from Middle-Earth, they travel in a complete circle around the world, arriving in Rhun or Mordor, this creates a paradox in which Arda is both a spherical planet and a flat planet at the same time.

Now, as far as game mechanics are concerned, I agree with your ruling, as it is very reasonable. I merely like to provoke more open-ended thought on any subject I can.

 you have invoked a Tolkien nerd, there is no paradox. Elves can't *just* sail west and reach Valinor, they have to do it from the Havens, with the intention of reaching Valinor. When an Elf sets sail for the Havens, a magical pathway, akin to wormhole opens up, transporting them Valinor. This done by the power of the gods. The world is not flat and round. It is litteraly stated the Eru Iluvatar made the Earth round. 

 🤣

Some older lore describes the mental effort to move the sphere as a "mundane form of telekinesis, too weak to move actual objects but a force to which the sphere, being weightless, is sensitive."

So does that mean one could use the Telekinesis spell (and perhaps the reflavored Mage Hand from the Telekinetic feat) to more easily wield this thing?

One problem with trying to apply the laws of physics to magical things like this, is that there's no such thing as absolute position in the real universe. There's no way for something to remain stationary without reference to some other thing.

The way I like to explain it to myself is that magical effects are based on the user's limited understanding of the world. For example, when someone activates an Immovable Rod, it doesn't actually become unmoving; it maintains its position according to what the user considers to be stationary. I think most people in a medieval fantasy world don't understand the concept of inertial reference frames, and even in reality, people can know about physics, but still probably think of the ground as unmoving at a base level.

In conclusion, I think an Immovable Rod or Sphere of Annihilation would NOT move along with a vehicle, if the user is thinking of the vehicle as moving. This isn't something that most people would be able to control. On the other hand, if the user is inside of a moving thing that's sufficiently affecting their subconscious perception of their reality, it might move along with that thing.

As an example, towards the end of the first campaign of Critical Role, Vox Machina is battling cultists inside the body of a giant undead titan. The cultists use a Sphere of Annihilation with no issue, despite the titan being in constant motion. I don't think Matt or any of the players considered this at all, but that's also kind of my point.

I miss when this was actually dangerous to be around. 

I just Leeroy Jenkins into this sphere. YOLO

If the sphere comes into contact with a planar portal, such as that created by the gate spell, or an extradimensional space, such as that within a portable hole, the GM determines randomly what happens, using the following table.

so, nah, but you have a chance of stuff blowing up.

Quote from ASher111 >>

It doesn'thave mass so it can't fall it stays stationary

 I suppose they are right, so susually it wouldn't fall, but if it were to

The sphere obliterates all matter it passes through and all matter that passes through it.

so it wouldn't impact and won't create a crater, instead it would "swallow" a curved hole into earth, obliterating anything it comes into contact with as it keeps moving in a straight line (cause it doesn't have mass it won't experience gravitational pull, but the planet would keep moving in its orbits while the sphere moves straight).

Quote from Ttocsyn >>

What happens if it is in contact with an Antimagic field

 The magical field containing it disappears and we all die as it grows

It's instant destruction for anything that goes in the sphere. In "Tomb of Horrors"SPOILERS there is a sphere in the mouth of a creature and if it bites your arm, bye bye arm. Your MAGIC items are inside the creature, so whe/if you kill it, you can get them back. 

this feels over powered. d.m note never ever give to players.

Just came across this. *******. Awesome lol.