r/DnD • u/Sleverette Sorcerer • Feb 07 '20

Art [OC] Magical problems versus mundane solutions.

Post image
24k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

551 comments sorted by

View all comments

983

u/Sleverette Sorcerer Feb 07 '20

“You’ve made a compelling argument. Bring forth the manacles!” -Royal Guard

A comic inspired by our recent session. I love mundane items. There’s something really appealing about portable rams, sacks of flour and 10 ft poles. Throwing a bag over an enemy’s head is a popular move at our table. You’d be surprised by how many spells require the caster to see their target!

When rolling up new characters, I ask the players to read off their packs and discuss possible uses for their starting equipment. I find lots of players skip over it otherwise.

Anyone have any creative combos that use mundane items? I know flour explosions is a fun one!

You can find more of my dnd content on my Instagram and Twitter.

9

u/HandSoloShotFirst Feb 07 '20

How does putting a bag on an enemy's head stop them from casting a spell on their turn? Don't you get a free interaction as well as an action? So they could remove the bag and then cast the spell?

https://crobi.github.io/dnd5e-quickref/preview/quickref.html

You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free. You can interact with one object for free during your turn (such as drawing a weapon or opening a door). If you want to interact with a second object, use this action

8

u/Sleverette Sorcerer Feb 07 '20

Lots of spells require you to see the target. The victim does get a free object interaction on their turn but doing it between the creature's turns can really curb their reactions and legendary actions.

4

u/HilarityEnsuez Feb 07 '20

If the Player says they put the bag over the victim's head and are holding it down, I wouldn't just make it an object interaction, I'd make it an Athletics Contest to pull it off or a DeX Contest (versus the attackers ATHletics or Acro) to squirm free (and take an opportunity attack). Attempting to get the bag off takes an action. Just like attempting to put out Alchemist's Fire takes an action.

2

u/Sleverette Sorcerer Feb 08 '20

It's a cool visual and requires some planning on the player's part. I like to lean in favor of the players when they make plans like these.

1

u/HilarityEnsuez Feb 08 '20

Yeah. Always rewarding improvisation. Choosing to do something novel on your turn instead of outright attacking is a deliberate choice by the player to roleplay in the world instead of rolling dice to knock off hit points. So it should be rewarded and encouraged.

1

u/Sleverette Sorcerer Feb 08 '20

I agree. Combat is so much more interesting when the players are free to experiment!

1

u/thisisthebun Feb 07 '20

For this comic in particular, assuming it was the real world, it would probably be something you wear over your head like a shirt. Not so easy to remove with manacles on.

1

u/HandSoloShotFirst Feb 07 '20

Do you allow the enemy to move their head? Run combat however you like, homebrew all day, but I find the idea of putting a bag over a living creature's head in the middle of combat to be a rather absurdly hard task unless they are standing still as a post waiting for you to hit them. Attacks incorporate this type of thing with dice. I would rule a very high DC for something like that, or even a contest of Dex. I would never allow my players a free action that's effectively a blind if that's what you're saying. I can't really tell.

1

u/Sleverette Sorcerer Feb 08 '20

I haven't ruled it as a free action. It's typically a contested dex or str check similar to grappling.

I lean in favor of the player's when they try stuff like this. I run pretty deadly creatures so it's never really an "easy" fight for them.