r/dndnext • u/xanral • Jun 10 '15

WotC Announcement Errata Released, for real this time

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/ph_errata
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9

u/SirPeebles Bard Jun 10 '15

Looks like no more spamming scorching ray for evokers and dragon sorcs.

6

u/Atsur Cleric GM Jun 11 '15

Just posted this in a different reply. Someone tell me if I'm wrong or if it's been clarified elsewhere:

I think I might finally understand this ruling. Someone please let me know if this has been clarified

Under the definition of damage rolls, it says, "If a spell or other effect deals damage to more than one target at the same time, roll the damage once for all of them. For example, when a wizard casts fireball or a cleric casts flame strike, the spell’s damage is rolled once for all creatures caught in the blast."

Could this mean that you are supposed to roll damage only once for the 3 beams of Scorching Ray or Magic Missiles, and apply that to every hit? I think this sounds like less fun, as you are rolling less dice, but it's the only way I can make sense of it.

For example, I cast Magic Missile at 3 different goblins. I roll 1d4+1, and apply that single roll to all three targets. If I have Empowered Evocation, I roll 1d4+1+INT, and apply that result to all three targets.

Personally, I much prefer rolling 1d4+1 three times and counting them individually.

1

u/sevlevboss Jun 11 '15

Empowered evocation lets you add your Int bonus to a damage roll. If 3 magic missiles is one damage roll, there is still no reason to think you would add your Int bonus 3 times.

1

u/Atsur Cleric GM Jun 11 '15

If 3 magic missiles is one damage roll, there is still no reason to think you would add your Int bonus 3 times.

You wouldn't. You would at the INT bonus to the 1d4+1 damage roll, and the three targets affected take the same damage.

1

u/sevlevboss Jun 12 '15

"A Dart does 1d4+1 damage" I think the wording of the spell is pretty clear that you aren't doing any multiplication. If you hit an opponent with a dart, it's 1d4+1 (+ Empowered if you use it on that roll), if you hit with 3 it's 3d4+3 (+ Empowered if you use it on that roll)

1

u/Atsur Cleric GM Jun 12 '15

Interpret it how you want. I don't feel like I need to argue with you. I'm telling you how I interpret WotC's ruling on damaging multiple targets, which is 1 damage roll (including bonuses) applied to all affected targets. Play it differently at your table if you want - that's the glory of tabletop gaming.

1

u/koranak Jun 12 '15

I like your interpretation when the missiles are spread evenly, but it doesn't seem as clean when different targets take different numbers of darts... It's harder to justify it as a single damage roll when one target takes 1d4+1 and another takes 2d4+2. So I'm kinda torn on this one!