'Arcane Eye'. DM says I'm Catatonic when cast?

[Edgerunner]

Arcane Eye Is a Game Changer for a lvl4 Spell and it's only limits are closed doors and True Sight.
My DM is telling me that my body is Catatonic while using it however I'm just not reading it this way. I take it to mean that it takes me an Action to move it but that I can still use the rest of my turn to write notes in a book or sketch out a map of the area I am looking at.

Most spells that do leave a player incapacitated are clearly stated in the spells description... or am I incorrect?

[Millstone85]

A spell like find familiar says that "you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses" while using those of the familiar.

Arcane eye doesn't have such a clause, much less one about going catatonic. I believe it effectively gives you a third eye that floats around.

[Unoriginal]

Arcane Eye Is a Game Changer for a lvl4 Spell and it's only limits are closed doors and True Sight.
My DM is telling me that my body is Catatonic while using it however I'm just not reading it this way. I take it to mean that it takes me an Action to move it but that I can still use the rest of my turn to write notes in a book or sketch out a map of the area I am looking at.

Most spells that do leave a player incapacitated are clearly stated in the spells description... or am I incorrect?

You can't use you Action to move it then write things down or draw a map. Those aren't Free Action type of item interaction.

You could however do any bonus action, free action, movement or reaction you would normaly be capable of. And if you didn't use you Action to move the eye, you could use it to do other stuff.

[Edgerunner]

You can't use you Action to move it then write things down or draw a map. Those aren't Free Action type of item interaction.

You can Draw/Stowe a weapon as a free object interaction but Can't draw a couple lines?

[KorvinStarmast]

'Arcane Eye'. DM says I'm Catatonic when cast?Your DM is wrong unless this is a specific house rule intended to give a particular feel to that spell. I will say that this house rule appeals to me; to others it's an annoyance. (Also see Grod's rule about not balancing things by making them annoying to use ...)

As written, no such thing occurs.

[Tanarii]

You can Draw/Stowe a weapon as a free object interaction but Can't draw a couple lines?
Sketching out a map isn't drawing a couple of lines.

Unless you're some of the particularly lazy players IMC, who like to draw maps that look like simple flowcharts, lines and boxes. :smallamused:

[Armored Walrus]

An hour is 600 rounds. So you can use your action to move it once a minute, cover 1800 feet of the dungeon, and still have 54 minutes to draw with. This sounds like a ruling motivated by a desire not to have the players "ruin" your DM's carefully planned dungeon. It's a good time for an out of session talk IMO.

On the other hand, if you're sitting at the entrance to a dangerous dungeon for an hour, drawing maps, that could be a lot of wandering encounter checks...

[Temperjoke]

If your DM wants to limit the potential of your group spamming the spell, tell him to make his bad guys polite enough to shut doors behind them as they travel through their base.

[JakOfAllTirades]

The DM in my last gaming group decided to ban the Arcane Eye spell. To be fair, we did abuse it a little.

But here's the thing: once our wizard had the spell, he let her keep it for the duration of that campaign. And told us about his ruling before the start of the next campaign.

He didn't try to nerf it by reading imaginary restrictions into the text that nobody but him could see. That's just a d**k move.

[Naanomi]

Warlocks can cast it at will later...

As a wizard, take cartography tool proficiency so you can Fabricate a perfectly detailed map after scouting with the eye

[Edgerunner]

Warlocks can cast it at will later...

As a wizard, take cartography tool proficiency so you can Fabricate a perfectly detailed map after scouting with the eye

I always liked the 5'x5'x5' Minor Illusion spell to set up a 3d view of the area for others to see.
I use Minor Illusion a bunch for stuff like that.

[Tanarii]

I always liked the 5'x5'x5' Minor Illusion spell to set up a 3d view of the area for others to see.
I use Minor Illusion a bunch for stuff like that.Minor illusion cant do that.

[Edgerunner]

Minor illusion cant do that.

Care to explain?

[Millstone85]

Minor illusion cant do that.Why not? A little painted sculpture of the area and its contents, as if the characters had their own battle mat with miniatures glued on it. Then you recast the cantrip whenever you want to update it.

[Tanarii]

Why not? A little painted sculpture of the area and its contents, as if the characters had their own battle mat with miniatures glued on it. Then you recast the cantrip whenever you want to update it.
That's not a '3D view'.

IMO probably also not RAI, but definitely sounds like RAW, since it's a single object.


Care to explain?
Because Minor Illusion creates either an illusion of one object, or a sound. Not whatever the caster can imagine.

[The1exile]

Because Minor Illusion creates either an illusion of one object, or a sound. Not whatever the caster can imagine.

The example for minor illusion literally says you can create footprints. The second part of your statement seems to be pure headcanon, too - the only limits on minor illusion are its size, that it can’t be sound and noise, and that (unlike silent image) it can’t change when made.

[Tanarii]

The example for minor illusion literally says you can create footprints. The second part of your statement seems to be pure headcanon, too - the only limits on minor illusion are its size, that it can’t be sound and noise, and that (unlike silent image) it can’t change when made.
Mud on the floor is an object. It's mud. Note the other two are also clearly objects. Chair, chest, mud.

And no, you can't just create a 3D hologram view of what you're seeing. That's very clear RAW. Object or sound.

[Laserlight]

Mud on the floor is an object. It's mud. Note the other two are also clearly objects. Chair, chest, mud.

And no, you can't just create a 3D hologram view of what you're seeing. That's very clear RAW. Object or sound.

I create an image of an architectural model of the area I have scouted. One model = one object = minor illusion. Works for me and my DMs, YMMV. (My wizard also has the feat for eidetic memory).

One limitation that is in the text is that the Eye's range of vision is limited to 30ft. Move it into a 100 x 240 room, as I've done, and you may take a while maneuvering it around to inspect the whole place.

The real problem with Arcane Eye is that no one wants to sit around while the DM gives the wizard a description of the dungeon.

[Tanarii]

I create an image of an architectural model of the area I have scouted. One model = one object = minor illusion. Works for me and my DMs, YMMV. (My wizard also has the feat for eidetic memory).

Technically an object. Personally I wouldn't object if a DM called for an Intelligence (Cartographers Tools) check or the like to create an accurate image. But that's a whole 'nother discussion on creating accurate images of complex things with illusions. :smallyuk:

[RazorChain]

Stuporous or excited catatonia? If stuporous does it involve steriotypy or not?

[Naanomi]

Just use Fabricate and I dunno... woodcarvers Tools... to make an actual detailed 3-D model

[Daithi]

The reason people take the Arcane Eye spell is to map out an area. I think your DM doesn't want you to map out the area so he's nerfing the spell. I'd be ticked and raise hell if our DM tried to do this in our game.

[Requilac]

Arcane eye doesn't even have the clause like find familiar where you are deaf and blind while seeing through its senses, so by RAW it certainly doesn't leave you incapacitated. This must have been a house rule by your DM. As to his reasoning behind it, I don't really know. Perhaps you could ask them about it and come to some sort of compromise on this, because they have to have some sort of reason for doing this.

As a side note, minor illusion doesn't mention anything about how complex the object can be, so as long as it is the proper size I am fairly certain that you can create a diagram so long as it is a single object. I mean sure it has multiple parts to it, but so does a chair but that is valid and even an example. Seems fine to me.