A spell that animates a single object with a long duration?

[Greywander]

My witch class has been sitting collecting dust while being nearly finished, so I thought I'd do some last minute touching up before getting it out the door. One of the remaining challenges is that I want to have a new spell based off of Baba Yaga's walking hut. Animate Objects actually looks pretty close to what I'm looking for, except... it's a 1 minute duration, requires concentration, and caps the target size at huge. My understanding is that the most effective use of Animate Objects is to animate many tiny objects and have them swarm your enemies, so animating a single larger object for a longer duration should balance out.

Something to note, my witch class uses pact magic, so it will make a big difference whether the spell is 5th or lower vs. 6th or higher in level. Ideally, it should be possible to keep the spell up all day every day. That means a minimum 1 hour duration for a slot 5th or lower, and 24 hour duration for a slot 6th and higher. An 8 hour duration for a 5th level slot sounds like a nice middle ground. I don't want it to use concentration, but then how do I stop a witch from animating an army of big stompy bois if they have a few hours of downtime? Though casting the spell on many smaller objects sounds fine, an alternative to Animate Objects if you want e.g. animated mops that clean for you.

Hmm, maybe when you cast the spell, you have to give a command to the object and it will continuously execute that command until the spell ends. You can end the spell early, but the only way to issue a new command is to recast the spell. That way, animating a wagon to carry you for 8 hours works fine, while animating something for combat will only really last that one single fight. You might be able to have them guard an area, but their intelligence wouldn't allow them to understand more complex commands like "clear out this dungeon" or "follow us and fight our enemies". I can also make it a lower level spell where the max size goes up with upcasting, so that you can get it a little early but are limited in the size of the object, and because of pact magic it will automatically upcast anyway.

Any other ideas how to do this?

[Greywander]

I think I may have figured something out that could work.

Animate Structure, 2nd level spell. Nearly identical language to Animate Objects, except...

1 minute casting time, touch range, 8 hour duration, no concentration.
You can only target one object per casting.
Size cap is medium, +1 to size cap for each slot level above 2nd. Maxes out at gargantuan with a 5th level slot.
You can only command one object per bonus action.
If you issue a specific command as a BA, the object acts on your own turn, while a general command will be executed during its turns.
If you issue no command, the object does nothing and is indistinguishable from a regular object.
Only objects up to one size smaller than the cap can get a fly speed, anything larger grows legs instead.

The 1 minute casting times means you can't cast this during combat, which greatly decreases combat viability. The real limiter, though, is only being able to command one object at a time. You can issue a general command that they'll carry out over a longer period of time, but you still have to command them one-by-one, so it's tedious to set up. Hmm, I'm considering making them not able to attack at all unless you use a BA, but I do like the idea of leaving them as guards, seems very witchy.

The intent is for this to lean more into being a utility spell. Still, the combat potential is not lost on me. It did occur to me that, in addition to being able to create something like Baba Yaga's walking hut, this spell can also be used to create a flying broom (or, perhaps, a flying mortar and pestle). (This, by the way, is why the object acts on your turn when you give it a specific command; so that you can fly around on your broom during combat and it feels more like your own movement.) A broom would probably qualify as a medium object, perhaps even small, so if animated it would get a 30 foot fly speed. Although you might want to make your witch wispy thin so they don't overload the broom's carry weight. Hmm, perhaps I should also add a bonus to carry weight when the spell is cast at higher levels. I'm also considering adding a clause where the spell becomes permanent if you cast in on the same object every day over a period of time, likely a year.

Anyway, how does that look? Does this seem balanced? Is it abusable? Again, keep in mind that witches use pact magic, so they get their slots back on a short rest. Animate Objects is also not on their spell list, so this would be all they get.

[Anymage]

Baba Yaga's hut works better as an artifact. I don't mean this as "really strong and potentially rule-breaking magic item", but rather in the sense that it's a unique magic item. If epic heroes stole it you wouldn't have Baba Yaga just whip up a new one tomorrow while the old one became a mundane sculpture with an interesting story behind it. Turning that into a spell would turn it into a much more mundane effect.

The next "long term animated object" spell I can think of is The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Which in theory would be an interesting twist on Animate Dead. Although it would be trickier to balance since you wouldn't want the animated objects to go on a homicidal rampage if the control spell isn't regularly re-upped, but you would ideally want an object with lapsed control to be a potential inconvenience instead of a perpetual source of free labor.

Ultimately, though, I'd be most inclined start with Awaken as my base. There isn't too much mechanical difference between a big animated object and a big awakened creature (if anything, some of the beasts are beefier), and the objects being free willed seems to be on brand with what you'd want.

[Greywander]

Baba Yaga's hut works better as an artifact. I don't mean this as "really strong and potentially rule-breaking magic item", but rather in the sense that it's a unique magic item. If epic heroes stole it you wouldn't have Baba Yaga just whip up a new one tomorrow while the old one became a mundane sculpture with an interesting story behind it. Turning that into a spell would turn it into a much more mundane effect.
Well, sure. But the same could be said about a flying broom. Brooms of Flying exist, and would be better than what you'd get from this spell. So the actual hut belonging to Baba Yaga might be a magic item, while the spell would be a method of temporarily creating a weaker version of a similar item.


Ultimately, though, I'd be most inclined start with Awaken as my base. There isn't too much mechanical difference between a big animated object and a big awakened creature (if anything, some of the beasts are beefier), and the objects being free willed seems to be on brand with what you'd want.
Maybe. If the primary goal is to create a permanently animated object or structure, then this could be a good way to do it. I do worry that it feels a bit too easy, and it would become trivial to mass up a bunch of awakened objects. And as fully independent creatures, they could act without requiring any action from you to command them. To be fair, it's not like you couldn't do the same thing with the regular Awaken spell.

Something that more long term but not permanent, where you can keep it up 24/7 if you keep casting the spell, but don't necessarily have to, that seems like it could be a little more interesting. Awaken has a steep component cost, which is necessary since the effect is permanent. But a temporary effect doesn't need a material cost, which allows you to use it a bit more freely. Weaker effect, cheaper cost. A powerful spell that you never use because it's so expensive is ultimately useless.

Setting aside the specific context, I'm curious how this looks as its own spell. Is it a nice complement to Animate Objects? Here's the full text:


Animate Structure
2nd-level transmutation
Casting time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: S, M (a chicken leg)
Duration: 8 hours

An object or structure comes to life at your command. Touch an object or structure up to medium in size that isn’t being worn or carried by an unwilling creature. The target animates and becomes a creature under your control until the spell ends or until reduced to 0 hit points.

As a bonus action, you can mentally command one creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 500 feet of you. You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move, causing the creature to act on your turn instead of its own, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature does nothing and becomes indistinguishable from an inanimate object of the same type. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete. If you command the object to travel in a particular direction, it can avoid obstacles in its path, and you can choose whether or not you want it to stop before it runs off an edge or into a wall.


Animated Structure Statistics
Size | HP | AC | Attack | STR | DEX |
Tiny | 20 | 18 | +8 to hit, 1d4 + 4 damage | 4 | 18 |
Small | 25 | 16 | +6 to hit, 1d8 + 2 damage | 6 | 14 |
Medium | 40 | 13 | +5 to hit, 2d6 + 1 damage | 10 | 12 |
Large | 50 | 10 | +6 to hit, 2d10 + 2 damage | 14 | 10 |
Huge | 80 | 10 | +8 to hit, 2d12 + 4 damage | 18 | 6 |
Gargantuan | 100 | 11 | +9 to hit, 3d8 + 5 damage | 20 | 4 |

An animated object or structure is a construct with AC, hit points, attacks, Strength, and Dexterity determined by its size. Its Constitution is 10 and its Intelligence and Wisdom are 3, and its Charisma is 1. Its speed is 30 feet; if the object lacks legs or other appendages it can use for locomotion and is one or more sizes smaller than the maximum for that spell slot, it instead has a flying speed of 30 feet and can hover, otherwise the object or structure sprouts legs with an appearance of your choice. If the object is securely attached to a surface or a larger object, such as a chain bolted to a wall, its speed is 0. If the object is a building or structure, it grows legs and uproots itself. It has blindsight with a radius of 30 feet and is blind beyond that distance. When the animated structure drops to 0 hit points, it reverts to its original form, and any remaining damage carries over to its original object form.

If you command an object to attack, it can make a single melee attack against a creature within 5 feet of it. It makes a slam attack with an attack bonus and bludgeoning damage determined by its size. The DM might rule that a specific object or structure inflicts slashing or piercing damage based on its form.

At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can animate an object or structure one size larger than medium for each slot level above 2nd.