Simple RAW for 5e V: The Disadvantage Strikes Back

[Psyren]

A344: As written, ICS applies to all of your superiority dice, regardless of source - both due to the wording of the ICS ability, and the wording of the additional sources which explicitly add their dice to your existing pool. Note that this was likely intended as well (as it would be a bookkeeping headache for little benefit otherwise.)

[Frogreaver]

If you are hiding and use EB do all attacks get advantage?

[Miele]

Q345: concerning circle of the shepherd Spirit Totem. I casted the Unicorn totem in a previous turn, in the current turn I cast Aura of Vitality and use my bonus action to activate it.
Does AoV trigger the totem immediately?
Does it trigger it also in the following turns every time I spend my BA to use AoV?

[Millstone85]

If you are hiding and use EB do all attacks get advantage?

A344.5 You give away your location when your attack hits or misses (PH p195). I think that would apply to the first attack roll, and you are no longer hidden when rolling the next attack.

I may be biased, though, as I use the same logic to justify multiple pushes with Repelling Blast.

Q345: concerning circle of the shepherd Spirit Totem. I casted the Unicorn totem in a previous turn, in the current turn I cast Aura of Vitality and use my bonus action to activate it.
Does AoV trigger the totem immediately?
Does it trigger it also in the following turns every time I spend my BA to use AoV?

A345 Oh, that's disconcerting. I have no idea.

[Hairfish]

Q345: concerning circle of the shepherd Spirit Totem. I casted the Unicorn totem in a previous turn, in the current turn I cast Aura of Vitality and use my bonus action to activate it.
Does AoV trigger the totem immediately?
Does it trigger it also in the following turns every time I spend my BA to use AoV?

A345
The additional healing effect from having your unicorn totem out only occurs when you cast a spell that both restores hit points and uses a spell slot.

Aura of Vitality is only cast once, when you use your action to cast it. The bonus action it enables you take is an effect of the spell.

Under RAW, AoV does not restore hit points when it is cast and thus doesn't trigger the additional healing from the totem at all.

[TheCleverGuy]

Q346

Can a humanoid creature possessed by a Ghost be affected by the Sleep spell?

[Narbaculus]

Q346

Can a humanoid creature possessed by a Ghost be affected by the Sleep spell?

A346
While a creature is possessed by a ghost, it is incapacitated, but still aware of its surroundings; the ghost controls its body. If it were hit by a sleep spell, the creature would fall unconscious; it would still be incapacitated, but no longer aware of its surroundings. The possessing ghost would be unaffected by the spell, as it is to all magical effects except those that turn undead, and would retain control of the creature's body.

[Dualight]

Q347
Wild Shape states that "you also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature." But it dos not say that you retain your proficiency bonus. So my question is as follows: which proficiency bonus do you use for skills and saving throws in Wild Shape; that of your character, or that of the creature you turn into?

[PhoenixPhyre]

Q347
Wild Shape states that "you also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature." But it dos not say that you retain your proficiency bonus. So my question is as follows: which proficiency bonus do you use for skills and saving throws in Wild Shape; that of your character, or that of the creature you turn into?

A347

Except for the things mentioned, you use the creature's stat block, including proficiency bonus. For example, the beast's attacks do not change in accuracy.

[ender241]

A347

Except for the things mentioned, you use the creature's stat block, including proficiency bonus. For example, the beast's attacks do not change in accuracy.

To further clarify, if you and the beast are both proficient in the same skill or save, you use the higher proficiency bonus (likely yours). And some beasts have expertise in certain skills, and double their prof bonus. I believe you would then double your prof bonus in this case but that part is not 100% clear and may require DM adjudication. If the beast has a proficiency in something that you don't, you simply use the beast's proficiency bonus.

PhoenixPhyre is 100% right about the beast's attacks, for instance. You don't retain weapon proficiencies in wild shape and even if you did, your character is not going to be proficient with natural weapons like a bear's bite anyway. So you just use the listed attack bonus for the beast's weapon attacks.

[Oramac]

Q348

Shadow Blade (spell; XGtE)

It creates a sword with which you can attack, but never specifies if the attack is a normal melee weapon attack, or a melee spell attack (i.e. does it use dex or int/wis/cha for attack rolls). What say you?

[Chaos Jackal]

Q348

Shadow Blade (spell; XGtE)

It creates a sword with which you can attack, but never specifies if the attack is a normal melee weapon attack, or a melee spell attack (i.e. does it use dex or int/wis/cha for attack rolls). What say you?

A 348 It doesn't specify it because the spell doesn't have you make an attack. The spell creates a weapon.

"It counts as a simple melee weapon with which you are proficient."

Since it is a simple melee weapon, attacks with a shadow blade use the rules for making attacks with simple melee weapons. So Str. Or Dex in this case, since this simple melee weapon is also stated to have the finesse property.

[Chronos]

Re: 348:
And the finesse property ought to completely remove any ambiguity, here. It'd be meaningless to be able to use Dex instead of Str if the weapon didn't use Str by default.

[JohnDaBarr]

Q349

Can spells cast through Manifest Mind (Order of Scribes) be counterspelled if creature casting counterspell can not see the caster, only his Manifest Mind?

[Psyren]

A349: You cast as though you were standing in the mind's space, so it's going to be a DM call. Personally I would allow spells cast from the Mind to be counterable if they would have been counterable had you been standing there. The feature doesn't say for instance that it disguises the spell's verbal or somatic components for instance. But it doesn't appear to be clear-cut.

[T2334]

I’m looking at multiclassing my Wood Elf Arcane Trickster after I hit level 12. Aside from additional sneak attack die, the class doesn’t really seem like it gives too many perks. I’m looking at going into wizard/blade singer for the remaining 8 levels. I understand that AT is a 1/3 spell caster so at level 12 I’ll be a 4th level caster. My question is as I gain levels in wizard, How do I determine the known spells and the number of them?
E.g. AT 12/ Wizard 1= 5th level caster (4 1st level slot; 3 2nd level slots; 2 3rd level slots)

[ender241]

I’m looking at multiclassing my Wood Elf Arcane Trickster after I hit level 12. Aside from additional sneak attack die, the class doesn’t really seem like it gives too many perks. I’m looking at going into wizard/blade singer for the remaining 8 levels. I understand that AT is a 1/3 spell caster so at level 12 I’ll be a 4th level caster. My question is as I gain levels in wizard, How do I determine the known spells and the number of them?
E.g. AT 12/ Wizard 1= 5th level caster (4 1st level slot; 3 2nd level slots; 2 3rd level slots)

For spells known / prepared, you determine them separately for each class:

You determine what spells you know and can prepare for each class individually, as if you were a single-classed member of that class.

So when you reach level 13 (AT 12 / Wizard 1) you'll learn 6 new 1st level wizard spells, and be able to prepare Int mod + wizard level (1) of them. Each time you level up from there you'll learn 2 new wizard spells of appropriate level based on your Wizard spell slot progression. Essentially, the spells you learn and prepare as a Wizard are based only on your Wizard levels. You can't learn higher level spells because of your AT levels. So even though you will have 3rd level spell slots at level 13 you won't know any 3rd level spells. But you can obviously still use them for upcasting.

Edit: so there is a bit of incentive to sticking with AT. If there are any 3rd level spells you've got your eye on, you can learn them at AT 13 (if enchantment or illusion) or AT 14 (any school). As opposed to waiting until level 17 (AT 12 / Wizard 5).

[da newt]

Q350

If I cast PLANT GROWTH in an area without plants growing everywhere already, does it fail to do anything (sand dune, inside, rocky mountain, at sea, etc)? IOW, does the spell only work if you are in a meadow or forest?

[ender241]

Q350

If I cast PLANT GROWTH in an area without plants growing everywhere already, does it fail to do anything (sand dune, inside, rocky mountain, at sea, etc)? IOW, does the spell only work if you are in a meadow or forest?

A350
Unfortunately, I don't think there is a simple answer. RAW seem to imply that you need some normal
plants in the area:

All normal plants in a 100-foot radius centered on that point become thick and overgrown. A creature moving through the area must spend 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves.

However, the question then becomes, how many plants are required? A 100 foot radius is a pretty large area, and yet the spell affects that whole area without specifying what level of plant coverage is required. Does there need to be at least sparse vegetation throughout (and what exactly is that threshold)? Just a few plants? Just one plant? Can the Druid just carry around a potted plant to satisfy the requirements wherever they go? The RAW are pretty ambiguous. In practice, I think a lot of DMs will hand-wave it and let plants just grow out of the ground/floor/water pretty much anywhere, but YMMV.

[da newt]

350

Thank you for the reply, but as you can imagine it leaves munch to be desired - 'every time you cast PLANT GROWTH with a new DM you'll see, and if you're lucky your DM will at least be consistent every time you cast it ...'

[Segev]

350

Thank you for the reply, but as you can imagine it leaves munch to be desired - 'every time you cast PLANT GROWTH with a new DM you'll see, and if you're lucky your DM will at least be consistent every time you cast it ...'

Carry some seeds with you?

[Psyren]

350

Thank you for the reply, but as you can imagine it leaves munch to be desired - 'every time you cast PLANT GROWTH with a new DM you'll see, and if you're lucky your DM will at least be consistent every time you cast it ...'

Welcome to 5e

[FrancisBean]

Q351

Is the order of operations in constructing a character (as given in the PHB) rules-meaningful? The steps are given in a specific order: 1. Race, 2. Class, 3. Ability Scores, etc. For example, under strict RAW, would it technically be illegal to construct a level 1 Variant Human Fighter (or any class bearing Martial Weapon proficiencies) with the Fighting Initiate feat, because at the point when the feat is available the nascent character does not yet meet the pre-requisites?

Yes, I think that's an absurd result, but if the order as given in PHB is a meaningful part of RAW, it's technically true.

[Hairfish]

Q351

Is the order of operations in constructing a character (as given in the PHB) rules-meaningful? The steps are given in a specific order: 1. Race, 2. Class, 3. Ability Scores, etc. For example, under strict RAW, would it technically be illegal to construct a level 1 Variant Human Fighter (or any class bearing Martial Weapon proficiencies) with the Fighting Initiate feat, because at the point when the feat is available the nascent character does not yet meet the pre-requisites?

Yes, I think that's an absurd result, but if the order as given in PHB is a meaningful part of RAW, it's technically true.

A351

I don't think so. The order of selection in the book isn't chronologically-based: background is chosen after class. You're not starting the game as "a (variant) human" and then becoming 1st level.

The third paragraph of chapter 1 even says "your conception of your character might evolve with each choice you make". You can go revisit earlier steps and change stuff.

[FrancisBean]

A351

I don't think so. The order of selection in the book isn't chronologically-based: background is chosen after class. You're not starting the game as "a (variant) human" and then becoming 1st level.

The third paragraph of chapter 1 even says "your conception of your character might evolve with each choice you make". You can go revisit earlier steps and change stuff.

A351 Counter-point: I don't think either of those is technically relevant here. I'm not asking whether the character development is chronological, but whether the rules require that builds follow the steps as given in the PHB (which are not chronological). And a conception evolving (PHB pg 11 Paragraph 3) is not the same as revisiting earlier steps. In fact the same paragraph specifically says, "Once you have a character in mind, follow these steps in order, making decisions that reflect the character you want." (Emphasis mine.)

If revisiting earlier steps is part of the ordered process by RAW, that actually moots my question very neatly, though! A legal build could choose a feat with no pre-req, build through the class and background, then re-visit the feat. From a discrete math perspective, the language of legal characters becomes the same over both automata unless there are circular pre-reqs, which I haven't been able to find in 5e. (Yet.)

(ObReminder: I'm not arguing that this is a sane interpretation, I'm just looking at some potential absurdity of RAW. This sort of thing is very much not sane.)

[Debatra]

Q 352

Are there any melee bludgeoning weapons that are one-handed, Finesse, and Light? What about just one-handed and Finesse?

[meandean]

Q 352

Are there any melee bludgeoning weapons that are one-handed, Finesse, and Light? What about just one-handed and Finesse?

A 352

No weapons have been published that have both bludgeoning damage type and the Finesse property.

[Ortho]

Q 352

Are there any melee bludgeoning weapons that are one-handed, Finesse, and Light?

A:352
No.

What about just one-handed and Finesse?

R:352
Still no.

The closest I could find is an iron ball on page 238 of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. The ball deals bludgeoning damage, has the finesse property, but is a ranged weapon.

[da newt]

Q353

The MotM Bugbear includes the trait Sneaky, the second sentence of which is "In addition, without squeezing, you can move through and stop in a space large enough for a small creature."

Does this sentence mean anything at all mechanically / RAW?

The space of another creature is difficult terrain, so that doesn't apply. Whether a creature is friendly or an enemy you can't end a turn in it's space.

Every medium creature can squeeze into the space of a small creature, but it's the same space that a medium creature takes up anyway (5x5) so you aren't squeezing at all ...

[Millstone85]

A353

Every medium creature can squeeze into the space of a small creature, but it's the same space that a medium creature takes up anyway (5x5) so you aren't squeezing at all ...

This feels like an overlook in itself. What in the world?

Q353

The MotM Bugbear includes the trait Sneaky, the second sentence of which is "In addition, without squeezing, you can move through and stop in a space large enough for a small creature."

Does this sentence mean anything at all mechanically / RAW?

There is a consequence but I don't think it is intended. Because the trait specifically says Small, instead of "one size smaller", then casting enlarge results in a Large bugbear who can move through a 5x5 space without squeezing.