dnd – 100% Best Unlimited Private Proxies: Fast, Cheap and Secure

dnd 5e – How does the Battle Master fighter’s Sweeping Attack maneuver interact with additional damage dealt on a “hit”?

How does the Battle Master fighter’s Sweeping Attack maneuver work with extra damage, both rolled and static?

The description of the Battle Master fighter’s Sweeping Attack maneuver states (PHB, p. 74; emphasis mine):

Sweeping Attack. When you hit a creature with a melee weapon
attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to damage
another creature with the same attack. Choose another creature within
5 feet of the original target and within your reach. If the original
attack roll would hit the second creature, it takes damage equal to
the number you roll on your superiority die. The damage is of the
same type dealt by the original attack.

The description is very specific with the damage the 2nd target receives; in particular, it leaves out any bonus to your damage from your ability modifier. That leads me to think all other bonuses are also ignored, but I just want to confirm.

Specifically, I’m wondering whether the Great Weapon Master feat’s bonus damage applies. The second benefit of the Great Weapon Master feat says (PHB, p. 167):

Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are
proficient with, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack
roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack’s damage.

I’ve looked at some other questions regarding Sweeping Attack. It seems like the 2nd hit is not necessarily an attack, so if that’s the case, then the wording in the feat “if the attack hits” could make it so the additional damage from Great Weapon Master does not apply to the 2nd target.

But what about enchanted weapons? Would a simple +1 weapon apply the +1 damage bonus to the 2nd target? How about something more complicated, such as the flame tongue?

The description of the flame tongue reads, in part (emphasis mine):

While the sword is ablaze, it deals an extra 2d6 fire damage to any
target it hits.

Does the verbiage “any target it hits” imply or require an attack? Or does that bypass the attack rule?

dnd 5e – Is there a way to bypass resistance/immunity to fire damage?

You have a few not very good options for overcoming resistance, and only one option for overcoming immunity, albeit drawn from “unofficial” content.

Your best option is probably the Elemental Adept feat, as it is “permanent”.
But it only overcomes resistance, not immunity. This is probably the only really viable option in the rules as written, and it’s not great, but it does best fit your character’s needs.

So far, the only way to overcome immunity is the Pyromancer.

Note: Even though this is published by Wizards, it is unofficial content, meaning it is not vetted at the same level as official content.

The Pyromancer is a sorcerer from a Planeshift Pdf detailing the Magic:The Gathering setting of Kaladesh for use in 5e. At 18th level, they gain the following:

Fiery Soul

At 18th level, you gain immunity to fire damage. In addition, any
spell or effect you create ignores resistance to fire damage and
treats immunity to fire damage as resistance to fire damage.

Other options

There is the Elemental Bane spell. But that only covers resistance, requires a save and is concentration. Not a good option.
You can also look to spells abilities and items that grant vulnerability, as this is pretty close to the same as eliminating resistance (but again, it does nothing to immunity). Spells like Hallow and Contagion (flesh rot option) do this. Or Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave from a Grave Domain Cleric.
Any other ability I found is related to switching out the damage type, ala the Order of Scribes Wizard Subclass, which is not exactly what you want. Although, technically it does effectively bypass immunity to a given damage type. Check under the Awakened Spellbook feature.
Along those lines, in Tasha’s Cauldron Of Everything
there is a sorcerer metamagic option called Transmute Spell (remember any spellcaster can now get metamagic using feats) which reads

When you cast a spell that deals a type of damage from the following list, you can spend 1 sorcery point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, thunder.

dnd 5e – How would losing their spellbook affect a wizard-sorcerer multiclass?

Any Wizard without their spellbook isn’t automatically helpless

The core issue with this plan (going by rules as written) is that a wizard’s spellbook is only used for learning and preparing new spells. A wizard that loses their spellbook will be unable to prepare new spells, but will still have the same spells prepared. There’s even a specific clause (and price) for writing these down in a new spellbook should you lose the old one (see the Your Spellbook box on page 114 of the Player’s Handbook, under Replacing the Book). And they’ll always have their cantrips, no matter what happens to their book.

So even without sorcerer levels, a wizard bereft of their spellbook isn’t rendered helpless, unless they prepared a very specific array of spells before losing the book. Adding sorcerer levels means they get additional spells which are known entirely independent of the book, and can cast all of these spells using the same slots (PHB 164). They even get more cantrips.

The only way for a wizard to be rendered helpless this way is if the exact spell they need is in their book, but not prepared that day, but I don’t know what spell that would be.

dnd 5e – Can the sapphire crushed as part of the Drawmij’s Instant Summons spell be mended and sold for the original price?

The spell Drawmij’s instant summons states (emphasis mine):

(…)
Components: V, S, M (a sapphire worth 1,000 gp)
Duration: Until dispelled

You touch an object weighing 10 pounds or less whose longest dimension is 6 feet or less. The spell leaves an invisible mark on its surface and invisibly inscribes the name of the item on the sapphire you use as the material component. Each time you cast this spell, you must use a different sapphire.

At any time thereafter, you can use your action to speak the item’s name and crush the sapphire. (…)

The spell does not explicitly state the sapphire is consumed, which makes me wonder whether the sapphire can be mended with the mending spell¹ and then sold. Rules designer Jeremy Crawford replied to a tweet asking whether the sapphire is consumed, stating:

Yep. You crush it: “Each time you cast this spell, you must use a different sapphire” (PH 235).

However, Jeremy Crawford’s tweets are not official rulings, and the quote he refers to only indicates that mended sapphire cannot be used as a component to cast Drawmij’s instant summons.

Would it be possible to mend the sapphire and sell it to a shopkeeper? If so, would the sapphire still be worth 1000 gp, or would the price be less because it lost the ability to be used as a component in Drawmij’s instant summons?

^{1 I had missed that this would require a casting of the mending spell for every single broken link within the gem. Unfortunately this means mending the gem takes a little longer — a sapphire broken into 1000 pieces will need to be mended 999 times, which will take about two 8-hour-work days. I’d say 500 gp per day remains worth the cost.}

dnd 5e – What Regional effects are present in the Tomb of Diderius (Rise of Tiamat)?

In Episode 3 of Rise of Tiamat, the players enter the Tomb of Diderius. Diderius has become a

mummy lord,

and as such his lair (the Tomb) should show this legendary monster’s Regional Effects (enumerations and emphasis mine):

A mummy lord’s temple or tomb is warped in any of the following ways by the creature’s dark presence: (1) Food instantly molders and water instantly evaporates when brought into the lair. Other nonmagical drinks are spoiled—wine turning to vinegar, for instance. (2) Divination spells cast within the lair by creatures other than the mummy lord have a 25 percent chance to provide misleading results, as determined by the DM. If a divination spell already has a chance to fail or become unreliable when cast multiple times, that chance increases by 25 percent. (3) A creature that takes treasure from the lair is cursed until the treasure is returned. The cursed target has disadvantage on all saving throws. The curse lasts until removed by a remove curse spell or other magic.

However, Diderius is special in that:

When Diderius died, those who honored him in life transformed him into a special mummy lord whose magic pervades his tomb. Since Diderius is neutral rather than evil, the area lacks dark magic common to other mummy-lord tombs.

This might lead us to believe that none of the standard Regional Effects for a legendary monster of his type are actually in play while in the Tomb. Nevertheless, as areas 5 and 12 explicitly state

The well holds water still, but the regional effects Diderius imposes on his lair causes it to evaporate within a few rounds of being hauled up into this area.

so at least one of the Regional Effects in fact still operates.

How do we know whether the other Regional Effects are

dark magic?

How do we know whether the other Regional Effects apply in the Tomb?

dnd 5e – Can monsters use lair actions on targets they cannot see?

My previous experience with Lair Actions has been when the party fought Strahd (a vampire lord in Curse of Strahd) and Arauthator (an adult white dragon in Rise of Tiamat). Both of these creatures had multiple Lair Actions, but all of the actions either specified that they only applied to the creature itself or to a target it could see.

My party will soon be facing a mummy lord (for the particular mummy lord and circumstances of its lair, see this question, but be aware that even the question title contains spoilers). The mummy lord’s lair actions are:

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the mummy lord takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the mummy lord can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row.

Each undead creature in the lair can pinpoint the location of each living creature within 120 feet of it until initiative count 20 on the next round.

Each undead in the lair has advantage on saving throws against effects that turn undead until initiative count 20 on the next round.

Until initiative count 20 on the next round, any non-undead creature that tries to cast a spell of 4th level or lower in the mummy lord’s lair is wracked with pain. The creature can choose another action, but if it tries to cast the spell, it must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 1d6 necrotic damage per level of the spell, and the spell has no effect and is wasted.

Note that none of these Lair actions refer to the mummy lord itself or explicitly state that it needs to see the target of these effects.

This is particularly relevant to the specific mummy lord in question, as it does not leave its room but its lair itself is large; players would have a chance to be affected by all three lair actions at some point during their exploration of the lair even while not in the physical presence of the mummy lord if that was possible.

The answers to this question all state that a monster must be present in its lair in order to take lair actions, because it is the monster itself taking the actions, and I agree with that. This answer in particular states that since the Lair Actions happen on Initiative 20, and are taken by the monster, the monster must be part of the Initiative order, and I agree with that as well.

While it could be argued that a mummy lord that did not leave its room would not be part of a combat in another room, and thus would not be in the initiative order, I think that argument is circular. I could just as easily say that the Lair Actions themselves make the mummy lord part of combats even if it is not physically present by providing it with actions that can affect the course of the combat, so that they are placed in the initiative order of every combat in their lair even if their only actions are to take Lair Actions on Initiative 20.

Can monsters use lair actions on targets they cannot see, and in combats for which they are not physically present?

dnd 5e – Twin hand crossbow Fighter: is this build valid?

The Sharpshooter feat includes an interesting feature: you can choose to take -5 penalty to hit with a ranged weapon attack to increase its damage by 10. Normally, I’d dismiss the trade-off as too situational, but I’ve only just thought of combining it with the Archery fighting style (+2 to hit with ranged weapon attacks).

After building a sample character using these features, the end result looks quite effective. My questions are: Is this build valid? Have I interpreted the rules correctly? If so, how well does it compare against other damage-focused builds?

5th level variant Human Fighter:

Ability Scores (via point buy): Str 10, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 10
HP: 47, AC: 17 (or 18 with disadvantage on Stealth)
Weapons: Hand Crossbow x 2
Fighting Style: Archery
Martial Archetype: Battle Master (with the Precision Attack maneuver)
Feat (variant Human): Crossbow Expert
Feat (4th level ability score improvement): Sharpshooter

The end result is a fighter capable of hitting targets 120′ away, behind 1/2 or 3/4 cover, or engaged in melee with him, all without penalty. Normally, he can make 3 such attacks per round (Attack action + Extra Attack + Crossbow Expert’s bonus attack). Once per short rest he can make 5 attacks per round via Action Surge (Attack action 1 + Extra Attack, Attack action 2 + Extra Attack, Crossbow Expert’s bonus attack).

His normal attack bonus is +8 (3 proficiency, 3 Dexterity, 2 Archery fighting style), and normal damage is 1d6+3. Not amazing damage, but nice accuracy and flexibility (attacks can be focused on one target, or spread around; works equally well in melee and ranged combat).

The real winner is his ability to take -5 on any of these attack rolls to increase the damage by 10, to an average of 16.5 per shot (excluding crits). If he lands his usual 3 attacks, that’s ~47 damage; 5 attacks is ~83. While the -5 to hit seems imposing, he’s still got superiority dice: he can increase his attack roll by 1d8 after seeing the result, up to 4 times per short rest. And even without the superiority dice, his attack bonus is still an acceptable +3; ok for hitting low AC targets, or those granting advantage on attack rolls (e.g. surprised or prone + adjacent).

With a decent AC, a Fighter’s HP, and the Second Wind feature, he can also take a decent amount of damage. He’ll also have decent Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws.

This build seems almost too well rounded. Unlike a blaster, he only requires short rests to recover his big hitters. Unlike a brawler, he can target just about anything on the field at a moment’s notice. Have I missed any rules, or overlooked any drawbacks?

dnd 5e – Is my Paladin stacking Smite spells correctly?

I am the DM for a level 2 Paladin. Today, he managed to pull off what the table found to be a very powerful, yet simple, combo. The two of us read over the rules and we both think it was by the book, but I’d like to be sure.

The paladin first cast Thunderous Smite as a bonus action on his longsword, then attacked an owlbear as his action. He hit, so he added 2d6 damage to his regular 1d8+STR and incurred a STR save (the results of which are tangential to this question). He then spent his second (and final) spell slot on Divine Smite to add 2d8 radiant damage. The final damage total was 3d8 + 2d6 + STR.

In a later battle, after resting up, he tried this maneuver again and rolled a natural 20 on the attack. Since crits double damage dice, his final total was 6d8 + 4d6 + STR damage.

Is this interpretation of how the Divine Smite class feature interacts with the Smite spells correct? Nobody at my table has a problem with the balance, however it was so comically strong of a single attack that we had doubts of its legitimacy.

Are we missing something here, or is this the correct amount of damage to deal for the presented situations?

dnd 5e – Battle Master “Sweeping Attack” and additional on-hit damage?

How does the Battle Master maneuver Sweeping Attack work with extra damage, both rolled and static?

Sweeping Attack
When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die to attempt to damage
another creature with the same attack. Choose another creature within
5 feet of the original target and within your reach. If the original
attack roll would hit the second creature, it takes damage equal to
the number you roll on your superiority die. The damage is of the same
type dealt by the original attack.

The description is very specific with the damage the 2nd target receives, in particular it leaves out any additional bonus damage from your ability scores. That leads me to think all other bonuses are also ignored, but I just want to confirm.

Specifically looking at whether Great Weapon Master feat bonus damage applies.

Great Weapon Master
Before you make a melee attack with a heavy weapon that you are proficient with, you can choose to take a -5
penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the
attack’s damage.

I’ve looked at some other questions regarding sweeping attack and it seems like the 2nd hit is not necessarily an attack, so if that’s the case then the wording in the feat “if the attack hits” could make it so it does not apply to the 2nd target.

But what about enchanted weapons? Would a simple +1 weapon apply the +1 damage to the 2nd target? Or more complicated, something like the Flame Tongue?

Flame Tongue
While the sword is ablaze, it deals an extra 2d6 fire damage to any target it hits.

Does the verbiage “any target it hits” imply or require an attack, or does that bypass the attack rule?

dnd 5e – Does the resistance granted by the Horizon Walker ranger’s Spectral Defense feature last for the entire turn it’s activated?

The resistance does not last for the rest of your turn

The Spectral Defense feature states:

At 15th level, your ability to move between planes enables you to slip through the planar boundaries to lessen the harm done to you during battle. When you take damage from an attack, you can use your reaction to give yourself resistance to all of that attack’s damage on this turn.

Compare this to something like the shield which states:

[…] Until the start of your next turn, you have a +5 bonus to AC, including against the triggering attack […]

It explicitly states that you have the AC boost until the start of your next turn, which the Spectral Defense feature does not.

That said, the Spectral Defense feature does have incredibly unusual wording as it includes “on this turn”. The only time I can see this having an effect if the same attack that damaged you later does more damage on that same turn. It also prevents future damage from the same attack that occurs on later turns from being resisted. I don’t know when these niche scenarios would occur.