Simple RAW for 5e 4: Smackdown v. RAW

[E’Tallitnics]

Q448

Can I craft during a long rest? More specifically, can I make crafting progress for magic items during a long rest?

EDIT: Okay, less specifically. Am I summarizing the rules presented in Xanathar's Guide correctly?

If I'm making a mundane item, I need proficiency in the appropriate tool, and half the item's selling value in materials. It takes a number of "workweeks," which are 5 8 hour shifts that don't have to be consecutive, equal to the item's cost divided by 50. If it costs less than 50 gold, you can craft multiple items per week. Multiple people can help with crafting, dividing the time needed by the number of workers, with DM judgment.

If I'm crafting a magical item that is not a spell scroll or potion of healing, I need a formula, a special item that requires a level appropriate challenge according to the Magic Item Ingredients table, and proficiency in the appropriate tools or the Arcana skill (?), and it takes a number of workweeks and gold according to the Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost table. If the item is a consumable, such as a scroll or a potion (but not a potion of healing or a spell scroll!), half the workweek and gold cost.

If I'm crafting a potion of healing, I just need proficiency with the herbalism kit, and the time and gold specified in the Potion of Healing Creation table.

If I'm scribing a spell scroll, I need proficiency in Arcana, the appropriate spell prepared/known, and any material components required, and it takes the time and gold specified in the Scribing a Spell Scroll table.

With all of these, there are the associated complications tables and rivals and stuff, but I don't care about those at this point

A448: RAW "A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps for at least 6 hours and performs no more than 2 hours of light activity, such as reading, talking, eating, or standing watch."

Whether the item that you're crafting takes, "light activity" to create, or not, will be entirely up to your DM as there are no RAW for what exactly constitutes, "light activity," except for the aforementioned, "reading, talking, eating, or standing watch."

[E’Tallitnics]

Q449

RAW (PHB pg 144) Armor Prof: If you wear armor that you are not proficient with you have DisADV on ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls that involve ST or DEX and you can't cast spells.

If I give a shield to my IMP familiar (no PROF) his AC will increase by +2 and when he's INV he gets ADV for DEX saves / stealth, so the DisADV would cancel those to a straight roll, but he'd still force attack rolls against him to be at DisADV, right?

Is there a way to get a Familiar PROF?

A449: RAW there's no direct way for a familiar to gain any proficiencies. However some magic items, when worn and/or attuned, can grant proficiency.

When the shield is equipped by your familiar, and its invisible, DEX saves and Dexterity (Stealth) checks would be normal rolls due to the Adv./Disadv. cancellation mechanic. And yes attacks against an unseen creature are at Disadv.

[ThePolarBear]

Q448Can I craft during a long rest? More specifically, can I make crafting progress for magic items during a long rest?

A448Without specific features or DM approval, not really. On top of the considerations made by E'Tallitnics on "light activity" and its meaning, there's also to consider that the rules for crafting in Xanathar (and DMG, for that matter) are meant as a Downtime Activity, as something to do in between adventures. In between adventures there's not really a need to track "long rests": Downtime Activity rules are what model what your character does in that period of time.

EDIT: Okay, less specifically. Am I summarizing the rules presented in Xanathar's Guide correctly?
If I'm making a mundane item, I need proficiency in the appropriate tool, and half the item's selling value in materials. It takes a number of "workweeks," which are 5 8 hour shifts that don't have to be consecutive, equal to the item's cost divided by 50. If it costs less than 50 gold, you can craft multiple items per week. Multiple people can help with crafting, dividing the time needed by the number of workers, with DM judgment.

You need proficiency, the tools and "equipment", which is left at a DMs judgement.
Workweeks and 8-hour-day do not need to be consecutive, true. Not even the hours really need to be: you just need to complete 8 hours of work in a day for it to count. Furthermore as for general description on the Downtime Activities you do not really have an "upper limit" of time, but anything taking more than twice the basic required time is advised to have further problems and prehaps costs.
You can craft multiple, even different, items in a workweek as long as the total cost is less or equal to 50 gp.

proficiency in the appropriate tools or the Arcana skill (?)

IMHO, to model two different approaches:one where a "caster" buys goods that are "good enough" to be enchanted with its own powers, thus where the work is more in knowing and applying "magical rules" written in the recipe, and the one where a "crafter" collects materials more sensible to magic and pre-made magical supports following the recipe, applying their knowledge in treating the item itself and modelling it more than the "magical" part itself. But opinions, not raw :D

Q449Is there a way to get a Familiar PROF?

A449 There's no RAW way to give a familiar shield proficiency, unless said familiar comes with it or the DM makes it so. Or the familiar aquires a class.
One of the way a DM can make it so is via the aforementioned Downtime Activities. The presented options are suggestions and the DM has the explicit ability to come up with new activities. Like: training for proficiencies.

and when he's INV he gets ADV for DEX saves / stealth, so the DisADV would cancel those to a straight roll, but he'd still force attack rolls against him to be at DisADV, right?

Attacks against the creature would be made at Disadvantage by any creature that isn't able to see (via magic or other sense) the Imp, but invisibility doesn't grant Advantage on Dex checks, Dex (stealth) checks or Dex saves. Your DM might grant them, but the condition in and of itself doesn't.

[Zigludo]

Q 450 (I hope UA discussion is allowed here and that this isn't a repeat)

The recent Class Features UA introduced a new Cunning Action for the Rogue, called Aim. I'll reproduce its text here:

You gain an additional way to use your Cunning Action: carefully aiming your next attack. As a bonus action, you give yourself advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn. You can use this bonus action only if you haven’t moved during this turn, and after you use the bonus action, your speed is 0 until the end of the current turn.

I was wondering if it would be legal for a Rogue who begins her turn prone to stand up, expending half of her movement, use her Cunning Action to Aim, reducing her speed to 0, then drop prone again before ending her turn, effectively beginning and ending her turns prone to protect from missile fire while still firing with advantage on her own turns.

Relevant considerations (as far as I can tell):

• Aim specifies that "you can use this bonus action only if you haven't moved during this turn", but Jeremy Crawford has at least strongly suggested in Sage Advice that standing from prone doesn't count as "moving" in discussions of Booming Blade and difficult terrain (edit with citations: Prone and Booming Blade)
• Aim specifies that your speed drops to 0 "after you use the bonus action", but the rogue stands before using the bonus action, and dropping prone requires no use of movement speed

[da newt]

Q451

If I have an Amulet of Health and take the Resilient (Con) Feat, does my Con increase from 19 to 20?

[da newt]

Q452:

Are there any RAW for 're-crafting' magical weapons?

For example, my Guild Artisan Smith would like to take that magic dagger and make it into a spear leaving it's magical properties unchanged? The magic sword remade as a glave / naginata?

[Man on Fire]

Q453

Apparently in Eberron Rising From the Last War Dragonmarks give bonus spells but you must be a caster to use them. Would a Shadow or Elements Monk be egible to benefit from those sprlls, as they cast using Ki points?

[Millstone85]

Q453 Apparently in Eberron Rising From the Last War Dragonmarks give bonus spells but you must be a caster to use them. Would a Shadow or Elements Monk be egible to benefit from those sprlls, as they cast using Ki points?

A453 No. The exact wording is this:

Spells of the Mark. If you have the Spellcasting or the Pact Magic class feature, the spells on the Mark of _____ Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class.

The monk class does not have any feature by those names, nor does it have a spell list, even with the subclasses you mentioned.

[ThePolarBear]

Q 450The recent Class Features UA introduced a new Cunning Action for the Rogue, called Aim. [...]
I was wondering if it would be legal for a Rogue who begins her turn prone to stand up, expending half of her movement, use her Cunning Action to Aim, reducing her speed to 0, then drop prone again before ending her turn, effectively beginning and ending her turns prone to protect from missile fire while still firing with advantage on her own turns.

A450 I read it so. I believe you are correct.

Q451

If I have an Amulet of Health and take the Resilient (Con) Feat, does my Con increase from 19 to 20?

A451 No. The constitution increase would be still connected to your character actual score. It doesn't increase the one granted by the item.

Q452:

Are there any RAW for 're-crafting' magical weapons?

A452 Not that i can remember, but i might be wrong.

Edit: Next question is Q454

[Chronos]

A 452:

A blade-pact warlock can do it by bonding to the weapon, though many DMs houserule this ability away.

[da newt]

Q454:

Can a Halfling Lightfoot Hide behind their enemy? It reads like it's RAW. The term 'obscured by' seems ill-defined (all I can find are about dim/dark or foggy).

For example: Halfling Rogue melee attacks Orc, moves behind it and hides from it (successful ability check).
Then the Orc has to perceive the Halfling before attacking?
Does the Halfling get to attack next round at ADV?

How should a DM resolve this attempt?

[ThePolarBear]

Q454:

Can a Halfling Lightfoot Hide behind their enemy? It reads like it's RAW. The term 'obscured by' seems ill-defined (all I can find are about dim/dark or foggy).

For example: Halfling Rogue melee attacks Orc, moves behind it and hides from it (successful ability check).
Then the Orc has to perceive the Halfling before attacking?
Does the Halfling get to attack next round at ADV?

How should a DM resolve this attempt?

A454: No, you would not be able to hide FROM THAT orc, but you could use that orc to hide FROM OTHER orcs. "To obscure" means "preventing,keeping from being seen,known" (many definitions, many meanings, that's the general gist of it). "Obscured by" means in this context that there's something -a creature - in the way (in this case, between you and what is trying to look at you) that impedes the ability to see.

Also, in general without using optional rules there's no concept of "in front" or "behind" an enemy. Every creature is supposed to have a 360 degree of freedom, vision and such around them. DMs can make exceptions, but... well... those are exceptions :D. It means that the orc would not be obscuring itself when looking for you; it would not really be standing "in between".

In general the same is true even for "bigger" creatures: it is also true that a small creature has the ability to move in the space of a large or larger creature, but it is not possible to stop "inside" a creature space at the end of a turn. I find it funny, however, the image of an halfling moving below a big dragon only to hide, baiting the dragon to look under its big belly only to receive a stab on the nose. But again, that would fall under a DM doing things "because DM", not because of RAW.

[Chrizzt]

Q455: If you cast the mold eart cantrip and excavate the 5 cubic foot of earth, can you spread it around the hole to make a low earth wall in all directions or do you have to put it in another 5 foot cube?

[Dualswinger]

Q. 456.

An artificer knows the “Enhanced Defence” and “Enhanced Weapon” infusions.

After a long rest, he states he wants to infuse his armour and shield with his active infusion slots. Is this legal?

Raw: “You can infuse more than one non magical object at the end of a long rest. The max number of objects appears on the artificer table. You must touch each of the objects, and each of your infusions can be in only one object at a time...”

[da newt]

Q455:

I've been thinking about mold earth (the minecraft cantrip) too. For RAW it seems to leave some DM discretion. For example - does "fits within a 5' cube" mean completely contained within a 5*5 grid square, or is it centered at a cross point the way most area spells are? I assume it's meant to be contained within one grid space.

Can you split up where the dirt pile ends up? Can you shape the dirt pile (5' hi, 7.5' wide, 2.5' thick or 4x 5' tall 2.5' wide, 2.5' thick columns aka cover)?

There are many options for battle space prep / foxhole and cover type actions with this cantrip. If you do excavate a 5*5*5 hole and build up the area around it you've created a 7' barrier - is that more effective than a 5' deep hole and an adjacent 5*5*5 mound for cover? I'm no trench warfare expert, but I'd assume you'd want it deep enough to provide total cover when ducking behind/in, but shallow/short enough to fire over and easily climb out of ...

Or are you attempting to create a pit trap - 5' deep with extra 2' walls around and make it difficult terrain ...

If you Twin or action surge or have two casters, can you create a pit under someone with one turn, and then fill it back in around / over them before they can move?

[E’Tallitnics]

Q455: If you cast the mold eart cantrip and excavate the 5 cubic foot of earth, can you spread it around the hole to make a low earth wall in all directions or do you have to put it in another 5 foot cube?

A455: The RAW mention nothing about being able to shape the excavated earth.

[E’Tallitnics]

R455:

I've been thinking about mold earth (the minecraft cantrip) too. For RAW it seems to leave some DM discretion. For example - does "fits within a 5' cube" mean completely contained within a 5*5 grid square, or is it centered at a cross point the way most area spells are? I assume it's meant to be contained within one grid space.

The RAW don't assume that the group is using a grid so it's simply "...up to 5 feet away."

Can you split up where the dirt pile ends up? Can you shape the dirt pile (5' hi, 7.5' wide, 2.5' thick or 4x 5' tall 2.5' wide, 2.5' thick columns aka cover)?

Since the RAW don't say that you can shape the excavated earth it's simply a pile of earth.

There are many options for battle space prep / foxhole and cover type actions with this cantrip. If you do excavate a 5*5*5 hole and build up the area around it you've created a 7' barrier - is that more effective than a 5' deep hole and an adjacent 5*5*5 mound for cover? I'm no trench warfare expert, but I'd assume you'd want it deep enough to provide total cover when ducking behind/in, but shallow/short enough to fire over and easily climb out of ...

RAW is "within" so you can excavate as much, or as little, as you want. Foxholes with an earthen wall on one side seems completely within the parameters of this spell.

Or are you attempting to create a pit trap - 5' deep with extra 2' walls around and make it difficult terrain...

RAW if you create difficult terrain it must be, "...the dirt or stone you target is on the ground," so it cannot be in a hole which is underground.

If you Twin or action surge or have two casters, can you create a pit under someone with one turn, and then fill it back in around / over them before they can move?

You cannot Twin Mold Earth since the Twin metamagic specifies that you target a "creature". You can action surge or use the metamagic option quicken to accomplish this task.

[Chaos Jackal]

Q. 456.

An artificer knows the “Enhanced Defence” and “Enhanced Weapon” infusions.

After a long rest, he states he wants to infuse his armour and shield with his active infusion slots. Is this legal?

Raw: “You can infuse more than one non magical object at the end of a long rest. The max number of objects appears on the artificer table. You must touch each of the objects, and each of your infusions can be in only one object at a time...”

A 456

It's not allowed.

Each infusion can only be active on one item. Enhanced Defense can only be used on your armor or your shield. Since it can only be used once, one of those will be infused, the other won't be. Enhanced Weapon can't be used on armors or shields, so you can't infuse them with that either.

[Millstone85]

Speaking of infusions...

Q457 For the purpose of an infusion being in only one object at a time, do Replicate Magic Item (alchemy jug) and Replicate Magic Item (bag of holding) count as separate infusions?

[Chaos Jackal]

A 457

The Replicate Magic Item Infusion explicitly states that it's learned multiple times, so yeah, I'd say each replicated item type counts as a different infusion.

[Lavaeolus]

Q458: When it comes to multiclassing partial casters and determining their spell slots, are their class levels divided-and-rounded individually?

As an example: as written and intended, does a Paladin 3 / Ranger 3 have the spell slots of a second-level caster, or a third? Artificers, meanwhile, are half-casters who round up in the multiclass rules. Would a Paladin 3 / Artificer 3 be equal to a third-level caster, regardless?

[Varlon]

A458
The class levels are divided and rounded individually. A Paladin 3/Ranger 3 has the slots of a 2nd-level caster, and a Paladin 3/Artificer 3 has the slots of a 3rd-level caster.

[Chrizzt]

Q459: Can an earth elemental, who can move through unworked earth and stone, drag objects into the earth? E.g. statues of stone? Like its in its inventory?

[E’Tallitnics]

Q459: Can an earth elemental, who can move through unworked earth and stone, drag objects into the earth? E.g. statues of stone? Like its in its inventory?

A459: No. The stat blocks makes no mention of the Earth Glide feature effecting anything or anyone but the elemental itself.

[Misterwhisper]

Q460

Artificer Artillerist, when you use a bonus action to activate your cannon, how does the line of sight work?

Obviously the target has to be in line of effect from the turret.
Does the artificer have to be able to see the target?
It says within 120ft of the turret, but nothing about having to be able to see the target but then again it also gives no senses to the turret.
Ex. Could I make the turret walk around a corner and fire at an enemy I can’t see but the turret has LOS/LOE to?

[Chaos Jackal]

A 460

It's a bit weird, but I'd say that RAW, probably not. The Force Ballista effect is a ranged spell attack, and attacks must target a creature or an area. You cannot target a creature you can't see, and even though Force Ballista originates from the turret it's still the artificer who makes the attack, so if you can't see the guy or the place you wanna shoot, you can't shoot it.

Take it with a grain of salt, but given that the turret doesn't have senses, as you said (it's an object after all), going strictly by the book you shouldn't be able to shoot at someone around a corner.

[ThePolarBear]

A 460

The Force Ballista effect is a ranged spell attack, and attacks must target a creature or an area. You cannot target a creature you can't see, and even though Force Ballista originates from the turret it's still the artificer who makes the attack, so if you can't see the guy or the place you wanna shoot, you can't shoot it.

Contesting 460
Generally speaking you are required to either see or hear the creature that you want to target to be able to target it directly.
"When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see." (Unseen targets and attackers p194 phb).

You still can attack something that is behind total cover from you as long as the attack itself is not impeded from cover:
"A target can benefit from cover only when an attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the cover." (phb p196)

In the case of the cannon it is explicit in every form that the effect or attack originates from the cannon itself. As long as the cannon does not have total cover from the target (and no other rule intervenes) it is very much possible to target with the cannon something that is in total cover from the Artificer: there's nothing preventing an attack or an effect to go through just because there's cover between the Artificer and the target since the cover has to ... well... cover from the attack or effect. It doesn't matter "who" makes the attack roll.

It might be necessary for the Artificer to guess a location instead of targeting directly in case of an attack - and that might be a bit more contentious since the attack from the Force Ballista iirc doesn't allow for a location, only an object or creature. In that case, it could be argued that the general rule for attacks (creature, object or location) is not the specific of the Ballista (that, again iirc, precludes locations) and thus is not possible to target a location at all, making it impossible to "guess". Or it could be read as a simple "narrative" and that an attack is still an attack.

[da newt]

Q461

- What can you put BARDING on other than a Warhorse? (riding horse, bear, elephant, mule, wolf, familiar, mastiff, ...)

- If you have the Mounted Combatant Feat, you can fight on a riding horse or mule using controlled mount rules exactly the same as a War Horse, right? The feat will force all attacks to target you (except AoE), right?

- In the real world, mules can carry humans with no issue at all - does RAW allow this (they count as large for carry capacity)?

- What am I missing that prevents this from being a really efficient way to add action economy (free dash/disengage), more than double mobility, and ADV often w/ large mounts? For 75 gp for a riding horse (8 gp mule for smalls), even if they get killed frequently it's like a consumable expense.

I guess 5' wide doors / tunnels for large mounts, and climbs would be a problem.

[Escribblings]

Q 462

I have a question regarding the Triton's innate spellcasting

A child of the sea, you can call on the magic of elemental air and water. You can cast*fog cloud*with this trait. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast*gust of wind*with it, and starting at 5th level, you can also cast*wall of water*with it. Once you cast a spell with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Just looking at Fog Cloud for now, I haven't looked into the others, but I assume this will affect them too.

Normally, when you get a spell as a feature it tells you at what level you can cast it, either without components, or without affecting your spell slots, for example.

But in the description above, it says neither.

Obviously DnDBeyond isn't 100% perfect, and there are still bugs, but when I use the spell through there it doesn't use a spell slot.

Considering there may be non casters that gain this ability, I am assuming that that is correct, as it also states it's once per long rest.

But... does it increase in power?

If I have level 2, 3, &c. slots, could I cast it at that higher level?

[Millstone85]

A462 According to the SAC, a spell cast without a spell slot is cast at its lowest level.