r/dndnext

Hey, I was theorycrafting builds and came upon what I think is a really strong interaction, but am unsure of the legality of the play.

If you are holding an action to use a movement ability, say casting Dimension Gate, and set the trigger as "when someone targets me with an attack" (do i need to specify an attack roll/melee attack roll? does it matter?) in what orders do the actions resolve?

1. Creature targets Player with a melee attack; attack goes off; held teleport goes off

2. Creature targets Player with a melee attack; held teleport goes off; attack goes off and misses, action is used

3. Creatuer targets Player with a melee attack; held teleport goes off; attack is cancelled, action is not used

Now if you're thinking that holding a Dimension Gate purely to avoid one melee attack isn't a good use of a spell slot, I agree. What I was thinking of doing is, playing as a Wildfire Druid, use my command bonus action to have the spirit hold its action to use Fiery Teleportation if an attack targets me or the spirit.

Would that be a legal play, and would it follow exemple 1, 2 or 3? Would I need to specifically say which creature is targeted, or can I just say "if any ally within 5ft is targeted by an attack" ? Could I also use that to dodge area of effect attacks, or would that need a command to specifically "avoid harmful area of effects" ?

Does the 6th-level spell Bones of the Earth allow casting anywhere there is ground, e.g. a ship's deck, on a sandy beach, etc.? The fact it's transmutation makes me feel like it just converts whatever is there into pillars of stone, similar to Fullmetal Alchemist but curious how your table runs it before I pick this up 🙂

If natural ground only, would love to know the 'why' behind it!

Unlike wall of stone, it's much less specific on its placement rules:

Bones of the Earth
Level
6th
Duration
Instantaneous
School
Transmutation

You cause up to six pillars of stone to burst from places on the ground that you can see within range. Each pillar is a cylinder that has a diameter of 5 feet and a height of up to 30 feet. The ground where a pillar appears must be wide enough for its diameter, and you can target the ground under a creature if that creature is Medium or smaller. Each pillar has AC 5 and 30 hit points. When reduced to 0 hit points, a pillar crumbles into rubble, which creates an area of difficult terrain with a 10-foot radius that lasts until the rubble is cleared... (not relevant)

I add and subtract a 20% hp buffer from the printed hp to make a hp window for my monsters. The lower threshold is the earliest it could die, while the upper threshold is the maximum hp before it definitely dies. While it's hp is within the window, I decide when it dies to make the moment more exciting.

Got a lucky crit or epic moment? How do you wanna do this?

My players are getting bored and I need to wrap up this encounter? Monsters now die as soon as they cross the lower threshold.

Need to hold on a bit so everyone's had a meaningful turn this fight? Gonna use the upper threshold.

It's better than not tracking hp at all, and the hp window is supported RAW by monsters having a rolled hp value (not every dragon having the exact same hp).