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Anon casts a healing spell (lemy.lol)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/greentext@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 173 points 2 years ago (13 children)

I'm amazed he managed to roll a nat 20 on a d8, thats cheating on a whole new level

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  • [–] 102 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    I fuckin hate this notion in modern dnd (which is a misconception in the first place) that its just "let a d20 decide: the game". That's not how the game has ever been played. If you wanna have goofy mad-lib games with your friends where you just roll dice and laugh that's fine but you've never, in 50 years, had to roll to see if you're able to cast Cure Wounds or Heal.

    That is a mechanic in some other games where spellcasting isn't a guaranteed thing. But not in core Dungeons and Dragons.

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  • [–] 59 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I wish my DM would accept this. I was born with this power but I might fail to cast it? Why am I not rolling to see if I walk properly since that was a learned ability.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    Shadowdark has d20 rolls for spellcasting and by all accounts it's fantastic. If you succeed the roll you cast the spell and expend no resources. If you fail you can't cast the spell for the rest of the day. I don't believe for a second that it's what the OP in this post was playing though.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    That is a mechanic in some other games where spellcasting isn't a guaranteed thing. But not in core Dungeons and Dragons.

    Like in warhammer fantasy, where a guy i've played with managed to cast one spell during a fight that took 30-60 mins irl

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    didn't dnd 2e have you roll a d20 if you cast while wearing armor? too low of a roll and the cast fails? No crit effects, just simple pass/fail, right?

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    Casting an Arcane Spell in Armor: A character who casts an arcane spell while wearing armor must usually make an arcane spell failure check. The number in the Arcane Spell Failure Chance column on Table 6–6 is the percentage chance that the spell fails and is ruined. If the spell lacks a somatic component, however, it can be cast with no chance of arcane spell failure.

    https://aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=361

    It was a rule in Pathfinder, so presumably it was a rule in 3e.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    Pathfinder has that too, so it presumably carried through 3.5e. It's why wizards don't wear armor, and only applies to arcane casters, and classes that are meant to wear some armor like bards get exemptions for the tiers of armor they're meant to wear.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    I guess since in many cases you do actually need to roll a dice, like when peeforming a touch or ranged touch spell, people just assume it always happens.

    And even in this case. Cure wounds is a spell like any other and it is subject to a will saving throw. So to be correct the pc that was targeted by the spell would indeed roll in order to save from the unintended heal - but thats really just assuming the spell could be used like this, which in my interpretation it cannot.

    So again, even if the caster rolls no dice in this case, the target could. I think this leads to people thinking there must always be a roll.

    Edit: fix paragraphs

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Will isn't an attribute/stat in dnd 5e and the only roll one would make for cure wounds is the amount of healing applied.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Thats not what I said.

    Never played 5e but in 3.5e the target of the spell - not the spellcaster - can roll a dice. The target can perform a will save to reduce healing amount by half.

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