this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2025
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What counts as an attack for the purposes of the invisibility spell? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 day ago by PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca to c/dnd@lemmy.world
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I'm trying to figure out a ruling for something one of my players wants to do. They're invisible, but they took a couple of seemingly non-attack actions that my gut says should break inviz.

Specifically, they dumped out a flask of oil, and then used a tinderbox to light it on fire. Using a tinderbox isn't an attack, nor is emptying a flask, although they are actions , and the result of lighting something on fire both seems like an attack and something that would dispell inviz.

I know that as DM I can rule it however I want, but I'm fairly inexperienced and I don't wanna go nerfing one of my players tools just because it feels yucky to me personally without understanding the implications.

Is this an attack or is there another justification for breaking inviz that is there some RAW clause I didn't see? Or should this be allowed?

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[–] JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world 7 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (2 children)

Difficulty balancing encounters

They're being creative because they want to be powerful. They want that "wow that's clever and highly effective, you're so smart here's a one-shot" moment. So, let them. Balance be damned. Let them wipe out entire encounters if they're clever enough. Or, throw in a fluffer enemy or two that can either get "one-shot" at any moment or be a nuisance for the entire encounter

Edit: If you like friendly competition (and you should probably check with your group too) you can turn combat encounters into puzzles where you're basically trying to stump each other on how to handle a situation. Try to think tactics instead of numbers

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

I don't want my encounters to be lethal, I don't like killing off PCs... But I do want the encounters to be a challenge.

I like your idea, but idk if I'm experienced enough to pull it off. Also I'm running a premade campaign right now so a lot of the encounters are pre-defined, at least in nature; I can tip the scales but I don't think I'm comfortable yet with changing how the encounters work.

[–] JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world 1 points 54 minutes ago* (last edited 53 minutes ago)

I can tip the scales but I don't think I'm comfortable yet with changing how the encounters work.

This is actually part of why I'm suggesting to think tactics instead of numbers. Wizards of the Coast have already done a lot of math to figure out good numbers for us in those modules, and a lot of the time they're not wrong. It's much easier in my opinion to make an encounter challenging by saying "this enemy doesn't have a real health bar. You either have to figure out the puzzle or they just hit you once a turn and then fuck off when everyone else dies"

For example, if we're in a cave and my very clever party runs into a group of goblins, I'm gonna throw a sneaky fella behind 3/4th cover on some ramparts with a slingshot. Oh, and the path to get up to the goblin is in the next room. He's not a real threat, but boy is he annoying. There's probably conveniently a rope that leads up there, a meathead can go climb it or someone clever could set the ramparts on fire. If they just ignore him, he's gonna go take those stairs behind him and annoy them for the next encounter too

[–] TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 1 points 57 minutes ago

I think the encounters are challenging in a way that required them to create unique solutions. Ultimately, are they having fun? And are you having fun?

[–] Jarix@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

DM is all powerful. Your job is to manage the fun for everyone, including yourself.

Just remember, people can run away, it's an option players and DMs often forget

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago

Yeah one of the most memorable story moments in the campaign I'm in right now came from our party hitting some incredibly lucky rolls and basically one shotting a sentinel enemy that was supposed to make us turn back from the dungeon we were in and gone back later when we were stronger. We then found the boss encounter of that dungeon way underleveled, and had to do some serious strategizing and outside the box thinking to come out on top. It was super fun for us as players, and we felt super proud of ourselves when the DM told us what we had done after the session. It was also super fun for the DM since he had to kind of throw together the rest of the encounter on the fly.