Green Slime & Mage Hand

[Nyarlathotep]

Evening all, I was DMing tonight and ran across an interesting situation and wanted your takes on the subject.

The party was barred from progressing through a dungeon by a barred door that they were unable to break/destroy. In an earlier room was a patch of green slime. They eventually came up with the idea of using the green slime to eat away the door and tried to use the mage hand spell to "carry" the slime to the door and smear it on. I ruled that it would work and was happy with the results as they played out, but what do you think? Allowed i nthe RAW?

Thanks!

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

According to the RAW, green slime (and all slimes, molds, and fungi, for that matter) is a plant creature, so it shouldn't be a legal use of Mage Hand. But don't let the RAW get in the way if you think the players should be allowed to make use of clever ideas. Ingenuity should be rewarded, IMHO.

 

[Scharlata]

According to the RAW, green slime (and all slimes, molds, and fungi, for that matter) is a plant creature, so it shouldn't be a legal use of Mage Hand. But don't let the RAW get in the way if you think the players should be allowed to make use of clever ideas. Ingenuity should be rewarded, IMHO.

Hi!

As Dr. Awkward says: DMG, p. 76, Slimes, Molds and Fungi: "For purposes of spells and other special effects, all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants."

And I support the "doctor's" attitude regarding "clever ideas".

Kind regards

 

[cmanos]

Mage Hand
Transmutation
Level: Brd 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One nonmagical, unattended object weighing up to 5 lb.
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You point your finger at an object and can lift it and move it at will from a distance. As a move action, you can propel the object as far as 15 feet in any direction, though the spell ends if the distance between you and the object ever exceeds the spell’s range.

Dosn't look like there is anything in the spell description saying you can't move plants. I'd allow it. Very creative of them. But was the door 15 feet from the green slime?

 

[drnuncheon]

Dosn't look like there is anything in the spell description saying you can't move plants.

It targets an object, not a creature.

However, you could have used mage hand on something glass, ceramic, or stone to scoop up the slime and carry it.

J

 

[FoolishFrost]

It targets an object, not a creature.

However, you could have used mage hand on something glass, ceramic, or stone to scoop up the slime and carry it.

J

Why bother then... It's just semantics, and slows down the game. And most plants are considered objects in the course of human events.

 

[drnuncheon]

Why bother then... It's just semantics, and slows down the game.

Some people like to stick to the rules. I personally don't always, but I think it's important to know the rules, so that if and when you change them, you know that you're doing it.

And most plants are considered objects in the course of human events.

That may be, but 'object' and 'creature' as part of the game rules have specific meanings.

But was the door 15 feet from the green slime?

Not actually a problem...the 15' is only the distance the hand can move in a single round. As long as you can keep the concentration up (a standard action), you could carry the slime as far as you wanted, at a rate of 15'/round.

J

 

[mvincent]

Why bother then... It's just semantics, and slows down the game.

For me, the point of even having rules is to establish some verisimilitude, consistency, and suspension of disbelief.

While I'd freely ignore rules (especially if they got in the way of simulating believable situations), I would lose some suspension of disbelief if doing so actually changed the... 'physics' (?) of the world (like this would). Plus, allowing mage hand to affect plant creatures could have repercussion.

But if no one knows about that rule at the time (which was the case here), no harm done.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I thought if something had no wisdom or charisma it was considered an object, not a creature. So green slime would be a plant object, not a plant creature.

Anyways, the trick should work.

 

[FoolishFrost]

If we want to be exacting, then Green Slime is catagorized as a trap, not a creature. It's not in the monster manual, it's then the GM traps and tricks section...

Like I said, semantics.