D&D 5E Light Cleric's Warding Flare

[Dax Doomslayer]

Hi Folks,
A situation popped up in our current game with the Light Cleric and Warding Flare. The power states:

"Also at lst level, you can interpose divine light between yourself and an attacking enemy. When you are attacked by a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll, causing light to flare before the attacker before it hits or misses. An attacker that can't be blinded is immune to this feature."

When does the cleric need to declare if they are using this? Is it after the die roll or before? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jaelis]

Since it says you use the ability before it hits or misses, it should be declared before the DM determines the result. That could be after the die is actually rolled, but before the DM says the number or whether it was a hit. If the DM rolls in the open, then it should be declared before the roll.

I would probably allow it to work after the result is known however, seems like less trouble that way.

 

[bedir than]

Before the roll. As Disadvantage requires two dice rolled at same time.

 

[jaelis]

Before the roll. As Disadvantage requires two dice rolled at same time.

Well, you can always roll the second die after the fact.

 

[bedir than]

Well, you can always roll the second die after the fact.

From the SRD

"Sometimesaspecialability orspelltellsyouthatyou
haveadvantageordisadvantageonanabilitycheck,
asavingthrow,oranattackroll.Whenthathappens, yourollasecondd20whenyoumaketheroll.Use
thehigherofthetworollsifyouhaveadvantage,and
usethelowerrollifyouhavedisadvantage."


I still think RAW is ad/disad rolls both dice at same time

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[jaelis]

Yes I agree that is correct per the rules. I was just pointing out that, in practice, if you forget to take advantage or disadvantage into account, you can roll the second die after the first.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Yes I agree that is correct per the rules. I was just pointing out that, in practice, if you forget to take advantage or disadvantage into account, you can roll the second die after the first.

And if you only have one die you have no choice but to do two rolls one after the other

 

[bedir than]

And if you only have one die you have no choice but to do two rolls one after the other

So having a single die should create a rules advantage?

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[jaelis]

So having a single die should create a rules advantage?

I think we are just mis-communicating here. The underlying question is: if you have an ability that grants advantage/disadvantage, do you need to decide to use it before any dice are rolled?

The answer depends only on the rules for the ability in question. If it says you use the ability before learning the result, then you need to use it before learning the result. The obvious way to ensure this is to say you are using it before any dice are rolled, but it is also fine to declare it after a die has been rolled but before you see it.

On the other hand, if the ability says you can use it after learning the result of the first roll, then you can. In that case, you will ordinarily roll the second die after observing the first.

Finally, in many cases you simply have advantage or disadvantage, with no choice involved. Then it doesn't matter whether you roll the two dice together or one after another.

I'm not sure that you would disagree with any of that, and this is all I am saying.

 

[aco175]

I have allowed the reroll after the player seen what was rolled to hit the PC. If a 18 was rolled, he kind of knows to use it, but if a 12 was rolled he may not know. I does not seen that powerful a power. The bard has a similar one that had more uses and may need to be looked at.