D&D 5E Sunbeam and Sculpt Spell

[cthulhu42]

This hasn't happened yet, but I'd like to get out in front of it.

Our evocation wizard will likely be taking Sunbeam at some point and I'm wondering how it will work with his Sculpt Spell ability.

The wording of Sculpt Spell is a little wonky anyway, To my mind, it infers that the caster creates static "pockets" within the area of the spells effect that are exempt from the spells effect. But then again, it says that you choose creatures that are immune to the effect. Currently I've ruled that he can create those pockets of safety within the area, and this has worked fine so far, but Sunbeam is cast once with multiple round effects.

So now, he casts it and designates the areas where his comrades are standing as safe on the first turn, but in the second turn his buddies have moved around. So can he re-designate those pockets of safety? Not according to Sculpt Spell. But maybe I'm ruling it wrong and he would instead designate creatures who are simply immune to the spell effects on the first and all preceding turns no matter where they're positioned.

What do you think?

 

[ehenning]

The wording of Sculpt Spell is a little wonky anyway, To my mind, it infers that the caster creates static "pockets" within the area of the spells effect that are exempt from the spells effect. But then again, it says that you choose creatures that are immune to the effect. Currently I've ruled that he can create those pockets of safety within the area, and this has worked fine so far, but Sunbeam is cast once with multiple round effects.

So now, he casts it and designates the areas where his comrades are standing as safe on the first turn, but in the second turn his buddies have moved around. So can he re-designate those pockets of safety? Not according to Sculpt Spell. But maybe I'm ruling it wrong and he would instead designate creatures who are simply immune to the spell effects on the first and all preceding turns no matter where they're positioned.

Sculpt Spell says:
“When you cast an evocation spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell’s level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.”

The important parts are chose creatures and auto succeed. From my reading, this means the creatures (in this case PCs) can move around round to round and are still exempt from the spells effects.

 

[Shiroiken]

DMs call, based on their preference of style or mechanics. From a straight RAW reading of the mechanics, it probably works for multiple rounds. From a style perspective, you could reasonably claim that the spaces sculpted are immobile, and anyone in those areas gains the benefit, but not once they leave. From a style perspective, you could also reasonable claim that the wizard can continuously bend the shape of the spell as part of the concentration (assuming it is concentration). It really depends on the type of DM you are and how you've run your game so far.

In any case, I'd suggest talking with the player about it before they take the spell. That way they know what to expect if they take it, and may choose another option if they are unhappy with your ruling.

 

[cthulhu42]

DMs call, based on their preference of style or mechanics. From a straight RAW reading of the mechanics, it probably works for multiple rounds. From a style perspective, you could reasonably claim that the spaces sculpted are immobile, and anyone in those areas gains the benefit, but not once they leave. From a style perspective, you could also reasonable claim that the wizard can continuously bend the shape of the spell as part of the concentration (assuming it is concentration). It really depends on the type of DM you are and how you've run your game so far.

In any case, I'd suggest talking with the player about it before they take the spell. That way they know what to expect if they take it, and may choose another option if they are unhappy with your ruling.

Yeah, as soon as I decide what my actual ruling is I'll be talking to the player about it. So far I've gone the route of immobile pockets of immunity, but it could totally be taken the other way too. Is there no errata on this? Seems weird.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

Just think if it like Darkseid's Omega Beams. They don't necessarily take a direct path to avoid or strike targets as the caster deems fit.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Sculpt spell is very straightforward in it's application: when the wizard casts an evocation spell, they pick up to spell level+1 creatures they can see at the time of casting; those creatures automatically succeed on saving throws and instead take no damage if they would normally take half on a successful save. According to this, it's for the entire casting of the spell, and doesn't once mention opening pockets of safe space around the chosen creatures.

This a case of your additions to the ability causing an issue, not the wording of the ability. You've chosen to describe the effect of the ability as opening a safe space around the protected creatures, and this is the cause of your problem when you've reached a multi-round spell. Change your description and the problem goes away.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Instead of a "safe space", you might think of it as every evocation spell is really just light with a "sensor" attached (kind of like a smart bomb made of energy). If the "sensor" reads "not a target", then the spell just stays light, but if the "sensor" reads "target", the spell becomes fire/radiant/cold/thunder/etc. This is actually consistent with spells that don't affect objects: if the warlock tries to eldritch blast a door, the "sensor" reads "not a target" and doesn't do anything. The evoker just gets to add things to the "not a target" list.

I wouldn't let the wizard change who gets included in the list from round to round.

 

[jaelis]

In practice it seems like the easy interpretation is that sculpt spell does create "safe spaces," but for a spell like sunbeam the caster can rearrange the spaces every time he uses the effect.

That picture suggests that you could change which targets are protected every round, but when would that ever actually come up?

 

[Iry]

Sculpt Spell feels more like it provides selective immunity instead of actually sculpting things. It works much easier if you imagine the spell effects harmlessly washing over your allies instead of creating actual pockets of safety. The name is the real culprit here.

 

[cthulhu42]

Sculpt spell is very straightforward in it's application: when the wizard casts an evocation spell, they pick up to spell level+1 creatures they can see at the time of casting; those creatures automatically succeed on saving throws and instead take no damage if they would normally take half on a successful save. According to this, it's for the entire casting of the spell, and doesn't once mention opening pockets of safe space around the chosen creatures.

This a case of your additions to the ability causing an issue, not the wording of the ability. You've chosen to describe the effect of the ability as opening a safe space around the protected creatures, and this is the cause of your problem when you've reached a multi-round spell. Change your description and the problem goes away.

I don't know that it is that straightforward. The very name of the ability implies that you are changing the shape of the spells aoe, and that is further bolstered by the very first line in the description, " Beginning at 2nd level, you can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your EvocationSpells."

But after that, you're right, the description leads one to believe that you'd be picking creatures that are immune to the spell effect.

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