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?
Similarly inexperienced opinion here, but I’d also allow it. Agree with the others that pouring the oil would be potentially visible, but definitely after the fire is lit the smoke would make the players visible when they move. Kind of like how the smoke allows you to see the tripwire lasers.
Rule of cool first and creative thinking is what makes ttrpgs great. However, you’re the DM and the tone of the game is ultimately up to you.
Sounds like your players are thinking outside the box, which in my experience is nothing but a recipe for fun (and likely headaches for your carefully laid plans). Good luck.
Unfortunately they’re thinking so far outside the box that I’m having difficulty balancing encounters 😭
One player can two shot a fire giant from a safe distance, yet a decent sized pack of giant rats would probably fuck up the whole party.
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
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.
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.