1st I did a search but it yielded nothing; although perhaps different criteria would have worked.
So the party my druid is part of fought in a cave. I thought of using Call Lightning as we seemed outnumbered. I asked the GM if the cave was at least 10' high and that seemed the only criteria from my quick/diagonal/summary reading. I also thought of having the creatures height below that but I reasoned as long as the sparks fly, that's what count; and to me 10' high was sufficient for that. I might very well be wrong on all of this.
My GM expressed doubt on Call Lightning functioning inside then another player, who's also a GM and mighty quick with books, read the book and said it needed to be cast 100' in the air or it couldn't be cast. I read the spell a bit better, and don't count on me to referee rules, and to me that 100' didn't seem like a criteria although something that I first missed brought doubt to me so I didn't object further: the radius; so still with my logic any unobstructed area 10' high with 120' diameter would be sufficient to cast, of course with spell usual: slot, time, range & components. Again with my likely flawed logic, it couldn't have been the case as the cave was at its deepest ~120' then gradually thinning to ~30' coming closer ~50' to the entrance. So if someone though my logic was adequate but even more lenient could state that the cloud could squeeze and as its remains would be outside, or in another cavern if it was an underground complex, that it could be cast.
Please help me make sense of casting Call Lightning inside.
Update 1:
In the likely case that my interpretation of Call Lightning for interior was incorrect for RAW, please let me know if it would make sense for RAI, and if not for RAF.
Quoting this directly from the PHB: "A storm cloud appears in the shape of a cylinder that is 10 feet tall with a 60 foot radius, centered on a point you can see 100 ft directly above you. The spell fails if you can't see a point in the air where the storm cloud could appear (for example, if you are in a room that cannot accomodate the cloud)"
Seems like inside a cave is a perfect example of where Call Lightning would fail. You cannot always predict where the day's adventures will take you, but Flaming Sphere would serve a purpose similar to Call Lightning and could have been cast inside a cave.
Assuming slumgum is right and I need a room that include an unobstructed 100' high cylinder 120' diameter when cast,
PHB wrote:
I think Rules As Intended this spell is supposed to be cast outdoors. If you can see sky above you you're good to go. Rule's as written and intended though you cannot cast it if the cave ceiling is only 10 feet high.
The cloud forms 00 feet above you. The Lightning bolt you call down can be directed to anywhere within 120 feet of you. You should never need more than simple arithmetic to play the game.
WilliamCQ wrote:
mellored wrote:
RealSeolfor wrote:
lawrencehoy wrote:
A cloud apears above you, then shoots lighting down.
RealSeolfor wrote:
lawrencehoy wrote:
Jamwes wrote:
RealSeolfor wrote:
Does the spell casting require an unobstructed cylinder 120' x 105-110' or could an area with protruding surface or objects but still allow a direct LoS to its middle which is 100' be adequate? Imagine being inside and very large roots coming inside the cylinder or an uneven cave with large parts of surface coming inside that cylinder.
Let's be pedantic to test limits. The worse case I can think of is a "T" rotated at its center which has only space enough for the clound high up with a 5' diameter pit/well at its center. I know it would only allow for creature directly below the pit to be attacked but; or perhaps even worse if the clound move along the caster (please specify if the cloud moves along), he would have to remain at the casting place otherwise it would dispell the cloud not having enough place anymore, thus only enemies able to squeeze in the caster space where he cast Call Lightning would be affected.
For a spell that can only be cast outside, see Control Weather at PHB p. 228.
WilliamCQ wrote:
lawrencehoy wrote:
It's really just upto the DM.
Just as deciding weather a small tunnel can "acomadate" you squeeze though it.