Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 7he_professor Sep 04, 2014 9:39:58	I just noticed that Total Cover (Phb pg 196) doesn't list any AC or Dexterity save modifiers associated with it. The AC makes sense since you can't be targeted by an attack, but the lack of of Dexterity saving throw bonus seems a possible oversight.   How would you rule the following scenario:   The party is battling orcs in a long hallway. The badly wounded orcs retreat around a corner at the end of the hall, out of sight and out of the reach of any party member's Speed. So, the Wizard tosses a Fireball (Phb pg 241) at the end of the hall to catch the concealed cowards in the blast.   Would you grant the orcs a bonus on their Dexterity saving throw?
#2 Gruff_Ironfist Sep 04, 2014 10:51:55	7he_professor wrote:
#3 Noctaem Sep 04, 2014 11:00:00	The key part of that is that the Spell's point of origin is where the fireball lands, not where the wizard is standing.  So it depends on if there's something around the corner that would block the fireball in some way.  If you look at page 204 of the PHB you can clearly see where the point of origin is on each of the different types of spells.  In the case of the Fireball which is a sphere, the point of origin is the center of the sphere.   "You select a sphere's point of origin, and the sphere extends outward from that point.  The sphere's size is expressed as a radius that extend's from the point.  A sphere's point of origin is included in the sphere's area of effect."   Hope this helps clear that up.
#4 Timborama Sep 04, 2014 11:13:51	Total Cover is NOT the same as Total Concealment. If you see the corner of the hallway, and explode the fireball there, it explodes from THAT point (not from where the wizard stands), meaning the orc doesn't get total cover. Or partial cover for that matter! And even though the Wizard can't see the Orc, it doesn't matter, because he saw the origin point of where the Fireball landed. Big boom spells don't care if you're invisible or in some mist, they explode outwards and will catch you in the blast   That being said, if someone ducks under or behind a table and you explode a fireball to take out his buddies, he would get +2 or +5 to his save depending on how much he's out of the spell's blast. Heck, he may even avoid damage altogether! That table probably won't though...
#5 7he_professor Sep 04, 2014 16:32:22	Great points all about Total Cover being related to the spell effect origin rather than related to the Wizard's position.  It's rather quite obvious now that I think about it, and I thank you all for clearing that up for me.  Happy gaming!