It's still a weird tool though. For example, had I written it, I would likely not have included a section on petrified creatures being object beyond a link to the current Q&A. It might be good to actually change that but it feels weird to make substantial changes to other posts. Which, is likely why people don't do it.
(in any case, it probably won't hurt the answer at all)
@Rubiksmoose The petrification bit is there because it's an open question which the existing Q&A doesn't address. The existing Q&A presumes that a creature can't simultaneously be an object and a creature at the same time...but provides no rules assertions for this, simply saying "they are a creature => not an object")
@illustro that's not strictly true. the point of the answers is that nothing about the condition says it changes a creature into an object so it doesn't. If that was part of the effect, it would say so.
Regardless, it is still better to shunt discussion about a thorny issue over to the decicated Q&A that is handling it.
It also sounds like you might have an idea for an answer there which I would encourage you to look at writing!
I cannot find any official details on the Far Realm for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons.
Is there any published lore on the topic or is it supposed to be open ended?
From what I can tell, it seems that "creature" and "object" are intended to be mutually exclusive categories in D&D 5e. The distinction is important in the targeting of many effects and spells.
Is there an example (possibly an edge case) of something that can be considered both at once?
Any k...
@Rubiksmoose all of those answers miss the obvious Mimic which can explicitly shapechange into an object while it's "statistics are the same in each form".
@illustro I think you might be correct by a strict RAW reading, but I think the heavy implication by the first line is that it changes into an object instead of a creature. But that is a fair point.
(and thanks for putting that as an answer)
I can't prove it, but I think when the designers were writing these things they did so from the mindset that things are either a creature or an object (aside from edge things like spell effects) and thus that kind of language implies a flipping of that dichotemy.
Throughout it's text and in it's description it specifically states that it becomes an object (even to go so far as to call out it's "Object Form"). I'll update the answer when I get home later with more text
Though that does bring up that old debate about whether you need to continuously meet the preconditions for casting the spell during the spell's effect. Something that is not defined and hotly debtated.
We keep coming back to this issue of what is a thing because the D&D content has never been ontologically sound. It's a huge pain in the ass to design and implement a coherent ontology, so not really an undertaking anyone but a masochistacademic might endure.
Polymorph and animate objects illuminate the edge and corner cases of the vernacular. Without a formal ontology, we can debate endlessly.
Yes, a petrified creature is an object, it is also a creature
An object is defined in the rules as:
a discrete inanimate item
a Petrified creature is transformed (along with any non-magical object it is wearing or carrying) into:
a solid inanimate substance
What makes an item? The ru...
@illustro That one is pretty clearly a "no". Just because you're made of stone doesn't mean you're not a creature in the game. E.g. earth elementals are not objects.
@illustro There is a logical fallacy in that answer: 'Objects are X' and 'Y is X' does not mean 'Y is an Object'. Other inanimate substances include Terrain (which is memory serves is specifically not objects)
To be fair, this whole side debate over what is or is not an object is likely to get us nowhere in general because the rules on it are so incredibly vague and clearly left up to the DM
As a side note, in a recent Acc.Inc. game (DM'd by Crawford) he allowed Animate Object on a petrified party member. Although it probably falls under Rule-of-Cool more than an interpretation of RAW.
The reason it's less intuitive is because the English language fails us (and by extension general human experience). We don't have magic that can turn people to stone and then restore them IRL, and thus the parlance and definitions of what is an object or not, doesn't include creatures (because they can't be both IRL).
a unit is An individual thing or person regarded as single and complete but which can also form an individual component of a larger or more complex whole.
A creature has one of the types listed in the Monster Manual (p. 6–7). A sentient magic item has none of those types. It's an object. #DnD https://twitter.com/emwizardshark/status/819735062019211264
The Githyanki Commander Supreme, in its stats block, is granted two types of legendary actions, one of them being the Teleport action:
Teleport. The githyanki magically teleports, along with any equipment it is
wearing and carrying, to an unoccupied space it can see within 30 feet
of it. ...
The Indigo layer of a Prismatic Wall states :
While this layer is in place, spells can't be cast through the wall
By comparison, a Globe of Invulnerability states :
Any spell of 5th level or lower cast from outside the barrier can't affect creatures or objects within it, even if the spe...
Since I'm on my way to WotC to do some super secret badass work, let's do a design thread.
Let's talk about CHUNGUS stories and GRUNGUS stories.
A thread.
@lowericon @JimSterling son and @ChungusGrungus. I just used the names for another ttrpg thing cuz I am random and like using silly things as a part of important things to lighten the journey
Both can have qualities of the other, and one can and often does change into the other. There's no limit there.
But CHUNGUS narratives and GRUNGUS narratives are about how the game is played. How the story unfolds, who is driving it forward, and to what end.
@MikeQ they aren't so much mutually exclusive as hard to both embody at the same time
like the long lost brother example
they are two ways of looking at how your long lost brother is having and effect on your character
you could try to combine them but that isn't easy to do
but it's not mutually exclusive, because this long lost brother could bring you that backstory information and then still be the immediate moment effect on your character too
and what they are talking about is how many players might only focus on one of these things at a time
and how if that is the case and you want both, you can have players that focus more on one help the ones who focus on the other more and vise versa
If you want to design a fun RPG, all you have to do is, find or think of something fun, and design an rpg that gives it to you.
This is hard! Making an RPG that does what you intend it to do is hard creative work.
I cannot find any official details on the Far Realm for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons.
Is there any published lore on the topic or is it supposed to be open ended?
From what I can tell, it seems that "creature" and "object" are intended to be mutually exclusive categories in D&D 5e. The distinction is important in the targeting of many effects and spells.
Is there an example (possibly an edge case) of something that can be considered both at once?
Any k...
Yes, a petrified creature is an object, it is also a creature
An object is defined in the rules as:
a discrete inanimate item
a Petrified creature is transformed (along with any non-magical object it is wearing or carrying) into:
a solid inanimate substance
What makes an item? The ru...
The Githyanki Commander Supreme, in its stats block, is granted two types of legendary actions, one of them being the Teleport action:
Teleport. The githyanki magically teleports, along with any equipment it is
wearing and carrying, to an unoccupied space it can see within 30 feet
of it. ...
The Indigo layer of a Prismatic Wall states :
While this layer is in place, spells can't be cast through the wall
By comparison, a Globe of Invulnerability states :
Any spell of 5th level or lower cast from outside the barrier can't affect creatures or objects within it, even if the spe...
