Bury This One
You can bury me with complaints if you like, but this isn’t going to work. Not the way you want it to, at least. First, let's dissect some of the rules going on here. As tons of rage-baited viewers pointed out, you’re going to need some spell casting ability AND some levels in Fighter in order to be able to Action Surge. (A few even pointed out that the latest rules no longer allow for spells to be cast during an Action Surge. But "this skit was written in 5e, not 5.5! Nah nah na na nah!" The audacity of some creators.) Putting all this in 5th edition, though, you'll certainly need two levels in Fighter to get one Action Surge. Unless I’m unaware of another way to quicken a spell, you’re also going to need to be a Sorcerer of 3rd level to gain Metamagic with Quicken Spell selected. Not to mention that you’ll also need one of your spells to be Mold Earth and another to be Hideous Laughter (sometimes Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.) Except... Tasha’s Hideous Laughter isn’t available to a sorcerer. So you’re going to need to either take the Magic Initiate feat to gain some spells from another class, or you’ll need another whole level in Bard or Wizard. Can we all see how convoluted this is getting? Congrats you’re now a level 5-6th level character that's essentially a one-trick pony. But it works, right? Right? Well as it turns out, maybe not. Mold Earth has a specific target of loose earth. So you’re going to have to get that bad guy on a loose pile of dirt, sand, or gravel (or even that fancy store-bought stuff) in order for this to have a chance. Even if your DM allows hard-packed earth to be used, you’re unlikely to convince them to allow you to cement it back down around a character. It even states that the movement of the dirt isn’t enough force to cause damage. Is dirt suffocating the character not damage? Now, if we’re talking rules as written, perhaps an inexperienced DM who's some level 20 moron might allow it without a second thought when it comes to all the intricacies. It just doesn’t work the way the skit wants it to, though.
Why does every meme breaking post end with us digging up a corpse?
As usual, we ask "can we make this actually work?" Well, I suppose if you want to build your character in that very specific way, it could possibly work... as long as your DM allows it. Of course, as mentioned with other meme breaker posts, do you want the DM trying this on your PCs. You’ll be giving them that power. To bring up another issue though, by allowing this to work and not interpreting the rules we’re edging up against the spirit of the rules, not just the raw rules as written words. This is really the whole reason for a DM: to keep order, make judgements on strange things, and keep things moving. In this case, it's fairly obvious, given the other powers of Mold Earth, that the only combat intention is to make difficult terrain and not to bury people or creatures. While it doesn’t say you can’t attempt to do so, it also doesn’t say the DM can’t force a saving throw. Which, if we’re going to allow something like this, we should totally do. Since you’d be using a spell effect as an attack, to not allow for a saving throw or change to avoid the spell with armor somehow, would absolutely go against the spirit of the rules. You could "Rule of Cool" this, of course, but it's going to be totally uncool if you start trying to cheese all your battles this way. To take it one step further, while the BBEG is prone from laughter, there's nothing saying they're just going to be automatically buried by those two Mold Earths. They could easily be rolling around in their little five-foot spot, and be lifted back up from the dirt while they're doing it.
So while we possibly can get this to work within the rules as written, do we really want to? Certainly, there are many better things you could be accomplishing, even with this sort of strange three class character build. Though, we shouldn’t yuck another person’s yum. Even if there isn't another thing you’d rather be doing, a word on something else that's related: these memes, and this one in particular, seem to be set up as a "gotcha!" moment targeting the DM. That seems to be an idea that has become more prevalent lately with D&D - looking at the DM as a foe to be outsmarted, instead a friend just trying to help you tell a story. If you want to try something wild and crazy, don’t try to surprise your DM with it (unless it really does come to you in the spur of the moment... and even then.) Talk to your DM about what you’d like to do, and they’ll help you determine if it's a great idea, doable with some caveats, or just plain wrong. Surprise the other players with the DM’s help! We all want to tell our stories together - with fairness and fun. Until next week folks, enjoy your dice and your tables.
- A
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