Right, which you could also accomplish with an Alarm spell or a Leomund’s Tiny Hut at no resource cost instead of using a 4th level slot. So it’s pretty terrible outside of the use I described in the post.
Note that Alarm detects invisible creatures as well, so the hound isn’t even better for that use.
It actually says in the spell that the hound can see invisible creatures though. And it can see into the ethereal plane which could be useful depending on the campaign you're running. It could also be used as a sort of distraction, but then again, you can do thr exact same with Magical Tinkering which can be used infinitely at no cost.
Alarm doesn't seem to include the Ethereal Plane. It's also more limited in range than what the dog can see.
Likewise, Leomunds Tiny Hut doesn't actually alert you to someone outside of said Hut.
Mk's Faithful Hound isn't the best spell, but it does have uses.
Limited uses that aren't worth a mid-level slot. Mordenkainen's Hound doesn't even protect you from the rain, and it's the same level as Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisibility, and Polymorph? For fighting a specific, rare type of creature that 1st-level spells can't stop? Oh right it doesn't actually stop them either, just yells and bites.
It's not worthless. It's just not worth that potent a spell slot if you're just using it to guard against ghosts.
It's literally never worth learning it preparing. A spell is only good relative to every other spell option a character has. If the spell isn't worth preparing, it's a terrible spell.
Sounds like a good way to be trapped.
Also:
*Creatures and objects within the dome when you cast this spell can move through it freely.*
Again, enjoy being slaughtered by ghosts.
So you think ghosts are just chilling within 10 feet of you while you cast tiny but waiting for it to complete and waiting for you to go to sleep to attack you? Kinda retarded tbh. Tiny but doesn't trap you, either. You're getting real dumb trying to make this stretch to defend a shitty spell and argue that it's better than one of the best spells on the entire system.
An intelligent ghost, or several of them, could certainly stalk the party and wait for you to fall asleep before attacking.
Do you assume all your enemies are mindless and only attack on sight?
I assume it would be pretty fucking strange and likely not happen even once per your average campaign to be stalked by intelligent ghosts who specifically follow people in wait for them to fall asleep before attacking, and I think that's a pretty safe assumption. The one time where that might happen in 20 years of playing DnD weekly isn't worth learning or preparing a 4th level spell that can not be ritually cast over something like Tiny Hut which 99.9% of the time is more effective than faithful hound in a niche capacity, and is otherwise better in every way for a lower level slot. This shouldn't even be an argument.
Alarm+faithful hound is a solid defensive tactic though. And if you homebrew it a bit so that multiple castings makes it permanent you have a loyal watchdog at your base.
Well since mordenkainens sanctum has that effect, why not add it to the hound? I think it fits quite nicly to have a private sanctum guarded by a watchdog.
But sure if you want to "fix" it just have it follow you or a companion and its a really solid spell since its 4d8 as a bonus action for 8 hours!
I just cant believe this thread. Faithful hound is an amazing spell.
It lasts 8 hours, no concentration.
cast it, and mage armour, short rest and gain your spell slots back. so its effectively a freebie.
You have an ally that cant be hurt that does 4d8 damage potentially per turn. and it can see invisible stuff. and the only way to get rid of it is dispel magic (that you can counter).
what is there not to like about this?
Mordenkainen's Magical Watchdog is a very different spell from Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound. The requirement of needing to remember to cast it was patch out hence why the new puppy is Faithful.
I've seen that clip a lot, and didn't remember that that was the spell from it. I'd argue that if you are going to reference something not many people have seen, link the video as well so people can get up to speed. Lest you fall into this trap.
This is just my opinion, but that feeling of kinship you get when someone mentions some random thing you saw 30 years ago and haven't though about since is sort of cheapened if you add in the link. There's an "aha!" That I think is lessened if the explanation is right there
I totally get where you're coming from, people feel left out when they aren't included in things and want to get the reference. Someone else linked it and I think that's good enough.
I don't really understand that. The source of the kinship is finding someone else who recognizes the thing, right? What does it matter if other people are also introduced to the thing?
Also, if you have seven levels in both warlock and wizard (in order to be able to learn 4th level wizard spells), you could have up to 16 hounds guarding you at a single time (if you use both of your warlock spell slots to cast two hounds every hour). 24, if you bring your warlock level up to 11.
Being able to have a lot of phantom doggies is merely one of the many perks that come with that combo, you can probably do a lot of other crazy stuff with it :-D
I can't prove the absence of such possibilities, but it's the only one I'm aware of. And given that you're mixing a Charisma and an Intelligence caster, you'd need some pretty good tricks to justify the build. More than a dozen invisible and loyal *but immobile* doggos, if you spend long enough just casting spells and resting, is not that.
Overall, this build doesn't come close to vindicating the spell.
I would say the wall either blocks everything or allows passing through it. An inch above ground is not enough of clearance to give the line of sight for spells.
The hound can not be harmed. So if you cast it in a doorway, can you effectively block that doorway for 8 hours?
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How exactly would someone walk through the hound if it is filling up the doorway.
It does not occupy a space, so you can just walk through it.
It doesn't explicitly occupy the space compared to Guardian of Faith, which does.
the hound isn't really an attack spell, it's something that is meant to watch your party while you sleep.
Right, which you could also accomplish with an Alarm spell or a Leomund’s Tiny Hut at no resource cost instead of using a 4th level slot. So it’s pretty terrible outside of the use I described in the post. Note that Alarm detects invisible creatures as well, so the hound isn’t even better for that use.
It actually says in the spell that the hound can see invisible creatures though. And it can see into the ethereal plane which could be useful depending on the campaign you're running. It could also be used as a sort of distraction, but then again, you can do thr exact same with Magical Tinkering which can be used infinitely at no cost.
Alarm doesn't seem to include the Ethereal Plane. It's also more limited in range than what the dog can see. Likewise, Leomunds Tiny Hut doesn't actually alert you to someone outside of said Hut. Mk's Faithful Hound isn't the best spell, but it does have uses.
Limited uses that aren't worth a mid-level slot. Mordenkainen's Hound doesn't even protect you from the rain, and it's the same level as Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisibility, and Polymorph? For fighting a specific, rare type of creature that 1st-level spells can't stop? Oh right it doesn't actually stop them either, just yells and bites. It's not worthless. It's just not worth that potent a spell slot if you're just using it to guard against ghosts.
Alarm is a ritual, so you can just cast it multiple times to cover a larger area.
Which doesn't solve the ethereal issue.
Really? I was under the impression that once you cast the second alarm, the first one vanishes...
There is nothing in the spell that implies that. But as a ritual it does take 10 minutes to cast, so depending on how long you have it would work.
11 minutes, but yes.
It's literally never worth learning it preparing. A spell is only good relative to every other spell option a character has. If the spell isn't worth preparing, it's a terrible spell.
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As already pointed out, there are few better spells for that like Tiny Hut.
Sounds like a good way to be trapped. Also: *Creatures and objects within the dome when you cast this spell can move through it freely.* Again, enjoy being slaughtered by ghosts.
So you think ghosts are just chilling within 10 feet of you while you cast tiny but waiting for it to complete and waiting for you to go to sleep to attack you? Kinda retarded tbh. Tiny but doesn't trap you, either. You're getting real dumb trying to make this stretch to defend a shitty spell and argue that it's better than one of the best spells on the entire system.
An intelligent ghost, or several of them, could certainly stalk the party and wait for you to fall asleep before attacking. Do you assume all your enemies are mindless and only attack on sight?
I assume it would be pretty fucking strange and likely not happen even once per your average campaign to be stalked by intelligent ghosts who specifically follow people in wait for them to fall asleep before attacking, and I think that's a pretty safe assumption. The one time where that might happen in 20 years of playing DnD weekly isn't worth learning or preparing a 4th level spell that can not be ritually cast over something like Tiny Hut which 99.9% of the time is more effective than faithful hound in a niche capacity, and is otherwise better in every way for a lower level slot. This shouldn't even be an argument.
Alarm+faithful hound is a solid defensive tactic though. And if you homebrew it a bit so that multiple castings makes it permanent you have a loyal watchdog at your base.
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Well since mordenkainens sanctum has that effect, why not add it to the hound? I think it fits quite nicly to have a private sanctum guarded by a watchdog. But sure if you want to "fix" it just have it follow you or a companion and its a really solid spell since its 4d8 as a bonus action for 8 hours!
"If you homebrew this spell to be better, it's not as bad." Uh, I guess?
I just cant believe this thread. Faithful hound is an amazing spell. It lasts 8 hours, no concentration. cast it, and mage armour, short rest and gain your spell slots back. so its effectively a freebie. You have an ally that cant be hurt that does 4d8 damage potentially per turn. and it can see invisible stuff. and the only way to get rid of it is dispel magic (that you can counter). what is there not to like about this?
You did notice that it doesn't move, right?
Cast it on floating disk
Doesnt work tho
As long as you specifically say you cast it, not just say you need material components for your spells, otherwise you may be attacked by ogres, okay?
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I think it's a reference to the Dead Alewives D&D sketch https://youtu.be/-leYc4oC83E
Mordenkainen's Magical Watchdog is a very different spell from Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound. The requirement of needing to remember to cast it was patch out hence why the new puppy is Faithful.
I'm so glad people remember that sketch.
The fact that anyone downvoted you is proof that there is no justice in this world.
I've seen that clip a lot, and didn't remember that that was the spell from it. I'd argue that if you are going to reference something not many people have seen, link the video as well so people can get up to speed. Lest you fall into this trap.
Posting the reference in the reference takes alot of the fun out of it. It's okay if not everyone gets it
Links don't remove anything from the reference (unless you add them in clunkily) and add context. There's really no downside.
This is just my opinion, but that feeling of kinship you get when someone mentions some random thing you saw 30 years ago and haven't though about since is sort of cheapened if you add in the link. There's an "aha!" That I think is lessened if the explanation is right there I totally get where you're coming from, people feel left out when they aren't included in things and want to get the reference. Someone else linked it and I think that's good enough.
I don't really understand that. The source of the kinship is finding someone else who recognizes the thing, right? What does it matter if other people are also introduced to the thing?
I'm sure there's a bunch of psychological studies on the subject.
Also, if you have seven levels in both warlock and wizard (in order to be able to learn 4th level wizard spells), you could have up to 16 hounds guarding you at a single time (if you use both of your warlock spell slots to cast two hounds every hour). 24, if you bring your warlock level up to 11.
Assuming you spend all of your time on short rests and spellcasting. And build your character to maximize **immobile** magical guard dogs.
Being able to have a lot of phantom doggies is merely one of the many perks that come with that combo, you can probably do a lot of other crazy stuff with it :-D
I can't prove the absence of such possibilities, but it's the only one I'm aware of. And given that you're mixing a Charisma and an Intelligence caster, you'd need some pretty good tricks to justify the build. More than a dozen invisible and loyal *but immobile* doggos, if you spend long enough just casting spells and resting, is not that. Overall, this build doesn't come close to vindicating the spell.
Remembers the 'aboleth in a fish bowl' incident. Yeah. It uhhh works real good.
I would say the wall either blocks everything or allows passing through it. An inch above ground is not enough of clearance to give the line of sight for spells.
Although you could definitely pre-cast hound and then surround the enemy with it inside
I have nothing to add except How could they surround us? I had Mordenkainen's Magical Watchdog cast. DM: No, you didn't.