Up next in 10
How do cone AOEs work in #dnd 5e?
10K views
May 21, 2025
How do cone AOEs work in #dnd 5e? Continuing my ongoing discussion of how 5e’s rules handle areas of effect in the various methods supported by the rules. #dnd5e #2024dnd #ttrpg #characteroptimization #dungeonsanddragons #dmadvice
View Video Transcript
0:00
areas of effect in D and D cones So
0:03
we've spoke on previous videos about the
0:05
different methods for handling areas of
0:07
effect Method one theater of the mind
0:09
Method two is miniatures on a grid
0:11
Method three is miniatures on a battle
0:14
map no grid So if you're playing in
0:17
theater of the mind very simple Just
0:19
grab that table in the 2014 Dungeon
0:21
Masters Guide for creatures in an area
0:23
of effect If you're playing method three
0:26
which is miniatures but no actual grid
0:28
then you can just use a template and
0:30
figure out which creatures spaces are at
0:32
least half affected by the AoE It gets
0:36
complicated if you're playing method two
0:38
which is miniatures on a grid So you can
0:41
use a template and then place the
0:43
template on the grid So start from a
0:45
grid intersection typically one of the
0:47
corners of your space and orient your
0:49
cone however you like and figure out
0:51
which creatures spaces are at least 50%
0:54
affected by the AoE Those creatures are
0:56
affected by the cone If you're using the
0:59
token method you're going to have to be
1:00
a little bit more deliberate So start
1:02
from a grid intersection and place
1:04
tokens or marked squares out to the
1:07
length of the cone and then from there
1:09
go outward to the width of the cone
1:11
Effectively you're making a T-shape And
1:13
then you're going to fill it back in to
1:14
form a triangle Now as you place tokens
1:17
each step away from your point of origin
1:21
the cone gets one space wider So this is
1:24
going to mean that at some points you're
1:26
going to have an even number of tokens
1:28
So there's no middle space So if you're
1:31
snapping to the grid your cone is going
1:32
to be either oriented slightly to the
1:34
right or slightly to the left and that's
1:36
fine If you're not snapping to the grid
1:38
then you can slide those tokens so that
1:41
they they kind of straddle that middle
1:43
line So there will be parts of your cone
1:45
where it's like it's this wide for two
1:48
spaces and then it's that wide for two
1:50
spaces and you get a slightly wider cone
1:52
as a result for the like base of the
1:54
cone The end of the cone is always going
1:57
to be those same dimensions but you
1:59
might catch a few extra creatures in the
2:01
area of effect depending on how you
2:03
place those like middle chunks You might
2:06
also be able to use this kind of snake
2:08
your cone around your allies to hit
2:10
enemies without hitting your
#Board Games
#Miniatures & Wargaming
#Roleplaying Games
#Table Games