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There is a similar question about this for 3.5e, but can a permanent teleportation circle be created on a large moving vehicle? For example, a sailing ship, or a wide portable floor?

The spell says:

You can create a permanent teleportation circle by casting this spell in the same location every day for one year. You need not use the circle to teleport when you cast the spell in this way.

To further illustrate the question, here are sub-questions:

  • What happens if I cast the spell on the vehicle for a year (and it is unmoving), and then the vehicle moves? Can it still be used as a destination point?

  • Can I create a permanent TC on the vehicle if it is never in the same place twice in the first place?

2 Answers2

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Yes

The spell says:

As you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground inscribed with sigils that link your location to a permanent teleportation circle of your choice whose sigil sequence you know and that is on the same plane of existence as you.

D&D 5e co-creator Jeremy Crawford clarified on Twitter that the destination of teleport (which may be a sigil from teleportation circle) may move. At the time of the post tweets were considered official rulings by WotC, but is no longer the case. It remains a logical reading of the rules, and the designers intent:

The teleport spell requires a destination. The nature of that place isn't specified. It can be the deck of a moving ship, for instance.

Likewise, the surface of the circle is important, not its point in space. So, the surface may also move while performing the teleportation circle spell every day for a year, and after it has become permanent. It has no restrictions that the permanent sigil doesn't move:

When you cast teleportation circle, you create the circle on the ground. The circle is bound to that surface, not to a point in space.

What happens if I cast the spell on the vehicle for a year (and it is unmoving), and then the vehicle moves? Can it still be used as a destination point?

Yes, the target is the sigil, not the point in space the spell was cast.

Can I create a permanent TC on the vehicle if it is never in the same place twice in the first place?

Yes. Jeremy's post shows that.

But, even more from a real world perspective, all motion is relative. On Earth, we tend to think of places we travel to as stationary -- but they are not. They are rotating around the Earth's axis and revolving around the sun. To the car/planes we travel in, they are standing still (relative to themselves) and Earth is moving beneath them...

Importance in Astral Plane and Spell Jammer

If this were not the case, then there couldn't be permanent teleportation circles in the Astral Sea nor in Wild Space because everything is moving/drifting about. The strict reading where you took "ground" to mean "solid earth" would prevent sensible use of a number spells from being used in the Astral Plane, on Astral ships, or other vehicles and structures. Like you should be able to use Tensors Floating Disk on the deck of a airship, or in a city that is on the back Astral Whale.

J. A. Streich
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  • Very nice find... – Mindwin Remember Monica Jul 10 '17 at 04:20
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    Note that JCs Twitter post is about Teleportation, not Teleportation Circle. Two different spells with two different rules. – keithcurtis Jan 26 '18 at 22:16
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    The target of a Teleportation spell has no bearing on the casting requirements of Teleportation Circle. Not only are they different spells but also different parts of casting a spell. It would be like comparing Fireball and Delayed Blast Fireball and making a ruling on one based on comparing targeting of one to the damage of the other. – Protonflux Jan 29 '18 at 10:13
  • Teleportation Circle + mat + bag = endless possibilities. – Joshua Oct 30 '18 at 22:22
  • Additionnal note : the tweet is from 2017 and the 2017 Sage Compendium states "Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford on Twitter), can make official rulings and does so in this document and on Twitter.". So technically, even if the answer is a Tweet, it is an official ruling. – Nahyn - support Monica Cellio May 20 '19 at 10:50
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    @NahynOklauq Not anymore actually. The most recent SAC changed that. – Rubiksmoose May 20 '19 at 11:14
  • @Rubiksmoose I knew something like this happened but I didn't know it also removed the official aspect of the previous tweets. Well it has been an official ruling – Nahyn - support Monica Cellio May 20 '19 at 11:29
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    I'm not sure if it is of interest to you, but there are more than a few unofficial JC tweets on the subject of what is "ground": https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=ground%20from%3AJeremyECrawford&src=typd they might strengthen your argument. – Rubiksmoose May 20 '19 at 15:00
  • +1 Reading this I hear, "Hey why don't you cast teleportation circle inside a portable hole." – Josiah Riggan May 20 '19 at 15:03
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    The spell pretty clearly says "the ground" so that pretty much eliminates the idea of casting it on a moving vehicle (which is not the ground) – Destruktor May 21 '19 at 15:34
  • Einstein? You refer in your post to galilean relativity not enstienian relativity. – Charles Noon Aug 20 '21 at 01:00
  • Sorry, but I can't reconcile repeatedly casting at the "ground" atop a moving vehicle, as targeting "ground" that is "in the same location", while it moves? Each casting makes no requirement that the ground targeted remain in one location, but the permanency clearly & explicitly does. If a moving vehicle counted as a stationary location, Glyph of Warding could be carried inside a trunk on a moving wagon; but multiple rulings have confirmed that it can't. – ProphetZarquon Aug 11 '22 at 14:07
  • @ProphetZarquon - The planet Earth is moving around the sun and revolving on its access, looking at it your way your garage isn't in the same location. Likewise, if you put your sun glasses in the glove compartment, when you get to work you expect them to be "in the same location" you put them - in the glove compartment. If moving didn't count, Spell Jammer could have no permanent teleportation circles because there isn't ground that isn't moving. – J. A. Streich Aug 11 '22 at 18:17
  • @J.A.Streich It's the "frame of reference" dilemma: DMs must either choose one frame of reference, or allow changing between frames of reference. The intent is clearly for the spell to target a point on the "ground" which must be "in the same location" every day for a year, to make it permanent. It seems unreasonable to assert that RAI allows moving "locations", given the rather explicit phrasing of this spell showing clear intent that it not move. Choosing a moving frame of reference could work for some things, but not this. Also, I'll reiterate: See the clarifications for Glyph of Warding. – ProphetZarquon Aug 11 '22 at 21:46
  • It isn't unreasonable to assert Rules As Intended is settled, as JC said moving ship IS indeed intended. When the lead rules designer says what they intend, it settles the issue of what is intended. – J. A. Streich Aug 11 '22 at 21:52
  • JC also clarified that Glyph is intended to be non-portable; if moving ships are not a moving location, ships can carry Glyphs around. Also, the wording of this spell clearly implies a stationary point on the "ground"; intent against vehicles really could not be more blunt. Only JC's skirting of frame-of-reference has left this in doubt, & that moving frame-of-reference concept only works as a rule if we have some defined terms for it: Is a 5ft space in a chariot, a stationary location? If it's "anything big enough to have a map" & even this spell can move, there are no immovable effects. – ProphetZarquon Aug 14 '22 at 08:06
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    This question isn't about glyph of warding, it is about teleportation circle. The designers tweeted their intent about teleportation circle which answers the question from a RAI perspective. Is the ruling on glyph or warding inconsistent with that? Yes, but that doesn't change that the answer to the question about teleportation circle. If you disagree with that designers intent because it is inconsistent, play it differently at your tables. – J. A. Streich Aug 14 '22 at 16:49
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No

The key line of the teleportation circle spell description is this:

As you cast the spell, you draw a 10-foot-diameter circle on the ground

You can't cast it on a vehicle.

Jeremy Crawford says in a tweet (https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/941033897982271488):

The DM decides how generously to interpret words like "ground." Unless we redefine or focus a word, we use it in its idiomatic English sense, knowing that some words are open to creative interpretation.

The idiomatic English sense is defined as (https://www.lexico.com/definition/ground):

The solid surface of the earth.

So it is up to the DM to decide how generous they are with where this spell can be cast. However it seems clear that there is no interpretation of idiomatic English that means the floor of a vehicle is the ground, however generous you are. House rules are of course, as ever, absolutely fine, but probably should be acknowledged as such to avoid arguments at different tables.

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Protonflux
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    "The ground" can also interchangeably mean a floor though. Does D&D 5e specify exactly that the term "ground" refers to the natural surface of the earth? If so, citing it would back up this answer as being correct over a natural language interpretation which would e.g. permit this to be drawn on a stone-brick dungeon floor. – doppelgreener Jul 10 '17 at 10:49
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    @doppelgreener, from a natural language POV, even if we accept stone floors of a building as "ground", there's still a bit of a leap to consider say, a wooden deck of a ship to be "ground". – ilkkachu Jul 10 '17 at 10:52
  • Do you permit casting the spell on soil stored in a large enough box? The soil is ground, after all. –  Jul 10 '17 at 11:31
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    By this rationale, I can't cast this spell on the wooden flooring of my 5-story tall magical library? Or in my ceramic roof? Or over my Magical Rug? Please - we have more than enough examples in-fantasy and in-universe that this isn't the case. Also, trying to play rules-lawyering with 5E in this way isn't exactly appropriate - more than ever, D&D 5e is all about intent. – T. Sar Jul 10 '17 at 12:52
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    Some discussion on "ground" here. (From a more neutral perspective.) – Rawling Jul 10 '17 at 14:27
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    @T.Sar " more than ever, D&D 5e is all about intent." I agree totally. In this case I would argue that the floor of a vehicle of any kind is clearly not the intent of the spell. It is this specific question I am addressing. – Protonflux Jul 10 '17 at 17:42
  • @Protonflux I wouldn't say "clearly". As a DM, I would see no problem in my party using this on a ship, a carriage, or a flying castle. Keep in mind that the spell doesn't say solid ground, it's just "ground". – T. Sar Jul 10 '17 at 17:50
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    Please show me any definition of the word ground that in any way includes the floor of a vehicle. As DM you are of course free to say the spell can be cast anywhere you want, but RAW it clearly can't be cast upon a vehicle as that cannot be called the ground. – Protonflux Jul 12 '17 at 00:14
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    @Protonflux 'Ground' in the sense of 'floor of a room' (you may need to expand for more definitions). Can I draw a circle on the floor of an upper-storey room? It isn't the Earth (or your world's nearest equivalent), after all. And large ships, for example, certainly have discrete rooms. – Pilchard123 Jul 12 '17 at 12:17
  • You are correct about discussion around the floors of upper stories in buildings, but in the context of the actual question being asked we can surely agree that the floor of a vehicle does not fall into this grey area? – Protonflux Jul 12 '17 at 22:53
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    You know, i am inclined to agree with proton on this one. There is no "fluff" in the 5e text. If it says ground, it is ground. Next up: proving that the floor of a vehicle is considered ground. – Mindwin Remember Monica Jul 16 '17 at 02:51
  • Protonflux. And what then of this game creator Jeremy Crawford explains on Twitter:

    The teleport spell requires a destination. The nature of that place isn't specified. It can be the deck of a moving ship, for instance

     – Acts7Seven Jan 25 '18 at 04:36
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    @Acts7Seven could you explain more how the target of a Teleport spell has bearing on the casting requirements of a Teleportation Circle spell? – Protonflux Jan 25 '18 at 15:23
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    Definition of the ground: the solid surface of the earth. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ground – Protonflux Oct 28 '18 at 00:05
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    In d&d 5e a word means what it means in English unless it is otherwise defined in the rules. To my knowledge it is not otherwise defined so the deck of a ship or a wagon is definitely not the ground. – Protonflux Oct 28 '18 at 00:08
  • I'm not sure if it is of interest to you, but there are more than a few unofficial JC tweets on the subject of what is "ground": https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=ground%20from%3AJeremyECrawford&src=typd – Rubiksmoose May 20 '19 at 14:56
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    Unless it makes it into the actual Sage Advice Compendium, JC is just a guy with a Twitter account. He's nobody special. – T.J.L. Feb 05 '20 at 13:12