How does the Tomb of Levistus warlock invocation interact with the Freedom of Movement spell?

Question

Tomb of Levistus is an eldritch invocation for warlocks from XGtE, p. 57 (emphasis mine):

As a reaction when you take damage, you can entomb yourself in ice, which melts away at the end of your next turn. [...] Immediately after you take the damage, [...], your speed is reduced to 0, and you are incapacitated. These effects, including any remaining temporary hit points, all end when the ice melts. [...]

I believe the intention is obviously that you are, well, "entombed in ice" and hence cannot move.

However, the spell Freedom of Movement states

You touch a willing creature. For the duration, the target’s movement is unaffected by difficult terrain, and spells and other magical effects can neither reduce the target’s speed nor cause the target to be paralyzed or restrained.

Clearly, Tomb of Levistus is a magical effect, so RAW I'd say you can still move. However, in my opinion, it makes no sense at all that you would be able to move and still gain all the other benefits from Tomb of Levistus, just because of one mid-level spell.

Are there any rulings/guidelines on similar cases / etc. that provide an indication of how to handle this situation? Or is it completely up to the DM how to handle the case?

Marq · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-09T11:09:08.010

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You can move but not take actions.

The interaction is as stated in the question; Freedom of movement prevents tomb of Levistus from reducing the warlock's movement. It doesn't however, stop it from imposing the Incapacitated condition, which is simply:

An incapacitated creature can't take actions or reactions.

Note that actions and movement are distinct things in 5th edition D&D:

On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action.

It's not unusual to hear people refer to using a "move action" in 5e, but that's not how the rules are written; movement is separate from taking an action. Being unable to take actions doesn't prevent a character from moving; conversely, being able to move doesn't mandate that a character can take actions.

Losing all actions on your next turn is a significant tradeoff for the temporary hit points supplied by this invocation, even without the speed reduction.

edited Jul 09 '18 at 11:09

answered Jul 09 '18 at 08:26

Marq

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Relevant question: If you are incapacitated, can you move? ...To which the answer is "yes", as supported by the fact that the Incapacitated condition doesn't mention movement, as well as this tweet by Jeremy Crawford: "Being incapacitated doesn't immobilize you." (from this larger conversation) – V2Blast Jul 09 '18 at 08:35
@v2blast Useful link. Is there something you feel I should add to my answer in order to improve it? – Marq Jul 09 '18 at 08:39
I mean, you might want to link that question/answer in your comment to further support that the incapacitated condition still allows you to move even if you can't take actions (or bonus actions, by extension) or reactions. Up to you. – V2Blast Jul 09 '18 at 10:48
@v2blast Hmm. I've opted instead to be more explicit in explaining why being incapacitated doesn't stop a character from moving. – Marq Jul 09 '18 at 11:09

score -3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 20 '19 at 19:00

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Trickster's Escape states "You can cast..." Freedom of Movement requires 1 action to cast (PHB 244) If you are incapacitated you don't get any actions (PHB 290). The way I read it is you could combine the two if you preemptively cast Trickster's Escape on yourself (up to 1 hour prior to the reaction), but once you use your reaction for Tomb of Levistus it is too late to cast Trickster's Escape.

answered Mar 20 '19 at 19:00

Chubsternator

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Is there a reason you're mentioning Trickster's Escape in your answer? The querent only seems to be asking about the interaction between Tomb of Levistus and Freedom of Movement. – Pyrotechnical Mar 20 '19 at 19:16
Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the [tour] if you haven't already, and check out the [help] for more guidance. – V2Blast Mar 21 '19 at 01:50
@Pyrotechnical: I think he's assuming the Trickster's Escape invocation is how OP is casting freedom of movement, as it's not a warlock spell. – V2Blast Mar 21 '19 at 01:51

Duck · Answer 3 · 2018-07-08T06:45:10.537

-7

As Tomb of Levistus states:

your speed is reduced to 0, and you are incapacitated.

So how does this interact with Freedom of Movement?

As you emphasized the effect states:

magical effects can neither reduce the target’s speed

Ok first effect mitigated your speed is no longer 0.

nor cause the target to be paralyzed or restrained.

Here is where you are still stuck. Incapacitated is NOT paralyzed or restrained So regardless of whether or not you have the capability of moving, your incapacitated condition prevents you from doing so.

edited Jul 08 '18 at 06:45

answered Jul 08 '18 at 06:32

Duck

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Incapacitated doesn't prevent you from moving, though. – Miniman Jul 08 '18 at 06:46
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@Miniman You are absolutely right. I honestly didn't go back and read incapacitated before writing this. Incapacitated doesn't prevent movement. – Duck Jul 08 '18 at 07:18
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@Duck for what it is worth having a condition called incapacitated not effect movement is not logical, so this is an easy mistake to make. – SeriousBri Jul 09 '18 at 09:17

How does the Tomb of Levistus warlock invocation interact with the Freedom of Movement spell?

3 Answers3

You can move but not take actions.