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As the wizard of a party, I plan to use the tiny hut spell to keep everyone safe during long rests on the road. However, the out party might be traveling with a group larger than can fit in the hut, and if we are attacked in the night, I'd like to be able to help defend those outside with ranged attacks from inside the safety of the hut. This is easy enough to accomplish with a ranged weapon, but dammit, I'm a wizard! I want to attack with a spell. The problem is that the tiny hut spell says:

Spells and other magical effects can’t extend through the dome or be cast through it.

So as long as I'm hiding inside the hut, it seems that no spell I cast will be able to hurt the attackers outside. But what about catapult, cast on an object that is currently inside the hut and flung in the direction of an enemy outside the hut? Will the catapulted object reach its target, or will the spell's magic, and therefore also the object itself, be stopped as soon as the object exits the tiny hut?

Also, in the unlikely event that the enemy has a spellcaster with the catapult spell, would they be able to use the spell to launch the same object back at me?

Ryan C. Thompson
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2 Answers2

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The Leomund's tiny hut stops catapult in both directions

Leomund's tiny hut states:

Spells and other magical effects can't extend through the dome or be cast through it.

Catapult states:

The object flies in a straight line up to 90 feet in a direction you choose before falling to the ground, [...] When the object strikes something, the object and what it strikes each take 3d8 bludgeoning damage.

  • The 90-foot line is the spell's AoE, and this line cannot extend through the dome.
  • The object is not launched like a projectile, it flies, and this flight is an effect of the spell which cannot extend through the dome.
  • The damage dealt is an effect of the spell, so this damage cannot be dealt on the other side of the dome because the spell cannot extend through it.

This is a moot point in catapult's case, but if an object was inside the dome when you cast Leomund's tiny hut, then that object can move freely through said dome, as stated:

Creatures and objects within the dome when you cast this spell can move through it freely.

Community
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Ruse
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  • I think you meant latter instead of former? – Ryan C. Thompson Sep 30 '18 at 07:24
  • @RyanThompson you are correct! – Ruse Sep 30 '18 at 07:30
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    I like this answer, particularly because of the point about the object "flying." Also worth noting that the object does the same damage whether it is a crumpled piece of paper or a 5-pound stone, which would indicate some magic at work. Interesting though, that there's no indication the damage is from a magical weapon. – lightcat Oct 03 '18 at 07:57
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The duration of the catapult spell is instantaneous. Thus, the magic is only present long enough to launch your object on its trajectory, and does not persist throughout the flight.

Therefore, you can use catapult to throw an object out of the hut, and a wizard outside can use catapult to throw the same object back into the hut.

Related answer to another question: Can Catapult's target be in an antimagic field?

V2Blast
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ravery
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    I would note that "instantaneous" doesn't necessarily mean that the magic is only present for a single instant. For example eldritch blast has a duration of instantaneous, but at higher levels it creates multiple beams that hit sequentially, not all at the same time. So in practice, instantaneous means "too fast for anything else to happen in the meantime (except possibly certain special reactions)". In other words, it is mechanically instantaneous but not necessarily literally so. – Ryan C. Thompson Sep 30 '18 at 04:14
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    It works, based on this answer – András Sep 30 '18 at 08:08