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If an opponent fails a save on heated armor or weapons, do they have to start doffing their armor and dropping their weapons?

The rules say you have to drop a heated weapon if you fail the save, but dropping armor takes a fair bit of time. So while someone is doffing the armor I assume they are not doing anything else. Would they lose bonus and reaction actions? would opponents have advantage if they attacked the person in the armor who is simply trying to 'drop' the armor? Would the person trying to drop the armor have to drop their shield and weapon while they try and dof the armor?

wax eagle
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Karl
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1 Answers1

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There is no requirement to start doffing your armor: the clause in question on the spell is "drop the object if it can" where if is the operative word here. You can't simply "drop" armor, so you aren't required to take it off.

If you want to avoid the damage, there are a few different options here:

  1. You can start doffing your armor. This takes a long time depending on what you're wearing, and if you have help it's halved, but this is a terrible option in combat.

  2. Try to break the caster's concentration. The spell is concentration, so if you can do a good bit of damage, you can force them to make concentration saves. If you have a multi attack, they have to make a save every time they are hit.

  3. Run away. This is GM-dependent as there is not necessarily a requirement that they stay in range to use the bonus action (though there probably is, this is up for debate). If your GM allows, running out of the range of the spell is potentially the best option here.

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wax eagle
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    Running away from the caster will not end the spell despite the requirement for the use of the bonus action to inflict the damage. PHB p203: "Once a spell is cast it's effects aren’t limited by its range, unless the spell’s description says otherwise." The spell does not say otherwise. – Protonflux Dec 01 '16 at 14:04
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    There is a question about going outside of spell range here that discusses this – Protonflux Dec 01 '16 at 14:08
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    A player could also try to teleport out of their own armor with dimension door or other spell/ability. They could also try to destroy their own armor by treating it as a destroy-able object. The DMG gives guidelines for AC and HP of destroy-able objects. If the armor is magical then it is "resilient" and has resistance to all damage types. – OmniOptic88 Mar 08 '19 at 03:59