Does the Protection from Evil and Good spell give an undead disadvantage to attacking itself?











up vote
1
down vote

favorite












If a zombie attempts suicide by attacking itself while under the effect of a protection from evil and good spell, would it have disadvantage on the roll to kill itself?






dnd-5e spells







share|improve this question




















  • 4




    Why is the zombie attacking themself? A zombie is mindless and thus doesn't seem to really have any reason to do so.
    – Rubiksmoose
    7 hours ago












  • I didn't have a specific reason in mind, I was just reading through spells and was curious.
    – Geekdude3
    7 hours ago















up vote
1
down vote

favorite












If a zombie attempts suicide by attacking itself while under the effect of a protection from evil and good spell, would it have disadvantage on the roll to kill itself?






dnd-5e spells







share|improve this question




















  • 4




    Why is the zombie attacking themself? A zombie is mindless and thus doesn't seem to really have any reason to do so.
    – Rubiksmoose
    7 hours ago












  • I didn't have a specific reason in mind, I was just reading through spells and was curious.
    – Geekdude3
    7 hours ago













up vote
1
down vote

favorite









up vote
1
down vote

favorite











If a zombie attempts suicide by attacking itself while under the effect of a protection from evil and good spell, would it have disadvantage on the roll to kill itself?






dnd-5e spells







share|improve this question















If a zombie attempts suicide by attacking itself while under the effect of a protection from evil and good spell, would it have disadvantage on the roll to kill itself?






dnd-5e spells




dnd-5e spells






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 3 hours ago









V2Blast

18.9k251117




18.9k251117










asked 8 hours ago









Geekdude3

1188




1188








  • 4




    Why is the zombie attacking themself? A zombie is mindless and thus doesn't seem to really have any reason to do so.
    – Rubiksmoose
    7 hours ago












  • I didn't have a specific reason in mind, I was just reading through spells and was curious.
    – Geekdude3
    7 hours ago














  • 4




    Why is the zombie attacking themself? A zombie is mindless and thus doesn't seem to really have any reason to do so.
    – Rubiksmoose
    7 hours ago












  • I didn't have a specific reason in mind, I was just reading through spells and was curious.
    – Geekdude3
    7 hours ago








4




4




Why is the zombie attacking themself? A zombie is mindless and thus doesn't seem to really have any reason to do so.
– Rubiksmoose
7 hours ago






Why is the zombie attacking themself? A zombie is mindless and thus doesn't seem to really have any reason to do so.
– Rubiksmoose
7 hours ago














I didn't have a specific reason in mind, I was just reading through spells and was curious.
– Geekdude3
7 hours ago




I didn't have a specific reason in mind, I was just reading through spells and was curious.
– Geekdude3
7 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
8
down vote













Rules as Written (RAW), Yes



Protection From Evil and Good states:




Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected
against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials,
elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.



The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. (PHB, p. 270, bold added)




There is nothing in this description that indicates that the target of the spell must be different from the attacker. So yes, this spell would grant disadvantage on such an attack.



Note that this would rarely come up, especially since the target must be willing to have the spell cast upon themselves in the first place. Also note that if the target of the spell gave itself advantage somehow (such as by going prone, which would give it both advantage and disadvantage), it would just roll normally. And a DM could hypothetically decide that an honest attempt to injure oneself is automatically successful. But RAW yes, technically this spell could make it more difficult for a creature to strike itself.






share|improve this answer






























    up vote
    0
    down vote













    Technically, yes, but would the zombie do that?



    I think the rules for Protection Against Evil and Good are fairly clear in how they work and the answer is yes. The zombie is attacking itself which is undead, and therefore has disadvantage.



    But I think it's worth asking why would a zombie attack itself? They're supposed to be mindless animated corpses with very simple motivations: Kill the living.



    For a zombie to think to kill itself means that it has to be capable of some pretty high level though processes (sense of self, goals, cost/benefit analysis, etc) and these aren't really in keeping with the lore of zombies. Obviously, you can do whatever you want with your games, but I think ZAI (Zombies as Intended), a zombie wouldn't attack itself.






    share|improve this answer





















      Your Answer





      StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
      return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
      StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
      StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["\$", "\$"]]);
      });
      });
      }, "mathjax-editing");

      StackExchange.ready(function() {
      var channelOptions = {
      tags: "".split(" "),
      id: "122"
      };
      initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

      StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
      // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
      if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
      StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
      createEditor();
      });
      }
      else {
      createEditor();
      }
      });

      function createEditor() {
      StackExchange.prepareEditor({
      heartbeatType: 'answer',
      convertImagesToLinks: false,
      noModals: true,
      showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
      reputationToPostImages: null,
      bindNavPrevention: true,
      postfix: "",
      imageUploader: {
      brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
      contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
      allowUrls: true
      },
      noCode: true, onDemand: true,
      discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
      ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
      });


      }
      });














      draft saved

      draft discarded


















      StackExchange.ready(
      function () {
      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f137416%2fdoes-the-protection-from-evil-and-good-spell-give-an-undead-disadvantage-to-atta%23new-answer', 'question_page');
      }
      );

      Post as a guest















      Required, but never shown

























      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes








      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes








      up vote
      8
      down vote













      Rules as Written (RAW), Yes



      Protection From Evil and Good states:




      Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected
      against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials,
      elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.



      The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. (PHB, p. 270, bold added)




      There is nothing in this description that indicates that the target of the spell must be different from the attacker. So yes, this spell would grant disadvantage on such an attack.



      Note that this would rarely come up, especially since the target must be willing to have the spell cast upon themselves in the first place. Also note that if the target of the spell gave itself advantage somehow (such as by going prone, which would give it both advantage and disadvantage), it would just roll normally. And a DM could hypothetically decide that an honest attempt to injure oneself is automatically successful. But RAW yes, technically this spell could make it more difficult for a creature to strike itself.






      share|improve this answer



























        up vote
        8
        down vote













        Rules as Written (RAW), Yes



        Protection From Evil and Good states:




        Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected
        against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials,
        elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.



        The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. (PHB, p. 270, bold added)




        There is nothing in this description that indicates that the target of the spell must be different from the attacker. So yes, this spell would grant disadvantage on such an attack.



        Note that this would rarely come up, especially since the target must be willing to have the spell cast upon themselves in the first place. Also note that if the target of the spell gave itself advantage somehow (such as by going prone, which would give it both advantage and disadvantage), it would just roll normally. And a DM could hypothetically decide that an honest attempt to injure oneself is automatically successful. But RAW yes, technically this spell could make it more difficult for a creature to strike itself.






        share|improve this answer

























          up vote
          8
          down vote










          up vote
          8
          down vote









          Rules as Written (RAW), Yes



          Protection From Evil and Good states:




          Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected
          against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials,
          elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.



          The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. (PHB, p. 270, bold added)




          There is nothing in this description that indicates that the target of the spell must be different from the attacker. So yes, this spell would grant disadvantage on such an attack.



          Note that this would rarely come up, especially since the target must be willing to have the spell cast upon themselves in the first place. Also note that if the target of the spell gave itself advantage somehow (such as by going prone, which would give it both advantage and disadvantage), it would just roll normally. And a DM could hypothetically decide that an honest attempt to injure oneself is automatically successful. But RAW yes, technically this spell could make it more difficult for a creature to strike itself.






          share|improve this answer














          Rules as Written (RAW), Yes



          Protection From Evil and Good states:




          Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch is protected
          against certain types of creatures: aberrations, celestials,
          elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.



          The protection grants several benefits. Creatures of those types have disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. (PHB, p. 270, bold added)




          There is nothing in this description that indicates that the target of the spell must be different from the attacker. So yes, this spell would grant disadvantage on such an attack.



          Note that this would rarely come up, especially since the target must be willing to have the spell cast upon themselves in the first place. Also note that if the target of the spell gave itself advantage somehow (such as by going prone, which would give it both advantage and disadvantage), it would just roll normally. And a DM could hypothetically decide that an honest attempt to injure oneself is automatically successful. But RAW yes, technically this spell could make it more difficult for a creature to strike itself.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 3 hours ago









          V2Blast

          18.9k251117




          18.9k251117










          answered 5 hours ago









          Gandalfmeansme

          17.3k364108




          17.3k364108
























              up vote
              0
              down vote













              Technically, yes, but would the zombie do that?



              I think the rules for Protection Against Evil and Good are fairly clear in how they work and the answer is yes. The zombie is attacking itself which is undead, and therefore has disadvantage.



              But I think it's worth asking why would a zombie attack itself? They're supposed to be mindless animated corpses with very simple motivations: Kill the living.



              For a zombie to think to kill itself means that it has to be capable of some pretty high level though processes (sense of self, goals, cost/benefit analysis, etc) and these aren't really in keeping with the lore of zombies. Obviously, you can do whatever you want with your games, but I think ZAI (Zombies as Intended), a zombie wouldn't attack itself.






              share|improve this answer

























                up vote
                0
                down vote













                Technically, yes, but would the zombie do that?



                I think the rules for Protection Against Evil and Good are fairly clear in how they work and the answer is yes. The zombie is attacking itself which is undead, and therefore has disadvantage.



                But I think it's worth asking why would a zombie attack itself? They're supposed to be mindless animated corpses with very simple motivations: Kill the living.



                For a zombie to think to kill itself means that it has to be capable of some pretty high level though processes (sense of self, goals, cost/benefit analysis, etc) and these aren't really in keeping with the lore of zombies. Obviously, you can do whatever you want with your games, but I think ZAI (Zombies as Intended), a zombie wouldn't attack itself.






                share|improve this answer























                  up vote
                  0
                  down vote










                  up vote
                  0
                  down vote









                  Technically, yes, but would the zombie do that?



                  I think the rules for Protection Against Evil and Good are fairly clear in how they work and the answer is yes. The zombie is attacking itself which is undead, and therefore has disadvantage.



                  But I think it's worth asking why would a zombie attack itself? They're supposed to be mindless animated corpses with very simple motivations: Kill the living.



                  For a zombie to think to kill itself means that it has to be capable of some pretty high level though processes (sense of self, goals, cost/benefit analysis, etc) and these aren't really in keeping with the lore of zombies. Obviously, you can do whatever you want with your games, but I think ZAI (Zombies as Intended), a zombie wouldn't attack itself.






                  share|improve this answer












                  Technically, yes, but would the zombie do that?



                  I think the rules for Protection Against Evil and Good are fairly clear in how they work and the answer is yes. The zombie is attacking itself which is undead, and therefore has disadvantage.



                  But I think it's worth asking why would a zombie attack itself? They're supposed to be mindless animated corpses with very simple motivations: Kill the living.



                  For a zombie to think to kill itself means that it has to be capable of some pretty high level though processes (sense of self, goals, cost/benefit analysis, etc) and these aren't really in keeping with the lore of zombies. Obviously, you can do whatever you want with your games, but I think ZAI (Zombies as Intended), a zombie wouldn't attack itself.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 5 hours ago









                  Rykara

                  1,814318




                  1,814318






























                      draft saved

                      draft discarded




















































                      Thanks for contributing an answer to Role-playing Games Stack Exchange!


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid …



                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                      Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





                      Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


                      Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid …



                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                      draft saved


                      draft discarded














                      StackExchange.ready(
                      function () {
                      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2frpg.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f137416%2fdoes-the-protection-from-evil-and-good-spell-give-an-undead-disadvantage-to-atta%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                      }
                      );

                      Post as a guest















                      Required, but never shown





















































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown

































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown







                      -

                      Popular posts from this blog

                      Accessing regular linux commands in Huawei's Dopra Linux

                      Image
                      4 Backstory: I have a Huawei HG8245 router in my house and I want to change the default username/password. I've tried following this guide but the config file always gets reset. My ISP isn't helping either so I'm looking for other ways to accomplish this. The router has telnet access so this seems like a way to change the credentials. The first shell I gain access to looks like this: WAP> Pressing "?" gives me a list of available commands which I've pasted here, the two interesting ones are "su" and "shell". I can't seem to get su access, even after logging in as root (challenge password prompt, and then nothing happens), but shell gives me a proper linux shell. WAP>shell BusyBox v1.18.4 (2017-12-26 17:06:34 CST) built-in shell (ash) Enter 'hel...
                      Read more

                      Can't connect RFCOMM socket: Host is down

                      Image
                      up vote 3 down vote favorite I have bluez 5.4.3 and I am attempting to communicate with a ble device through minicom. These two deceives (my computer and a bluno nano) are alreadt paired and this has been my method so far. #bluetoothctl # pair xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx # exit Everything is working well so far then... #sudo rfcomm connect /dev/rfcomm0 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx 1 & [1] 3665 Can't connect RFCOMM socket: Host is down Does anyone know how to resolve this issue? Any help would be very much appreciated. bluetooth bluez share | improve this question asked Feb 9 '17 at 18:46 Brandon Knape 46 2 ...
                      Read more

                      Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal Exception in Interrupt

                      Image
                      0 Every day this error occured on my pc, kernel panic error on interrupt, what will be the problem? linux-mint share asked 6 mins ago Vinod Selvin Vinod Selvin 1 1 New contributor Vinod Selvin is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering. Check out our Code of Conduct. add a comment ...
                      Read more