The Enlarge/Reduce spell indicates that when you enlarge a creature and there is not enough space available, it just grows to the maximum possible size given the space available. This effect seems to maybe temporarily trap a creature but will not cause damage to it.
For the opposing effect, if you tie a creature's limbs to trees in a 'star'-shaped fashion, then reduce it, would the limbs effectively pop out as the creature shrinks? Or would the spell just fail to shrink the creature because the rope's resistance prevents the creature from shrinking more without tearing it apart?
EDIT: Added as many people wronlgy focused on the rope example I am
looking for the 'general' rule about reduce if something is effectively prevented from going smaller or breaking apart in the process…either
TIED/NAILED/SCREWED to something else.
A better example : REDUCING A
DOOR, would it just fall off its hinges and then lay flat on the
floor so the players can just do that on any locked doors to bypass
them easily ?
To me, this is one of the worst written spells in history… Can anyone bring some clarification? Is there something I am missing here?
Best Answer
If you tied a creature’s limbs with rope and the rope was sufficiently tight to hold the limb, when the limb shrinks it will slip out of the binding (since it shrinks in all dimensions). The rope was originally tied around a girth double the size of the reduced limb; the new girth of the reduced limb could easily slip out.
The reduce spell would successfully reduce the creature and free them from the rope.