Sorcerer casting question

[Bonkon]

Good Day All :)
A question of how others might DM this (I am not the DM so I sat back and watched)
Our Sorcerer was on a cliff ledge 50 feet above the fight.
Our Ranger was in melee with a raptor about 30 feet out from the cliff.
The Sorcerer used a sorcerer point to extend the origination point to directly over the top on the raptor and cast it vertically straight down. From what I understand the spell is 5' wide and 100' long.
The DM allowed it to only hit the raptor, not the Ranger and do damage.
This seems like it should have not worked like this in my mind. What happened to the remaining 50' of lightening, would there be a ricochet? The ground was soil growing tall grasses.

Any thoughts?
Thanks :)

[damned]

If the lightning bolt is only 5' wide it is very easy to hit the raptor and not the ranger.
The lightning should hit the ground and come straight back up hitting the raptor again...

As to whether you can move the origin point....

[Bonkon]

If the lightning bolt is only 5' wide it is very easy to hit the raptor and not the ranger.
The lightning should hit the ground and come straight back up hitting the raptor again...

As to whether you can move the origin point....

I recall the rebound being the case in the old AOL Neverwinter Nights game during PvP :) Just seems like the opportunity to OP a spell in a confined space could be unbalancing.
We are all new to 5E so I do not know anything about Sorcerers and how they can use their sorcerer points, guess I will have to look in to it to sate my curiosity :)

[Nickademus]

Good Day All :)
A question of how others might DM this (I am not the DM so I sat back and watched)
Our Sorcerer was on a cliff ledge 50 feet above the fight.
Our Ranger was in melee with a raptor about 30 feet out from the cliff.
The Sorcerer used a sorcerer point to extend the origination point to directly over the top on the raptor and cast it vertically straight down. From what I understand the spell is 5' wide and 100' long.
The DM allowed it to only hit the raptor, not the Ranger and do damage.
This seems like it should have not worked like this in my mind. What happened to the remaining 50' of lightening, would there be a ricochet? The ground was soil growing tall grasses.

The lightning bolt spell in 5e doesn't ricochet. It would hit the ground and end (be grounded literally). Though the lightning originates from the caster and I don't see a metamagic that changes the origin point. Extended Spell increases the duration; Distant Spell doesn't work on spells with the range of 'Self'. If the ranger was on the side of the raptor opposite the cliff and sorcerer, I'd rule that the lit bolt comes down at an angle hitting the raptor and no one else. Though it would probably ignite the grass in the raptor's square, since that is part of what lit bolt does.

[damned]

The lightning bolt spell in 5e doesn't ricochet. It would hit the ground and end (be grounded literally). Though the lightning originates from the caster and I don't see a metamagic that changes the origin point. Extended Spell increases the duration; Distant Spell doesn't work on spells with the range of 'Self'. If the ranger was on the side of the raptor opposite the cliff and sorcerer, I'd rule that the lit bolt comes down at an angle hitting the raptor and no one else. Though it would probably ignite the grass in the raptor's square, since that is part of what lit bolt does.

Hah - you are right it doesnt bounce/ricochet/reflect anymore. My bad.

[Bonkon]

I am at work and Google found the Metamagic. I think he used Distant Spell. That looks like it doubles the range OR lets you cast a touch spell out to 30'. So since it is a range of Self and not Touch, it would not work as he intended per the game rules.

Thanks for the clarification :)