Questions tagged [spells]
For questions about specific manifestations of magic that we generically call "spells." Use the [magic] tag for more generic questions about magic, and [spellcasting] for questions specifically about the process of spellcasting.
3,209
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How to counter high-level players using scry and teleport / How to maintain intrigue?
So, my Eberron campaign has gotten to the point where the players are level 18, and they are resolving many of their issues by scrying on their enemies, and simply teleporting to them in moments of ...
- 6,584
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3
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Is a spell with an attack roll "an attack" for the purpose of Sneak Attack?
Sneak Attack says:
When you attack a creature and hit, you can deal extra damage to that target if you have advantage against it or if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it and that ...
- 4,156
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4
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Can a Blinded caster with Blindsight use spells that require them to see the target?
The situation I have in mind is the following:
An epic battle ensues between a Young Green Dragon (caster variant) and a Purple Worm. The Purple Worm swallows the dragon; meanwhile, the dragon has ...
user27327
20
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4
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When a wizard with the War Caster feat carrying a shield casts the Shield spell, does the AC bonus stack?
Basically, if you are a wizard with the War Caster feat carrying a shield and you cast shield, do you get both the bonus of your physical shield (+2 AC) and the bonus from the spell shield (+5 AC)?
- 209
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3
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What happens when I can prepare more spells than I have slots to cast them with?
I am a level 4 cleric with a 20 (+5) wisdom in D&D 5e. This means I have a total of 9 spells I can cast in 1 day. I only have 4 level 1 spell slots and 3 level 2. So if I were to use all those ...
- 217
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6
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Does Force Damage Affect Ethereal Creatures?
This passage from the description of the Border Ethereal (DMG p. 48) says that anything made of magical force can affect ethereal creatures:
A traveler on the Ethereal Plane is invisible and ...
- 10.6k
19
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4
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Does an Enlarge/Reduce spell on a druid affect the beast form if the druid Wild-Shapes?
If a druid (multiclassed into sorcerer) casts Enlarge on himself so that he becomes a Large humanoid (approximately twelve feet tall), and he then Wild Shapes in a brown bear, is the brown bear form ...
- 9,280
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1
answer
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When, where, and with whom did the Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle originate?
In trying to give credit where it's due, I'd like to learn the name or pseudonym of the originator of the Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle (DCFS) (link is to a definition not a source), and where and when both ...
- 191k
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3
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Does Improved Divine Smite work in an Antimagic Field? [duplicate]
At 11th level, a paladin gains Improved Divine Smite. This means (PHB p85):
you are so suffused with righteous might that all your melee weapon strikes carry divine power with them.
Given that the ...
- 2,887
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3
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Can the Shield spell be used against Shocking Grasp?
A few attacks, such as the Shocking Grasp cantrip, can prevent reactions on a target when they hit it.
A few "defensive reactions", such as the Shield spell (+5 to AC including against attack roll), ...
- 28.7k
18
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2
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3k
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Can you use a bonus action between the separate attacks of a spell?
Similar to my recent question about moving between a spell's attacks I am curious about whether RAW you can use a bonus action between a spells attacks.
Unlike in the case of movement, bonus actions ...
user60913
17
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4
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Can Mage Hand grab opponents' items?
Can Mage Hand be used in combat to grab something from an opponent?
For example, one could grab a bow out of their hands or the arrows from a quiver, or try to push them out of a tree, etc.
Mage ...
- 3,051
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votes
2
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Casting two cantrips, both modified by metamagic?
Can you cast one cantrip, modifying it with "Twinned Spell" (Fire Bolt) to target 2 creatures, and then cast another cantrip as a Bonus Action (Fire Bolt), using "Quickened Spell" to target one of the ...
- 161
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4
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Do spell effects move if the object they are cast on moves?
let's suppose that I cast a Silent image of a wall on an airship. Let's suppose that I don't move it with concentration.
Does the image of the wall move with the airship or it will progressively go ...
- 1,071
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4
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9k
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Can the Find Familiar spell resummon the familiar behind a barrier?
The PHB (p. 240) states as part of the Find Familiar spell that:
As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.
Say the ...
- 677
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3
answers
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Is escaping from a cage-shaped Forcecage really as ridiculously easy as it seems?
The spell Forcecage allows you to create a prison in the shape of either a cage with bars, or a closed box.
Escaping the Forcecage is (obviously) meant to be difficult:
A creature inside the cage ...
- 26.1k
14
votes
3
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20k
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Can Mending be used to reattach severed body parts?
Corpses are considered objects, and the Mending cantrip can do the following:
This spell repairs a single break or tear in an object you touch, such as a broken chain link, two halves of a broken ...
- 26.1k
14
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3
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Do I need to hold an actual copper piece in order to cast the Detect Thoughts spell?
The "Detect Thoughts" spell has as its material component "a copper piece". (Yet another in the long list of punny material components.) The rules for material components say,
Casting some spells ...
user37158
14
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10
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Can you combo attacks with the Booming Blade cantrip?
I understand that so long as conditions are met, you can Sneak Attack as part of the melee attack from the Booming Blade cantrip.
Can you dual wield and attack with both weapons after casting Booming ...
- 11.2k
13
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1
answer
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Does a polymorphed creature remember who his friends are?
The polymorph spell states, in part:
The target’s game statistics, including mental ability scores, are
replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its
alignment and personality.
...
- 23.6k
13
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1
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Can you effectively apply the Distant Spell metamagic option to a Counterspell?
The Distant Spell metamagic option's first effect enables a sorcerer to double the range of a spell (that has a normal range of 5 feet or greater).
The counterspell spell has a listed range of 60 feet,...
- 28.7k
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4
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Which features of a wizard's familiar, if any, are considered magical?
The find familiar spell has a duration of instantaneous, which implies that the familiar itself is not an ongoing magical effect. However, the spell provides a number of ongoing features that are ...
- 61.6k
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1
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Does Misty Step require line of effect to teleport you?
This question stems from a question I asked about the targeting mechanic, if line of effect is necessary to cast spells with a range of "Sight." The current (and only) answer discusses it is not ...
user27327
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4
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How does barkskin work?
Now the wording in the spell description is extremely vague and ambiguous making the spell effect up for interpretation.
It just says:
... the target's AC can't be less than 16, regardless of what ...
- 4,298
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4
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Does this errata allow vision out of an area of Darkness?
I thought this was a moot point, settled and done, but a recent errata opens up the question for me again.
Vision and Light (p. 183). A heavily
obscured area doesn’t blind you, but you
are ...
- 1,113
11
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3
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Do familiars cast from Find Familiar need to eat and sleep?
The spell find familiar conjures a celestial, fey, or fiend spirit that takes the form of a beast. Do these special beings need food, drink, and sleep? If so, how much of it?
user27327
11
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2
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How does the Order of Scribes feature Awakened Spellbook work with multiple damage types?
Awakened Spellbook, a level 3 Order of Scribes feature, says the following:
When you cast a wizard spell with a spell slot, you can temporarily replace its damage type with a type that appears in ...
- 6,305
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3
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Can I Misty Step off of the ethereal plane?
If I am on the ethereal plane and I can see the material plane, can I cast misty step to teleport back?
- 2,825
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Do Gaze Effects work through a Wall of Force?
A lich listed in a WotC Adventure can cast wall of force.
We are trying to determine what the lich could do if it were to cast a spherical Wall of Force around itself.
Wall of force creates a barrier ...
- 11.9k
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1
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Can a naga cast spells even though it has no hands?
The rules on somatic components are clear:
A somatic component is a measured and precise movement of the hand. You must have at least one hand free to provide a somatic component.
A naga generally ...
- 5,767
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3
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Does Faerie Fire affect objects/creatures partially in the area of effect?
What effect does Faerie Fire have on objects/creatures partially within its 20' cube area of effect?
Two simple examples: a 10' pole which is half-in, half-out of the area of effect, or a purple worm ...
- 2,861
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1
answer
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What creatures does Antimagic Field temporarily wink out of existence?
The antimagic field spell has the following effect on creatures:
A creature or object summoned or created by magic temporarily winks out of existence in the sphere. Such a creature instantly ...
- 19.1k
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1
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Does Heat Metal reroll its damage each time it is caused?
According to the Heat Metal description:
Choose a manufactured metal object, such as a metal weapon or a suit
of heavy or medium metal armor, that you can see within range. You
cause the object ...
- 5,308
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3
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Can spells that target weapons be cast on magically created temporary weapons?
A creature casts a spell that creates a magical effect that's a weapon.1 Can such a weapon be the target of a spell that targets a weapon?2
That is, is the magically created weapon effect sufficiently ...
- 191k
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3
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Would a moving ship break glyphs of warding?
Say a wizard wishes to have his ship able to repair itself mid-combat. Were he to have multiple glyphs of warding storing the fabricate spell cast on the hull of his ship, alongside sufficient spare ...
- 820
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2
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Does Elemental Affinity add damage to Witch Bolt only once?
If a 6th level Sorcerer with Elemental Affinity (lightning) casts Witch Bolt, is only the inital bolt's damage is increased, or the damage of every one of them?
Elemental Affinity:
[...] when you ...
- 64.1k
6
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1
answer
687
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How can an ultimate magus control spellcasting progression when Practiced Spellcaster isn’t enough?
A background in the ultimate magus class and how it progresses spellcasting
An ultimate magus progresses a prepared-spellcasting arcane class and a spontaneous-spellcasting arcane class at each of 2nd,...
- 352k
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1
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Does the Hunter's Mark spell chain to multiple creatures?
I'm looking to play a ranger. The Hunter's Mark spell says:
If the target drops to 0 hit points before this spell ends. you can use a bonus action on a subsequent turn of yours to mark a new ...
- 81
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votes
1
answer
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Can a caster Counterspell a Counterspell against a non-cantrip spell they cast? [duplicate]
If caster A (for example a wizard) casts a spell on their turn, and it is Counterspelled by another caster B, can the original caster Counterspell the first Counterspell?
I am assuming that it is ...
- 3,166
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1
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What are valid arrangments of panels for Wall of Force? [closed]
The spells Wall of Ice, Wall of Force, and Wall of Stone have wording similar to:
You can form it into a hemispherical dome or a sphere with a radius of
up to 10 feet, or you can shape a flat ...
- 4,085
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votes
5
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What is a spell slot in-lore, and how does it justify the limits on casting spells?
Spell slots are something that we, as players, expend when we want our spellcasting PCs to cast a spell. It is a resource to limit how many powerful spells we can cast in a day. But for our characters ...
- 79k
52
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3
answers
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Is a mushroom a plant for the purposes of Speak With Plants?
In real life, fungi are not plants; they are their own separate kingdom (I'm no biologist, so here's a quote from Wikipedia, for what it's worth):
These organisms are classified as a kingdom, fungi, ...
- 79k
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votes
4
answers
17k
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Is the Mordenkainen's Sword spell underpowered?
The Mordenkainen's Sword spell seems to be under-powered for a 7th-level spell. It only does 3d10 damage; while admittedly it can do this damage every round for 1 minute, it still just seems to not be ...
- 4,124
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7
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Is Hunger of Hadar seriously overpowered or am I reading it wrong?
I'm not even going to go into the debate about whether darkvision can see through hunger of hadar, the thing that I think makes it overpowered is the this line.
creatures fully within the area are ...
- 1,715
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7
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Does Repelling Blast work once per spell or once per beam?
Warlocks can take the following invocation:
Repelling Blast
Prerequisite: eldritch blast cantrip
When you hit a creature with eldritch blast, you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in ...
- 16.3k
42
votes
9
answers
10k
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Do you get advantage on the Steel Wind Strike spell's attacks because you "vanish"?
The spell steel wind strike (XGtE, p. 166) says that you:
vanish to strike like the wind.
(Emphasis added)
At first glance you might read this as an inconsequential part of the description. But ...
- 13.9k
42
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4
answers
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Can a bard cast Vicious Mockery without passersby thinking it's an attack?
So vicious mockery is, to my understanding, the bard insulting a target, and the target taking psychic damage, and gaining disadvantage.
The flavor, as I understand it, is that they're so insulted ...
- 811
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votes
3
answers
6k
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Is it possible for a swallowed caster to cast Fireball outside of a Giant Toad?
I had a situation last week where my DM and I completely disagreed how the following situation should have been ruled:
I'm a Circle of the Moon druid wild-shaped into a Giant toad and I had swallowed ...
- 589
38
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4
answers
19k
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Does picking up an item while under the effects of the Invisibility spell turn it invisible?
Can you use Invisibility, grab some gold, and have it then be invisible? Or does it only work on items on your person when the spell is cast?
- 4,170
37
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5
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Are undead and creatures immune to charm excluded from the HP count of Sleep?
From the spell description:
Sleep (...) Creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose within range are affected in ascending order of their current hit points (ignoring unconscious creatures). ...
- 24.1k