Are Channel Divinity powers not usable in antimagic fields?
The antimagic field spell says, in part (emphasis mine):
Spells and other magical effects, except those created by [...] a deity, are suppressed in the sphere and can't protrude into it.
However, the Channel Divinity feature says (emphasis mine):
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy directly from your deity, using that energy to fuel magical effects.
Thus my confusion.
As per a Jeremy Crawford tweet:
Channel Divinity creates magical effects (stated in both the cleric and the paladin). [...]
From the PHB:
At 2nd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy directly from your deity, using that energy to fuel magical effects.
So they would not work inside an antimagic field which states:
Spells and other magical effects, except those created by an artifact or a deity, are suppressed in the sphere and can't protrude into it.
There seems to be some confusion centred around whether the deity is creating the magical effect or whether it is simply suppling the power for the Cleric/Paladin to use to create the effect. Channel Divinity states that you use the divine energy to fuel a magical effect. To me this is very, very different from the deity creating the effect itself.
Lets looks at one example:
Sacred Weapon. As an action, you can imbue one weapon that you are holding with positive energy
So, to me and I don't think I'm stretching the interpretation here, the deity provides the energy for an effect that the PC creates. Hence the PC's effect will not take effect in a AMF.
I'm going to agree with Steve's answer, and say yes. According to the Sage Advice Compendium (page 18):
Determining whether a game feature is magical is straightforward. Ask yourself these questions about the feature:
- Is it a magic item?
- Is it a spell? Or does it let you create the effects of a spell that’s mentioned in its description?
- Is it a spell attack?
- Is it fueled by the use of spell slots?
- Does its description say it’s magical?
Since the answer to the last question is yes for the effects of Channel Divinity, those effects would indeed be negated in an Antimagic Field.
On the same page, there is also:
Does a creature with Magic Resistance have advantage on saving throws against Channel Divinity abilities, such as Turn the Faithless? Channel Divinity creates magical effects (as stated in both the cleric and the paladin). Magic Resistance applies.
