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So I've been reading through ToA (DnD 5E) prepping my campaign, and part of it brought up a question I've never really thought too deeply into.

How do you end/destroy/anything to an anti-magic field? Yes, the PC spell is a one-hour concentration, but many campaigns have items or hallways with fields. Sometimes there's a lever or other switch to turn the field on/off, but barring that, is there any possible way to stop or eliminate the field? If my characters know there's one present (likely a trap, of course), is there any way for them to remove the field, or shut it down in any way?

RAW/RAI, from what I can find even higher-level spells have no chance, they don't make a check to succeed or anything. Prismatic Wall is the ONLY magical effect that goes through an AMF.

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There is a way, but you won't like it

Antimagic field has one written exception to its magic cancelling effects (PHB, p. 213, bold added):

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.

If a deity has come to the your plane and is helping your party directly, they could cast spells that affect the area in the antimagic field as though the field wasn't there. Although this wouldn't remove the field, it would mean it might as well be gone for most intents and purposes.

Note that even a deity could not cast dispel magic on the field (unless there was a specific rule in their stats indicating they could), since the statement that "Spells and magical effects such as dispel magic have no effect on the [field]" (PHB, p. 214) is not subject to the exception applied to deity level magic.

Usually, an antimagic field has a source of some kind (a beholder's central eye, a magic item, the spell of the same name), and eliminating that source should work. But in the absence of that, there is no consistent way to eliminate the field.

The question is similar to the question "is there a foolproof way to eliminate light?" The only real answer is "it depends on the source of the light." Similarly, the way to remove an antimagic field will depend on its source.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yea, I read that part in the spell's section. I just didn't know if there was any way to shut it down (a hallway-length trap has no 'source' to destroy), as it seems odd an 8th level spell can't be beaten by a higher level spell in some way. And I don't think I'm going to let my party borrow a god or something which they trudge through ToA. It just seems to make some of these traps extremely deadly - there's one that auto-springs after two rounds, and deals 24d10 force dmg. The only way to turn the trap/AMF off is to survive taking the overly damage. Campaign ender, potentially. Easily. \$\endgroup\$
    – Richard
    Commented Jan 10, 2019 at 4:36

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