What does the spell Compelled Duel actually do?

Question

After reading through the description of the spell compelled duel, it seems as though the spell does not actually say what it does with respect to restricting the movement of the target creature.

Let's review the description bit by bit:

You attempt to compel a creature into a duel. One creature that you can see within range must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is drawn to you, compelled by your divine demand.

"Compel a creature into a duel" is the flavorful description of what this spell does. The mechanical nature of this is supposed to be defined when the spell describes what happens on a failure. What follows after "on a failed save" is the spell's definition of "compelled into a duel".

So what happens on a failed save? "The creature is drawn to you, compelled by your divine demand". This definitely reads like more flavor text. I can see two interpretations of this phrase. The first, we can understand "drawn to you" to mean "the creature cannot willingly move away from you". But we can be certain that this is not the case, as the next part of the spell tells us what happens if the creature does attempt to move a certain distance away from you. The only other reasonable interpretation I can see is that this phrase is, once again, more flavor text, and the spell is going to tell us what it does later on in the description.

The next bit is perfectly clear,

For the duration, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you,

Moving on.

This where it gets weird. The spell now gives a condition which triggers a saving throw, and defines what happens on the success of that saving throw:

[The target] must make a Wisdom saving throw each time it attempts to move to a space that is more than 30 feet away from you.

Okay, this seems to heavily imply that the target is able to attempt to move to a square more than 30 feet away from you. This is what invalidates the first interpretation of "drawn to you" mentioned previously.

Now the spell describes what happens on a success on the saving throw:

if it succeeds on this saving throw, this spell doesn’t restrict the target’s movement for that turn.

As written, it seems the spell already does not restrict the target's movement because the spell never says anything to that effect. It does not describe what happens on a failed saving throw. It never tells us how it restricts the movement of the target.

But it gets worse. Because the spell never tells us what happens on a failed save, there is no reason given in the description that would stop the target creature from attempting the saving throw until there is a success.

What does compelled duel actually do?

This question seems related, but is muddied by the fact that the asker employed an outdated or incorrect printing of the spell description.

Answer 1

The spell is unclear, so it will be up to DM ruling/interpretation.

As you pointed out, the spell is unclear. I haven't found any kind of clarification on it in the Sage Advice Compendium and the spell has never received any kind of errata.

And, well, spells do what they say, so, failing the saving throw does... nothing. From my reading. It does not stop the target from moving outside the range.

How would I rule it (a.k.a.: What I think is the intention of the spell)

Obviously, the RAW interpretation seems far from the intended - otherwise, it would just not include any of this saving throw on movement at all. The intention when I read it is, basically, assuming the consequent. On a successful save, the target can move. On a failed save, the target can not move. This intention, to me, is clear from the text you call flavor¹. Although I agree that it is not mechanical, it does state the intention.

You also mentioned (in chat) the possibility that the target starts outside the 30 ft. range anyway - which is possible through actions that move him (e.g. being shoved away). So, the way I would rule it is wording the spell somewhat as follows:

If the target tries to move away from you, to a position that is more than 30 ft. away from you, it is subject to a Wisdom saving throw. If the target succeeds, it can freely move until the end of its turn. Otherwise, it fails to move and can no longer attempt to move away from you (to a position that is more than 30 ft. away).

That way, if the target is already at, say, 35 ft. from you, it can freely move towards you and, I would rule, even in a circle maintaining its distance. However, it could not move away from you without the saving throw.

Ruling that it can only try once is also logical - as movement is only spent after, well, the target actually moved. If it could attempt more times, then it would eventually succeed, which makes the spell again pointless and doesn't make sense to me.

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¹ As noted in the comments by MivaScott (thanks for the link, I knew we had that question somewhere), spells in 5e do not contain "pure flavor". As I said, in this case, although the text does not describe the specifics of the mechanics, it can not be ignored either, hence my point that the intention of the spell is clear, we just need to rule how the mechanics actually work.

Answer 2

The spell makes it more difficult for the target to fight against anyone other than the caster, and encourages the caster to engage with the target

I agree with your assessments of what's flavor text (by which I mean text in the spell which cannot be directly, mechanically evaluated) and what isn't, but the mechanics seem pretty clear to me. If we assume that the spell was not intended to be useless or trivially defeated in a single enemy turn:

1. [The target] has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than [the caster]

   The target will be less successful in fighting anyone other than the caster. They can still do so, but will be less successful in hitting any target but the caster. This provides a mechanical incentive for the target to engage with the caster, not too dissimilar to effects like Hunter's Mark or Hex-- once in place, these spells favor one target over others for the caster. This spell works similarly but in reverse.

2. [The target] must make a Wisdom saving throw each time it attempts to move to a space that is more than 30 feet away from [the caster].

   The target will have a more difficult time maneuvering if far enough away from the caster. As in (1), this is an incentive for the target to fight the caster rather than anyone else. For a target with a good Wisdom save, this effect isn't very important. This fleshes out the flavor text of drawn to [the caster]-- it's more difficult for the target to move such that they are 30+ feet from the caster than to be nearer.

   In particular, this is relevant because an end condition to the spell is that the target is more than 30 feet away from the caster at the end of the caster's turn.

3. if it succeeds on this saving throw, this spell doesn’t restrict the target’s movement for that turn.

   This could have been written more clearly, to be sure. But the plain-English interpretation is that if the target fails the Wisdom saving throw they cannot move more than 30 feet from the caster:

   If [success on WIS save] --> no movement restriction; Elseif [failure on WIS save] --> movement restriction (cannot move to a point more than 30 feet from the caster)

   Whether that means the Movement phase of that turn is wasted, or the relevant movement speed to get to the (now restricted) space is consumed, is unclear. The most parsimonious reading suggests to me that the target gets to try to move to any space more than 30 feet from the caster once per turn, and either succeeds on the save (they can move wherever they want within their speed, terrain permitting) or fails (they can move wherever they want within 30 feet of the caster, speed and terrain permitting). This interpretation is supported by the for that turn wording, which implies that one save per turn is allowed. But as that isn't written in the description it's just another ruling.

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This is a level 1 spell, so we can't expect too much from it. It's also only available to the Paladin class, which has implications for its intended use cases (though we shouldn't speculate very much on what those might be).

But using interpretations other than the ones above would lead to another answer:

The spell Compelled Duel does basically nothing, because if it's so trivially defeatable and useless no one will ever prepare or cast it. It would, at most, grant disadvantage on attack rolls against most targets for a single enemy turn. Maybe there are edge cases where that's worth the effort, but off the top of my head there are better uses for a spell slot.

Answer 3

A creature drawn to you will approach you

Lets imagine a simpler spell. Its spell description is:

Choose a target within range. If they fail a wisdom saving throw, they are drawn to you, compelled by your divine demand.

This spell clearly makes a creature try to move towards you.

Compelled Duel is this spell, plus extra words. Those extra words don't erase the earlier part of the spell. In it, there is a way for the creature to not move towards you; if they attempt to move to a space more than 30' away from you, they can make a saving throw. On success, their movement is not restricted.

You'll note that my interpretation -- that their movement is restricted -- is validated by something releasing the target from their movement restriction.

Spells do what they say they do

This spell makes a creature be drawn to you.

There is no flavour text

There is flavourful text, just no flavour text. The spell attempts to draw a creature into a duel; this is flavourful. It has very little mechanical impact; it might change how the spell works if the creature was duplicated somehow (!) or if you are duplicated (!), as the word "duel" has meaning.

What meaning? In D&D 5e, when a corner case occurs, it is up to the DM to determine what happens. The rules don't attempt to cover every corner case.

You should read spells as doing something

If a reading of a spell means that mechanics in the spell have no effect, consider other readings. 5e was not written in a legalistic manner.

If a reading of a spell leads to abusive super powerful results? Don't read it that way.

If a reading of a spell leads to a bunch of the spells mechanics having no effect? Don't read it that way.

As a DM (and to a lesser extent, a player) you are responsible for reading the text in a way that is reasonable and not trying to break it.

Answer 4

What else should I be? All apologies...

This is a bit different from my usual answers. Typically I attempt to determine what the rules text actually says, in the most literal reading possible. As the querent notes, however, Compelled Duel is different¹ in that it "does not actually say what it does". Thus this answer is an exercise in apologetics - what is Compelled duel trying to do (RAI) and how can one read its text more generously so as to permit it to actually do that (RAW)?

RAI

Hopefully we can all agree on what compelled duel is supposed to be doing. It is a paladin spell - it is supposed to be about the party's paladin challenging the opposing side's leader or champion. Drawing them off to face the paladin solo, keeping them occupied both to protect the squishier members of the paladin's party from their powerful attacks and so that all the other members of the paladin's party can concentrate on eliminating the minions. If we agree on the intent, how can we read the spell text in a way that allows the spell to do this?

Apologetics

You attempt to compel a creature into a duel. One creature that you can see within range must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is drawn to you, compelled by your divine demand.

The querent is concerned about the phrase "drawn to you", since in his reading this is either a statement of mechanics that the spell does not actually employ, or mere flavor that doesn't do anything but guide later interpretation. Let me suggest a third alternative; "drawn to you" is not just flavor, but it is not compelling movement, either. Rather, "drawn to you" is used in the sense of affecting the target's feelings and emotions but in a non-mechanical way. Consider it like the phrase in the spell charm person, "The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance."² This phrase is not just flavor, but neither is it mechanics. Rather, it is a guide for the DM in determining how to role-play the behavior of the target; it is a suggestion for how to interpret their spell-altered perceptions. Similarly, "drawn to you" does not have a mechanical effect, but it is telling the DM that the target feels a strong incentive to attack the paladin. The spell is influencing² - but not controlling - their behavior.

I DM a (vengeance) paladin who doesn't make use of the spell. But I am also a player in a game where another player has a Crown paladin who gets compelled duel as an Oath spell and makes frequent use of it. What my DM does is simply have the spell 'work' on any brute creatures that fail their save. They are drawn to attack the paladin - so they do, having no reason not to. These are the same kind of foes that are otherwise indiscriminate in their attacks and which would normally be attacking the nearest opponent with little regard for tactics. More intelligent foes under the spell would still feel drawn to attack the paladin, but can recognize this urge for what it is and still make decisions in a logical manner - 'ok, I can attack the paladin normally, or another target at disadvantage, what makes sense to do now'?

Turning to the actual mechanics of the spell:

For the duration, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you, and must make a Wisdom saving throw each time it attempts to move to a space that is more than 30 feet away from you; if it succeeds on this saving throw, this spell doesn’t restrict the target’s movement for that turn.

It starts with the simple disadvantage to attack anyone but the paladin, which is clear, and concludes with the more opaque effect on movement. The target can freely approach the paladin from any distance, and they can likewise circle the paladin, moving but maintaining their distance. If they try to get further away than 30 feet, though, then the spell imposes a mechanical effect; they must make a Wisdom save, with success indicating that their move is unrestricted. As noted by the querent, "the spell never tells us what happens on a failed save", at least not explicitly. But we can tease that out. First, because the spell tells us that this effect is triggered by an "attempt" to move further away; if it is an attempt, then it has to be possible to fail. Thus failing the save here means that the target cannot in fact move away. If success on the save means that the target's move is unrestricted, then it follows that failure on the save means that it is restricted, and restricted must mean that cannot move farther from the paladin.

Admittedly the phrase "each time it attempts to move" is odd, since as HellSaint points out, the target could simply keep attempting to move away until it succeeded on the save, since there is no movement cost to the attempt. However, note that a successful save here means the movement is unrestricted "that turn" and that the spell lasts up to a minute. Thus it seems reasonable to conclude that a failed attempt to move away precludes another attempt for the remainder of "that turn". To reconstruct what the spell is trying to say, then, it is something like:

For the duration, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you. Also, the first time on each turn that it attempts to move to a space that is more than 30 feet away from you it must make a Wisdom saving throw; if it succeeds on this saving throw, this spell doesn’t restrict the target’s movement for that turn, but if it fails, it is unable to move to that space or or any other space that is more than 30 feet away from you for the remainder of that turn.

This attempt to read the spell in a way that actually supports its intent concludes two things. First, "drawn to you" is to be understood as a non-mechanical influence on the target's motivation that requires DM adjudication for a role-playing outcome. Second, the mechanical effect on movement is such that a single save to move away may be made each turn, with failure restricting the target's movement options to only those that don't place it further away from the paladin.

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¹_{Starting, of course, with its name. Compelled duel does not compel anything, and what it does affect mechanically is movement, not selecting opponents.}

²_{And note that compelled duel, like charm person, is a spell from the school of enchantment, which by definition seeks to "magically entrance and beguile other people and monsters" and which affects "the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior."}